Now who can’t tell your in love with Rusell ? 
BTW, awesome drawings as usual ! 
Mitch: First of all, I have to tell you something and make something clear. All of your work is so pure and sincere; beautifully brushed with your own unique style even when rendering characters already made up by someone else, and for me looking at your sweet, heartfelt sketches of Russell, it awakens some sort of childlike-wonder that I otherwise would not have felt in looking at a rendering of this same character by another artist. You set the bar so high for yourself - which is not a bad thing, by the way - and always aspire to be better than you are, because most of the time you believe that what you are is not spectacular in itself. But I want you to know that what you are already delving into in terms of artistic skill and ability is far beyond what many aspiring artists your age have the capability of. Yes, it does come with years of practice, but you have a beautiful advantage: and that is the support and equal experience of your parents in the areas of art and animation. My parents encourage me to draw and be artistic, but they don’t connect with me in the way I view films and their artwork/script writing/plot/characters the way your parents seem to. Consider yourself exceptionally blessed!
Your variety of Russell sketches are nowhere close to stupid or insignificant. Every single drawing gives you a new handle on expression/character development, and continuing to draw one character over and over again is not a bad thing! Since I decided to draw sketch after horrible sketch of Alfredo, I eventually got better; and now I can draw the kid with ease and not feel so horrible about it. You are exactly the same way, Mitch. Every new rendering of Russell is better than the last, and with such a wide sweep of sketches, you’ll be able to literally see the progress unfold when you look back on them in time. (That’s why I force myself to keep horrible drawings I did when I was 11. With them, I’m able to show you my recent artwork advancements and say, “Well, these crappy scribbles paved the way for this completely-shaded, full-bodied drawing of a character I made up!”)
You have such a natural feel for facial expressions - trust me, it clearly shows. It’s like you just put your pencil to the paper and out flows a comical, cartoon expression that only you would be able to reproduce. Please, please, please keep drawing those beautiful facial expressions, and never get the idea that you’re no good at it.
That drawing of Russell saluting the flag is so darn adorable; and to find some kind of advanced critique is kind of difficult. I like how you put so much research into the Boy Scouts and their values and such (although Wilderness Explorers are their own club, and more of a Boy Scout “play-off”); it adds so much more depth to the picture. If you ever marry and have a little boy one of these days, I can almost be certain he’d be a Boy Scout! (Yeah, yeah… I know you have no desire to marry… I’m just saying… )
The last batch of Russell sketches are certainly my favorite to date. I noticed how all the expressions are based on the letter “C”, which adds a certain artistic flair to the composition. (Man, I feel like I’m just shoving in a whole bunch of random adjectives in here to make you feel better… know that this is not the case! I’m just feeling like a writer right now… haha… 
) His round nose is probably the most distinctive thing about your style of drawing him. It accents his rather round figure, I think. (His round face, his round body, even his rounded hands and legs. 
) And I know what you mean about the top-left one looking like Jr. Asparagus. Haha.
Oh my goodness… your eyes have probably already glazed over reading this. Geez, I just came here to say something encouraging and look what happens… an entire story comes out, or something like that. Never give up on what you do, Mitch. You have incredible talent, not to mention incredible potential. Never, ever give up on your artwork (which I know you wouldn’t anyways)! As always, I look forward to more of your work and I’m pretty sure I will not be disappointed!
Sincerely,
little chef
Wow… I’ve missed a lot lately! What I admire about you is your passion and hardworking’ness’ to your work. You just keep going and never stop! I should be practicing traditional drawing more, but my work is mostly digitally-based, so I rarely have the time or opportunity to knuckle down and do it. You’ve inspired me though, I think I’ll start a traditional piece and a dA account…
Anyway, more Russell pics! I swear, you’re quite possibly the biggest Russell fan in terms of artwork on the Internet! I haven’t seen anyone yet to have matched your breadth or volume of Russell artwork anywhere online (of course, Ratatouille can be contested, and maybe people are secretly drawing Russell pics and not brave enough to post them up, but as far as I can tell, you’re the biggest fan here).
I love the facial expression doodles. Some nice facework going on there, reminds me of a Paul Eckman expression analysis chart. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, just read this blogger’s entry on February 16, 2007. He gives some pretty good background info and even embedded an interesting flash widget of Bert’s (from Sesame Street) various expressions. Mr Eckman’s work is worth a look too if you’re interested (I may be subliminally influenced by Lie to Me, but I must admit it’s a good drawing reference point).
