Matt Jones

A Monster in the UK!

2012-01-27T18:51:00.002Z

'A Monster In Paris' is unleashed today in the UK. Big Picture Studios, the promo company handling its UK release, featured me on their blog.

The French Oscars, the Césars, have just nominated 'Un Monstre a Paris' for Best Animated FIlm and Best Song. Here's a good resolution clip from the film . . .

The art of Urban Sketching

2012-01-25T21:16:00.004Z

I'm published! I think for the first time some of my sketches have been published on real paper in a real book in the real world-woohoo! (although my carbon footprint just got a little bigger I guess?)

I'm very pleased to be part of Gabi Campanario's collection of all the artists' work from his Urban Sketchers site which has gone from strength to strength since he founded it in 2008.

There's a nice 2 page spread on my drawings around San Francisco -I just wish I cleaned up the rain drops in Photoshop. . .

My old chum Stephane Kardos is featured too. Available now on Amazon

For Ronald

2012-01-04T23:30:00.005Z

The great Ronald Searle passed away last week - my correspondence with him will be sorely missed but his influence on my work will remain. We didn't meet often enough that I would consider him a mentor but I was able to show him some of my drawings and get advice from this master of reportage. He was always encouraging and positive about my work-the fact that he was even interested was astounding to me!

Out and about over the holidays I managed to make some quick location sketches around Portland, Oregon. These were done rapidly, on the hoof, as it was a lot colder and wetter up north!

Vignette views of downtown Portland

Free standing wall in the Pearl District

'The Steel Bridge'

'The old oak'

Native American lodge recreation at Ridgefield

Back in San Francisco I passed a couple of days in and around Chinatown where I was able to make longer studies. I've learnt a lot from studying Searle's location sketch work and always have him in mind when I'm drawing. The example he set of sheer discipline and prolific output keeps me going on the days when I think I suck or can't be bothered!

Grant Avenue

Fruit & veg market on Grant & Pacific

Washington & Grant

Cable car intersection at California & Powell

McTeagues on Polk St.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-19T23:25:00.004Z

'Arthur Christmas' was a difficult show to work on but the movie turned out great! It looks quite different to other cg movies released this year and its British humour gives it a unique charm.

Back in 2009 I was at Aardman in Bristol storyboarding the opening elf 'invasion' and several other sections throughout the picture. I'll post some more in the New Year. Happy Holidays!

(All material copyright Aardman/Sony Pictures Animation)

Occupy San Francisco!

2011-12-08T02:22:00.005Z

Despite intense work deadlines lately I've managed to do the odd bit of sketching in this fair city. . .

Out drawing with Mark Stanleigh on Nob Hill. See Mark's sketches here

The Mark Hopkins Hotel on California
(Here I tried out a nifty Pilot 'Parallel' pen-it's like drawing with a chisel!)

Huntington Park

The Hyde Out bar on Hyde & California

In the Mission for Day Of The Dead 2011

Some of San francisco's unique residents

Of all of the city's colourful neighbourhoods the Castro District must be the wackiest-drawing the famous theatre we got caught up in an 'Occupy' demonstration! A 'pop-up' free life drawing session occured in the street! Naked ramblers, trannies & dogs of all sizes make it a fun place to draw.

Over Thanksgiving I drew the enormous Grant Tree

The soul of drawing

2011-11-23T18:01:00.007Z

Photos by Heather Dresbach

Back from another great CTN animation expo. The presentation Alex Woo and I gave seemed to go over very well- we had an enthusiastic reception and I was pleased that several folk approached us afterwards to tell us it had inspired them. Apologies to our marvellous model Daniella who I turned into a hippo!

Crookie, Mo-ris, the Grillos and Jonez by Jamie Bolio

I caught a couple of great seminars- Andreas Deja did a live version of his Deja View blog with musical accompaniment by Richard Sherman! The mighty Oscar Grillo made an impressive presentation of his animation career and an inspirational slideshow of his personal work and artistic influences.

I promised to post some photos from Alex's Gesture class at Pixar so here they are.

Terry Song, Manny Hernandez and John Nevarez pitch their gesture story sequences

Diagrams by Alex Woo

Holger Liehe

Matt Jones

Terry Song

Domee Shi

CTN-X 2011

2011-11-15T17:23:00.003Z

This weekend I'll be heading down to L.A. to attend the CTN-X animation conference, now in its 3rd year! Sunday morning at 10 am Alex Woo and I will be talking about our approach to Gesture Drawing. See you there!

30 sec warm ups

1 minute

Back to the UK!

2011-11-05T01:01:00.009Z

I went home to the UK recently for the first time in a year since moving to California. That time flew by! I had the pleasure of catching up with old friends, meeting new family members and re-acquainting myself with England and Wales . . .

I met up with my three favourite draughtsmen Matt Cruickshank, Phil Warner and Oscar Grillo down on the River Thames at Hammersmith.

We swapped stories over glasses of stout at riverside pub The Dove. Dating from the 17th Century the Dove has the smallest bar in Britain (4 ft. 2ins by 7ft. 10ins) and is said to be the site of secret rendezvous between Charles 11 and Nell Gwynne.

In all the time I worked for Uli in Camden I never drew the Lock

Waiting on The Strand for Aardman chum Ash Boddy to go see the Spanish Drawing exhibition at the Courtauld.

I went to the christening of my brother's gorgeous baby daughter in Derbyshire. The ceremony was at this ancient 13th century church in Weston-on-Trent.

Enfin!

2011-09-29T00:34:00.018+01:00

The Galerie Arludik in Paris has a special UN MONSTRE A PARIS exhibition running. For a taste of the incredible artwork created for the film check out the online gallery

I'm so excited that the release of A MONSTER IN PARIS is imminent! It hits cinemas in France on October 12th. I'll miss the crew screening although I hope to see it soon after.

Here's the first interview with Bibo (en francais) with some new footage, behind-the-scenes work and some of my storyboards. I hope to post more boards once the film is releasd on dvd, until then I'll post officially released artwork on English and French blogs dedicated to the project.

Un monstre à Paris - Interview de Bibo Bergeron Vidéo Excessif sélectionnée dans Animation

A new clip has surfaced online too . . .

One of my old favourite Parisian haunts, Galerie Arludik, will soon be hosting an exhibition of some of the amazing artwork that went into the making of the film. The poster features one of Aurelian Predal's superb colour keys painted over a Story sketch by moi!

Bad Habit

2011-09-21T00:30:00.007+01:00

Arch Story Man Bishop John Hoffman commissioned me to make a pin up for his 'Nun With 2 Guns' comic book, which I graciously volunteered for free. John has spent way too many long & lonely nights pencilling, inking and colouring this 600 page tome due to debut at APEcon next month.

My protracted research process included committing the New Testament to memory and a fruitless consultation session with an order of nuns under a strict vow of silence. This left me with very little time to actually develop a good idea so I just drew zombies.

Once I had finalised the highly detailed composition I applied an experimental and unorthodox colour theory-

Et voila-the final piece-I had to beg John not to use this as the cover for his book so it will be in the fine company of Padre Jamie Baker, Father Scott Morse and Rev. W. J. Caldwell amongst others. . .

Line of Action

2011-09-09T00:39:00.001+01:00

In Gesture Class I've been advocating capturing the line of action/basic shape in a broad colour stroke then working in on top of that with a finer pen. It seems to generate more spontaneous interpretations of a pose.

Bay Area

2011-08-29T03:29:00.005+01:00

More sketches around San Francisco and the East Bay

The Doctor is in!

