The first drawing is an original Steve Hillenburg note on the storyboard. The second is my storyboard cleanup drawing. I was also trying to match the style of Sherm Cohen's incredible drawings from this sequence. #spongebob #pencilsketch #animation #spongebobmovie #cartoon

Some clown designs from season 12 episode "The Mural of the Story". The moment when Steve realizes that his clown teacher is going to be Roger is one of my favorites in 20 years of working on this show. #americandad #clown #animation #characterdesign #cartoon

Thumbnails from season 1 ep "Finances With Wolves". This was my last episode as an Assistant Director and my only collaboration with the handsome and powerful Albert Calleros who Directed this episode. Fun times! #americandad #stevesmith #storyboard #thumbnails #animation #cartoonart

By special request, here is the pants spread from the "Mr. FancyPants" Little Golden Book. Y'all seem to enjoy seeing the process, so here is the ruff and tight phases of creating this. #spongebob #littlegoldenbooks #cartoon #fancypants #illustrationart

Storyboard panels from "The Sponge Who Could Fly" in season 3. This sequence is some of my favorite work I ever did on the show. #spongebob #jellyfish #undies #storyboards #pencildrawing #animation

Crazy crunch time working on the American Dad 400th episode! Here is a weird little spider monkey to keep you company until I can come up with something better to post. #inkdrawing #doodle #humanart

Here's an oddity. I had to design a tower constructed of dead animals. Couple days of labor here. #americandad #noanimalswereharmed #cartoon #animation

A page from "Mr. FancyPants", my first Little Golden Book. Tragically out of print, but still available on kindle. #spongebob #littlegoldenbooks #mrkrabs #illustrationart #humanart

Here are the rest of the cozy "Good Night Lagoon" sketches. I didn't illustrate the book, but I helped with the character poses and models. Egregiously uncredited! #spongebob #digitalsketch #cozy #freelancelife

This is a promotional back cover that ran on DC comics in 2019. They released a bunch of them with lenticular covers that had a really cool 3D effect. #americandad #rogerthealien #klausheissler #stevesmith #comicbookcover #cartoon #baseball

One of our longtime comrades at work had a baby and I drew this up for the crew to sign. Guess what kind of music he likes! #rogerthealien #americandad #metalaf #littlegoldenbooks #childbirth

Storyboards! I did a brief tour of duty on Penguins in 2008 – maybe 8 months? We had a crazy schedule (note the scruffy drawings) but it was really fun to work on. This is from the episode "Miracle On Ice". #penguins #penguinsofmadagascar #storyboard #animatic #animation

Hey look what I found! This is my original sketch for the iconic season 3 press art. I drew and cleaned up the character. The BG was painted by Art Director Nick Jennings. #spongebob #cartoon #animation #classic #pencilsketch

Here is the original art for this coloring book cover. This is back when I was still painting BGs with acrylic paint. 2002! I think I was still working on the show at the time. #spongebob #hashslingingslasher #humanart #cartoon #illustration #acrylicpaint

Here's a quick batch of Francine designs from seasons past. #americandad #francine #francinesmith #cartoon #soccermom #animation #characterdesign

This is an old illustration for a personal project I've been working on for many years. I painted this shortly before I learned that Dimetrodon didn't have scales, haha. Oops! #digitalpaint #dimetrodon #paleoart #illustration #beautifulsmile

This is a character I designed for a sketch comedy pilot that never went anywhere. He was interacting with a live action character. I even got to do the voice which was fun. #cartoon #characterdesign #animation #humanart

Here's a cover for a special SpongeBob issue of Nickelodeon Magazine. My original sketch had grumpier eyes. I think the change was a good one! #spongebob #patrickstar #nickelodeonmagazine #cartoon #animation

Couple of ancient Sandy Cheeks style guide poses. Pencil drawings circa 2007. #spongebob #sandycheeks #surfing #pencilsketch #humanart

Here's another "blink and you miss it" batch of designs. A nice Halloweeny post. These are from the ZOINCS episode from season 18 and are only on screen for a second or two. #americandad #characterdesign #monster #halloween #dracula #wolfman

My assignment for this was "ugly British tourist girls". That was a fun day of work! From the season 5 episode "Return of the Bling". (post 2 of 2) #americandad #britishgirl #cartoon #animation

My assignment for this was "ugly British tourist girls". That was a fun day of work! From the season 5 episode "Return of the Bling". (post 1 of 2) #americandad #britishgirl #cartoon #animation

Here's another classic! I did the original sketch for this but I couldn't find it. There are other color versions of this pose out in the wild that I didn't do, but this particular painted version is mine. His model has gotten cuter over the years! #spongebob #animation #cartoon #digitalpaint

A page from "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" Little Golden Book. I had to illustrate this before the movie came out and they wouldn't give me a copy to watch. A very strange and frustrating experience! #littlegoldenbooks #starwars #illustrationoftheday #humanart #theforceawakens #bb8

I only ever did a handful of Squidward poses for the style guide. Here are a couple early ones. Actual graphite pencil on actual paper! The originals are probably still in my filing cabinet somewhere. #spongebob #squidward #animation #cartoon #pencilsketch #humanart

<loud whisper> RICKY SPANISH...If you are lucky enough to work on shows that generate a fan base, eventually you discover that people out there have tattoos of your characters on their bodies! #americandad #rickyspanish #tattooideas #cartoon #characterdesign