B.O.T. … I think Citizenship is your best Russell work to date (maybe because it’s the first in colour?)! You even drew out the 50 stars on the flag! 
I love the soft pastel colouring and the (unintentional or not) ‘texture’ of the paper. Good posing and layout, everything looks great. Can’t wait to see the other values!
And the Violet marker drawing is win! She looks so freaked out! I like the hair and boots shininess. I can never quite place the gloss on my hair and reflective materials properly, so for you have to be pulled that off is quite an achievement for me.
Mitch, you NEVER cease to amaze me! Your Russell sketches are great; keep getting better and better! You are really nailing facial expressions. The coloring on your ‘Citizenship’ piece is wonderful! I really enjoy the technique you used.
I think I should let you know that you are inspiring me to get back into my sketch book and work at all the things I have troubles drawing (which is a lot!). You keep working at better your drawings skills, which is wonderful… and something I keep procrastinating on! Your passion, dedication, and hard work will take you far! I don’t think you’ll have much problem reaching your ultimate goal!
Your mum is so talented, Mitch! Not only is the lineart smooth and unblemished, but then she enhances it by using that lovely satisfying black ink. And your last group of Russell sketches shows just how far you are willing to push the character in order to create a certain expression, and this works so well with the style you’re using! It reminds me of some of the old Disney cartoons and that sort of thing, because even without the descriptions you’ve written next to each sketch of Russell, everyone would know exactly what he’s thinking and how he’s feeling at each moment.
Me too! After looking at some of Mitch’s like, totally effortless sketches (or so it seems… you cover up the challenge so well!), I’ve been inspired to start sketching out more hands - which I’ve always been horrible at. Now that I’m trying to work at it, I’m feeling more and more comfortable with it each time! 
little chef
After returning from my one-week “vacation”, and scanning the boards thoroughly, I purposefully made to attend to this thread last, because the replies you guys have given simply deserve that respect, for the best should always be saved for last…
What you all have said about – how you have commented on, critiqued, and been inspired by – my artwork, is worth more than you will ever know. I cannot possibly put my appreciation into words, except to say that I don’t cry easily, and that I came rather close to tears at times reading your messages…
By the way, I think my mom was blushing when I showed her all of the lovely comments you guys made on her Violet drawing. Needless to say, she sincerely appreciates your kind words.
Oh, believe me, I do. With the exception of when I was very young, I never take these things for granted.
Ha-ha! That’s sweet. I have to admit that you’d probably be right, though.
I’m glad I’m not the only one! (snigger)
I read every word of your post, red. Every word. And it made my heart glow like you wouldn’t believe. All of you guys’ comments did…
thedriveintheatre - I checked out that blogger’s entry that you provided a link to. It was most interesting! Thanks for that. I loved reading it.
Oh, that is actually my mom’s drawing, but I thank you on her behalf!
With that said, here are some more Up sketches. I stand by what I say in that I will get to Pixar if it takes me a hundred billion years, and the very fact that you guys are right here along-side me, encouraging me, boggles my mind. I never would have guessed that I’d have this much support, and the very fact that my work has inspired you guys to draw some more is just… I don’t know. I feel like I’m gonna tear up or something, curse me. Heh…
Thank you all so much.
- How I Draw Hands -
Good ol’ Vim ‘All the men in my life keep getting killed by Candarian Demons!’ Fuego gave me some excellent advise on drawing hands, by the way. Check out her responses on this page: Great tips, brought to you by “vim”.
Note/Edit: References were used for sketches one, three, and five. None were used for drawings two and four (at least, not that I remember).
1) My best Russell drawings yet, I think. A healthy percentage of the time (probably 90%, I’m guessing) I don’t like my work, but I think that these turned out fairly… decent. That said, only the top sketch could be deemed truly note-worthy, I think.
2) A rough draft for a Valentine-type card.
3) I think it’s funny how I often envision Mr. Fredricksen as a young lad rather than as an old cogger. I suppose it’s due to the fact that he still has so much life in him, even as an elder.