2011-08-04T02:17:00.011+01:00

Illustrators Wales published an interview with me waxing lyrical on the subject of drawing here.

I've been leading a second Gesture Drawing Class supplementary to Alex's. I'm not as experienced as Alex or Louis or Tom Gately but it's a beginners class and allows me to draw with folk from other departments and learn with them.

There's nothing like teaching to force one to distill and condense drawing principals & technique.
These are some of the notes I made in class-basic tips and tricks to strengthen drawings.

And some fun stuff from the sessions . . .

COM!CS

2011-07-19T02:13:00.014+01:00

The artists of the Aardman Animation anthology comicbook Tales of the Spiffing were recently interviewed by Ben Mitchell of Skwiggly Magazine.

You can read the group interview at this link but here is my unedited response to Ben's questions.

•To canvass different work backgrounds, what role do you presently have at Aardman/other company?

I was a Story Artist on Aardman/Sony's 'Arthur Christmas' Feb. 09-Oct 09

•How did you come to hear about ‘Tales of the Spiffing’ and why was it of interest to you?

I worked with Ash Boddy & JP Vine who initiated the project -they're both strong story tellers and I wanted to support them in their first publishing venture. Contributing 8 pages to an anthology book is a good way to see my own work published without having to produce a whole graphic novel!

•What sort of timeframe did you work within?

I played around with different concepts for a while then thumbnailed the final idea over the summer 2010- finishing the final art in a mad dash towards the end of the year after moving to California.

•Given the collection is thematically about Britain, what determined your particular choice of subject matter (such as any British institutions/legends/pop culture that appealed to you in particular)?

Being a Welshman I figured that could be a unique entry into the collection-while searching for ideas an interesting true-life story hit the media over the summer which attracted my attention. Bert Forking's 'wheelie bin rescue mission' appealed to me as a small story on a large canvas; a regular joe literally getting out of his depth & ending up in the national media.

•What artistic influences did you draw upon when it came to your story/illustration style? The comic book work of MAD creator Harvey Kurtzman really inspired me- I wanted to keep the artwork simple & evocative-like his 'Hey Look' strips or early MAD covers. Yann Martel's LIFE OF PI has long resonated with me for its 'lost at sea' passages and an old man on a grand adventure is always entertaining such as Pixar's UP or David Lynch's THE STRAIGHT STORY.

•Were there any brick walls you hit during the process, and do you feel as though you were able to overcome them successfully? As always I struggled to find a satisfactory ending- I resorted to a cheap false teeth gag to round off the story!

•Did you use the opportunity to help strengthen a pre-existing visual style you feel that you’re known for, or was it an excuse to do something completely new and out of your wheelhouse? Oh it was absolutely a chance to experiment -I've made comics in the past but never for public consumption so this was my first opportunity to be published! I wanted to keep the style as rough & loose as possible and hoped working digitally would allow for that. However it transpired that working digitally is still very time consuming as I kept re-working the artwork to find an appealing 'look'.

•Do you feel that working within Aardman is a valuable contributor to your creative process, in the case of this book as well as other endeavours? Aardman is a great place to work! They supported my efforts to gather employees for regular life drawing sessions at a local Bristol art school. The studio is full of inspiring creative folk & the love they have for the medium is reflected in the unique output of the studio.

•I’m especially interested in the angle of the book’s contributors all coming from an animation industry background. Did you find that this complemented and/or helped the process, or was it tricky to get acclimated to a different method of visual storytelling?

Nah, storyboarding & comic books are closely related-if anything I wanted to make my strip illustrative but combine some more cinematic compositions and play with the rhythm of the panels.

•Was there anything about the experience that made you feel you’ve benefited as an animator/designer/storyteller etc? It was a constructive exercise to distill an epic story into 8 pages and relate the tale without dialogue or colour-those were the parameters I set myself to work within.

•Do any of you have future plans for the characters/stories you created, such as a longer-form story or animated incarnation? I'd love to expand mine into a short and exaggerate the sea voyage further-Bert could drift for weeks, months and encounter all sorts of marine beasts, strange islands and hallucinations!

Tales of the Spiffing is available from the website. For orders within the U.S. I have a limited quantity of books here for sale. It costs $20 (excl. mailing).

I will sign any copies and perhaps make a drawing inside . . . just email me at the address in my Blogger profile.

A productive weekend . . .

2011-07-13T03:14:00.001+01:00

Last weekend I made some new friends but immediately lost them once I made their portraits . . .

The day after I did some real academic study at the DeYoung Museum drawing 'groovy tribal shit' . . .

I rounded off a stellar weekend sinking a couple of cold ones in an olde world inn where buxom wenches served thirsty knights fancy cocktails . . .

The End.

"SMILE!"

2011-07-07T18:16:00.002+01:00

This is a painting I've been working up based on the birthday card I made for Ronald Searle's 91st. Inspired by the sea-lion colony down at Pier 39 in San Francisco. I went down to Fisherman's Wharf a few months back to draw these smelly, noisy squatters.

March 3rd was Searle's 91st birthday and I put together a special sketchbook with all the other Pixar artists. I wanted to make a San Francisco themed image and came up with this gag.

I thought it might make a good subject for a painting and started re-working the composition.

Rough Sketch

Fun stuff from Gesture Class

2011-06-29T02:43:00.003+01:00

1 Quick 30 second warm ups with Karate guy!

2 Alex had me switch to left handed drawing to try and break out of relying on drawing crutches, habits and tricks.

3 A couple more left-handed sketches with digital corrections

4 Another class with 2 models gave us a chance to play around with a couple of familiar characters!

5 Never drawn these guys before so they're somewhat off model.

6 This model came dressed as a gangster so our work was almost done for us-

9 These were all inspired by the same male model-spot the movie reference bottom left?

10 Final bunch, again all made from the same male model. 1 minute poses.

The Monstre is coming . . . NEW CLIP!

2011-06-16T03:36:00.007+01:00

A sequence I boarded from the film was just released online as a pop promo for the song 'La Seine' by Mathieu 'M' Chedid and Vanessa Paradis.

It was with great pleasure today that I greeted the release of the trailer for 'A Monster In Paris'- a film I storyboarded on for BiboFilms between 2006-2008. It's a sheer delight to see scenes I drew 5 years ago realized so gloriously en trois dimensions!

I had the time of my life on this project working with a world class team in the south of France. I can't wait for the world to see the final film . . . I'll be blogging more about the film once it's released.

Trailer Un Monstre à Paris (A Monster in Paris) by animatieblog

Latest Gesture Class efforts

2011-05-31T02:01:00.001+01:00

1 We start with 30 second-1 minute warm up poses.

2 Simply looking for the flow and rhythm of the pose . . .

3 Always pushing the pose while maintaining clarity

7 Too much emphasis on anatomy in these-

8 Starting to get some acting in here . . .

9 . . . and now some fun stuff!

10 All these were made from the same male model, using his pose as a springboard for character and story. Two minute poses.

To see it done properly check out these drawings on Alex's blog. Some even more fun stuff here

Exploring & drawing SFO

2011-05-17T17:21:00.003+01:00

A selection of recent sketches made around the city.

The neon facades of SF's 'red light' zone.

The view from the terrasse of the Cafe Zoetrope on Columbus.

Behind the Ferry Building waiting for the Sausalito shuttle.

Cat napping on the Hyde St Pier

The impressive & imposing East Bay Bridge, in its own way just as majestic as the Golden Gate Bridge.

The Palace Of Fine Arts in the Presidio

A mini-sketchcrawl around my neighbourhood Noe Valley yielded these corners of interest.

