Odds and Ends

Tachibana Elementary

Tachibana Elementary

We left Osaka on Tuesday morning and took the bullet train to Shizuoka so we could visit Tachibana Elementary.  This was such a beautiful school.  When visiting schools you always leave your shoes at the door, which is immediately relaxing and makes you feel very welcome indeed.  The office we received our briefing in had [...]


Osaka Midori Elementary part 2

Osaka Midori Elementary part 2

Time is short this morning, but I didn’t want to start my day without posting some more pictures from Osaka Midori Elementary.  I’m a bit behind in my days, so I’ll be playing catch-up for a while. I’m already back in Tokyo, and I visited several places after this.  More on that later.
The point of [...]


Osaka Midori Elementary part 1

Osaka Midori Elementary part 1

Yesterday morning we dropped by Osaka Midori Elementary.  Whenever we do this our first stop is always the principal’s office so we can be briefed on what’s gonna be happening.  But before the briefing started I looked out the window and saw a bunch of kids playing dodgeball in the playground below.  Man, it looked [...]


On the morning of June 27th, 2010…

On the morning of June 27th, 2010…

….I unexpectedly became cool.
Before I came to Japan, appearing in a photograph next to real football players was something that was only going to happen to me through the wonders of Photoshop.  And the possibility of  being presented with a real jersey was about the same probability for me as winning the Giant Slalom or [...]


Manga Museum

Manga Museum

Did you know that the International Manga Museum is in Kyoto?  I didn’t either.  Till we accidentally drove past it.
There are some exhibits in the galleries upstairs, and I saw original Range Murata drawings and some huge prints of his finished work.  There was a cast of Hayao Miyazaki’s hand.  There were a lot of [...]


Kyoto 2 – Kiyomizudera Temple

Kyoto 2 – Kiyomizudera Temple

In the United States, a tourist attraction might be the mummified corpse of an obscure gunslinger with a stapled-on dolphin tail, advertised as a real mermaid, lying in state behind a gas station.
In Japan its more likely to be a solid granite temple built by master artists, frequented by real spirits and demons.
In this case [...]


Kyoto part one

Kyoto part one

So we arrive in Kyoto last night, and wisely decided to get dinner at a really cool restaurant that was super-hard to find.  It is hard to find partially because smaller streets don’t have any names.  So when you get to this level of searching you’re really using landmarks as much as anything.  Like, “Turn [...]


OHK! :)

OHK! :)

If you read my previous post you understand this picture.
This is me and OHK.
OHK gets me.
Its alright that Dean is in our picture.  OHK is cool with it.
Even though this is really just a picture of me and OHK.


Uchiyama Kindergarten

Uchiyama Kindergarten

June 23.  Too many things happened to fit in one post – I’ll never be able to narrow it down to one picture or video.
I started the morning by taking the Bullet Train from Fukuoka to Okayama.  We visited Uchiyama Kindregarten.  Uchiyama Kindergarten is where Japan keeps the cutest kids on the planet.  About 70 [...]


Bullet trains

Bullet trains

This morning I traveled from Fukuoka to Nagoya on a bullet train.  Specifically, the Nozomi Super Express – the fastest of the bullet trains at over 180 mph.  These arrive on time, and leave on time.  They glide out of the stations without a sound or a shudder, and quickly accelerate with several noticeable surges.  [...]


“People of Fukuoka…”

“People of Fukuoka…”

We ended the day by appearing on a live radio show, that was also broadcast on giant screens all over the city.  Very super-Villain-ish.


Seinan continued…

Seinan continued…

I wanted to share a few more of these pictures with everyone – I can’t say enough about this school; the kids, the teachers and the building just radiated energy and inspiration.


Seinan Gakuin Elementary School

Seinan Gakuin Elementary School

I’ll post more from today a little later, but I wanted to get this in right away.  We were invited to the most amazing and beautiful school this morning, where we visited with some very talented young artists.


Sapporo

Sapporo

We flew from Tokyo to Sapporo last night.  It was immediately cooler, and foggy.  They picked us up at the airport in a medium-sized bus.  I immediately staked out the backmost seat and curled up in the corner.  We drove through what looked like woods for a long time, and I finally couldn’t stay awake [...]


Tiny Dinner Creatures

Tiny Dinner Creatures

I couldn’t get on with my day till I posted just one more picture from dinner the night before.  I’m not sure what the official name of these little fellows is, but I call them “Tiny delicious crab friends that I eat as many of as I can.”   They are very, very small, as [...]


Sake should be…..

Sake should be…..

….square. I’ve searched and searched for these in the states, and haven’t found them yet. Crisp and thick cedar boxes for sake. They immediately infuse the drink with their wooden tone. The other thing I’ve noticed is that drinking square drinks make you feel less yucky in the morning.  Clearly the edges [...]


Arrived!

Arrived!

So I’m all set up here at the Peninsula. And I have a smashing view of the Imperial Palace. More later – its only about twenty minutes before I meet everyone downstairs to go to dinner.


Japan bound

Japan bound

So, HTTYD is opening soon in Japan, and Dean and I are cooling our heals in the AA lounge, topping off our power and having some coffee.
Because we’re going there for a couple of weeks.  Which is cool because even though, according to her website, Hello Kitty lives in a suburb of London, I happen [...]


Today’s the day…

Today’s the day…

Okay, so I always said I’d get the word out if I sold any original art.  Today’s the day.  I’m currently selling two of my favorite drawings.  Ones that I swore I’d never let go of.
But this is an exceptionally good reason to change that rule.
The first drawing is the first Kiskaloo thing I ever [...]


New site, new stuff to come!

New site, new stuff to come!

Chris is currently traveling to promote his film “How To Train Your Dragon” and will be posting from the road very very very soon. Here is a Kiskaloo sketch to sink your teeth into in the meantime (and check out the gallery section for new sketches!).


Coming Soon

Coming Soon

Okay, so not much to tell today, but I’ve got some cool stuff coming up soon. I may be seeing a prototype of something interesting I’ve got in the works, and if I do, I’ll post pictures tomorrow.


Why I have never eaten at the Con

Why I have never eaten at the Con

Having a booth at Comic Con is fun.  You get to meet all sorts of people, and sell things, and think about what you’ll do better next year.  And you go hungry during the day and make up for it by eating and drinking too much at night and then you go to sleep and [...]


More

More

…stuff you might want to know.  The SDCC was great, and we sold a lot of sketchbook 3.  We’re always trying to figure out exactly how many to print, and it looks like we hit it on the head this time.  We sold all but about five or so boxes, and all of them were [...]


Good Morning!

Good Morning!

So I met with Nicolette last night and she showed me the next phase for this site.  She has done a makeover and refresh for the look and the way it will work.  The changes should be in place before the end of the month and I think you’ll like what you see.  She also [...]