We are excited to announce that ex-Disney artist Eddie Pittman is joining WishTales. We will be adding Eddie’s excellent all-ages graphic novel “Red’s Planet” to our roster.

For those of you who don’t know, Eddie began his animation career with Walt Disney Feature Animation Florida, where he worked on such films as Mulan, Tarzan, Fantasia 2000, The Emperor’s New Groove and Lilo & Stitch. He currently resides in Orlando Florida where he provides a variety of services including storyboard and illustration work.

His graphic novel Pittman’s “Red’s Planet” is the story of Red, a 10-year old girl who after running away from her foster home is mistakenly kidnapped by aliens. She soon finds herself across the galaxy and marooned on a deserted planet with an eclectic group of castaways who are much worse than her foster family. If you haven’t seen it yet, you really owe it to yourself to see it. The art is gorgeous, the writing is excellent, and the whole property has charm for days.

Stay tuned to this space for more news about Eddie and Red’s Planet!

Here are the buttons I’ll be taking to the SPACE con in April… The four on the left are 1″, and the one on the right is 1.5″

I didn’t have the original art handy for the two on the right, so that’s an old picture. The buttons are all the same 1″ round size.

People do such clever things with books. Japanese Art Director MASASHI KAWAMURA produced this very clever flipbook that, rather than producing animation, produces a virtual rainbow in your hand.

One of the main reasons I draw comics today is Calvin and Hobbes. In fact, I believe if it weren’t for Bill Watterson, I would have gone into animation, or even music. Comics were about the furthest thing from my mind, but C&H struck something with me, lingered in the back of my mind, and like a siren’s song has lured me back time and time again to comics.

To say Watterson is media-shy is to say Michael Phelps does OK in the water, or that Lady Gaga is a little different. I wonder if part of my fascination with Bill is that he has been so rarely interviewed? Maybe I value every nugget of information he gives out simply because he gives out so few. Well, in today’s Cleveland.com, there’s a nice little interview with Watterson, commemorating 15 years since Calvin and Hobbes left the newspapers.

NOTE: Some folks have found that page empty. You’ll need to register for a free account at the site in order to read the interview.

You know it is. You have this Great Idea. You think about it all the time. Sometimes you even work on it. But chances are, you have found it hard, if not impossible, to take your Great Idea from the world of inspiration to the world of existence. Somehow those Great Ideas seem to live just one burst of creativity short of getting finished. Ever wonder why?

There’s an interesting article at ZenHabits which might just help you shut up your Lizard Brain and overcome your own resistance. Let this be the year that you finally, really, get that project done.

Brock Heasley has done up this really groovy promo teaser for his upcoming season of SuperFogeys. Click the image for a bigger version, and of course check out SuperFogeys.com for the latest and also greatest SuperFogeys information.

Josh Selig has posted a great article at the Kidscreen website on the differences between dreamers and doers. Is if time for you to stop dreaming about what you want to do and get up and do it? Could be. Maybe.

Probably.

Read Josh. Drop him a line. He’s got a point.

Thanks to Mike Gibson for the link.

I’m starting to feel like if a Suit tells you not to do something, that’s a sure sign you SHOULD do whatever it is. Just do the opposite, and you’ll be fine.

At Ken Levine’s blog today is the story of the Charlie Brown Christmas special. Did you know at first CBS hated this thing? They thought the jazz score was inappropriate for children. They thought the whole thing was too depressing, and just WHAT was that bit about Linus and all the Jesus stuff!? In a CHRISTMAS SPECIAL?

Somehow it got on the air and was a HIT. It played year after year – with CBS taking credit for this great piece of holiday entertainment, of course -  and CBS learned a very important lesson that they immediately forgot: that the executives don’t always know everything.

Maybe you can learn from this lesson, eh? Next time a suit gives you notes you disagree with, think of John Allen and Bill Meléndez. Somebody has to stick to their guns. What better time than when you’re right?