Funky delapidated little house up on Diamond Heights.

This is how I moved to California! Now on permament display in the Oakland Museum

Gesture Fun!

2011-05-05T21:35:00.006+01:00

The most important thing in Gesture Class is to have FUN! If I get too wrapped up in anatomy and try to capture the 'real' pose the drawings tend to be boring. However it is possible to go too far in the opposite direction. Here's a selection of cartoony poses that came out of the last few sessions.

Alex insists we study the pose for 15 seconds without drawing and decide what it is exactly we want to draw. We write down the attitude we have in mind and let that inform the drawing.

Japan

2011-04-25T18:41:00.003+01:00

We're working on a special event at Pixar to contribute to aid relief in Japan. I'll post my effort when that happens but in the meantime here's a drawing I made for the exhibition organised by the London animation community. It's for sale over on the Animators vs Earthquake blog

'JapanTown, San Francisco'

A3 Indian Ink & wash on paper

Based on the sketches I made at the SF Sketchcrawl in January.

Gesture Class-the struggle continues . . .

2011-04-19T23:26:00.003+01:00

I'm starting to absorb Alex and Louis' methods into my approach. It's all about simplifying the anatomy, pushing the pose and imbuing story, attitude and character. I struggled like hell at first to consider all these aspects with 30 sec- 1 min poses but with sustained practise it's coming-just like learning to drive!

1 One minute warm ups

4 Thirty second warm ups

5 PUSH the pose!

8 Working from the same model and using the pose as inspiration we look for character and story.

Wondercon!

2011-04-08T18:30:00.005+01:00

Last weekend San Francisco hosted WonderCon 2011- a smaller, more intimate version of San Diego's ComicCon. Costumed heroes came from far and wide to join the parade of comic book characters. I had a blast sketching all the different outfits and capture the heroes posing for photos.

Even San Francisco itself began to look more like the architecture of a comic book Metropolis.

I met one of my personal comicbook heroes- Bill Sienkewicz-who actually looks like his artwork!

Most generous artist at the Con- Mr Alberto Ruiz - gave me his book and made a great dedicace inside.

My esteemed colleague Mr Jamie Baker was holding down a booth with Rafael Navarro.

Be sure to head over to Pixar animator Terry Song's blog to see his super sketches of the event.

Great video here on YouTube of all the costumed Heroes

Commercial Break

2011-04-04T19:04:00.008+01:00

Last summer I had the pleasure of dipping my toes back into commercials. Uli Meyer kept me busy for a few weeks at his London studio on a couple of spots for Cookie Crisp and Honeystars, both campaigns I had worked on for Uli before moving to France in 2006.

For Honeystars I made these colour keys to set the palette for the spot. The top left image is based on a layout by Margaux Zinsner.

On Cookie Crisp I was assigned the design of Chip the wolf's latest contraption to pilfer cereal from innocent children. This time it's a kind of Jet-Ski creation.

I made some rough colour keys for this ad too.

I did a quick thumbnail board to get the animatic started.

Studio artist Sean Hayden put together a fun 'making of' video showing the production process over on Uli's blog.

Latest Gesture session

2011-03-28T22:27:00.002+01:00

1 Rapid 30 second warm-ups

2 Poses between 1 and 2 minutes

3 The model held the headstand for one minute!

8 Starting to get some life into these; character, expression, story . . .

9 Just as I was warmed up the session was over, as usual!

OLMEC

2011-03-22T00:20:00.003Z

Colossal masterworks of ancient Mexico at the DeYoung Museum, San Francisco.

Huntington Gardens, Los Angeles.

Asian Art Museum, San Francisco.

Art Blocks for Ghana

2011-03-14T18:02:00.004Z

Saturday evening saw the launch of the Art Blocks for Ghana exhibition at Gallery Nucleus in Los Angeles. Rachel and Margaret's hard work paid off- it was great to see all the blocks together at last and meet the artists responsible.

Ghana 'Warrior King'

Gesture Class

2011-03-02T01:31:00.005Z

More from the Gesture Class under the tutelage of Master Woo. I'm inspired to keep pushing by Alex and fellow students, none more so than animator Terry Song-this guy's gesture sketches are KILLER!

Ten second warm ups:

1 The following are between1 and 2 minutes

JACKED!

2011-02-25T18:07:00.003Z

Before I came to Pixar I was an outgoing, confident, happy-go-lucky sort. But the daily abuse & ritual humiliation has made me a shadow of my former self. I wish I could say it was an honour to be ridiculed by such talented folk but it's too painful. Bastards!

The' sharpest knife' award goes to Mr Josh Cooley

John Hoffman gets the runner-up prize

Of course you know this means war . . .

Around San Francisco

2011-02-09T22:37:00.000Z

Through the first weeks of January I was host to my old pal Matt Cruickshank who was in town on an illustration gig. Showing him around we sketched in almost every neighbourhood and sunk beers in all of them! Here are the results of our intrepid expeditions on the streets of San Francisco . . .

Our first stop on New Year's Eve was Haight Ashbury . . .

Attracting too much attention from the pimps,pushers,winos and bums we retreated inside the nearest pub and drew the freaky folk from the relative safety of a bay window with a good view of the by-passers.

Sleepy Noe Valley has a different kind of vibe to the Haight-more push-chairs less crack addicts!

We climbed up to Bernal Heights for a 360 degree view of the city.

North Beach has a nice, laid-back feel too with of course the obligatory eccentrics.

Pier 39 is still home to the stinky, barking, bellowing sea-lion colony. The gaggle of tourists watching them were even rowdier!

View of the city across the East Bay with the Bay Bridge passing through Treasure Island and the Oakland port cranes on the left.

See Crookies marvellous sketches over on his blog

Spiffing Tales

2011-02-04T00:00:00.001Z

The Aardman anthology comic-book to which I contributed a strip is now available to order! Check out the TALES OF THE SPIFFING blog here for details. It's rammed with highly amusing nonsense by Aardman artists past and present with a very dandy cover by Aard director Luis Cook.

BUY IT NOW!

Sketchcrawl SF 2

2011-01-25T01:13:00.005Z

I kinda missed out on the last sketchcrawl back in October due to the APE convention but last weekend I was fully committed to the Japantown crawl. I hooked up with Jamie and Julia before winding down over coffee with Enrico and Ronnie. We spent a pleasurable hour after the event looking through all the other crawlers' sketchbooks. Great turn out this time - around 60 people I'm told.

I literally warmed up in the glorious winter sunshine with a sketch of the pagoda. The subject seemed suited to a vertical format and more 'Eastern' style of drawing. . . I was drawing into the sun which threw everything into stark silhouette.

I was fascinated by the people and signs of Japantown.

Jamie and I discovered this building with a curious mix of Eastern and Western architectural details.

Dr Sketchy's 2

2011-01-21T01:16:00.000Z

This week we had the first Dr Sketchy's session of the year with model Quicksilvababe in costume as comicbook heroines BlackCat and Zatanna Zatara! Many SF artist geeks' dreams were fulfilled that night . . .

I went along with pin-up girl specialist Josh Cooley-he busted out perfectly formed comicbook babes that put my efforts to shame. Here's one I stole from him while he was at the bar.

See the rest of Josh's drawings on his blog here

Comic!

2011-01-11T18:57:00.001Z

Here it is! The first Aardman anthology comic-book. Featuring artwork by Aardman artists past & present 'Tales of The Spiffing' is available for pre-order at the project blog

The book has a British theme - my contribution is based on a real-life incident that occurred over the summer in North Wales. 81 year old Bert Forking rowed out into high seas to retrieve his neighbour's wheelie bin. Picked up by life-boat rescue the story made the national press.