4) This is just a quick (and terribly untidy) series of sketches that I did for fun. All of them feature Carl and his late wife, Ellie. The top sketch is half-heartedly based on an idea I had… which will most likely gestate into a full-fledged chapter (written, of course) one of these days. The middle sketch is based on a moment in the actual film, Up, if I’m not much mistaken. The last few bottom sketches represent my loose interpretation of what continues on after the last scene/middle sketch. Ellie, as a young girl, is searching for something in an old luggage carrier in Carl’s attic. Carl, in the meantime, looks on rather nervously. Ellie finally discovers what she’s looking for in the bottom left-hand sketch.
My apologies in that some sketches from the other side of the paper shows through in these drawings. The scanner that I use can be evil sometimes. Heh.
You guys are right in saying that I have a series disease, by the way. I believe that you described it as “Russellitis” right, Captain Pan? It’s getting worse, and I can’t seem to find a cure. (chuckle)
By the way, I’m thinking of animating Russell, but I don’t know what to make him do! Do you guys have any suggestions at all? Chocolate should be involved, by all means. (snigger)
Once again, I thank you all for your comments. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
– Mitch
As always, great sketches! It’s really neat seeing your progression with each Russell drawing! Your Valentine card sketch is really cute! The roughness of your Carl sketches is quite cool, especially looking at with your tight line work of Russell. Same goes for your last batch of sketches, which are even rougher. A neat look inside your process.
That’s the spirit! You and I share the same tenacity. It’d be neat if we were co-workers some day at Pixar! You deserve all the support you are getting, Mitch! Although, someone as talented and hardworking as you will go far with or without a bunch of support.
Whoops! My bad! 
Thanks for passing my praise. Pay attention, TDIT!
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Yeah, I agree the first was most interesting, cos’ his eyelids are down in an unimpressed expression, compared to the others’ shocked look, which didn’t quite engage me. It’s not often you get Russell acting ‘snooty’ (whether you intended it or not, that was my impression), so that’s what caught my attention.
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Daw! My heart just turned to mush!
So freakin’ adorable! Russell x Kevin! (In the ‘boy and his pet’ sense, I guess) -
Good sketches of Carl! What’s he doing in the upper-right hand pic? I think he’s pointing, but his fingernail is broken in two or something. I like bottom-right hand pic, very poignant scene from the featurette.
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I’ve never seen (or don’t remember seeing) Ellie except from the photograph in one of the featurettes, so I have no idea how her body looks or how tall she is in comparison to Carl. So I found it intriguing she’s taller than him in the first pic! Carl’s leg looks a little too wide in that pic. In the second pic, I like the ‘line of action’. You can see Carl is being tugged by Ellie in the opposite direction, and if you draw a line from Ellie’s index finger to her right foot, you get a nice curve. So well done! The last pic looks a bit like Lasseter’s style (consider that a compliment!
), especially the eyes of Ellie when she holds the book. Ellie looks like a bit like a boy in that pic, so I can’t compare until I see a full-body shot from the movie.
How I Draw Hands is enlightening. Like I mentioned before, I just draw ‘straight ahead’ and look at my own hands to ensure I get the fingers right. Interestingly, that hand you draw is the Mickey-Mouse variety of four fingers.
So you’re gonna animate him traditionally in 2-D? Maybe you can do one where he feeds Kevin? Or setting a Snipe Trap and falling for it?
Your new batches of Russell sketches are definitely the best ones so far, Mitch, the top three being especially good. He looks the most like Russell, if you see what I mean. But I also have to say that you have a bit of talent when it comes to drawing Kevin, too! You draw her so smoothly and capture her curvature really well. Your Carl has improved, though it seems that a lot of people are finding him difficult to draw because the angles of his figure that seem so extreme when drawn in 2D. You’ve got his expressions and emotions down pat, though I’m not sure about how you’ve drawn his jaw- I feel as though it should be more angular, or something like that. Your last sketches demonstrate movement really well, especially with the interaction of two characters. And your demonstration of how you draw hands is really interesting and very helpful!
Wow, animating Russell? I’m looking forward to seeing that! Though I’m not sure what he could be doing…Maybe he accidentally drops his chocolate bar and is very upset about it, but then realises he has another one in his rucksack or something? I’m not sure.
Once again, thank you all very, very much for the kind comments and helpful critique!
