My jeez these are all good 
The movie hasn’t even been released in theatres yet, and your drawing s good 
Lovely new drawings, Mitch! The Up story boards are nice; give a good sense of movement. Your Russell sketches are as cute as ever! The Dug Thank You card is neat. Bet your doctor loved it! The Ellie sketches are great; show a nice range of expressions! Carl looks great too! He’s a hard one to draw, but you are improving!
Wow, very fantastic artwork! I love all the Russel pics the most. The Seedy and the Subline are really lovable, I’m serious. All the sketches look amazing! You’re at it again, Mitch. Another awesome update! .
You all flatter me…
Thank you so much, lizardgirl, Nexas, Hannahmation, and bright dot-dasher for your grateful comments and critique! I know I’ve said this a jillion times before, but I really do appreciate all of your input. It means more to me than you know.
Thanks for pointing this out. I noticed it myself after I’d colored it in, but I hated it so much that I just left it. I’m glad that I’m not the only one who recognized this error, though! It shows that more practice is needed on my part, and I want to improve, so I can use all the help/critique I can get.
Aww, you should have kept them! I would have loved to have seen them.
I’m glad I’m getting better at drawing Carl, by the way. Thanks for your input!
Hannahmation - Actually, I haven’t given my doctor that particular drawing yet, but when I do give it to him I hope he likes it! I think it’s funny that I’m giving my doctor an Up drawing. I never made the connection until after I’d sketched it. 
Once again, thank you very much for your comments, everyone! <img src=“{SMILIES_PATH}/love2.gif” alt=“:loves:” title="In
Love" />
DeviantArt ID -
Jessie -
1) I was getting so sick of my old deviantArt ID, so I finally knuckled down and built a new one.
2) For weeks, I had had this craving to draw Jessie from Toy Story 2. Eventually, I got to work. The results aren’t too bad; they could be worse, I suppose…
Note: References were used for each set of drawings.
A perfect example of my daftness: I just realized today that, if Pixar didn’t exist, I probably wouldn’t have chosen to pursue a career in art…
– Mitch
Wow Mitch! You never cease to amaze me! Those Jessie drawings are just superb, I wish I could draw like that! Better get back to my sketchbook…
New ID? Nwice
Awesome art work! How long have you been drawing? Did you ever take classes?
Well, I had to read what you wrote twice before I got the connection! Now I find it really amusing. Probably more than I should. haha 
Now to your artwork:
I like your new ID! It’s really nice. Love the line work in the drawing! Don’t know how many times I’ve told you that now, but you really do have great line work skills. I’m kind of envious
Sweet sketches of Jessie! You always show such a great range of emotions when you do character sketches like this. Keep it up!
I’m liking your new ID, Mitch, not only the sweet sketch of Remy but how you’ve laid out the ID generally. That’s a nice sort of rhubarb-y colour that you’ve used for the background.
Those sketches of Jessie are really good! I think you’ve captured her personaltiy very well but at the same time you’ve adapted her to your own style and it’s worked nicely I think.
I love how lovely and neat your [b]Deviant Art ID[/b] is, Mitch! I love the sketch of Remy and how you put “J’aime” and “J’deteste” in the profile. Really remarkable.
And those Jessie sketches are also really cool! You’re good at the different facial expressions!
Thank you very much for the kind comments, everyone!
Pshaw. I’m the one who’s jealous. You can animate, and I can’t even do that!
Ha-ha. I only did that because the same words were inserted into this “Ultimate Ratatouille Guidebook” hardcover that I own. Thanks, though. (snigger)
All right, well, my hard head finally got cracked, and I’m extremely thankful that it did. A few days ago, I asked my dad why my stuff stinks, and he said that I need to focus on drawing shapes instead of going straight into the intricate details. He had told me this billions of times before, but I was hesitant to depart from my comfortable spot of refinement. However, it was high time I was told to get my act together and sketch shapes. Sooo… I sketched some shapes… and I’ll show you what they look like… later.
