Now that On Animation is serving thousands daily, I was hoping I could get some feedback from you guys to help steer the site in the right direction in the coming years. This is the first survey I’ve done, so it will be interesting to see the results. I have some big ideas for the site, but I’d like to hear from you in case they’re delusions of grandeur. Please take a minute to answer the three questions below. The survey will be up here for a week, so make sure you scroll down to see the latest content. For the first question you can choose more than one answer.

I recently realized I didn’t properly introduce our latest blog contributor, Peter Driscoll. Pete’s currently working at Double Negative in England on Andrew Stanton’s, John Carter From Mars. He’s recently been posting up a storm (making me feel even crappier about not properly introducing him), and he brings a fresh perspective to blog from across the pond. I told him he should post his old student reel sometime, but he’s too humble. So here it is:

On Animation currently has three contributors offering a variety of perspectives from England, Canada, and the United States. I’m always interested in hearing from people who would like to join the team and share their inspirations with the community. It’s all about sharing information and enthusiasm for animation and film-making in a positive way. If you can represent the industry from your neck of the woods and add diversity to the blog, drop me an e-mail, and maybe you can contribute too. Students or professionals are welcome, but you must be an artist.

The third book sale has been another huge success. I’ve managed to off load a lot of books I simply wouldn’t have had the time to read again while passing them on to passionate artists and readers of On Animation. Blogging is so cool! While most of the books are gone, there’s still a few gems left. I dropped the prices a bit, so stop by and see if there’s anything there for you.

I’ve decided to invite some artists to contribute to the blog on a regular basis. But before they start posting, I thought I’d introduce them. I’m starting to get a respectable readership (thank you!), and I want to make sure this place continues to inspire people. I have a vision to keep this place positive while giving readers many different perspectives from artists all over the industry. Who knows if that will ever happen, but this is the first step towards that goal. So without further adieu, here’s the first two contributors for On Animation. Give them a warm welcome in the comments section.

Kyle Kenworthy

Kyle Kenworthy is an animator at Schell Games. He’s worked on projects like Toy Story Mania, Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean Online, Disney’s Toontown Online, and he’s currently working on The Mummy Online. I first discovered Kyle’s blog back in January. I just stumbled onto it one day and really enjoyed his Acting Reference posts. I asked Kyle to post some similar content here. He’s a machine with this stuff, and it’s always so inspirational. Kyle’s also an excellent animator, so I’m sure whatever he posts will be right up your alley. Here’s a sampling of his skills:

Michael Ruocco

Michael J. Ruocco is currently a 4th year traditional animation student at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. His name might sound familiar. He’s recently made headlines on many blogs for his passion for the art form. Michael generously shared his recent gem of an eBay find with the community, a rare pencil test of Timothy Mouse from Dumbo. He also created the following side by side comparison of the Disney short, Orphan’s Benefit:

He clearly shares my passion for traditional animation, and as an added bonus he brings to the blog a much needed east coast perspective.

Both artists are extremely passionate and hard working, and post the kind of content I like to read. I’m really excited about seeing what they choose to share with you guys on the blog. I also really want to encourage you to visit both Kyle and Michael‘s blogs. Chances are if you like this blog, you’ll like theirs too.

I have a couple more artists lined up to contribute, but nothing is totally confirmed with them, so I’ll leave their introductions for another post. I’m trying to fill gaps, and get people (that are passionate and willing) to post about topics that are being missed on the animation blog sphere. I’d like to get an international perspective, so I’ll be on the look out for someone to fill that role in the near future. Here’s to the continued success of the blog, and building a passionate community of positive artists.