First pass thumbnails

Second pass layout thumbnails

Character development roughs

Merry Christmas from San Francisco!

2010-12-21T01:31:00.003Z

Here is the first batch of drawings made around town since I moved to this great city. I have lots more exploring to do over the holidays so more sketches to come in the New Year . . . Happy Holidays folks!

1 The East Bay Bridge viewed from Emeryville (the 'Eye of Sauron visible in back)

2 Coit Tower & telegraph Hill from Embarcadero

3 Francis Ford Coppola's building at the lower end of Columbus Ave.

4 Haight Ashbury where the pungent aroma of weed still hangs in the air!

5 Lombard St.

6 In the Mission District

6 Sleepy Noe Valley-my neighbourhood!

8 Chinatown Gate

9 Grant Ave.

10 Intersection of Columbus & Broadway where the Beats meet the Red Light. Apparently 'The Condor' is the site of America's first Topless Dance . . . a site of historical significance. I drew this from the top deck of 'Vesuvio' where Jack Kerouac used to drink.

Quickies

2010-12-08T00:28:00.002Z

More quick studies from Gesture Drawing Class at work. Every week we get a great model-always someone different and they never fail to strike inspiring poses.

1 (30 seconds)

2 (2 minute poses)

3 (2 minute poses)

4 (30 seconds)

5 (2 minute poses)

I've long wanted to attend a Dr. Sketchy's drawing session; a worldwide collective of burlesque drawing workshops where you can draw models in interesting attire, listen to great music and have a beer! Here are the results from Dr. Sketchy's San Francisco -

At CTN-X last month John Tucker was on hand again modelling for quick poses in the lobby. I caught a session where he was in his redneck outfit!

Ghana

2010-11-30T19:13:00.003Z

Here's my contribution to the 'home' theme of the Art Blocks for Ghana project. I found out Ghana means Warrior King & I wanted to incorporate forms found in African sculpture so I tried to incorporate all this & ended up with this Warrior King relaxing at home with his pregnant wife and first born son.

These exploratory thumbnails show my thought process-I started out with the image of a communal tree or village, playing around with sculptural iconography. I guess it's all pretty cliched stuff, certainly not representative of modern Ghana. I was thinking of imagery from a more primitive time in the past. The meaning of the word Ghana led me to the 'Warrior King' motif which I eventually combined with the 'home' theme for the final image.

(Thanks to Don Shank for the Gesso tip!)

Walt Disney Family Museum

2010-11-14T22:36:00.012Z

On a wet weekend in San Francisco recently I visited the Walt Disney Family Museum which opened in the Presidio last year. It's a very impressive, state of the art installation with oodles of interesting artifacts to offer animation fans.

Walt's childhood and family history is chronicled in fascinating detail. The Disney clan started in France then settled in Ireland before America. Letters, photos & artifacts such as Walt's Dad's fiddle really bring alive the period young Walt grew up in. His tough upbringing on a Kansas farm seemed to forge the man he would become-he reminisced about rising at 3am to do a paper round giving a sense of a work ethic instilled by his stern but loving father.

There are fascinating photos of Walt's early animation days with Hugh Harman & Rudi Ising and an account of the fateful meeting with Ub Iwerks & their subsequent partnership. Supporting the history are dozens of tastefully chosen pieces of art from the Disney films; from original art from the Skeleton Dance and Steam Boat Willie, through animation drawings of all the films of the 'Golden Age'. Even the very first design of Mickey is there.

There is an exquisite little maquette of Ferdinand the bull that I'd never seen previously. Marc Davis' Bambi designs, Milt Kahl's Pinocchio rough sketches, Fred Moore centaurettes from Fantasia, mind-boggling Bill tytla drawings of Chernabog, Eyvind Earl background paintings from Sleeping Beauty, the multi-plane camera, tiny Kay Nielsen paintings . . . Probably the most interesting article for animation fans was a scrapbook put together by Disney Effects expert Herman Schultheis. It's displayed open in a case but a nearby videoscreen flips through its pages. It's a collection of behind the scenes photographs, notes & drawings detailing the production of Fantasia

Mary Blair is well represented with many original paintings including gorgeous colour designs for It's A Small World.
One of Mary's studio cabinets is on display along with a hard hat made for her by workers on the construction of It's A Small World.

Read more about Mary

Disney's move into TV during the 50s throws up an amusing anecdote: during production of 'Man And The Moon' Ward Kimball consulted Werner von Braun who phoned him on the day of the first US space mission to tell him "You see, they're following our script!"

(You can read a good article on Man And The Moon here)

The exhibition culminates with a huge model of Disneyland

The Walt Disney Family Museum is heaven for Disney/animation fans. The entrance fee is rather expensive ($20) but it's worth it -you could literally spend all day in there. . . and it's situated in a beautiful part of San Francisco in the shadow of the Golden Gate Bridge.

You can view a photo-tour of the museum here

Another skirmish in the gesture class

2010-11-07T21:41:00.004Z

I struggled a lot in Gesture Class last week. Alex Woo was back leading the class & he encourages us to relate the pose to story. Before putting pencil to paper think of a situation or character and let that inform the sketch. It does affect the decisions you make while drawing and should make for more interesting poses. However with 30secs-2mins I found it tricky to come up with a scenario AND get the pose down. Everyone else made amazing sketches where the model was a ballerina or diving into a swimming pool. I must work on this. I feel like I went backwards in my drawing but forwards in my thinking.

Towards the end of the session I started to get into the groove and work story ideas into the sketches rather than getting caught up in anatomy.

Gesture Class

2010-10-23T20:05:00.004+01:00

Since seeing the Disney Disney Sample Portfolio in 1996 & subsequently studying Glenn Vilppu's books & Walt Stanchfeld's notes I've wanted to take part in a 'gesture class'. It seemed something that was the sole province of the American animation studios. Regular life-drawing classes in the UK just never offered what I was looking for:-quick, dynamic poses from models who could act a little. Sure there were times when we did short or even moving poses but never in costume or with relevant props. Sensing my needs one time a life class tutor asked the model to make more dynamic, more animated poses. The model scoffed "you mean like bugs bunny?" and promptly sat on a chair believing that to be dynamic!

Anyway, now I've found a regular gesture drawing class here are my first results.

30 second warm-ups with the model in his karate outfit!

Here we moved into longer, 2 minute poses. Still quite quick but the poses were great.

The next model started off in a bikini & a large, floppy sun-hat for the 30 second poses.

For the 2 minute poses she changed into an old time pioneer house-wife.

Recent Activity

2010-10-18T16:46:00.004+01:00

Just before leaving the UK I visited my old art college back home in Bangor, North Wales. I was asked to talk to the students about my career path since I studied there. They had only just started their Art Foundation course so I tried to impress upon them the importance of carrying a sketchbook & let them look through the one I had with me.

I looked in on the students in the life-drawing room, it felt strange to be back in the same room where I began my art education 15 years ago! The model hasn't aged so well though!

I also had the opportunity to visit Ronald Searle again with Uli Meyer. Once more we were treated to old school, classy hospitality by the Searles who wined & dined us for another memorable afternoon in Provence. We arrived well before lunch which enabled me to sketch the beautiful village square as we relaxed at the café terrasse.

In San Francisco last weekend I went along to APE to support some of my friends & colleagues who had booths. The incredible artistry of their comics & sketchbooks makes me want to join in next year with an offering of my own. Katy Wu's Tiger Bee was one of my favourite finds.

