Epic Sketchbook: Suhita Shirodkar...

Four days in Varanasi, India, By Suhita Shirodkar... Don't miss these drawings, makes me want to go to India.  Suhita Shirodkar is a graphic designer based in San Jose, California. She blogs at sketchaway.wordpress.com

Anima Festival

I've just returned from Brussles, Beligum, or as they like to call it, "Bruxelles". I've been going to the Anima Festival since 1988, and always have a great time, because the organizers and audience are always so enthusiastic.

I remember the first year I was there, I got to meet the very talented Peter Lord and Aardman fame, who had a fabulous film called "Babylon". Try to find it if at all possible.

Peter Lord, me, Stephanie, Hugh - Photo courtesy of Sandrine Flament

Well, this year he was back to do a presentation for the 30^th anniversary of Anima (it was originally called The Festival "Dessin Animé") Peter showed clips from his new stop motion feature Pirates—it looked great!

Also on stage was the talented Michael Ocelot, who was there to screen the first film I saw of his, "The 4 Wishes", 1986. I met him when I was selected for the Cannes Film Festival with my film "Your Face". He was a gentleman back then, and he is one now.

Me and Michel Ocelot - Photo courtesy of Sandrine Flament

I got up on stage and showed "Cheatin'", an excerpt, and the new "Guard Dog Global Jam", both were received very well and they gave me a wonderful reception.

Photo courtesy of Sandrine Flament

Photo courtesy of Sandrine Flament

For the first time of all my visits, the weather was fantastic – crystal clear blue skies. And I had the traditional moules (mussels) and frites (French fries).

If you're looking for a wonderful festival with a great vibe and terrific programming, then check out Anima Festival – I give it a 9 out of 10.

New Audrey kawaski..

I've said it before.. Audrey is a gift that keeps giving.. sorry for these super short posts.. i'm in Bali for ten days and these are coming from a hut on the beach while i eat barracuda.

so you like dead girls? Vincent Desiderio ...

He makes other stuff too. Some pretty awesome paintings by Vincent Desiderio... part of the always epic Marlborough Gallery in nyc.

Cedar Rapids

I just saw one of the funniest films of the year starring Ed Helms, Sigourney Weaver, John C.Rielly, Anne Heche and director Mighal Arteta.

It's about a straight insurance salesman from Brown Valley Wisconsin who goes to an insurance convention in the big bad metropolis of Cedar Rapids. Here he comes up against corruption - drinking, hookers, drugs, sin, and it changes his life forever.

It's not one of those 'Hangover' outrageous comedies - it's actually a very nuanced character study. And what wonderful characters they are. Even the hooker Brie is very 3 dimensional and fascinating.

It's produced by Alexander Rayne of 'Sideways' fame. So definitely check it out: you'll laugh your arse off.

A Christmas Carol

I somehow missed the holiday release 2 years ago of Disney's 'A Christmas Carol'. It was another of Robert Zemekis' motion captured animated film. In other words he has actors with tiny sensors all over their bodies so the computer can stimulate all their complex movements.

Just like the 'Polar Express' and 'Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within' they still have difficulties making the human feel real and alive. They looked like robots or puppets. There were some good things about the film. I liked the voices and the backgrounds were exquisite. And the action scenes were quite exiting. But for some reason it was bloodless and had no emotional impact.

I heard the film cost a bundle and Mr.Zemekis has decided to put motion capture aside for awhile till they can successfully recreate humans with a realistic look.

But I for one don't want a realistic look. I like my animation stylized. Maybe that was the problem with 'Christmas Carol' - it tried to be too realistic! Give me some art and emotion. Not cold-hearted puppets.

I give it a C+.

Checking in with John Kenn..

New works from one of my favorite illustrators, John Kenn..

Cow Fiasco

If you have been reading my scribble blog you all know that 'The Cow Who Wanted to be a Hamburger' was not nominated for an Oscar this year. Boo hoo hoo!

It was strange because a lot of people who belong to the Academy thought it was my best and had a very good chance. So when my name did not pop up as being selected I wondered why. My attention was focused on the New York Academy screening. When 'The Cow' print was shown I had to exit the cinema (stupid rule) and my friends yelled at me to return to the theater to witness a scratched and grumbled sound print. I freaked, naturally, but what could I do. The print obviously was a bad worn out print. But I was confident that most of the NY animation Academy members had previously seen the film and knew of its power and wit. But there were also many live action short members there and perhaps they'd never seen it before and felt it was a badly made film. However I feel comfortable because the reaction in LA and San Francisco was so strong. How could I lose?