In the meantime, here is a piece of my dad’s brilliance:
My Dad’s Drawing:
He drew that in two seconds and I was all, “The heck?”, so I’m making it a point to focus on the shapes and do the detail last so as I can sketch like this.
Note: The image above is my dad’s, not mine!!
– Mitch
Oh WOW…your dad is really talented…you both are! Great work
I agree- wow! In just seconds? Really? 
Gee whiz, awesome much? That’s really well drawn, especially for a quick sketch. Be sure to tell your dad I think it looks great!
Ragdollcorpse - On behalf of my dad: Thanks! I’m sure he’d appreciate the kind words.
bright dot-dasher - Ha-ha! Well, I was exaggerating things a bit. He actually drew it in, perhaps, five minutes, but that’s still really quick. I’ll be sure to tell him that you like it!
Russell -
Shapes! My dad said these look better, so I’m gonna keep going.
On another note, I finished my rough, preliminary animation test featuring Russell. There are only forty-two frames, and it looks terrible, but it’s only a rough draft. The final thing will look much better, if I have anything to say about it.
– Mitch
Really nice Mitch. I don’t know what to say except that you continue to impress me with every new drawing and sketch you post up here.
Your dad has got Carl spot-on! And since he seems to be the most difficult Up character to draw, that’s no mean feat!
I agree with him- your new ‘shapely’ sketches, although rougher, really do capture the essence of Russell. I especially like the one where he’s sort of looking up, with his eyes closed and he’s smiling, since you’ve got the proportions just right and so it makes him look really 3D without you adding too much detail.
And I look forward to seeing your Russell animation, Mitch!
Aw… man. I’ve missed out on a lot! Well… rolls up sleeves here I go!
Storyboard panel: Looks good, though the canyon walls and rocks can do with more ‘definition’, cos’ they looked like clouds to me at first. Was that from one of the featurettes where they show the house floating through the ravine with Russell hanging from it?
Russell-ness: I like the way how you smuged his cheeks to give it that rosy look!
Dug “Thank You” card: Did you actually give that to your doctor? Cute pic of Dug, no complaints here.
Ellie: I thought they were pretty expressive. No idea why she’s wearing the aviator’s cap, but other than that, I like your depiction of emotions.
The Seedy and the Sublime: Ooh… I like the colours for your first pic. That’s your avvie right?
I like reading the background info for your second. Really good to have inspiring music playing in the background and just let those juices flow… it shows in the drawing. Very whimsical and cheerful… Russell putting on those goggles. No criticisms.
Refined Carl: Looks okay to me. It’s a rough sketch, so I’m more ‘lenient’ on it, heheh.
DeviantArtID: Now this I love! Remy looks so adorable with his face turned to one side and yawning (huh, me, calling a rat cute… ). I like your use of French words, and how you picked them from one of the guidebooks. The Duracell battery commercials… that’s a weird thing to like. Cos’ the bunny just keeps on going and never stops? Some kinda visual metaphor for your life? I hate flies and unsightly messes too… Very nice. It would be nice if you added a ‘flowery’ border design or a masthead… is it meant to look like a menu card? Cos’ sorry to say, but right now it looks like a powerpoint slide… other than that, it’s very good!
Jessie: Pretty spot on, you nailed those expressions. I would probably suggest you add more freckles for the last two…
My Dad’s Drawing: Your dad’s a natural! I love the ‘guidelines’, the smudges around the knuckles and under the chin… the stroke of the hair… everything is so detailed and yet seems so effortless… a most triumphant work of art that could only come with years of practice! 2 seconds is superhuman, by the way… I can barely put my pencil to paper before time is up (I know you were exaggerating, just poking fun). Excellent!
Russell: Good advice your dad gave. Russell looks more ‘flowy’ and natural. The first one (Russell yawning) is adorable! Usually if my piece looks too stiff, I just ‘relax’ and doodle organic shapes to loosen things up. It’s something you learn by doing and with comments by others.
