A page from Byam Shaw's sketchbook

A page from Byam Shaw's sketchbook.

More on Byam Shaw (1872 – 1919) in a previous GurneyJourney post

Cinderella’s Live Action Reference

In their classic book Disney Animation, The Illusion of Life, veteran animators Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston discuss how the Walt Disney studio shot live action film of actors to use as reference for the animation.

In the early years of the studio, film technology made it difficult to study reference footage frame by frame. Disney figured out a way to print “photostats” of each frame of a sequence so that they could be flipped through like animation drawings.

It was a mind-blowing revelation. Finally the animators could really study overlapping action and squash and stretch. They were amazed by the nuances that had completely eluded the early gag cartoon animators.

At first they brought in actors to help with a few sequences of each film. Vaudeville actors helped to work out gags and staging for Pinocchio (The recent DVD has special features showing the footage). The practice became more and more central to the process, particularly with films that used realistic characters.

When it came to producing Cinderella, money was tight after Fantasia, Bambi, and Pinocchio proved disappointing at the box office. Thomas and Johnston remember that “a new less expensive way to make the projected Cinderella as a full-fledged animated feature had to be found.”

The solution: live action footage was shot as a template for the entire film.

“All of Cinderella was shot very carefully with live actors, testing the cutting, the continuity, the staging, the characterizations, and the play between the characters. Only the animals were  left as drawings, and story reels were made of those sketches to find the balance with the rest of the picture. Economically, we could not experiment....but the inventiveness and special touches in the acting that had made our animation so popular were lacking.”

Next month, ImagineFX magazine will include an article that I wrote called “My Preference for Reference,” about different kinds of reference and their pros and cons for illustrators. Watch for it.

Cambridge Music/Sketch Event this Sunday

I’ll be in Boston this weekend, and I invite you to join me for an impromptu sketch gathering.

The event is an Irish music concert at Club Passim, the little folk music venue in Harvard Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts where Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, and Joni Mitchell have performed.

The performers this Sunday will be my son Dan Gurney on accordion, along with  Isaac Alderson (flute), Dylan Foley (fiddle), Sean Earnest (guitar), and Bridget Fitzgerald (song). They're all completely used to being sketched by people in the audience.

The concert will be webcast via ConcertWindow, so if you can’t make it, you can watch and listen for free on your computer. I’ll post my sketch at the end of the concert on this blog, so you can see the results.

Dan is planning a return trip to Ireland this summer to record a CD of traditional music, and he’s inviting sponsors via a Kickstarter page. If you click over to that link, there's a video where he describes his plans and tells you what you'll get in exchange for sponsorship.

Bring a sketchbook and I’ll see you there. It will be a great evening of sketching and listening.

CONCERT DETAILS: Sunday 4/10 at 4:30pm. $12/10 admission

Club Passim (Veggie Planet)

47 Palmer Street

Cambridge, MA 02138

Also live on www.concertwindow.com

Club Passim's official site

Wikipedia on Club Passim

Lecture April 10 at the Rockwell

I thought I'd pass along the news about an interesting lecture coming up this Sunday, April 10, at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts:

"The fascinating transition at The Saturday Evening Post between two star illustrators—J.C. Leyendecker and Norman Rockwell—will be the subject of an upcoming lecture by Dr. Jennifer A. Greenhill.   on Sunday, April 10, starting at 11 a.m. 

"Dr. Jennifer A. Greenhill, Assistant Professor of Art History at The University of Illinois in Champaign, will examine the moment acclaimed illustrator J.C. Leyendecker left “The Saturday Evening Post,” and Norman Rockwell took over as the magazine’s star illustrator. The tenor of publishing during World War II, different approaches to “surface” in illustration, and the challenges that abstraction posed for artists working realistically will be explored. After the program, a brunch will be served in Linwood House, the Museum’s 1859 Berkshire cottage. Cost to attend the lecture is $25, $20 for Museum members. Pre-registration recommended by calling 413.298.4100, ext. 260, or e-mail: mgeorgeson@nrm.org." More information at this link to NRM.org

Image: "Rosie the Riveter," Norman Rockwell. 1943. Cover illustration for "The Saturday Evening Post," May 29, 1943. Private collection. ©1943 SEPS: Curtis Publishing, Indianapolis, IN

Envelope Art Contest

After yesterday’s post, several of you suggested a gallery or contest of envelope art, and I think it’s a great idea. So let’s do it.