Beware of hubris. So I lost the nomination and hence an opportunity to use The Oscar nomination to promote 'Idiots and Angels" and my new epic Rizzoli book 'Independently Animated: Bill Plympton'. In any case I missed a golden opportunity and I've just received that 'damaged print' and out of curiosity I looked at the scratched frames and they were pristine. It looked like a brand new print, so I began to think - What the hell happened in there?

My guess is that the projectionist was so used to using Dolby heads for the films that he couldn't imagine that mine was simple stereo and somehow Dolby totally screwed up the projection. I know it sounds like a small mistake but I should have demanded to talk to the projectionist then and there and examined the projection procedure. I could have saved the screening and possibly secured my third nomination.

"For want of a nail the shoe was lost..."

Classic Tuesday Inspiration: Edgar Degas Drawings..

"No art was ever less spontaneous than mine. What I do is the result of reflection and of the study of the great masters; of inspiration, spontaneity, temperament, I know nothing."-Degas

 Thought I would post my collection of Degas drawings I've been putting together for my drawing class. There's some good ones in here, it was difficult to find drawings NOT of dancers (over half of his work was of ballet dancers).

Two images above, drawings of Manet, good friend, legend has it they met while copying the same Velazquez painting in the Louvre. (not to be confused with Monet, whom he disliked.. also on the dislike list was Renoir.)

 

Degas never married, and spent the last years of his life, nearly blind, restlessly wandering the streets of Paris before dying in 1917.  Kind of like Bill:)  just kidding, Bills eyesight is fine.

Animation 101: Animation tips, Part 1

This was a handout I gave to my students who are currently in production on their Thesis films at New York University Tisch-Asia..  They are in the thick of it now, actually MOVING their characters, all the work designing, boarding, story, etc,.. comes to this time of production.. when the characters you have created live and breathe. Before this moment they were simple designs and ideas. Now they become real.

1. Feel what you're animating.
    If you can "Feel" it,  you will be able to animate it well. FEEL it stick, hit, slide, crack, stretch, etc,  By "Feeling" what you're animating, you will be able to capture the emotion and timing.. I'm talking about becoming the material you are creating. For example.. right now if I were to become a bomb. I would hunch down, put my hands in front of me like I'm mimicking a sphere.. I would begin to shake as I FELT the explosion coming.. I would suck in slightly as to FEEL the anticipation.. and BOOOOM! I would leap up as if all my guts were being sprayed across the walls!!!  If you can do that.. you will be a lot closer to capturing it when you animate it.

These two very rough drawings had a lot of "feel".... i think i captured the casual determination and thrust of the masked character as it collects it's prey.

2. Build your poses.
Ollie Johnston once said, "Find the golden pose, and build the scene around that pose." Building your poses is the first part of animating a scene. Your poses need to work together and show movement together. Your poses also need to reflect a tight perfection in terms of scale, readability, silhouette, proportion, etc. You will be using your poses as a reference for everything else in the scene, so make them strong. The pose will reflect the emotion of what you're animating, a good pose isn't just a well constructed one, but rather it's a well constructed pose that reflects exactly what the character is thinking! Often your "Golden pose" will be your developed storyboard pose, start with that. This is the time to check for an effective silhouette, clear expressions, annoying tangents, or lack of force or weight.

Key rough poses for a chase scene from "Masks".. These three poses were the "golden" poses that structured the animation of the scene.

3. Slow down and use Subtle Actions:
    Life is slower than you think, especially when it comes to acting. The audience needs time to see the character think. The most important actions aren't actions at all, they are thoughts.. So slow down, use blinks, use small actions and motions that we do when we are in thought.  Do we smack our lips before we drink?  Do we let out a big sigh directly prior to making a decision?  Be creative, act it out, take note of the smaller subtle actions you find yourself doing.

4. Areas of Complexity:
    The audience is magnetically drawn to areas of complexity.. this is where your business should be taking place (both in the composition and in the character itself). Often it is the busy area of the eyes, eyebrows, nose and mouth. Pay special attention to the eyes as it's quite often the area of most complexity. If you create a very simplistic character with very detailed boots, the audience will be looking at the boots. Ask yourself where you want people to look, and concentrate on that area.

 

This Norman Rockwell illustration draws the eye into the maelstrom of this light hearted conflict. The area of complexity is the focal point of this piece and everything radiates from that point.