She was also part of the 'Round Robin' book with Dani Strijleva and Jennifer Chang. Their table was very popular at the expo. They were flanked by messrs Josh Cooley, Bill Presing and speed painter extraordinaire Scott Morse.

Across the hall my colleague Jamie Baker was on a table next to the Anthology 451 boys; Kris Pearn, John Hoffman and Craig Berry. They were in the comic-con seasoned company of Ted Mathot and Derek 'Monster' Thompson.

Photo by Elaine Wu

PIXAR: 25 Years of Animation

2010-10-07T08:49:00.017+01:00

Last weekend before starting work I swotted up on Pixar history at the Oakland Museum where the 'Art of Pixar Animation' has returned after a worldwide tour. I first saw the show at London's Science Museum back in 2006. It has been updated since then to include artwork & maquettes from RATATOUILLE, WALL-E, UP & TOY STORY 3.

Lou Romano's UP gouache paintings, Simon Varela's charcoal studies for NEMO and Kent Melton's sculpts of THE INCREDiBLES are the highlights for me. The ARTSCAPE projection is even better now it flies through WALL-E, RATATOUILLE and UP artwork and the TOY STORY zoetrope is still mesmerising.

PIXAR!

2010-09-26T16:58:00.005+01:00

Illustration for BBC Wales website article.

Welsh version here.

Over 20 years ago I saw John Lasseter on TV talking about KNICK KNACK and how he studied Chuck Jones cartoons professionally & felt he had never truly worked a day in his life because he got paid to do what he loves! This sounded like the job for me!

I started animation school just as TOY STORY was released and of course Pixar became the studio to work for. 15 years and thousands of drawings later it's with great pleasure that I accepted Pixar's invitation to join their story dept.
It's been a long wait with the interview process & visa issues but I'll finally be moving to San Francisco this week to start work the beginning of October on a top secret project that I know nothing about-so don't ask!

I've tried to see as much of Europe as possible over the past year drawing along the way. I'm looking forward to exploring San Francisco and northern California as much as I can. But I feel that I'm going to be really busy on the film for the next couple years . . .

My local newspaper ran a story on me with a pic of me climbing out of a Norwegian fjord!

The Daily Post picked up on the Norway trip too here.

New promo posters have been released for the last 2 films I worked on. They will be released in 2011

Spain pt.3

2010-09-20T17:15:00.002+01:00

Here's the final part of my Spanish odyssey. From Zaragoza we went back north to SanSebastian via Pamplona. Then a long drive south east through stunning scenery. We stopped half way in Huesca before pushing on towards the coast.

Sitges is a very pleasant town on the Med where the guys wear tighter shorts than the girls. It's a resort town but once again we were unimpressed by Spanish campsites- this one was right next to the main road.

Next morning we took the coastal road north to Barcelona where a friend had arranged a nice room in a hostel for us. After 2 weeks in tents we were happy to lie in beds again! We spent a couple of days in the city taking in the Parc Guell, Picasso Museum, the Sagrada Familia and the Fondacion Joan Miro.

In the evenings we dined in the lively Born district close to the gothic quarter-fantastic tapas!

Leaving Barcelona proved tricky without sat nav-we spent an hour going up and down the wrong highway twice before finding the right route north. We were looking to make Figueres our next stop-Salvador Dali country!

Dali was born in Figueres later settling in Port Lligat on the north east coast close to Cadaques. We toured the suitably bizarre & surreal egg-turreted museum in Figueres. This place is astounding- packed with Dali's art & possessions.

Cadaques & Port Lligat are quite secluded-a winding drive from Figueres up over the mountain down to the coast. Port Ligat is still unspoilt -its shallow harbour occupied only by fishing boats. The natural bay recognizable from the landscapes in Dali's paintings.

He lived here in a huge white villa adorned with giant eggs like the museum in Figueres.

After over 2 weeks on the road & camping we were ready to head home. We crossed the border at Perpignan and burned through France via Carcassone, Orleans, Fontainebleau and Paris. In the French capital we caught up with Bibo and crew who are continuing work on 'A Monster In Paris' -the film I worked on between 2006 and 2008.

Next day re-energized we completed the last leg of the trip back to Calais then London. After 3 weeks, over a dozen different camp-sites, several world-class museums & countless warm cans of beer I had accomplised my Quixotic goal -to see Picasso's Guernica. Along the way we made some new friends, caiught up with old ones and took in more amazing scenery than I can remember. We drove thousands of kilometres yet only covered the top right-hand quarter of the country. Some day I'll return to see the rest . . .

You can read part 1 here and part 2 here. My map 'journal' of the entire trip is here.

En plein air

2010-09-15T18:29:00.001+01:00

LIFE just posted a great pictorial on artists & their models. Seems like in the US they like to draw the nude outside. I'm moving to northern California in a couple of weeks so I'm looking forward to partaking in some of these al fresco life drawing classes.

Wonder what the view was like from the back ? (I mean the other back)

Summer Exhibitions

2010-09-12T12:02:00.003+01:00

This year I saw three major Picasso exhibitions. Even better than the London Gagosian show was the Peace & Freedom exhibition at Tate Liverpool. Focusing on Picasso's often little noted role as a political activist, peace campaigner, supporter of women's causes and feminist.

The highlight is the Charnel House (1945) but I was particularly struck by Lobster vs. Cat!

Sargent and the Sea at the Royal Academy, London was a smallish exhibition in the 1st floor gallery space but packed with goodies from Sargent's early career. Travels around the Med and across the Atlantic bred a fascination with the sea and those who live around and work on it. There were dynamic sketches of life on deck during trans-atlantic crossings. The paintings of Mediterranean folk are a masterclass in expressive loose painting techniques.

Recently opened at Tate Britain, London is a fascinating look at the life and career of pioneer photographer Eadweard Muybridge. Of course as an animation artist I'm familiar with his locomotion studies but I wasn't aware of his parallel career photographing northern California. He made stunning landscape shots of Yosemite, lighthouses along the Pacific Coast, the Farallon Islands and giant Redwoods. He had settled in San Francisco and it was railroad tycoon John Stanford who first commissioned Muybridge to settle the 'flying horse' debate. Muybridge made an impressive panoramic study of San Francisco from the roof of Mark Hopkins'mansion on Nob Hill. More intimate studies of the interiors of these mansions gave an insight into the world of the 'railway rich' around the turn of the last century before it was decimated by the earthquake and fire of 1906.

Muybridge really led an extraordinary life-a self made man born in England who made a name for himself in California. He pioneered early photographic techniques, reinvented himself as Helios and made a fortune flogging postcards. He later shot his wife's lover in the face and literally got away with murder! He's influenced everyone from Francis Bacon and David Hockney to animators and film-makers. Someday a biopic film will be made of Muybridge and his luxuriant beard. (Apparently Philip Glass based his 1982 opera The Photographer on Muybridge's life).

This is Muybridge in the shot above contemplating his next career move.

Ireland

2010-09-02T17:12:00.006+01:00

Before I went to Norway I went to Ireland! 2 weeks driving around the republic drawing and drinking Guinness! First stop Dublin-

The Hugh Lane gallery in Dublin has Dublin born Francis Bacon's London studio. It was meticulously photographed and recorded then rebuilt in the museum!

~across the country to Galway & Connemara. . .

~south through Ballyvaughan & the Burren. . .

The ancient stone 'portal' Poulnabrone . . .

~On the way to the cliffs of Moher . . .

