Archive for the ‘illustration’ Category

Wednesday, December 20th, 2023

Illustration: Tenggren’s Sing For Christmas

Gustaf Tenggren Sing For Christmas

Around 1940, Gustaf Tenggren left the Disney Studios a changed man. It’s said that he gathered together the paintings he had created up to that point, piled them up in the street and set fire to them. With this single decisive act, he marked a turning point in his artistic career. He never painted in the classic European book illustrator style again. He had resolved himself to create a new style.

Gustaf Tenggren Sing For ChristmasGustaf Tenggren Sing For ChristmasI really don’t know what brought him to that point. I’d love to know the full story. But you can clearly see the sharp dividing line between old and new in his work. In the first few years of the 1940s, Tenggren struggled to develop a new way of painting- a simplified style that depended on fundamental qualities like skillful composition, expressive texture and unique color harmonies, rather than photo-realistic detail and modeling techniques derived from classical easel painting. This book, along with its sequel Sing For America and the schoolbook reader Runaway Home would lead to the creation of the very first Little Golden Books… The Pokey Little Puppy, The Tawny Scrawny Lion and The Saggy Baggy Elephant. You know the rest of the story…

This book is far from representing Tenggren’s best work, but it’s an important example of a decisive turning point in Tenggren’s career. I’ll post some illustrations from Sing For America and Runaway Home soon.

Gustaf Tenggren Sing For Christmas
Gustaf Tenggren Sing For Christmas
Gustaf Tenggren Sing For Christmas
Gustaf Tenggren Sing For Christmas
Gustaf Tenggren Sing For Christmas
Gustaf Tenggren Sing For Christmas
Gustaf Tenggren Sing For Christmas
Gustaf Tenggren Sing For Christmas
Gustaf Tenggren Sing For Christmas
Gustaf Tenggren Sing For Christmas
Gustaf Tenggren Sing For Christmas
Gustaf Tenggren Sing For Christmas

Gustaf Tenggren Sing For ChristmasGustaf Tenggren Sing For Christmas







All of us at Animation Resources wish you and yours the happiest of holidays.

Stephen Worth
Director
Animation Resources

IllustrationIllustration

This posting is part of a series of articles comprising an online exhibit spotlighting Illustration.

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Tuesday, September 19th, 2023

Illustration: Fantastic Mexican Lobby Cards

Mexican Lobby Cards

Previously, I posted galleries of images of lobby cards by the master Mexican caricaturist Ernesto Garcia Cabral. Today, I’m presenting a group of images from a variety of science fiction, horror and adventure films released in Mexico. In many cases, these cards are a lot more entertaining than the movies they’re advertising. Every one of them makes me curious to see what the movie is all about, which shows that the lobby card is doing its job. It’s a shame that lobby cards have gone the way of the dodo in this age of cinema multiplexes and mall theaters.

But that isn’t all that seems to have been lost. Check out how these images exude the essence of the fantastic. Science fiction movies today are generally ugly and mundane compared to these crazy creatures and bizarre locales. Instead of cramped, cluttered shoeboxes flying through space, rocket ships should be streamlined and beautiful. The future should be strange and alien, not urban and post-apocalyptic. Creatures should be shocking and otherworldly too. Movies today could use a double dose of fun.

Mexican Lobby Cards
Mexican Lobby Cards
Mexican Lobby Cards
Mexican Lobby Cards
Mexican Lobby Cards
Mexican Lobby Cards
Mexican Lobby Cards
Mexican Lobby Cards
Mexican Lobby Cards
Mexican Lobby Cards
Mexican Lobby Cards
Mexican Lobby Cards

And here’s a batch of miscellaneous cards that use cartoons to sell a wide variety of films…

Mexican Lobby Card
Mexican Lobby Card
Mexican Lobby Card
Mexican Lobby Card
Mexican Lobby Card
Mexican Lobby Card
Mexican Lobby Card
Mexican Lobby Card
Mexican Lobby Card
Mexican Lobby Card
Mexican Lobby Card
Mexican Lobby Card
Mexican Lobby Card
Mexican Lobby Card
Mexican Lobby Card
Mexican Lobby Card
Mexican Lobby Cards

Stephen Worth
Director
Animation Resources

IllustrationIllustration

This posting is part of a series of articles comprising an online exhibit spotlighting Illustration.

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Friday, September 8th, 2023

Inbetweens: Jiri Trnka

Jiri Trnka was one of the greatest animators who ever worked with puppets. There is a wealth of information on his art and career on the web. Here is just a small sampling…

PHOTOS

Jiri Trnka Puppet Animation

Jiri Trnka Puppet Animation

Jiri Trnka Puppet Animation

Jiri Trnka Puppet Animation

Jiri Trnka Puppet Animation

FILMS

Jiri Trnka Puppet Animation

Jiri Trnka Puppet Animation

Jiri Trnka Puppet Animation

Jiri Trnka Puppet Animation

Jiri Trnka Puppet Animation

Jiri Trnka Puppet Animation

Jiri Trnka Puppet Animation

Jiri Trnka Puppet Animation

Jiri Trnka Puppet Animation

Jiri Trnka Puppet Animation

ILLUSTRATION

Jiri Trnka Puppet Animation

Jiri Trnka Puppet Animation

Jiri Trnka Puppet Animation

Jiri Trnka Puppet Animation

Jiri Trnka Puppet Animation

Jiri Trnka Puppet Animation

Jiri Trnka Puppet Animation

Jiri Trnka Puppet Animation

Jiri Trnka Puppet Animation

Jiri Trnka Puppet Animation

For more information on this great animator and illustrator, see…

Jiri Trnka DVDJiri Trnka DVD




DVD collections of Trnka’s important puppet films have been very hard to come by in the past. Luckily, there is a really good one available right now… The Puppet Films of Jiri Trnka It’s a bit pricey, but well worth it. Recommended.

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