A few of the many studies from today. I studied the Animation Kit model sheets Michael Sporn posted recently. My focus was to draw a lot faster than usual, and really focus on flow. As a result, these look like shit.

As I get more and more into drawing, I’m naturally geeking out on all sort of comics. Here’s some super fun animation by legendary comic artist Milt Gross. Make sure you pre-order his book too.

Before you get all excited, no, I don’t have a bunch of Bill Peet art to post. I do wish there were an Art of Bill Peet book out there. The man certainly deserves one, and I’d snatch it up right away. I guess well just have to wait, but were not stranded. To enjoy Bill Peet’s draughtsmanship we need look no further than his library of children’s books. These are a treasure trove of inspiration that leaves me imagining myself as a story artist rather than an animator. I had the good fortune to see some of Bill Peet’s original story work from Dumbo at the Vancouver Art Gallery last year, and I was blown away. So while I sit and wait for a nice shiny tome devoted to this deserving artistic genius, I will continue completing my collection of his children’s books to admire. I can see myself reading these to my kids some day.

Charles Soloman looks to be working on a very long overdue Art Of book for Beauty and the Beast. I have a lot of production art for the movie already, but it’s likely the tip of the iceberg. I hope we get to see more of Glen Keane’s exploratory sketches for The Beast. He mentioned his process of the finding the character in his interview with AnimationPodcast.com, and I’m hoping to have a visual companion to that wonderfully insightful interview. Click here to view and pre-order your copy. I always found it weird that they never released an Art Of book for that film seeing as it was so special at the time as far as the “Animation Renaissance” was concerned. There’s actually an Art Of book for every film of that era BUT Beauty and the Beast. So I’m super excited for this one.

Click here to view my Beauty and the Beast production art post.

Another oddity I found in the same browsing session on Amazon was that it looks like Pixar is re-releasing the Art of Toy Story. Likely to coincide with Toy Story 3. I already have this book, but I didn’t pay no $26 for mine, it was more expensive seeing as it was out of print. It’s a great addition to any animation library, but more for the history that the art.

Check out this video over at AWNtv. I don’t know if any of the previous features or trailers for this movie has pysched me up about animation more. I think I spotted Mario in their too.

http://www.awntv.com/videos/the-princess-and-the-frog-featurette

What’s the best thing about birthdays? Guilt-free indulgence in unhealthy foods of course! But a definite bonus is the gifts! Here’s what my friends and family bestowed on me this year (relevant to this blog):

The Art of Up- It was so hard to hold off on buying this. These are usually pre-ordered months ahead of time. Actually…this was, but then I cancelled it cause my birthday was coming up

Walt’s People Volumes 1-7 by Didier Ghez – Very cool. These have been on my “Books to Buy” list forever. There’s always some shiny fancy art book that puts these on the back burner, so I’m so thankful someone thought to get all of these for me this year. Nothing psyches me up to get to work like reading about animation history. I dug right into volume one and I’m almost finished. I can’t wait to get to the rest. I might read an interview before I get to work every day as a way of getting the inspiration I need. I would be remiss if I didn’t send you to Didier Ghez’s website. Go now!

Animation Desk! – That’s right! My girlfriend and her dad built this for me. How cool is that? I got a full metal Cartoon Colour disc, and a 16F Plexi back-up (seen under the desk). The lighting system under the hood is totally professional, and I’ve got lots of room to stack my scenes. I guess they saw me hunting around eBay and Craigslist for months looking for one. How thoughtful, what a gift. Now I must do it justice, back to work!

So my birthday is coming up soon (June 20th). When this happens I always reflect on my accomplishments of the past year, and I’m usually very critical of myself. This year I’m pretty happy. This is has been the most productive year of my life, and I’ve never worked harder. Sometimes I think it has something to do with how the year started. This is what I did on June 20th, 2008:

I wonder how I’ll jump start this year…

Over the last week or so I’ve been studying Donald Duck. I bascially eased back into drawing during these studies, so there’s a considerable improvement in line quality and flow from the first to the last. I’m still only happy with a few of them. Proportion seems to be my biggest flaw. I’ve got a lot more to go, and I’m getting closer to understanding his design. Hopefully I’ll get it by the last model sheet, but I do plan on redoing a lot of these.

With all this drawing, I forgot to post the latest chapter of Composing Pictures. So to make up for that I’ve posted the next three chapters (below). I’ll post some of my animation tests soon.

I recently finished reading a massive book on the lives of both Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune entitled, “The Emperor and the Wolf.” I wasn’t very well versed in either’s work, so I downloaded and watched a bunch of their films as I read. The book’s timeline is in chronilogical order, and covers what each artist was up to at every stage of their careers. So it was nice to be able to watch the film in that order as well. What an education!

This book is huge. Certainly the biggest book I’ve read (minus a certain Tolkien tale). Yes, a lot of the book could have been ommitted, in fact most of it could. But then it wouldn’t be the ultimate Mifune/Kurosawa resource, and I wouldn’t be posting about it. It would be just another book on Kurosawa or Mifune, and unlikely both.  Weighing in at around 800 pages, one might ask themselves if it’s worth the read. To which I scream, “Yes!”. But it’s unlikely I’ll read it again so I’m selling mine on Amazon (mine’s the cheapest one at $52). This book has become something of a rarity, with new copies commanding several hundred dollars. Buy it used! Buy mine!

Every fact imaginable on the pair of cinematic legends is presented in this book. The author spent around a decade travelling around the world, conducting interviews, and doing research for this book. Something tells me it could have ended up ever larger than it did. Highlights for me were how Kurosawa came up in the Toho studio system, how Mifune was discovered by chance, and how each artist flowered when in the presence of the other. Other highlights include: family issues, threats from fans, drinking problems, ego problems, etc. I didn’t get a chance to watch a lot of Mifune’s films that weren’t directed by Kurosawa, so that’s next on my list.

I’m really getting into the model sheet studying these days. I’m determined to improve as fast as possible. I’ve cut a few hours at work so that I can have more time at home to study. I’m currently studying The Animator’s Survival Kit Animated, and the $100,000 Drawing Course.

Sometimes long stretches of study aren’t as productive as I’d like them to be. I get into a funk, or I burn out from over study. So I’ve employed a different method that seems to be working better for me. I basically use every spare moment as an opportunity to draw. I have my sketch book, and an assortment of model sheets with me at all times. Much like a salesman would say, “Always be closing,” I’ve developped the catchphrase, “Always be drawing.” This way, I’m not drawing myself into a corner after long stretches of hours and hours of study, and my hand doesn’t hurt as much. I’m drawing on and off all throughout the day, everyday. It’s working great! I’m improving fast, and I look forward to posting some sketches shortly. So until then, you know what I’ll be doing.

In spite of all my efforts, I was unable to purchase this rare find off Craigslist this week. Up for grabs is an official Walt Disney Feature Animation (Florida) Animation Desk. It comes complete with matching scene stacker, and what looks like a 16 Field Chromacolour Animation Disc. This is a steal for $850, and I’d buy it in a heart-beat if I were in Florida.

On that note, if there’s anyone in the Vancouver area, or anywhere closer than the two day drive that is Orlando, with a desk like this please contact me with the details. Here’s some more pictures of this and other similarly beautiful animation desks, some of which are courtesy of David Nethery’s blog.