~a detour through Tipperary and Cashel . . .

my goal was to see Dingle where David Lean filmed Ryan's Daughter. The journey across the mountain pass and down to the town is spectacular but it's no longer the sleepy little fishing village of Lean's time.

We kissed the Blarney Stone at Blarney castle. It's supposed to endow the gift of the gab- specifically sophisticated 'blarney' as opposed to 'baloney' which is bullshit! Maybe it'll help me pitch in story sessions?

I think my favourite place in Ireland must be Cobh-close to Cork. It has one of Europe's deepest natural harbours and the Titanic sailed out of there to its doom!

Back to Dublin for the ferry through Waterford and Kilkenny. . .

The 'Emerald Isle' really is that colour-I was blown away by the variety of green hues in the landscape-it made for an unforgettable journey.

Norway

2010-08-25T18:13:00.013+01:00

A Lighthouse Troll drawn in the guestbook of Kråkenes Fyr-a lighthouse 'inn' we stayed at.

I'm back from the 10 day trip around Norway that I won. We had an intensive itinery with activities every day-glacier hiking, rafting, cycling etc. but I still squeezed in some sketching between all the extreme outdoor pursuits!

The UNESCO protected wooden shops on the waterfront in Bergen.

The Johannes Kirken in Bergen.

View across the harbour at Flåm

Kalvoya Island

Drawing in the bridge of the Fjord 1-one of the rapid ferries we used to get around the long stretches of water between our destinations. The Norwegians have always used the fjords to transport themselves and goods-seems to be the quickest way!

Quick sketches made out the window of the ferry of islands and landscape we passed.

We spent a day under the sun at Hoddevik-a 'surfers paradise'. While the others practised surfing I found a quiet spot on the jetee to make this drawing. The air was pungent with the smell of scores of rotting king crabs that had been dashed on the rocks by waves.

The banks of the Oslo fjord are dotted with cute little huts-presumably used for weekend sun-bathing and swimming.

Sketching atop a glacier was a first for me-I got a wet behind though!

Ringebu Stave Church

Spain pt. 2

2010-08-02T20:17:00.008+01:00

Leaving Bilbao we started heading south towards Madrid. We stopped in Burgos to see El Cid's tomb in the cathedral.

Continuing south a slight detour to the west took us to see the impressive Alcazar of Segovia.

Next day we hit Madrid where we would find our quarry-Picasso's 'Guernica'. However the museo Reina Sofia was closed the day we arrived so we had to spend an extra night at Madrid's one & only campsite sweating in our stuffy tents. We passed the evening exploring some of the city's exotic watering holes.

The morning after we went went back to the museo Reina Sofia and finally clapped eyes on Picasso's masterpiece! In printed form I'd never noticed the bird painted in between the bull and the horse.

I felt I had to make a study of the painting so tussled by hordes of Korean tourists and Spanish school kids I made the sketch above.

After Madrid we headed west into the vastness of Castille la mancha. We didn't see any Quixote style windmills but we passed literally hundreds of the modern turbine type.
We were heading straight across country to Barcelona but a friend was visiting Zaragoza to the north so we took a sharp left turn & headed up into Aragon to meet him.

Troll update!

2010-07-22T12:45:00.001+01:00

My entry to the NorwayYourway contest won! I'll be the UK representative travelling with 'creatives' from France, Italy, Germany and Russsia through mid-August. It is going to be a great opportunity to explore an amazing land and report back with lots of sketches. Many thanks to everyone who voted for me.

Spain

2010-07-20T16:52:00.006+01:00

Back to my trip around Spain. The first stop in France was the Loire valley. After driving down from Calais we spent a freezing first night in a campsite outside Tours. It was late May & the camping season hadn't yet begun so we climbed the fence & pitched our tents out of view of the road.

Next day we visited one of the fairy-tale chateaus of the Loire; Azay-le-rideau before setting up camp at a great site next to the river in Chinon opposite the impressive old fortress.

After lunch the next day in Angouleme we moved onto Bordeaux. We explored the city on foot a little then drove around looking for a camp-site. We didn't have GPS or internet access so looking for camp-sites became pot-luck. Sometimes it took hours but often we found them by following our noses. The further south we moved the warmer the nights became but of course that means mosquitoes too. The camp at Bordeaux lac had a huge pond full of croaking frogs, mozzies the size of pigeons, hooting owls & a mooing cow! That was a restless night.

Onto Biarritz on the Atlantic 'riviera'-choc-full of casinos, sports cars & fab beaches, it's like Nice, St Tropez & Monte Carlo in one. The campsite didn't measure up however- it was right next to the airport! The pitch was hard & uncomfortable and we were harassed in the night by rampaging hedge-hogs! Another tough night.

Next day we crossed the border into Northern Spain-first stop San Sebastian.

The North coast of Spain is really quite beautiful-as we drove onto Bilbao we passed through some stunning landscape. On the coastal road at Islares we found a great resort campsite with an incredible beach.

Our next destination was Bilbao . . .

The Guggenheim was our first major museum-the building is remarkable.

Louis Bourgeois' 'Mother' and Jeff Koons' 'Puppy' are the key installations.

Lots of character in the faces of the Spanish people.

Send me to Norway!

2010-07-09T10:59:00.002+01:00

Hey all-here's my entry for the NorwayYourWay competition, a campaign to promote tourism in Norway. Entrants are asked to submit a piece of work inspired by Norway. The 5 winners will tour around Norway sketching, writing & photographing & blog their results along the way. Please vote for me or enter yourself by visiting the site here

España

2010-06-29T10:14:00.011+01:00

Along the drive through France & Spain I kept a 'journal' in the form of a map to keep track of all the places we visited along the way. We were moving every day so after 3 weeks it was tricky to recall everywhere we'd been but my map helped.

Picasso

2010-06-20T12:50:00.007+01:00

The inspiration for my trip to Spain was to see Picasso's Guernica in the flesh before I leave Europe later this year. The painting is in the museo Reina Sofia in Madrid, I was so excited to see it I virtually ran through the gallery to find it! It's scale is intimidating & the sheer power it emits is breath-taking. Hanging opposite it is a fascinating series of photos Dora Maar took of it's evolution. Picasso had made hundreds of studies in preparation of tackling this all important theme but the imagery changed radically even as Picasso worked on the final painting. It looked completely different at the rough stage.

The gallery also houses an exquisite collection of Spanish Modern Art including more Picasso, Dali & Miro.

The Picasso museum in Barcelona primarily focuses on the artist's early years; training as an artist in Barcelona & establishing himself as an artist in Paris. His later work is represented-there's a series of Cannes pigeons and also his well known version of Velasquez' 'Las Meninas'. The current exhibition examines the relationship between Picasso & Rusinol.

Picasso: The Mediterranean Years 1945-1962 just opened at the Gagosian gallery in London. The show is outstanding covering my favourite period of Picasso's ouvre. During my time on the French Riviera I often went on the Picasso trail-visiting the places where he lived & worked & the musee Picasso in Antibes; his chateau at Vauvenargues. I've been working my way through John Richardson's epic 3 part biography of the artist -illuminating stuff. It's Richardson who has helped curate this latest show with Picasso's grandson Bernard Ruiz-Picasso, a follow up to their well received 'Mousqueteros' show in NYC last year. Richardson has contributed an essay to the exhibition catalogue- an essential but hefty publication (with a price tag to match).