1. Decorate a standard size #10 envelope. It could be any style, subject, or medium.
2. Address it to “Envelope Art Contest, The Dinotopia Store, PO Box 693, Rhinebeck, NY 12572.”
3. If it’s part of a store order, I’ll ship your stuff and set your envelope aside for the contest. All USA entrants will receive a signed Color and Light poster. Artists from other countries are eligible too.
4. Entries must be postmarked by May 30, 2011. June 1 (due to May 29 and 30 being postal holidays).
5. On June 10, I’ll post all the entries on the GurneyJourney blog. You’ll vote on them in a blog poll.
6. PRIZES: The winning entrant will receive a set of signed and remarqued posters: (Color and Light, Imaginative Realism, Journey to Chandara, and the Norton Museum show poster.) The second and third place finishers will get signed and remarqued "Color and Light" and "Imaginative Realism" posters.
7. People of any age, and any level of experience can enter. If you're 17 or younger, please write your age on the back of the envelope.
8. If you’re not sending a store order, you can just send a decorated envelope.
9. Entries can't be returned. All art becomes the property of BDSP, Inc. You’ll be credited on the blog with your website if you like (write that on the back of the envelope). If you don’t want your return address shown, please write it on the back of the envelope, or else I can blur it out.

Incidentally, can anyone guess who illustrated the envelope above? Hint: it’s a top animator at a big studio, drawn in 2003 when he was a first year art student.

"Color and Light" News

The reprint of my new book, Color and Light: A Guide for the Realist Painter, arrived in the warehouse earlier this week. However, because the wholesale orders were so heavy, the second printing immediately sold out of the warehouse at the wholesale level. The third printing is on another ship scheduled to arrive on April 23. May 23.

We’ve got our new shipment at the Dinotopia Store today, so we have plenty of copies here.

 
I’d like to thank all the customers who have been ordering signed copies from our little store. Some of you have drawn amazing pictures on your envelopes. Thanks, Tiovo, Raymond, and everyone else. I also really appreciate the personal notes some of you have written. You are all on amazing artistic journeys.

I’ll be extending my offer to do the painted rainbows with sketches of dinosaurs in everyone’s books through the months of April and May.

Don’t forget that there’s a contest for blog readers to create a short video about the Color and Light book. It can be about something you’ve learned from the book, or you can use the chance to show off some of your own artwork. It’s pretty open-ended—it just has to mention or show the book and it has to be less than three minutes. All entries will be posted on the blog. And there are prizes.
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Order Color and Light or Imaginative Realism signed at Dinotopia.com   

Note: We regret that our online store can serve only USA customers. Sorry for the inconvenience for those who can’t get copies. Retailers: there is currently some stock at Ingram and Baker & Taylor.

 

Smart Tracking Camera

New technology allows a camera to track an eye, a particular face, or any other specified object. 

The inventor, Zdenek Kalal, takes it through its paces, showing how it can learn and adapt to a lot of tracking challenges.

The ominously named “Predator” has strong potential for autonomous driving systems, military targeting, consumer photography, wildlife filming, FX compositing, surveillance videography, image stabilization, industrial robots, and human/computer interface technology. 

The field of machine vision is still in its infancy and largely limited so far to industrial applications. We’ve grown accustomed to surveillance cameras filming us. Next we’ll have to get used to seeing machines that recognize us and keep an eye on us.
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Via Best of YouTube
More at Wired.com's Gadget Lab