The Lincoln Log

Rick at his private home studio in Los Angeles. (Image courtesy of ricklaw.net)

If you look behind the wonderful world of Disney, you’ll find artist Rick Law. Law has worked on the covers of Disney classics such as Mickey’s Once Upon A Christmas, Lion King 2: Simba’s Pride, and The Rescuers Down Under.

Law, 34 years old, has been drawing every since he can remember, and his earliest memory is drawing a stick figure sketch of Superman in kindergarten.

“The first time you realize, ‘Hey, I can get paid for this stuff I do’ it’s probably a pretty pivotal moment in any artist’s career,” Law said.

Law never made any specific plans to be an artist. Law enjoys drawing a lot, so it only sounds right to make a career out of it.

“It also always seemed to make more sense to try and seek out a career where I could get paid to do what I enjoyed,” Law said.

Law had his first paid job at the age of 17, to design a set of logos for a real estate company. Each of Law’s jobs created different challenges such as tight deadlines, excessive changes requested, and personality conflicts with others.

“You have to remember that your artwork is there to serve the client though, and ultimately they are the ones who are calling the shots,” Law said. Law graduated from High School early and he was never able to experience prom or graduating on stage. At the time, he felt it was a big sacrifice, but now he has no regrets, because the time was spent in other pursuits.

“I don’t know if anything can be considered a sacrifice when you are single-minded toward achieving a goal… You don’t really miss those things you gave up, because they tend to be evened-out by the other experiences,” Law said.

Law went to California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, California, for college.

Law’s most enjoyable job so far had been with the Disney Company, mainly because he’s been working with them for so long. Law started working for Disney in 1993 part-time, and by 1997 he was working with Disney fulltime. Law’s primary work with Disney is with their Home Entertainment division. Law’s team provides creative advertising for the covers of Disney’s DVD’s and Home Videos. Law has worked with famous people such as Steven Spielberg; an award winning director, known mostly for his work on Jaws, Catch Me If You Can, Jurassic Park, the Indiana Jones movies, and lots more. He has also worked with Amy Grant, the best-selling Christian singer in the world, and Roy Disney, who’s related to Walt Disney, and is the vice chairman and head of the animation department in the Walt Disney Company.

“My favorite person to work with, by far, has to be Mickey Mouse,” Law jokingly said. Law is working on up-coming DVD movies such as Bambi Special Edition, as well as the Incredibles and Mulan 2.

“We are just starting in on The Little Mermaid Special Edition so you can look for that to be released closer to next Christmas,” Law said.

Law has one very important advice for future artists: “DRAW! Draw, draw, draw. Oh, and then when you are done, go draw some more.”