The work produced during this period in Picasso's life is full of post war joie de vivre-it's his most playful & intimate work, based on Mediterranean tradition & mythology and his extended family. Amid Amidi recently pointed out on Cartoon Brew that Picasso could be considered a cartoonist & it's this period that reflects that notion best I think. A lot of what we do in animation these days is influenced by mid 20th century graphic animation artists (Kimball, Blair, UPA, Searle et al.) all of whom were in turn looking at the work of the Spanish master.

2010-06-08T22:14:00.010+01:00

Before leaving Europe for the US later this year I wanted to see Spain and in particular Picasso's 'Guernica'. My old chum Will volunteered to be my travelling companion, my Sancho Panza. We packed the car with all our camping kit & headed south for a 3 week expedition through France & Spain. Will navigated us across the continent with only a large scale roadmap & the stars, which may explain why we were so often lost looking for campsites. But the "scenic routes" were better anyway and Don Quixote never had an i-phone with GoogleMaps either.

Student days

2010-05-11T16:38:00.026+01:00

My old college chum Matt Cruickshank found his graduation film on Vimeo and mine is up there too. The 5000 Brains of Docter X was initially a 1st year group project between James Finlay, Mike Rooker, Dan Harrod & myself. In the 2nd year I developed it further with Darran Woods-we fleshed out the premise but it was too ambitious & we cut the whole thing down, animating just our favourite scenes. Max Tyrie came in near the end to help us out with the CG & compositing. We animated our favourite scenes & strung them together in a spoof trailer format, the music is of course by Danny Elfman from the Mars Attacks! soundtrack (copyright Warner Bros. Music).

The 5000 Brains of Dr. X (1997) from ATRiuM Animation Archives on Vimeo.

I dug out some of the production artwork I made for the film. We were influenced back then by Ren & Stimpy of course, Mars Attacks! and B-movies from the 50s, Luc Besson's The Fifth Element, Chuck Jones' cartoons and Leni Riefenstahl!

Darran built & animated all the CG elements & I did the 2-D animation. I remember pulling many all nighters putting this together but we had a blast making it.

Renaissance Men

2010-05-04T17:47:00.001+01:00

Last week Dutch interior designer/DJ Gur-B was in town. Normally he likes to check out designer vinyl toys and graphic design bookshops so I thought I'd show him some real drawings for a change.

We headed over to the British Museum to check out the Renaissance Drawings exhibition. There were prime morsels on show by all the Ninja Turtles; Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo & Donatello but I was more intrigued by a statuesque transvestite who was eyeing up the chiselled torsos on show. S/he looked like this:

After we'd looked at 100 pictures of pretty ladies with their heads cocked to one side we headed to the Prints & Drawings room where we donned white gloves & dug out some dusty old boxes of original Ronald Searle drawings which were much funnier.

How to make a Cookie Crisp commercial

2010-04-16T19:33:00.006+01:00

Over a year ago I designed the latest Cookie Crisp commercial for Uli Meyer Studios. First task was to design Chip the wolf's latest invention for stealing cereal from innocent children; a home-made, pedal-powered helicopter from which Chip can hook cereal boxes with his fishing rod & plunger!

The sketches at the top of the page above proved the right approach so I worked up a detailed version in b&w.

Next step was a colour version for the agency to sign off on. This would also be texture ref. for the cg team.

I roughed out a quick pass on the storyboard based on the agency boards.

Next I planned out a colour key set-up to sell the agency on 'the look'.

Last stage was some background colour keys used in the animatic and as a ref. guide for the finished ad. Then I handed it over to Uli & his team to work their magic.

More on my work with Uli on past Cookie Crisp ads here and here. Check out Uli's groovy new studio site here.

Venice

2010-04-08T17:32:00.001+01:00

Visiting Los Angeles for the first time last year Venice Beach seemed similar to London's Camden Town-except everyone wears less clothes . . . and there's a beach!

More from the life room . . .

2010-04-01T14:11:00.005+01:00

Latest batch from the Bristol Grammar School Life Drawing Course run by Will Stevens. The poses range between 5-10 minutes.
1

8 I wish I indicated the floor in this one-the model looks like he's hurtling through the air backwards!

Une vie héroique

2010-03-18T10:36:00.005Z

While I was in Nice over the New Year the French media was buzzing about the imminent release of Joann Sfar's biopic of Serge Gainsbourg. Through the Gainsbourg: Le Film blog I discovered a project set up by Brit illustrator Jonathan Edwards- Draw Serge! inviting illustrators to contribute their images of Serge. Here are the roughs for the final above.

Life Class

2010-03-16T14:59:00.001Z

Latest batch of life studies from the Bristol Grammar School Life Class as requested by O. Grillo of Ealing and M. Cruickshank in Roehampton.

1

Sketching at Henry Moore

2010-03-12T11:42:00.000Z

London Exhibitions

2010-03-10T11:59:00.006Z

Last week I re-charged my cultural batteries in London. I was reminded what an incredible centre it is for art exhibitions. In which other city could you see Michelangelo's 'Dream', read VanGogh's letters to his brother, marvel at Henry Moore's ouvre & scrutinize hundreds of Ronald Searle originals all in one day?!
In my experience only Paris has more top exhibitions simultaneously on the go (and London admission prices are catching up with the French capital too; for £12 a pop they should throw in a complimentary catalogue). I was in town to see the exhibitions celebrating Ronald Searle's 90th birthday but also managed to squeeze in the big 3 major crowd-pullers.

First up, the Henry Moore retrospective at TATE Britain. I was somewhat disappointed by this- the Moore installation at Dulwich a few years ago was more impressive. It seems Moore's monumental bronzes work better outdoors. I realize there's only so many you can heave into the Tate galleries but the sculptures on show seemed to cancel each other out.

More interesting were the works on paper-several sketchbook pages are on display & for the first time I saw Moore's 'blitz' drawings in the flesh. These were records of conditions during WW11 when Londoners sheltered from the bombing in the tunnels of the Underground. I've never forgotten seeing as an art student Moore's 'sheep' sketchbook, impressed by his sculptural use of cross-hatching.

Later in the day I happened upon a Moore print in an antiquarian book shop window; a fine drawing of a rhinoceros, its form similarly expertly rendered.

Early next morning I walked along the Strand to the Courtauld Institute where temporary exhibitions are supported by a fine collection of Impressionist & post-Impressionist works, Dutch masters, numerous studies by Tiepolo & Tintoretto & that picture of Adam & Eve from the title sequence of Desperate Housewives (actually by Cranach the Elder). I was there to see some drawings by Michelangelo that I wasn't familiar with-a series of 'presentation' drawings made to woo a much younger man that the old artist was smitten with. (Were these part of the Michelangelo show at the British Museum 4 years ago?) The highlight of the series is the 'Dream'- it's unimaginable how the artist conjured up this masterpiece merely with chalk & his fingers-breath-taking stuff.

If only Vincent Van Gogh knew that even his hand-writing would turn out be so popular! His correspondence with his brother Theo is the major blockbuster this season with lines stretching the entire courtyard of the Royal Academy. I waited an hour to get in & spent 10 minutes shuffling along the glass cases peering at the fragile, brown letters before a power-cut plunged the galleries into darkness. We all stood murmuring in the gloom for 5 minutes before being ushered out the fire escape. In the confusion I took advantage of the disabled security alarms & slipped one of the priceless canvases under my coat & made for the exit. A ransom of this kind is the only way to coerce a refund from the RA beaureaucrats!

Ronald Searle is 90 today!

2010-03-03T07:15:00.003Z

I'm in London for a couple of days attending the various festivities surrounding Mr Searle's 90th birthday. Follow the news on my Searle Tribute Blog.