5. Use the foreground.
    There is an absurd amount of space between the camera lens and the character or object. Don't forget to use it!!! Your world does not begin where the character is sitting or standing.. the audience must feel the room, the objects in the space, the trees, other characters or objects.  Furthermore, remember that things tend to get more saturated and darker in the foreground.. just as things get less saturated and lighter the further back things are. Look at any landscape painting from the masters and you will see this effect. Ever notice how many dark shapes there are in the foreground in a classic Hitchcock film?  Black and white film HAD to use this technique because they didn't have the luxury of showing distance with HUE, they depended solely on VALUE.

Above: Another still from "Masks" I used darker figures in the foreground to fill the space between the camera and the main subject. Also, I used the "Tool of Thirds" to accentuate the main characters head, as well as placing the other characters so the sky acts as a glowing frame around the head.

Above: Durand, from the Hudson river school uses hue and value to establish distance. The foreground feels closer due to saturation, contrast, and hue.

Above: Screen grab from Hitchcock's "Life Boat".  Black and white film had to utilize Value to establish depth.

6. Use the frame.
    Always be on guard against Negative Space, space that has no function to what is happening on the screen. Business usually happens in one part of the frame, but remember that in order to keep the composition interesting you have to USE IT!  Even if you're keeping the composition empty to show desolation or loneliness, that's still USING the frame.  Try "Directing the eye" in these areas.  Even clouds can suggest a direction to look.  It's there to serve you, remember the basics of  "Rule of Thirds" (which I'd rather call the TOOL of thirds". Find where you want the interest to be, and then use the rest of the frame to push the eye to that place.

Above: A well placed tree in "Mulan" fills some negative space on the east side of the frame.

7. Listen carefully to feedback and critique.
    This is something I started to do way to late in my career. LISTEN. We get so wrapped up in our own agenda that we forget sometimes that we are making artwork for OTHERS to see.. why not get feedback and see if you can improve your image?  It works. I'm often astounded by obvious things that non-artists suggest that are truly great ideas for improvement.  And after all, what does it hurt? Open your mind.


8. Concentrate on what comes before and after the action.
    The motion of a character before he/she performs the action is more important than the action itself. This is why the principle of anticipation is so vital to movement. Also, what happens directly after the action is also vital. Every action needs to be set up.. the audience needs to be aware of the reason the character is taking the action, they also need to know the thought process and emotions behind the reason. Put it this way.. the way you throw a ball is not decided by the actual throw itself, but by the anticipation and set up of that throw.

9. Think around your form.
    These four words changed the way I draw. I have to give credit to where they came from, Glenn Keane.  And he's just repeating something from the masters. The meaning of "draw around the form" is priceless. Basically it means to stop thinking of a drawing as lines on paper, and begin to FEEL your drawing as a three dimensional form within space.

10. Exploit Contrasts.
    If you recall the lecture from last semester, you will know that I believe this to be one of the most important overall elements of Design, Story, Composition, Personality. Where there is contrast, there is interest and beauty.  Look at the sunset.. or a mother holding her child… a tiny moon orbiting a massive planet, a ferocious Beast holding a tiny bird. Our eyes and minds are pulled into wherever there is contrast or conflict.  It's a simple thing that we all need to be reminded about, and it's a good thing to keep in mind while animating.

Above: The overwhelming difference in scale, and the strong contrast created in silhouette accentuate this amazing photograph.

Above: Eyvind Earle was one of the many fine artists recruited by Disney in the 1950's. Eyvind's artwork is simply stunning. I can't think of a stronger visual designer, the best examples of which are the incredible images created for "Sleeping Beauty". I would highly recommend Hans Bacher's book "Dream Worlds".

Above: Power in contrast can also be exemplified by the american painter Frederic Edwin Church (Below), another Hudson River school painter. Church and Earle both use contrast, and contrast of scale specifically to create breathtaking works of art.

Raymond Lemstra..

Great stuff from artist Raymond Lemstra, in his own words...

"With my work I like to refer to the illustrative nature of primitive drawings and sculptures. What I find interesting about these is the distortion as a result of selective emphasis; parts of interest are emphasized, unimportant parts reduced or left out. For characters this means they come out big headed, where focus is on the face and the body is trimmed to its essential properties. I deliberately apply this primitive logic as a method. But I don't apply it equally to all aspects of my work. Instead, I choose to use a very mature, highly laboursome technique for the execution of my work. This contrast, between the naive and sophisticated, gives the work a somewhat awkward taste. A clash of intent, simultaniously assuming simplicity and complexity, randomness and reason, flaws and perfection. The purpose of which is to inspire a sense of joy and discovery"  -Raymond Lemstra