Precious Rascal

My son had his first lesson in heartbreak this week when his...

Fri, 24 May 2013 14:51:32 -0700

My son had his first lesson in heartbreak this week when his preschool ended. He loved that school, but it couldn’t go on forever.

It’s an important life lesson to have—after all, everything comes to an end eventually. As a dad, watching him grow up and learn this lesson was kind of bittersweet.

Haven’t posted anything from my sketchbook in a long...

Thu, 23 May 2013 16:42:16 -0700

Haven’t posted anything from my sketchbook in a long while. I drew these yesterday during lunch. Photoshop ex post facto.

Jake Parker’s Spaceskull. Support his Kickstarter,...

Wed, 22 May 2013 12:47:23 -0700

Jake Parker’s Spaceskull. Support his Kickstarter, dudes!

Animation by Anthony Holden

(can you believe I had to break up this gif into 3 parts? yeesh! see the whole thing in a hi-res loop on vimeo)

Y’all dudes know Jake Parker, right? Comics genius...

Wed, 22 May 2013 11:24:00 -0700

Y’all dudes know Jake Parker, right? Comics genius extraordinaire? Well, he’s launched a kickstarter to print a book of his beautiful ink sketches—and you should get a piece of that action!

Looking at other artists’ sketches is part of what keeps us all inspired, so get yourself some inspiration. If you don’t, Spaceskull will probably decimate your home planet with his laser beam.

Sorry for the crummy imbed. Apparently the mighty Spaceskull cannot be contained by a gif hosted on tumblr.

Parenting is about giving.

Mon, 20 May 2013 07:57:00 -0700

Parenting is about giving.

What are studios looking for? How can I get into a good...

Thu, 16 May 2013 07:44:33 -0700

What are studios looking for? How can I get into a good animation school? What should I be studying?

I get a lot of these types of questions now and again, and I never know how to answer them. I can’t be sure of what studios are looking for, I don’t control admissions policies to schools, and I have little idea what makes for a current and relevant curriculum. There are a lot of variables in your bid for a career in animation, and it’s kind of impossible to control most of them. You must be crazy to want this job!

I find it helpful to focus on the things I can control. Among those things are your study habits and how you spend your personal time. It’s good to work hard and have goals—without them we would get nowhere. Study hard and make decisive strides towards achieving your art goals. But in the heat of that pursuit, don’t forget to go out and live your life!

If you spend any amount of time looking at artists online, you’ve probably figured out by now that there are about a million dudes and dudettes in internetville who draw better than you (I relive this realization daily). Once your have done your best to rise to their level, the only tool you have to compete with these crazy talents is your background, your personal character—is you!

Consider developing your whole self with the same raw focus and intensity that you develop a particular skill set. Get focused. Go out, have adventures. Run, jump, skin your knee, fall in love, root loudly for the away team at a baseball game, barely escape a crash of stampeding rhinos, live to see another day. Experience things big and small. Go for a walk. The world is full of wonders.

I know this advice is not particularly animation-specific, but maybe that’s for the best. At any rate, it is something I feel strongly about. Animation is great, and there are few things that I enjoy doing more than drawing and storytelling. But in order to have stories to tell, first you have to live them.

Be good, and see you soon!

PS, if you were looking for advice on draftsmanship you should probably be reading this.

The Great Migration

Sat, 11 May 2013 01:57:13 -0700

The Great Migration

If you don't mind me asking but how do you manage to raise a family, have a full time job and create all this stuff in the side? That's amazing @-@

Mon, 06 May 2013 10:22:00 -0700

And that’s the story of how I learned to play the ukulele.

Wait. What was the question again?

An illustrated treatise on everyone’s favorite pastime:...

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 22:06:08 -0700

An illustrated treatise on everyone’s favorite pastime: hugging!

ルパン三世へのファンとしての愛情をどういう風に表せばいいかを迷っていたら、やっと考えついた。銭形警部も入れてメインキャラがちょうど...

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 14:21:47 -0700

ルパン三世へのファンとしての愛情をどういう風に表せばいいかを迷っていたら、やっと考えついた。銭形警部も入れてメインキャラがちょうど五人いるんだから短歌にしてみました。コイツとコイツに脅かされてマーべルコミックスのキャラも入れたり。

字余ってないのに、流れ等が短歌らしくないのを悔しく思うが、外人なりにこれ程のものしか作れないと言っとこうかな。

気に入ったのなら是非フェースブックのページをフォローしてください。宜しくお願いします！

Dudes, I love Lupin The Third so much that I took a shot at writing a tanka poem. And I got so inspired by my buddies Jake and Jake that I added Marvel characters into the mix.

And in case you were wondering, here is a rough translation:

O, thou noble thief

Picking a fight with justice

Ever in Training

Require but a single shot

To steal whatever you like

Follow the party on facebook if you haven’t already!

