mike brennan 11/24/22 mike brennan 11/24/22

Capturing Priceless Moments in Time - The 2022 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade!

The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade for me, like many, is a tradition that ushers in not only Thanksgiving day, but the Christmas season. I’ve been watching the iconic parade for as long as I remember. It’s both nostalgic and new, every year.

The parade means “family.” And in recent years with the holidays looking a lot different (due to Covid and personal circumstances) having the normalcy and dependability of the Macy’s parade has been all the more important and special.

I was even fortunate enough one year (in the 90’s) to join some friends to participate as balloon handlers in the parade. We were in charge of Harold the Firefighter. It’s much more difficult than it looks, especially on a windy day when walking through the cross streets. That year we got to be behind the scenes with the likes of Debbie Gibson, John Tesh, and Al Roker as they got into their positions. I was so thankful to have had that once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of being in the parade!

So this year, I decided to employ my illustration skills (and live event sketching) to sketch my way through the 2022 parade. All while sitting on my couch (Thanks NBC & Peacock!)

It was a fast and furious 3-hour (ish) sprint of sketching select participants. The programming is kept tight, so I didn’t have much time to spend on each sketch (maybe 10-15 minutes tops, and the app I was using on my iPad crashed a few times, leaving me to start over on about 5 of them!)

As I worked my way through, sketching helped me to freeze each moment in my mind. Capturing a drawing is a lot different than snapping a photo. Drawing forces you to not just look, but to really see. And when you see, the memories and images are stored deeper.

So please enjoy the following sketches that I created in real-time as the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade aired on Peacock and NBC. Special thanks to all who were involved in a variety of ways (including Ram Trucks & Remo)! You made my 2022 Thanksgiving like a much-needed, warm hug from an old friend.

Hoda Kotb & Savannah Guthrie hosting this year’s parade.

Hoda Kotb & Jeff Gennette (Chief Executive Officer, Macy’s) cutting the ribbon at this year’s parade.

The Lion King is always a crowd-pleaser!

No NYC Macy’s Thanksgiving day parade is complete without the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes! I’ve seen them many times over the years and appreciate their hard work, dedication, and creativity!

My personal favorite, Grogu, from Star Wars / Disney Plus show, the Mandalorian.

There were so many talented marching bands in the parade. Captured here is University of Central Missouri marching band.

Ho, ho, ho.. Green Giant! A brand I have grown up with.

It’s always great to see the Sesame Street crew!

Mickey, Minnie, Goofy - all about the Disney Wish - a dream come true!

Only you can prevent forest fires! Smokey the Bear.

Jimmy Fallon & the Roots rocking the float!

There’s nothing Despicable about Minion Kevin!

Besides Santa himself, nothing ushers in Christmas like Mariah Carey singing “All I want for Christmas is You!”

And to close out the parade every year - the big man himself - Santa Claus! ( I know him!)

Shout out to Carpenter Collective on their stellar design & branding job for this year.

Enjoy this wrap-up video too. See you next year Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade!

Interested in hiring me to live sketch your event or conference? Check out more work here.

mike 1/3/15 mike 1/3/15

Let There Be Light

When I was a kid one of my prized possessions was a Disney light desk from the 1970's. Although it came with pose sheets of different Disney characters I loved to trace over Sunday Comic Strips (remember those?), my marvel Comic Books (yes ruining any value because of indents from tracing) and anything else I could get my hands on (advertisements, junk mail, etc). Mostly I traced Hagar the Horrible, Bloom County (Opus was my favorite), and anything Star Wars related. The act of tracing taught me how to draw lines and form. It was glorious. Unfortunately, I have no idea what happened to that light desk. I suppose it was a victim of growing up.

Enter my second light table. Nothing flashy. As a matter of fact, you had to try to lay things over the hot spot the bulb inside produced. It served me well, but I didn't use it nearly as much as the original of my youth. Truth be told, I have two of these still. I let me kids use them.

And now? I recently upgraded to a fabulous Autograph 12 x 17 LED Light Pad - bright consistent light (The first time I turned it on I felt like I was staring at the sun). I've combined that with my new art table to give me the dream work station. The light pad sits under the glass table top held in place. Always ready at the flick of a switch.

What do I do with it?

Here's an example: I take some digital line drawings I have created on the iPad and print them out. I then take the print out and place it on the Light-pad and trace over on top of whatever painted background I have previously created. Pretty simple, yet very effective.

So now you know. And knowing is half the battle. Now where have I heard that before?