EVANGELINE THAN

At last! Being swamped by the missives from the DLF mailing list has paid off!

I mean, I love getting my DLF mail, because they discuss a lot of cool things and with more than 20 e-mails hitting my mailbox every day I can pretend I’m really, really popular, but a lot of the subject matter goes over my head in these early days. Mental ray velocity passes? Yeah, I’ll just lean back with a faraway look in my eyes, stroke my imaginary goatee, and pretend I know what you’re talking about, man.

This evening, stib from pureandapplied.com.au posted a link to a 2007 post by Keith Lango, an animator who also runs the Animation Personal Trainer program.

Keith has excellent advice for indie animators working on personal projects, who can’t produce similar stuff to the big studios because they just don’t have the (wo)man days and resources to do so. However, instead of being discouraged, he suggests that we use these limitations to open up new possibilities and spark creativity.

Read all about it here.

Sources: Blog post by Keith Lango, “The Fool’s Errand, Part 1″, URL: http://keithlango.blogspot.com/2007/07/fools-errand-part-1.html (posted July 14th, 2007). I first read about this on the Digital Labourers Federation mailing list, April 21st, 2009.

The How To Be A Children’s Book Illustrator blog has a great Google Video clip taken from the documentary, “Finding Lady: The Art of Storyboarding”.

The 13-minute-long clip is hosted by Disney Animator Eric Goldberg, and shows storyboards from old and new Disney movies. Animation is the main focus, but it also includes information about storyboarding techniques used in live action movies.

And according to the writer of the post, storyboards are invaluable when planning children’s picture books too.

Winging it can be fun, but storyboards make everything better!

Watch it here.

Source: “Let’s Board It Up!” The Magic of the Storyboard at How To Be A Children’s Book Illustrator,  URL: http://howtobeachildrensbookillustrator.wordpress.com/2009/04/21/storyboard-video/ (posted April 21st, 2009).

James Gurney has a blog! And a fourth Dinotopia book! What planet have I been living on?

Gurney’s blog is an excellent repository of news and information for artists, and as you will see, his vivid and meticulous painting style has only gotten better with time.

I especially like this little tip he recently posted, about finding a drawing subject that will sit still long enough for you to get some detail in.

Source: “Watching Television” at Gurney Journey, URL: http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2009/04/watching-television.html (posted April 11th, 2009)

Cedric Hohnstadt examines classic Popeye cartoons and shows how a lot can be said about a character’s personality through their poses.

According to Hohnstadt, good poses will possess the following traits:

Clarity: “A clear pose will pass the “silhouette test”: If you colored in the entire pose solid black you could still tell just from the silhouette exactly what the character is doing and/or thinking.”

Physicality: “Notice how every movement Popeye makes involves his entire body … Every pose is pushed for maximum visual interest.”

Line of Action: “In almost every pose you can draw one smooth imaginary curve from Popeye’s head down through his torso and into his leg. Cartoonists call this the “line of action”. In a good pose the line is one simple and clean swoop (mimicking a “C” or an “S” shape). In a bad pose the line is twisted and kinked. Every Popeye pose has a simple and clear line of action.”

Source: “Give Your Poses Clarity and Interest”, posted by Cedric Hohnstadt on December 11, 2008 to his blog, at http://cedrichohnstadt.wordpress.com/2008/12/11/give-your-poses-clarity-and-interest/

Update (21/04/2009): Keith Lango also emphasises the importance of a clear silhouette in poses. Read all about it in “Silhouette”, URL: http://keithlango.blogspot.com/2009/03/silhouette.html (posted March 16th, 2009)