course « AnimationResources.org – Serving the Online Animation Community

Archive for the ‘course’ Category

Monday, November 26th, 2012

Instruction: $100k Animation Drawing Course 01 – Construction / The Head

You can go to animation school, spend a $100,000 and not learn a damn thing about the basics of good animation drawing- OR you can buy a Preston Blair book for $8 and learn it all in a couple months. You pick.

If you learn the principles correctly, you will be able to draw in any style today. You’ll be miserable having to dumb down your abilities- but you will be in demand. –John Kricfalusi

INTRODUCTION

The internet offers animation students opportunities that have never existed before. The one I’m about to tell you about is the chance of a lifetime. How would you like to learn to draw for animation from one of the greatest cartoonists of the golden age, and one of the greatest current cartoonists? Here’s your chance…

Read this important note from John Kricfalusi before reading any further.

Preston Blair was one of the finest draftsmen to ever work in the animated film. He animated Mickey Mouse in "Sorcerer’s Apprentice", and he was one of the top animators at MGM, where he animated the legendary Red Hot Riding Hood. His book, titled simply "Animation" crystalized the basic principles of cartoon animation, and profoundly influenced a whole generation of young animators. He passed away in 1995.

John K John Kricfalusi revolutionized television animation- first with Ralph Bakshi on "Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures", and then on "The Ren & Stimpy Show. He went on to pioneer Flash animation with the first internet cartoon series, "The Goddamn George Liquor Program". John has done extensive research into the techniques and processes of the golden age cartoons, and he is sharing his knowledge on his blog, All Kinds Of Stuff.

To participate in this informal blog-based drawing course, you will need to get a copy of Preston Blair’s Animation (Book 1). You can order it through the link above, or you should be able to find it at your local art store.

You will also need to print out the pages of the first edition of the book…

Preston Blair’s Advanced Animation 1st Edition

LESSON ONE

Read John Kricfalusi’s introduction to this lesson at…
Animation School Lesson 1: Construction- The Head

Then READ and FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS Preston Blair gives you on these two pages…

Make an egg model and draw it from several angles using the techniques of construction.

Draw all of the various characters on these pages, paying close attention to the volumetric forms and proportions.

After you have drawn a character, compare it to Preston Blair’s drawing and note any differences on yours in red pencil.

Draw it again, trying to correct your mistakes from the first time.

When you are satisfied with your drawings, post them on a blog.

Don’t have a web page or blog? Get a FREE blog at www.blogger.com. Sign up for free Blogspot hosting and use the free image hosting services.

You can’t participate in the classes if John K can’t go to your blog to see your drawings.

PLEASE NOTE: The procedure for getting your blog listed on this page has changed. Due to the overwhelming response to this course, I don’t have time to add each student’s link by hand. Your assignment will be automatically linked at the bottom of this page if you…

Click on “links to this post” at the bottom of this posting.
Click on “create a link”.
Copy and paste the HTML code into your completed assignment for lesson number 9.
Publish your post.

Your page will automatically be added to the list of links. Do not delete or edit your posts or change the title after you have posted them. You will need them later to chart your progress.

FINAL NOTE

Preston Blair Book If you just look at the drawings and read the text, you’ll end up with educated eyes and an educated mind… and ignorant hands. A lot of artists excuse their lack of skill by claiming that flat drawings and unappealing shapes are their “style”. Poor drawing skills don’t constitute a style.

Any artist who doesn’t draw as well as Preston Blair (and that encompasses an awful lot of people!) will benefit from sitting down and doing these exercises. The ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive Blog is making it easy for you, bringing all the material you need together. This is a unique opportunity. Don’t waste it.

As the gunfighters said in the old West… DRAW!

Read what Lines & Colors had to say about the course.

Stephen Worth
Director
Animation Resources

This posting is part of an online series of articles dealing with Instruction.

Posted in course, instruction, john k, john kricfalusi, preston blair | 6 Comments »

Monday, October 22nd, 2012

Instruction: Preston Blair’s Advanced Animation

An online drawing course
taught by Preston Blair & John Kricfalusi!
Click for details…

Preston Blair’s Animation (Book 1) is the best “how to” book on cartoon animation ever published. When Blair put the book together in 1947, he used the characters he had animated at Disney and MGM to illustrate the various basic principles of animation. Apparently, the rights to use some of the characters were revoked after the book was already in the stores. Publication was halted for a time, and he was forced to redraw most of the MGM characters, replacing them with generic characters of his own design. The revised edition went on to become a classic, and the first edition was forgotten.

