T Rex

Brontosaurus

Bear & Frog

Let it snow!

Cat on a unicycle

I created some concepts for a Kelly Clarkson project.
This sketch was never used, but was one of my
favorites, so here it is in it's full color glory!

Dog on a sidewalk

Bear on a park bench

Purple Bear

Sketch style

Some images that I did for a Jimmy Fallon
project that didn't get a green light,
but were fun to work on nonetheless...

Remember these? Are they even still around?

Apparently you can't light birthday candles in government buildings

Flowers and Birds

Flying

Old woman quick sketch

Smack in the Middle 6.13.15

Hey all. I'm finally heading over to Tumbler. Check out my new site here: http://jeffharter.tumblr.com. I will continue to post here.  As always, thanks for visiting!

Potato and French Fries

Written by Scott Mendenhall © American Greetings
See more at http://jeffharter.tumblr.com

Willie the Welder

I created this character design in visiting Pixar artist Chris Sasaki's character workshop at American Greetings. It's a combo of collage - cut out shapes from magazines, as well as some photoshop touch up.

So the story behind this character is… this is Willie the Welder. Willie is a rather hardworking turtle. He grew up in the middle of the extremely energetic and densely populated borough of Manhattan. On the other hand, he gets his energy from peace and quiet. He also has a really hard time coming out of his protective shell, or letting others inside. He used to be afraid of heights, but it's far better than dealing with the alternative below him. It's a tenuous balance between fear and comfort, but he now feels more at ease assembling even bigger shells high atop the steel beams of a sky scraper construction site. It's as far away from others and as close to solitude as he can possibly get.

Yikes! It's been a while. Here is some recent magic...

Meeting Notes 1.13.15

Smack in the Middle by Jeff Harter, 9.23.14

Morrow Point, Adirondacks

A quick sketch from the boat house on Morrow Point.

 

The lodge...

American Meetings

We have a lot of meetings at American Greetings, more so than ever. 

Hence the name American Meetings.

Father's Day

A few new father's day cards that I illustrated for ©American Greetings, written by Scott Mendenhall.

Focus Group

I attended a focus group this week.
A few of the many interesting characters that participated... 

Packages from Planet X (The idea)

The idea for Packages from Planet X came about after several weeks of research and revisiting what I liked as a 10 year old kid: Sci-fi, comic books, Super Heroes, Robots, Space Ships, Aliens, monsters, and anything to do with Outer Space. I did a bunch of research on Planet X which had an interesting mythology...  a mysterious roving planet inhabited by ancient aliens. So there was this nugget of an idea, but it needed more thought. I put Planet X in my mental parking lot and waited for something to connect it to later...

While flipping through some comic books for ideas, I came across one of those old novelty toy ads in between the superhero action... think X-Ray vision glasses and the Surprise Package.  What exactly was in that package?  For fifty cents, it was no doubt something really cheap. But what could be in that package? What if they came from some place really bizarre? What if they came from a place like... Planet X?  That's when the concept came together. 

I initially envisioned PFPX as a feature animated film, so the designs were less cartoony. Dan was much younger, average and nerdy. I liked the idea that he was not a hero, but he had the potential to be heroic. Most kids are that kid, so it's relatable. Dan's character evolved from there. Above are some of my early attempts at finding Dan...

The direction changed a few times. The designs became more heroic and Sci-fi.

Here is a younger Dan with a vest that came in one of the packages. Maybe it had certain powers... I turned the vest pockets at angles to form a subtle "X."

Below is an older version of Dan. We narrowed in on this version for a while.
I also added the subtle "X" to his shoes. From the side they look like upside down "V's,"
but from the top they also formed an "X."

Some early versions of Dan with Troll, who is Dan's best bud.

My initial version of Amanda (below)

Early on, there were two rival comic shop owners dueling over the Packages from Planet X. One (below) acted as the antagonist trying to get his hands on the packages for "not so good purposes," while the other acted as a mentor to Dan, Troll and Amanda. We narrowed down to having just one comic shop owner named Gary, who was clueless about the packages, but gave Dan and Troll advice from a comic world view. His wacky advice based on issue 108 of the X-men, for example, sometimes helped our trio solve the latest dilemma. Both characters were inspired by comic shop owners from my home town, particularly Gary, who was the owner during the time I frequented the store to buy my monthly dose of the Uncanny X-men and other favorites. Both characters were eventually dropped from the line-up. Rather than having dueling comic shop owners, they became rival scientists (Uncle Rory and Copernicus.)

The character below started out as a somewhat creepy and unsettling Tiki that would just silently "be there" in the background at the most unexpected and opportune times, which always startled Dan. Initially the first package from Planet X, he was the "instruction manual" for the packages delivered in a monotone Tibetan Monk-like voice. I thought it would be a cool and even funny alternative to the overused and sometimes annoying comic relief sidekick e.g. Jar Jar Binks (the absolute worse ever).  Tiki evolved into a totem pole with three distinct personalities that always gave conflicting advice. Hence the name Thriki. He was ultimately replaced by the character CuRT.

Father Time

Another funny card written by the funny writers 

at American Greetings, embellished by me. 

© American Greetings

Meow.

Meow. That's all I got.