Whew! Well, show us your rough animatic when you’re ready! 
The Star Swordsman - Thanks, dude!
lizardgirl - Thank you very much, lizardgirl!
Gee, thanks! I’m glad I’m not the only one who liked how this particular sketch turned out.
thedriveintheatre - Your comments and critique are most appreciated. Thank you ever so much!
Ha-ha! “They looked like clouds…”. I heartely agree with you, though. The backgrounds, in particular, are rather vague, and Russell blends in too well with the scenery in the last panel. I’ll make sure to add more definition to my storyboard panels the next time I lay some out.
Yep, that was from one of those very featurettes – the “Dug” one, if I’m not much mistaken.
I haven’t given it to him yet, but I will during my next appointment to see him. I hope he likes it!
Gee, thanks! I still don’t think I enhanced her expressions, though – the bottom two, at least, could do with a little tweaking and more exaggeration, in my opinion.
As for the aviator’s cap, she adorned it in the storyboard panels that I referred to while drawing them, and she’s wearing it for a reason. I imagine they kept it on her in the final film, but I’m not sure.
Ohhh… ignore that “Seedy and Sublime” one. I already knew that the top one sucked (and, yep, that is from my avatar), but it was wishful thinking on my part to assume that I actually nailed Russell anatomically. It’s a wreck, but thanks for the compliment, in any case.
Ohhh. Ha-ha! No, you’re thinking of the Energizer commercials. This is Duracell:
I enjoyed watching their commercials as a kid and have always loved their signature sound effect (“ba do dee”, or however you “pronounce” it; heheh). One of my favorite pasttimes is changing the Duracell batteries in both my toys and my sisters’ toys, even though I sometimes complain about doing it. Also, on some of the old Duracell batteries (or, at least, on a special type of Duracell battery, if they even sell it anymore…), you could push these little white spots on the ends of the battery and watch this diminutive meter on the side change color/go up and down so as you could see how “charged up” the battery was. I just loved that.
I don’t know. I love the Duracell batteries. May the weirdness ensue. I do love the Energizer commercials too, though! Now, those actually are visual metaphors of my life, but that’s another story.
Ha-ha! Well, once again, I concur. It does look a bit… formulaic, I suppose. It was intentional, but I agree with you in that it could definitely use a border (hold the flowers).
Oh gosh. The freckles! I knew I was forgetting something. Thanks for mentioning that!
That’s a smart route to take. Good idea! You’d think I would think of these things. Heheh.
Once again, thank you very much for your comments and critique, everyone! I’ll be sure to post up my piece of animated junk when I’m finished with it.
By the way, I told my dad that you guys like his Carl drawing and he perked up.
Oh, and here’s one last thing that I forgot to post up:
My sister and I were goofing off that day. (snigger)
– Mitch
I must say that in those last few sketches of Russell alone, I have seen a significant amount of improvement. Working on shape rather than worrying about detail really seemed to bring a whole new look to the way you draw Russell… These have to be my favorite sketches so far. Ever.
You should put them up on dA so I can favorite them.
My favorite sketch has to be the top one of the second picture; the one of his eyes closed. There’s something so beautiful and natural about that one… and you have captured his personality perfectly.
Oh, and tell your dad me and my sister like, just about died when we saw his sketch of Carl. He is such an incredible artist… your style really seems to reflect his in a way. I mean, when I looked at it I immediately thought of you (no, not just because he’s your dad… haha ). You both have this “way” with sketches. No matter how “dirty” they may look as compared to clean line art, your sketches always turn out so organic and beautiful. <3 Gosh, I freakin’ love you guys’ style…!!
Keep up all of your great work, and get creative with those “shapes”!
little chef
Your dad is an amazing artist, Mitch. His sketch of Carl is wonderful!
And I’m lovin’ your latest Russell sketches! I was always one to start with detail first, but a few drawing classes got me looking at the overall picture. So I know how hard it is to switch that mindset and focus on shapes first! Keep it up!