If you are familiar with the revised edition, you’re in for a treat. Pull out your copy and compare it to these scans…

Here are a couple of comments these postings have received…

"I began making animated films while I was a student at Santa Barbara Junior High School many, many years ago. The only text book I had was Preston Blair’s animation book. Honestly, it was all I needed to get started. I can’t remember how many copies of this book I’ve purchased over the years to give to young kids with an interest in animation. The book is pure gold." –Floyd Norman

"A lot of young artists look at the Preston Blair book as some sort of archaic and old-fashioned irrelevant text. Almost as though learning these lessons will ruin their “style”. This of course is the folly of youth. The ability to draw like Preston Blair, using all the tips in the book gives you the strength to do ANYTHING." –Nick Cross

"Many thanks on your posting of the original version of the Preston Blair animation book. If that’s not worth a contribution to your cause, nothing is. Keep up the good work." –Paul Dini

If you don’t have Preston Blair’s book yet,

ORDER IT NOW!

No cartoonist should be without it.

Stephen Worth
Director
Animation Resources

This posting is part of an online series of articles dealing with Instruction.

Posted in course, instruction, preston blair, Uncategorized | 10 Comments »

Thursday, September 27th, 2012

Exhibit: The Zim Course in Cartooning, Comic Art and Caricature

A few months ago, I stumbled across a "how to" book on cartooning by Eugene “Zim” Zimmerman. It was titled Zim’s Cartoons & Caricatures, Or Making The World Laugh. I happened to be speaking on the phone to Ralph Bakshi, and I mentioned the book. "Ooooohh! So you’ve discovered ZIM now! He’s one of my secrets…"

In 1967, right after he had resigned as the head of the Paramount cartoon studio, Ralph and his wife Liz were walking through Brooklyn when they saw a sign on an old house advertising an estate sale. They went inside, but it was late in the day and there wasn’t much left. Ralph glanced up at a tall bookcase and saw a pile of pamphlets stacked up on a high shelf. It was too high to reach, so he didn’t bother to look at them. As they were walking out the door, he got the feeling that he needed to go back and look at the pamphlets. It was a good hunch. The stack contained a nearly complete set of Zim’s correspondence course in cartooning. He asked the estate agent how much they cost, and was told $50. That was more than he and his wife had in their pockets, so Liz volunteered to run home and get the money. The Zim books were on his desk every day throughout the production of Fritz the Cat, Heavy Traffic and especially Coonskin. This set is Ralph’s most prized possession, and now he is sharing them with Animation Resources.

Zim’s correspondence course was the most highly regarded cartooning course of its day. Spanning 20 volumes, it covered a wide range of subjects, from practical homespun advice to lofty philosophy. Here are some examples of Zim’s genius from the pages of the four volumes we completed digitizing today…

The course originally ran in 20 volumes. We have been able to find an earlier edition of the course to supplement and complete Ralph Bakshi’s set. There aren’t chapters or specific assignments. The books consist of page after page of individual nuggets of wisdom. Each book and each page stands on its own.

Zim’s course is much more than just a "how to draw" course. In short anecdotal paragraphs, Zim succeeds in conveying what it means to be a cartoonist… the history behind the artform… how to deal with everyday problems and setbacks… and how to live the life of an artist.

There’s plenty of drawing lessons too. Zim’s masterful expressive line fills every page with perfect examples of the principles he is discussing.

Zim was the founder of the "grotesque" school of caricature, which formed the basis of what we now call "cartoony drawing". He provides lots of examples of caricatures drawn from life, with photos of his subjects alongside his caricature of the person.

Zim’s technical skill was unmatched. Just look at the amazing precision and expressiveness of this drawing as he takes it from rough sketch to ink to watercolor.

The book is full of amusing contrasts. A tip on not thinning your ink too much leads into a speculation on what Rembrandt would be doing if he lived in modern times.

If you aren’t convinced yet that Zim is a drop dead genius, just click on this image!

The most impressive illustrations in the course are the examples of Zim’s rough sketches. He had an uncanny knack for being able to express every nuance of his subject with a free flowing and loose pencil technique.

He was capable of extreme exaggeration that captured the essence of the unique qualities of the personalities he chose to caricature.

But the most amazing thing about Zim’s artistry was his ability to draw the viewer into his world and make them feel the way the characters in the drawings feel. Look at these sketches of dogs… They make you feel like a flea bitten hound!

If you would like to see more from the Zim course, let me know in the comments.

Stephen Worth
Director
Animation Resources