Hey #Storyboard fam! I’m beating back the writer’s block by making short scripts that you can board for practice! They’re all free to download on @gumroad . Follow me on Gumroad for notifications when the next round goes live:
If you’re on the lookout for a community of artists, Animation Force recommends Mastodon.Art. With an art focus, and an eye for respectful community, this is a fun and safe place for artists, with lots of inspiration as well. You need an invite to join, so take advantage of the above reblogged link, or ask someone who’s a member for an invite in the future (Editors @harmonicacave and @scribbleaddict are members and can share links as well).
Lars Martinson is a cartoonist who spent 13 years making a comic called Tonoharu, which he thought would take three or four years to publish. In this video he shares his experience and how, as artists, we need to be careful about being too perfectionistic with our work. Martinson talks about how he refused to cut any corners or do anything in a simpler or faster way, because he felt that would be traitorous to the concept of being the true artist.
More than a decade later, Martinson regrets that he spent so much time on a single project. He explains that if he continued to follow this path, he might end up making maybe two or three projects in his lifetime before he would be too old to do more. He states: “I’m willing to completely overhaul the way I produce art, right down the very medium I’m working in.” Martinson said he hopes to reduce his output time from several years to a few months.
There’s a lot more to the video that underlines the importance of time management and flexibility in your creative projects, and it stands out as a strong guide for younger artists who have not yet made some of these mistakes. As Martinson so aptly states, time is the factor. You can’t have it back if you use too much of it on one project.
In animation, it’s the most basic of tests, and often one of the first things you ever learn as an animator. But Tomas Jech decided to take the iconic ball bounce to the next level by turning it into a story, in a way. In this short he shows off the various physical properties that different kinds of balls—and things that aren’t exactly balls—exhibit in a “ball bounce.”
The sound in this short is also of particular note. From the sound effects to the xylophone scales that are the sound of each impact, this short is probably as immersive as a ball bounce test has ever been.
Thor: Ragnarok comes out later this year, but some tidbits of info about the film have been dropped, along with some beautiful concept art, on the recent digital release of Doctor Strange.
Die hard Marvel comics fans are following the script, and comic publications have taken note of the fact that Thor’s helmet is displayed here (for the first time in the cinematic universe), and Hulk’s armor seems reminiscent of the Planet Hulk armor.
A synopsis has also been released for Thor: Ragnarok:
Thor is imprisoned on the other side of the universe without his mighty hammer and finds himself in a race against time to get back to Asgard to stop Ragnarok – the destruction of his homeworld and the end of Asgardian civilization – at the hands of an all-powerful new threat, the ruthless Hela. But first he must survive a deadly gladiatorial contest that pits him against his former ally and fellow Avenger – The Incredible Hulk!
For the casual observer who is a fan of art, these concept pieces are beautiful displays of depth and lighting. Great to see some featured concept works like this.
A while back, Animation Force received a submission about the wacky animation and cartoons of Matt Kiel (@mattkiel3), which are charged with satire and zaniness to the brim. From over the top slapstick to deadpan acting, there’s some interesting stuff here.
Kiel also does parodies of series such as Game of Thrones (Swordy & Ned), which he introduced as “Game of Thrones if it were a Saturday morning cartoon.”
This Zoetrope is made of 20 Dancing Ballerinas, 18 Jumping mice, 17 Marching Nutcrackers and 1 christmas tree. Its made for an interactive exhibition at Riverhouse Barn arts center, in Walton-on-thames which is open from 7th December 2016 - Janurary 8th 2017.
Submitted by @timwheatley. If you would like to contribute articles about animation and art to Animation Force, check out the submission page here.
The Incredible Exploratory Art Of Jin Kim For Moana
On each animated feature, whether computer animated or hand drawn, Disney has skilled artists explore the character designs and the expressions of the characters.
Jin Kim, the artist who made the drawings featured here, has been the go to guy at Disney for some time. Kim originally worked under Glen Keane when he first came to Disney. As Keane went on to work on other things at Disney, and eventually left, Kim took over most of the responsibility of character exploration through drawing.
Kim did many drawings for Frozen, Wreck-It Ralph, and Tangled. Other artists at Disney will do 2D animation tests so that the CG animators have something to visualize when they start animating. Tests of movement, expressions, character design, and different angles of the characters are all tested through drawings since it takes a lot less time to test a character in drawings before he is modeled and animated in CG.
That’s where artists like Jin Kim come in, who is one of a team of artists who help “put together the movie,” before they put together the movie.
Check out much more staggeringly inspirational art from Jin Kim on his blog.
