Background pan from ONCE UPON A WINTERTIME, a segment from Disney's MELODY TIME (1948). Art Riley is listed as background artist, with Don Griffith and Al Zinnen as layout artists. The art direction and styling is clearly Mary Blair. #wardsmorguefile

Here's a beautiful cover to Ford Farming magazine by Charley Harper (1957). I've never seen this one before (and believe me, I've been following Charley's career for like, forever) so it's like a late Christmas for me discovering this. Love it. #wardsmorguefile #moreartlessdoom

I've had a hand drawn animated short film project in perpetual holding pattern for over 15 years. Here's some expressions I drew of the main character from 2018. *sigh* Some day, some day....

Romare Bearden, Martin Luther King, Jr.-Mountain Top, 1968

Alice & Martin Provensen - from The Iliad & the Odyssey (1956). #wardsmorguefile #moreartlessdoom

For the next book I illustrate, I'm seriously thinking of making the publishers put "The artwork in this book was created entirely by hand, digitally, with absolutely no use of gen AI."

From La Montagne (1966) - illustrated by Alain Grée. #wardsmorguefile #moreartlessdoom

When young artists are starting out, there’s a tendency to “find your career”, when in reality your career finds you. And to add on this: your career will be filled with pivots. The more you accept this, the more at ease you’ll be.

“Can he learn ai?” - a relative of mine when my mom mentioned that work is slow for me. Oh, bless their heart. *sigh*

This month marks 30 years of me working in the animation industry, as an animation intern at DesignEFX, in Atlanta, GA. This is the 2D animation department of DesignEFX, a design division of Crawford Communications. I'm in the back, wearing a cap (a rare sighting, lol).

I did art direction on this! Really cool to see my work come to life by the animators at Ace & Son.

From Better Homes & Gardens: Christmas Ideas, 1956. Illustrator: Roy Mathews. This scan is from my own vintage magazine collection. #wardsmorguefile #moreartlessdoom

'Tis the Season! Vintage Christmas wrapping paper - beautiful designs to help you get in the fun, festive mood. Enjoy! #wardsmorguefile

Okay. So, I want to love this poster beyond anything I've seen from Hollywood these days, but I'm so afraid to do any "digging" (see what I did there) to find out who did the design. And when I say 'afraid' I mean 'find out that stupid ai was used.'

12 year-olds. Our country is being run by a bunch of 12 year-old soulless adults

Hmm. Can't seem to get this customer to sign off on a commission I did for them of their family. Hair color is so tricky for non-artist types because observed color (through photos) might not always match with hair color IRL and they can't fully grasp that maybe color is subjective at times. Ugh. 🙃

Disney studio Christmas card for 1959. By now, the quintessential symbol of the Disney studio is Sleeping Beauty's castle at Disneyland. #wardsmorguefile

This was what we did to get a job, kids. Send (mail) off your demo reels to every studio that you knew of. And you had to make sure you sent it to the right department and/or person who was doing the hiring.

We are living in the dumbest timeline - beyond Idiocracy levels

DISNEY Studio Christmas cards throughout the years! Here's the one given out in 1949. Front of card by a studio artist (no mention), with the interior calendar design & roughs by John Hench and final art by Mary Blair. #wardsmorguefile

I loved this pilot when it aired on CN! Had it recorded and would watch it whenever I wanted to be inspired. Such great art direction and character design. ✨🙌✨

The rising fervor over the use of AI by companies (anyone, for that matter) reminds me of the extreme excitement and FOMA over the use of nuclear energy back in the 1950s and 60s. Everyone was so gungho over this new! technological! advancement! It was all ATOMIC! ENERGY! NOW! But then...*poof* 🤷‍♂️

Years ago, after doing some deep searching for vintage children's book art, I found a collector who had acquired most of the original artwork of J. P. Miller's The Brave Little Tailor, a LGB from 1953. Fantastic work. Here's the cover. The original art is in the following 🧵... #wardsmorguefile

Re: the 4k Mad Men/HBO max fiasco puke scene surely there’s an AI art slop joke in there

Czech poster for TOUT L’OR DU MONDE (1961) illustrated by Adolf Born. #wardsmorguefile #moreartlessdoom

Back in 2012 I co-directed a PSA feat. the NBA & NRDC (National Resources Defence Council) - promoting the league going green. I designed all the characters and BGs, which were actually influenced by M. Sasek. The PSA was shown during the championship finals that year. Here's a few screenshots:

Beautiful illustrations by Helen Sewell for The Thanksgiving Story by Alice Dalgliesh (1954). Helen won the Caldecott Honor for her work done on this book - a rather unfortunate & outdated tale of the first thanksgiving between the Pilgrims and Native Americans. #wardsmorguefile #moreartlessdoom

I've always felt that "a good turn of phrase" is actually a good turn of phrase.