General Note: Just to clarify something, I referred to a facial expresssion sheet when doing those rough Russell expressions on page 80 (it was the rough panel of all the expressions that began with the letter ‘C’). Also, I almost always use references when composing fan art, life drawings, and sometimes even original art (for the latter-most of the three, I will, say, refer to an image of an actual lion if I wish to caricature that animal).
Indeed! I’m sure we’ll both get there eventually. We’ll meet for lunch at the Luxo Cafe around noon.
thedriveintheatre - Concerning the slip-up: No worries!
I actually referred to a screenshot when composing that batch of sketches, so I just drew what I saw. Now that you mention it, though, he does look kind of “snooty”.
Whoops! I didn’t make that very clear. He’s supposed to be holding a tennis ball (with the tips of his middle finger and index finger resting on top of the ball). Sorry about that.
Ah! You’re right. Thanks for pointing that out!
Interesting. I never noticed that before, so thanks for mentioning that, as well. I usually don’t draw a “line of action” when sketching characters, unfortunately. I should practice doing it more often.
Aha-ha. Well, thank you! I appreciate it. blushes
Concerning Ellie, I’ve only seen a few pieces of concept art of her as a young girl, and one three-dimensional clip of her as an adult. The former I saw after I sketched these (I think… although I did see some storyboard drawings featuring Ellie a while back…), so I just kind of had to guess as to what her design would be like. Although, I wasn’t concerned about design so much as I was about poses and facial expressions when doing that batch of sketches.
Yep! I just finished half of the rough animation yesterday and will complete the other half soon. I provided a link to it below if you’re interested.
I remember that you said something similar about another Carl drawing of mine some time back. I’ll definitely have to take this into consideration the next time I draw him. Thanks for the critique!
Ha! That’s cute. I just might do that when I get good at animating.
Many thanks goes out to you guys for helping me think of something for Russell to say and/or do in my little animated project! In the end, I decided to keep chocolate out of the equation and just make him say, “Umm… six?” in an inquisitive, yet puzzled, fashion. I wanted to do something simple – just make him say a number. (My sister was the one who suggested that I make him say “six”.) I started out with full-fledged animation, because I’m stupid like that, but I knew that it sucked by the third drawing. After showing it to my dad, he said that it was too perfect… and that I should start out with a few rough drawings to get a feel for the animation. Naturally, this worked like a charm. Half of the animation has already been completed – twelve (12) frames in total. Here is a link to that half, in which Russell says, “Umm…”:
Note: You may have to click on the “Download” button/option on the left-hand side of the page to view a loop of the animation.
RagdollCorpse and Hannahmation gave me some nice critique on that particular page. Both of them suggested that I slow down the animation a bit, which is something that I highly agree with them on. I was a bit tired after uploading and editing all of the images in Photoshop and Flash, so I shot the animation on 1s instead of 2s. I had no excuse for shooting it on 1s. I was lazy, I guess. Heh.
Keep in mind that this is simply a rough version of the final animation. The end result will look much cleaner (at least, I’ll try to make it look as nice as I can).
This is living proof that I’m not meant to be an animator. I was always more of a renderer, which is why I want to be a Technical Lighting Director. I’m too much of a perfectionist to do Storyboarding for the rest of my life…
Remy -
I recently found this in an old sketchbook of mine. I barely remember drawing it…
Concerning that “hands tutorial” thing that I did, deviantArt member “vim” gave me some awesome critique on that, as well, which you can read on this page:
Again and again, you guys are waaay too complimentary. The support you all give me is just… overwhelming, and I thank each and every one of you for your advice, comments, critique, and overall back-up. I’m gonna repay you dudes big time.
– Mitch
Aww, you drawings of Carl and Ellie are so sweet! ^^ Also, I love your Remy drawing!
Sharpie?!?! Duuude, you’re back!! Where have you been?! We’ve missed you!
Thank you very much for the compliment! I appreciate it.
You should post up some of your artwork again, as it’s fantastic.
– Mitch
I love your Russell animation, Mitch! His eyes roll really smoothly, and I like how his eyebrows move subtly so that they add even more expression to his face. I’m not an animator, so I’ve no idea when it comes to critique-ing this sort of thing, but I think it’s very good anyway so…yah. Looking forward to seeing it complete!
And nice to see you back around the boards again, sharpie!
lizardgirl - Thank you very much!
