Joshua Menas

On Thursday, my wife asked me if I wanted to meet her at the theater after work to see ParaNorman. I was like, "Hell ya!" ParaNorman is pretty special... well written and beautifully animated. I love the organic nature of stop-motion animation and Laika isn't afraid to push the handcrafted feel in their films. Character designs aren't perfectly symmetrical. Backgrounds and objects are slightly skewed. I think my favorite scenes in this film to look at were the least fantastical. The lighting, colors, and textures make these scenes feel like ordinary life, but there is so much fun distorted craftsmanship to keep your eyes entertained. The incredible amount of energy, care, and artistry that went into this film is apparent. Keep up the good work, Laika!

I did these illustrations and this animatic for a Tongal pitch I submitted a while back. It wasn't selected for the final round, but I might finish the animation some day...

I illustrated a few backgrounds recently for a scenario driven e-Learning course. This is my favorite of the bunch...

I'm a fan of Genndy Tartakovsky and I recently read a good article on the LA Times website about his directorial approach to Hotel Transylvania. I'm looking forward to seeing the movie now and I illustrated this poster featuring Mavis to tide me over until it's out in theaters...

Here are some sketches I did in Bamboo Paper on the iPad... probably my favorite app for quick sketches.