Thursday, September 30, 2010
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Daily Post: A New Beast, and Some Thoughts on Disney Past and Present, Pixar, and Chomet
Reminds me of some sort of Disney interpreted Winnie the Pooh character. Sort of.
Some Thoughts on Disney Past and Present, Pixar, and Chomet
Been looking at a lot of Disney lately. The Jungle Book isn't as good as I remember it, The Aristocats is quite a bit better, including just the general design (love the backgrounds!)--I can understand why Chomet is a fan--Pinochio is a feat of craft. Can't wait for Chomet's The Illusionist. Chomet is out-Disneying Disney, at least Disney prior to the very early 70s. Can't wait for The Illusionist.
As for the 70s: As much as I like The Rescuers it was the beginning of the more budget conscious movies that followed. No more Pinochios! The true star of The Rescuers is Madam Medusa, a descendant in spirit of Cruella Deville, both animated by the great Marc Davis.
The true beginning of the end, though, was The Little Mermaid. All the subtlety and naturalism of the Disney of the past was lost in favor of fast-paced action and rapid, squirrelly movement that doesn't resemble anything remotely in nature, and the music became even more annoying. Once Phil Collins was brought in to do the soundtrack for the completely unrecognizable Tarzan they had truly reached their nadir, but somehow they continued to be more successful than ever as parents began to babysit their kids with multiple viewings of every film from the Disney catalog, particularly the lame new stuff. Disney's concept art was still done by some fantastic folks, but like a lot of concept art, Mary Blair in particular, the concepts never quite reached the screen.
Disney and its imitators have also been trapped in the Disney look, basing all their character designs on earlier Disney characters, neglecting to see the visual evolution in the Disney character designs that took place in between Snow White and 101 Dalmatians. Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, all borrowed the appearance of their characters from earlier princesses and animals animated with a quality of craftsmanship the new characters could never match. They even managed to screw up Gerald Scarfe's character designs for Hercules! Once again the concept art never reached the screen.
Right now Pixar is the best we've got going in the states with some solid storytelling, but CGI has never quite overcome it's sense of sterility. Pixar right now is also producing the best concept art, and I recommend checking out any of the "Art of" Pixar books to see what I mean. Now only if they they could somehow translate the life in those drawings onto the screen. CGI can't accommodate the life in a drawing, but that doesn't mean there isn't hope for the medium. It continues to improve, and then there's always Chomet!
Some Thoughts on Disney Past and Present, Pixar, and Chomet
Been looking at a lot of Disney lately. The Jungle Book isn't as good as I remember it, The Aristocats is quite a bit better, including just the general design (love the backgrounds!)--I can understand why Chomet is a fan--Pinochio is a feat of craft. Can't wait for Chomet's The Illusionist. Chomet is out-Disneying Disney, at least Disney prior to the very early 70s. Can't wait for The Illusionist.
As for the 70s: As much as I like The Rescuers it was the beginning of the more budget conscious movies that followed. No more Pinochios! The true star of The Rescuers is Madam Medusa, a descendant in spirit of Cruella Deville, both animated by the great Marc Davis.
The true beginning of the end, though, was The Little Mermaid. All the subtlety and naturalism of the Disney of the past was lost in favor of fast-paced action and rapid, squirrelly movement that doesn't resemble anything remotely in nature, and the music became even more annoying. Once Phil Collins was brought in to do the soundtrack for the completely unrecognizable Tarzan they had truly reached their nadir, but somehow they continued to be more successful than ever as parents began to babysit their kids with multiple viewings of every film from the Disney catalog, particularly the lame new stuff. Disney's concept art was still done by some fantastic folks, but like a lot of concept art, Mary Blair in particular, the concepts never quite reached the screen.
Disney and its imitators have also been trapped in the Disney look, basing all their character designs on earlier Disney characters, neglecting to see the visual evolution in the Disney character designs that took place in between Snow White and 101 Dalmatians. Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, all borrowed the appearance of their characters from earlier princesses and animals animated with a quality of craftsmanship the new characters could never match. They even managed to screw up Gerald Scarfe's character designs for Hercules! Once again the concept art never reached the screen.
Right now Pixar is the best we've got going in the states with some solid storytelling, but CGI has never quite overcome it's sense of sterility. Pixar right now is also producing the best concept art, and I recommend checking out any of the "Art of" Pixar books to see what I mean. Now only if they they could somehow translate the life in those drawings onto the screen. CGI can't accommodate the life in a drawing, but that doesn't mean there isn't hope for the medium. It continues to improve, and then there's always Chomet!
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Daily Post: A Rabbit Sort of Thing
I do these from my imagination, sans reference, so apparently I have some vague idea what rabbit anatomy looks like, as this does seem to resemble in some ways a perverse version of the animal.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Friday, September 24, 2010
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Monday, September 20, 2010
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Friday, September 17, 2010
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Daily Post: Tiny Blue Bird Painting
A tiny blue bird painting (pictured a little larger than actual size) done for a "tiny" themed show at the Pence Gallery a while back.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Daily Post: Santa sketches
These are for a Christmas mailer in progress.
Santa coming to town,
Santa leaving town...
Santa coming to town,
Santa leaving town...
Monday, September 13, 2010
Bonus Daily Post: Student Work
These are my favorite irises, bearded irises. I did this as a student, so it doesn't really count as "new work" which is why you get two posts today. The original drawing is pretty huge and done from life, about 24x30 or so. Now I'd just rather draw from photos in my studio and not be damp, though I still occasionally take a sketchbook with me when I travel. I drew this in pencil and inked it at home in crow quill.
Daily Post: Travolta Monster
Last night Reg and I saw the first ten minutes or so of this really horrible John Travolta CIA movie in which right away the characters started doing very badly written un-CIA-like things. We were proud of ourselves for turning it off, but before we did I drew this bald John Travolta with a goatee monster (his look in the film). It doesn't look much like John Travolta but I think it caught the spirit of his character in the film.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
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