The animation itself sucks, and I always thought that the movements of the eyebrows were kinda choppy, but I’m glad that you like it! (snigger)
– Mitch
I saw your new one on dA! Very cute.
And welcome back, sharpie. Was wondering where you wandered off to.
OH! Mitch! I never mentioned how freaking happy i was about that vi pic! One of my favorite random expressions of hers.
I love the Remy pic! Best one of Remy I’ve seen from you so far! (But I haven’t trawled through your archives, so maybe I’ll see a better one, but this is my current fave for now) I love how you made his eyes huge and his lips slightly parted, I guess you were going for a ‘shocked’ or ‘amazed’ reaction?
The fingers are impeccable as usual. He only has whiskers on one side of his face, but I guess if you added the other side, it would be too distracting. Very natural and good-looking. I like it.
Russell’s animation, like you said, looks a little rough. But that’s what an animatic is suppose to be anyway. All I can say is I like his eye-rolling and eyebrow-raising, there’s some nice hints of detail in there. I can’t wait for the other frames and the final clean-up!
Haunt and thedriveintheatre - Thank you very much for your kind comments!
Ha-ha. I’m glad you like it! My mom drew that, hence the awesomeness. (heheh)
Despite my absence, I’ve cooked up a few things over the past several days…
Up - Storyboard Panel -
Russell-ness -
Dug - “Thank You” Card -
Ellie -
I referred to an action sequence from one of the behind-the-scenes featurettes for Up for the storyboard panel. Yes, I know my version sucks. Even I can’t tell what’s going on. (heh)
As for that min-collage of Ellie drawings, I made up the expressions, but referred to a series of storyboards when doing so. You can view the page of panels below, but be warned: There be minor spoilers ahead.
Concerning Russell, I am suffering from an infatuation of some kind. As I’ve said before, it’s not that kind of a love. I just like the kid… a lot. I guess this is similar to the instance where everyone on deviantArt loved JoJo from Horton Hears a Who! for some time, only I seem to be one of the few who’s a fan of Russell to that extent.
In addition, I finished eight more frames of my animated project involving Russell, so now twenty frames are complete. I’m a little more than half-way done!
By the way, I apologize in that the drawings presented here are so large. I guess I didn’t size them down enough in Photoshop…
– Mitch
My apologies for the double-post, but I had to post something up…
The Seedy and the Sublime:
I cannot even begin to tell you how much fun I had drawing that bottom sketch. I went into full-nostalgia mode and just… enjoyed myself. Part of the reason behind this is the Forrest Gump theme song. I came upon it on YouTube yesterday and realized that a portion of that tune is one that I had occasionally hummed as a teenager without even remembering where it was originally from. I was transported back to my childhood years for a few minutes upon hearing it, and consequentially started sketching as though nothing else mattered…
lizardgirl - I tried my hand at Carl again so as I could take your advice and attempt to make Carl’s jaw a bit more angular. What do you think? Does it work, or should I continue to refine it?
– Mitch
Lovely new art there Mitch! The first storyboard panels are looking good- you manage to capture the scene with enough detail and movement but at the same time you don’t go over the top in terms of refinement, so they’re just as storyboard panels should be. Russell’s expression in the third square is particularly evocative!
I’m pretty sure that your Russell sketches are steadily improving! The one where he’s holding the chocolate bar is my favourite so far, and his face in both is beautifully refined.
Aww, look at Dug! So sweet! I’m sure your Doctor will love the card.
The sketches of Ellie are really good, especially in terms of her emotions and expressions. I like the second one in particular, it just really portrays that sense of doubt that seems to be playing on her mind.
As for your latest Russell sketches, the coloured one is beautiful- I like your style of shading- and although you haven’t coloured them in, the hands look particularly good. His nose is perhaps a bit too button-y but I think that might also be down to the shading. Otherwise, it’s a really sweet picture.
And that second one is so sweet! He looks like he’s having such a good time. There’s also a lot of movement due to the flowing lines and that really adds a sense of depth and excitement to the piece.
Your last Carl sketch is much improved! It definitely looks so much more like him, if you get what I mean- I think you’ve really captured the shape of his face now, as well as maintaining that really sad, sweet expression on his face. Carl is just so difficult to draw, I mean, I’ve tried him myself a few times and just thrown the sketches away because it tends to look nothing like him, so what you’ve drawn is pretty amazing in comparison! Good work on the improvement there.