Today, Joe Ranft would have been fifty years old. Disney director John Musker created this storyboard tribute to the late Pixar and Disney storyman. It was originally shown at Ranft’s memorial celebration on September 17, 2005. Joe was one of the prime creative people behind PIXAR and a major contributor to Toy Story, a Bug’s Life, Cars. Joe was tragically killed in an automobile accident 5 years ago. This is a visualization of anecdotes... 

This afternoon, Secret of Kells director Tomm Moore will do a Q&A following the 5pm screening of his film at the Village East Cinema in NY. Also, the distributor of the film, GKID, is launching a limited release of Secret of Kells around the US. When I saw Tomm in LA last week, he mentioned to me that he’ll be doing Q&As after…  Read More →

Filmmaker David Fincher ( Fight Club, Se7en, Benjamin Button , etc.), who began his career working for Lucasfilm in special effects (Return of the Jedi) and on the animated film Twice Upon A Time , is setting up a new eight-or-nine part Heavy Metal animated feature. Besides himself, he’s enlisted James Cameron (Avatar) , Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Carribean) and Zack Snyder (300) each to direct a segment – with other big-name... 

This demonstration is courtesy of Dan Gray. Visit his website to learn more about him and to view more of his work Cherry Bomb Still Life Demo I was out in the forest with an Oldsmobile but the rain started to fall so back into the studio with a still life for rest of the day Layout I am using  Read More →

This landscape painting lesson is courtesy of Barry Waldman of Interactive Art School. A Revolutionary Way to Learn to Draw & Paint Student uses a Digital Camera (supplied in your Student Sign Up Kit along with Textbooks & Supplies) to take digital photos of their completed assigned Lesson Artwork for each lesson. The student sends those photos as email attachments to the teacher who draws, paints & comments on the work &... 

About Christine Kane Christine Kane is a pastel and watercolor artist who is inspired by the Midwest landscape and it’s seasons. To find new ideas for her paintings, she hikes in the forest preserves during all seasons. Christine began drawing at an early age. She focused her education on art and has a degree in Graphic Design. She is continuing her studies and is currently pursuing a degree in Natural Resources. Translating weather is also... 

Cartoons and animations are all around us. We grew up with them, we laughed at them, we may have even cried with them. We enjoyed them as children and even still as adults. But where exactly did they start? Someone had to take the time to create them, and that someone is the animator.  Read More →

Advancement in technologies and animation has revolutionized the world of architectural industry. Manually drawn designs and hand rendering is outdated as all clients demand for 3D architectural rendering and 3D exterior rendering of the finished projects.  Read More →

… probably gonna be cool. Check out this beautiful animation by Eric Power, done for the band, Fictionist. Good tune too.  Read More →

Animation legend Kaj Pindal has his own blog at KajPindal.blogspot.com . The blog is edited by Sheridan student Amir Avni and Chris Walsh , who teaches the animation history class with Pindal at Sheridan. The blog has stories from Pindal, rare examples of his animation, and artwork and video of his illustrious friends like Ward Kimball and Zach Schwartz. There’s only five posts so far but every one of them is a winner. I especially enjoyed... 

Pixar has revealed details for “Day & Night,” the short film that will play before Toy Story 3 beginning June 18. The short film is directed by Teddy Newton, who’s credits include Character Designer (The Incredibles, Presto), and Storyboard Artist (The Iron Giant). This will mark Newton’s Pixar directorial debut. The official synopsis: When Day, a sunny fellow, encounters Night, a stranger of distinctly darker moods,... 

In theaters May 21, 2010.  Read More →

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Director and animator Will Finn made a thought-provoking observation on his blog a few days ago. He began the discussion by surmising that if Disney ever decided to remake Lady and the Tramp , it would likely be some Frankenstein hybrid of keyframed CGI, live-action and performance capture. I don’t doubt that for a second. Where it gets interesting though is that Will feels this is happening because cartoons, in their traditional sense, are... 

When In The Country is a stylish British public safety film from 1963. Please share if you know the studio or director responsible for this. I found out about the short thanks to Lost Continent which is a commendable blog dedicated to exploring the artwork and history of British animation.  Read More →