This is a proud moment! I started working on SpongeBob in fall of 1999. Four of my students just worked on the CG for the recent episode "Go Fetch!" Congrats to Jack Gatto, Anthony Syracuse, Lucas Santos, Geoff Roberts. Great job guys! #spongebob #CGartist #animation #legacy #daemenuniversity

When my daughter was 3 she started telling me about her pink baby crocodile friend named Rosie. So one night I made Rosie out of sculpey. Within 10 days, Rosie was lost and has never been found. Still out there somewhere. Stay safe Rosie! #sculpey #lost #cutebabyanimals #crocodile #characterdesign

This is an old sketch that I've always wanted to do more with. Happy October! #pumpkin #pencilsketch #characterdesign #spooky #humanart

Illustrations from a boardgame where your character has contracted a hideous disease. The timing of this could not have been worse – right before the pandemic! It did get some online playtest, but I don't think it ever went into production. #digitalpaint #cartoon #illustration #boardgame #gross

A couple of storyboard panels from season 3. I had a lot of fun drawing the scene in the grocery store. This was right before the original run ended <sob!>. These two panels are pretty much self portrait of me then vs now, haha. #spongebob #oldschool #storyboard #cartoon #pencildrawing #humanart

This is a funny one. The first image is my original color version. But they kinda panicked when they saw how blue he was. They REALLY wanted him bright yellow to catch people's eye on the magazine rack. I still like the blue one better! #spongebob #caveman #magazinecover #cartoon #illustration

A pen and inkwash drawing from many ages ago. It's so hard to get this kind of loose feeling from digital. With robots taking over much of the digital imagemaking I feel like I need to get back into working with natural media. #penandink #rooster #humanart #drawing #handdrawn

Mobsters from S16 episode "The Book of Jeff". We had to create a unique vibe for each of 3 different mobster families. Essentially we landed on sunglasses, tracksuits and suits for the 3 groups. #americandad #characterdesign #mobster #mafia #cartoon

Here is the opening shot BG from my final student film at CalArts (1999). I've always geeked out over cool 2D perspective cheats so I tried several here. Still proud of how it turned out! #animation #bgdesign #perspective #studentfilm #calarts

This fake old-timey comic book cover was created for a special issue of Nickelodeon Magazine. Whenever I study these old styles it gives me new respect for the artists who worked before digital. You really had to know your stuff back then! #spongebob #comicbook #oldtimey #cartoon #digitalink

Roger drop! Someday I will run out of Roger designs to post. But today is not that day! #rogersmith #rogerthealien #americandad #personas #cartoon #animation

Triple Gooberberry Sunrise! Some BTS storyboard drawings from The SpongeBob Movie. The BG was changed completely. Not sure if these exact poses made it into the final version. #spongebob #storyboarding #pencilsketch #humanart #cartoon #animation

Hey look, I made an original piece! I can't tell you much about this guy except that he's the lead singer in a band. Inspired by multiple people. Been messing with this image for over 6 years. Some sketches refuse to be ignored! #rockandroll #digitalpainting #cartoon #characterdesign #humanart

A page from my "Mr FancyPants" Little Golden Book. White space is one of the great joys of working in this style. I played with the shape design of the boat for hours. I can be weird that way! #spongebob #squidward #littlegoldenbooks #illustrationart #digitalillustration #picoftheday

From the Little Golden Book "Winter Lights" based on the Dinosaur Train episode. It took me a while to figure out how to create the aurora effects in this style.#dinosaurtrain #auroraborealis #littlegoldenbooks #illustration #dinosaur

Happy Oktoberfest! Here are some family redresses from season 16. Always fun to do research on costumes like these. #americandad #oktoberfest #lederhosen #stansmith #francinesmith #hayleysmith #stevesmith #characterdesign #animation

Some tight sketches for the book "Goodnight Lagoon". I didn't do the final color for this book, but I helped with the posing and models. Scandalously uncredited! I really like these cosy little poses. #spongebob #bedtimestory #cozy #cartoon #digitalsketch

A spot illustration from the season 5 vol 2 DVD box set. Painted digitally in 2008. This is my favorite image from the set. #spongebob #dvdboxset #animation #illustration #cartoon #schoolpictures

Government efficiency! For a CIA meeting about an important surveillance mission, they painted a detailed renaissance fresco of the plans on the ceiling. From American Dad season 15 episode "Russian Doll". #americandad #fresco #renaissance #cartoon #animation #doge

A couple of "SpongeBob playing Rugby" drawings from the style guide. Drawn digitally. From 2009 I think. #spongebob #rugby #cartoon #animation #digitaldrawing #patrickstar

A few entertaining klaus variations. Dee Bradley Baker is a treasure! I've been in the room with him for probably more than 100 table reads. We rarely do them in person anymore, but I got to see him at our 400th table read in May. #americandad #klausheissler #klaus #deebradleybaker #animation

Some Little Golden Books fun. This is from Krabby Patty Caper based on the second SpongeBob Movie. So sad to see that this one is now out of print. #spongebob #mrkrabs #squidward #littlegoldenbooks #illustrationart #plankton #bubble

This is a sequence I storyboarded for COSMOS in 2018. It's about Alexander Shargei whose theories made the moon landings possible. There were zero designs for this when I did the boards so I came up with everything from scratch! #cosmos #science #storyboard #retrofuture #animation2d #moonlanding