Sometimes I wonder just who is this person from 1986? I don’t see the person I am, but then again, I can’t not see it.

A good memory Still cries at a good film Still kisses with saliva No longer empty and frantic Like a cat Tied to a stick That's driven into Frozen winter shit The ability to laugh at weakness Calm Fitter, healthier and more productive A pig In a cage On antibiotics

SPACE CASE: THE GRAPHIC NOVEL seen out in the wild! Always a thrill to see the book in establishments you love & respect. Ava sent me these shots - 1st one is in Powell’s and the 2nd is in Cosmic Monkey. Such an honor to have my hard-earned work reside on these treasured shelves. Thank you. ✨🙌✨

The "hard angle" is definitely a challenge, but it helps to have some experience as a hand drawn animator. We had to draw character poses and expressions from every conceivable angle - hard or otherwise - to make sure we got the character down. This is Dash from Space Case: The Graphic Novel.

When I was in 9th grade I made my very first animated short. It was for a school project and I was 14 years old. Drawn on 146 4x6 cards and shot on 8mm film.

Does anyone want to check out some new music? I like sharing stuff. Here's some songs I've been digging lately. open.spotify.com/playlist/7l6...

Shout out to my mom, who’s recently taken with great delight in sharing with me various “did you know” trivia anecdotes about the animation industry (most of it early Disney and Fleischer Studios) like I’ve never studied & read about this stuff for days on end like it was my livelihood.

Modelsheets of various characters for All the Cats Joined In segment from Disney's MAKE MINE MUSIC (1946) - characters designed by Freddie Moore. #wardsmorguefile #moreartlessdoom

“Get with the program - this is the future!” 🤷🏻‍♂️ With the lack of creative jobs increasingly fewer and fewer, the future will look like shit. We are entering the Age of AI Slop. “Just get used to it!” 🤷🏻‍♂️

Animated this short bit for a Nick ID, with SpongeBob popping up and making a face. In my files it’s listed as “NICK-SPLAT”. Probably 2001-02? #spongebob #spongebobsquarepants #nickelodeon

Found a box of a lot of my Primal Screen work. Early 2000s stuff. Hmm…what should I share first?

Hello? I'm Ward Jenkins, an illustrator who loves drawing picture books, graphic novels, comics, and has done storyboards for various TV shows. I love maps, historical fiction, sci-fi & animation. Rep'd by Jennifer Laughran (literaticat.bsky.social). Hit me up! wardjenkins.com #kidlitartpostcard

Now playing: Sounds to Make You Shiver! This is the original record I owned from when I was a kid. You can see where I put my name on it (and on the label on the record itself) in marker for when I brought it to school one Halloween. I’m guessing I was in 3rd or 4th grade. Cover by Frank Daniel.

I’m this close to spray painting a wall near our house with the words: SERIOUSLY DONALD WHAT THE HELL

Of course you’ve heard of Bohemian Rhapsody but have you heard of

Two of the best bumper stickers I've seen in a while. To those of you who get the John Cage reference: ✨🙌✨

You Have Not Converted a Man Because You Have Silenced Him - poster by Ben Shahn (1969). #wardsmorguefile #moreartlessdoom

NO KINGS NO AI NO KINGS USING AI

Ohhhh you guyssss ☺️

Melissa is an INCREDIBLE editor! I had the honor of editing beside her at Chronicle for over 15 years. Unagented children’s book creators: Do not miss this submission opportunity!✨

Psst! I am opening up to unagented children's book submissions *just for the month of October*! This is an exciting experiment. The email to send submissions to is [email protected]. You can find out about what I'm looking for at www.manuscriptwishlist.com/mswl-post/me...