Your art is amazing and you are LDS (I assume from your hourlies post) and that's also amazing!

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 09:36:46 -0700

ONE of these things is true. I am LDS. :)

Dudes and Dudettes, Sorry for the radio silence. I’ve been...

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 16:45:00 -0700

THE BEST PART OF HAVING A SON: GARAGE GUNFIGHTS!

THE BEST PART OF HAVING A DAUGHTER: HAIR STYLIN' TIME!

THE BEST PART OF HAVING A BABY: NEWBORN SMELL!!

Dudes and Dudettes,

Sorry for the radio silence. I’ve been at home with my family spending some quality time with OUR NEW BABY!! I’m back at work now, but I did get to take a couple of weeks of paternity leave which was amazing. You guys, if you haven’t had a baby you should definitely give it a try. I mean after you get married, that is. Let’s not get carried away here. Anyway, babies are seriously the BEST.

Things at home are super busy these days, but I’ll try to check in with new doodles when I can. Until then be good, everyone!

what program do you use to make your animation drawings? they're really well down .

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 22:02:49 -0800

Regular old Photoshop CS6. It’s taken me a little bit to make the switch over from Flash, but I’ve been loving animating in Photoshop, strangely.

Oh, superheroes…you sillies. Hey, did you guys know that...

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 13:24:00 -0800

Oh, superheroes…you sillies.

Hey, did you guys know that super artist Jake Wyatt is doing Marvel fan art for the entire month of March?! Thank your lucky stars, interneters. We’re only a few days into the month, and already there’s THIS, THIS, THIS, and THIS. Request your favorite character—you won’t be sorry (unless you don’t do it, then you will be very, very sorry).

I have this nasty habit of reacting to the exceptional with the absurd. Sorry about that. If you are a true believer, what you should be doing is making your way over to Jake’s Tumblr. If you want to stay for the silly party, then you’re welcome here any time.

Your One Piece gifs are awesome :) Do you ever plan on doing the rest of the Strawhats?

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 10:08:58 -0800

Hey, thanks! I’ve been getting lots of inquiries about this, and the answer is YES! I don’t know when I’ll get to them just yet, since I’m drowning in secret projects right now, and we have a baby coming any day now. But rest assured, the rest of the crew WILL get drawn! :)

Part of my new Project: Around the World in 50 Swords (not...

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 23:45:58 -0800

Part of my new Project: Around the World in 50 Swords (not really)

Seriously though, drawing dudes with swords is like eating rich chocolate for me. Therapeutic and a little bit selfish.

-Anthony Holden

Spent a decent portion of Presidents Day making a cardboard fort...

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 11:18:37 -0800

Spent a decent portion of Presidents Day making a cardboard fort in our garage. I love getting a day off just to play.

My kids are the best.

Hourly Comics Day yesterday, everyone! Hope you all had a super...

Sat, 02 Feb 2013 00:43:00 -0800

Hourly Comics Day yesterday, everyone! Hope you all had a super fun day!

I know this won’t make everything better, but I thought it...

Thu, 31 Jan 2013 11:35:00 -0800

I know this won’t make everything better, but I thought it might help begin the healing process.

I’m still trying some things out. Would y’all dudes...

Tue, 22 Jan 2013 13:05:00 -0800

I’m still trying some things out.

Would y’all dudes buy/read comics that look like this?

Precious Rascal

My son had his first lesson in heartbreak this week when his...

Haven’t posted anything from my sketchbook in a long...

Jake Parker’s Spaceskull. Support his Kickstarter,...

Y’all dudes know Jake Parker, right? Comics genius...

Parenting is about giving.

What are studios looking for? How can I get into a good...

The Great Migration

If you don't mind me asking but how do you manage to raise a family, have a full time job and create all this stuff in the side? That's amazing @-@

An illustrated treatise on everyone’s favorite pastime:...

ルパン三世へのファンとしての愛情をどういう風に表せばいいかを迷っていたら、やっと考えついた。銭形警部も入れてメインキャラがちょうど...

Your art is amazing and you are LDS (I assume from your hourlies post) and that's also amazing!

Dudes and Dudettes, Sorry for the radio silence. I’ve been...

what program do you use to make your animation drawings? they're really well down *.*

Oh, superheroes…you sillies. Hey, did you guys know that...

Your One Piece gifs are awesome :) Do you ever plan on doing the rest of the Strawhats?

Part of my new Project: Around the World in 50 Swords (not...

Spent a decent portion of Presidents Day making a cardboard fort...

Hourly Comics Day yesterday, everyone! Hope you all had a super...

I know this won’t make everything better, but I thought it...

I’m still trying some things out. Would y’all dudes...

what program do you use to make your animation drawings? they're really well down .