Back on the lecture circuit

2010-02-24T16:29:00.000Z

Last week I was invited to talk to the animation students at Newport Film School by my old college chum & Resident Cartesian Theologian James Manning. I hope my random ramblings were of some use to the next generation of UK animators.

Lecturing is a great way to force you to focus on your process & approach. It helps you clarify your thoughts on why and how one works. I'm sure if I keep doing it I'll eventually make some kind of sense.

I'll be doing my presentation on Ronald Searle's work in animation & film titles at the Cartoon Museum, London on March 30th.

Interesting article here on comicbook artists finding work as live-action storyboard artists & directors.

Life Drawing Winter Term 2010

2010-02-18T15:19:00.000Z

A new term of life drawing has begun and after a couple of months out of the life-class it's back to drawing off the rust. These are the strongest drawings out of 2 weeks of struggling. I enjoy the work-out though . . .

Films of the year

2010-02-16T12:11:00.000Z

A little late with this but after due consideration & spurred on by a debate with cineast pals in SanFrancisco last week here's my top 5 of 2009, in ascending order:

Fashion designer Tom Ford impresses with his super stylish & assured directorial debut. Interesting cinematography (the use of colour draining in & out is effective), period perfect production design & a towering performance from Colin Firth.

Documentary following Slovenian national hero Martin Strel as he swims the Amazon with only a skinful of beer & wine to protect him from the piranhas. Driven crazy by the sun, polluted waters & ill health this is a testament to will power & the human spirit. A film like those Werner Herzog used to make before he hooked up with Nicolas Cage (this just beats out boxing documentary Facing Ali-an excellent portrait of the opponents Mohammed Ali faced in the ring.

In a strong year for sci-fi movies District 9 showed what you could do on a relatively low budget with imaginative fx while Avatar showed the sky is the limit when the money is no object. But Moon showed them both that real-life model moon buggies still rule! Sam Rockwell gives performance of the year-twice!

I was blown away by Let The Right One In early in the year-just when you think the cinematic vampire genre is moribund the most original horror pic in years comes out of Sweden. The use of shallow focus & compositional framing in this flick is masterful. I re-watched it recently on dvd & the director's commentary reveals that she is really a he!

And my film of the year is actually two- Mesrine: Killer Instinct/Public Enemy is a dazzling, brutal account of infamous French outlaw Jacques Mesrine. This is everything Michael Mann's Public Enemies should have been-dynamic, sexy, shocking and Cassel burns 1000 times brighter than Depp's Dillinger. Along with Jacques Audiard's Un Prophet the French reclaimed the movie-gangster crown in 2009.

1910

2010-02-07T14:20:00.000Z

A couple of weeks ago while driving back from Nice I stopped over in Paris for a special screening of 'A Monster In Paris' -the film I storyboarded on between 2006 and 2008.

Bibo had invited me to attend a work-in-progress screening of the picture with the rest of the crew. Also in attendance was Matthieu 'M' Chédid who has composed the films music & songs and also voices the eponymous monstre. Vanessa Paradis plays the heroine & Danny Huston channels his father's unique timbre as the villain of the piece.
The studio is well into animation and on target for their Easter 2011 release date. Animation supervisor is Fabrice Joubert who was just Oscar nominated for his short French Roast.

The production is now suitably based in the Studio Méliès, built on the site of the original studio of cinema effects pioneer Georges Méliès.
The film is financed by Luc Besson's company Europacorp. Besson himself is finishing up work on his new film 'Les Aventures extraordinaires d'Adèle Blanc-Sec'-an adaptation of Jacques Tardi's comicbooks. It's set in the same period as 'A Monster In Paris' and looks like a live action version of that film.

'A Monster In Paris' is looking great so far-the animation style is really loose & cartoony. The production design by François Moret and his team is outstanding. The film has been made with as much class, skill & style as the French produce clothes, cakes, wine & fine art. Only 14 months more until the monster is unleashed . . .

New Year with the Searles

2010-01-22T14:48:00.000Z

Uli & I had another chance last week to visit Ronald Searle & his wife Monica. As last time we had a splendid lunch in their favourite restaurant then the rest of the afternoon back at their place. Monica kept brewing her strong coffee to counter-act the champagne which Ronald kept pouring!

This time we were privileged to be permitted access to the inner sanctum of chéz Searle. Few are allowed to see his studio & study but his work & sketchbooks were due to be shipped off to the Wilhelm Busch museum in Hanover where his archive is held. Ronald gave us a real treat & let us look at anything we fancied-he really is the most generous 'world's greatest living cartoonist' that I know!

Of course Ronald's collection of his own books is incomparable-he has all editions (plus proof/copy versions)in mint condition. There were several that I'd never even heard of.

Seeing the 'top-shelf' was nirvana for these dedicated Searle fans-a lifetime of sketchbooks! Last time we browsed his Scrooge and Monte-Carlo books but here were the rest-Morocco, Palm Springs, Hawaii, Dublin, Germany-all the original notes & drawings Searle made for the HOLIDAY magazine reportage.

It was all we could do to flip through as many as possible, Searle graciously letting us photograph anything we wanted. Naturally we couldn't get everything-between carrying on the conversation with Ronald and Monica, climbing up & down the step-ladder & the effects of the champagne-it was tough to focus! I'll be putting the rest of the photos up on the Searle blog soon.

Researching Searle I'd struggled to find 'A Step In The Jungle' a documentary made by the BBC in the 70s. Luckily Ronald possesses a copy on VHS and we were able to watch it with him adding commentary-

Monica too has her own collection of her husband's work & was very pleased to share with us her 'Mrs Mole' drawings. A special series of over 40 pictures that Ronald made for her every time she was ill. She would always awake to find another depiction of a day in the life of Mrs Mole- Monica herself in fact-easing the misery of her illness.
It was an honour & very touching to see these personal drawings. They're very charming, lovingly crafted and infused with the Searles devotion to each other.

Once again regretfully it was time to leave the Searles in their cosy little house in deepest Provence. Monica told us the bicycle in Searle's work is symbolic of happiness. With Ronald approaching his 90th birthday in March they're still going strong & the finest people to spend a Saturday afternoon with.

American Odyssey pt.2 On The Road

2010-01-01T11:01:00.000Z

". . . we were on the edge of the desert, somewhere around Barstow . . ." when we began to wonder exactly whose idea it was to drive to Portland via Vegas! The plan was to head out east for a couple nights in the casinos then north to Portland via Salt Lake City & Twin Falls, Idaho. We'd return to LA through the Redwoods, Napa Valley, San Francisco & Santa Barbara- a 2000 mile round trip, in a week!

Las Vegas is more surreal than I could ever have imagined-nowhere does fabricated over the top decadence like Vegas.
We stayed at a quiet little place off the strip- the sophisticated & understated Hard Rock Hotel!

The casino CCTV must have observed me standing in a corner to make this drawing -I was soon surrounded by 3 burly security men checking what I was noting down in my black book. When they saw I was merely sketching the most senior said "pretty good . . ." and they left me alone.

Vegas to Portland is a long drive-especially if you make a 4 hour detour into the desert to see the Grand Canyon-only to find it 'closed'! The changing landscape we saw across 800 miles was impressive. We stopped in Salt Lake City, Utah-it was freezing there but those Mormons sure keep a nice, clean town. We saw a lot of exotic road-kill along the route and travelling hundreds of miles meant it was only a matter of time before we killed something. Thankfully it wasn't a raccoon or a deer or a bison but a hapless pigeon who met his maker when our radiator grill struck him at 90mph!

Rolling into Portland we instantly fell for this charming city. Despite the rain & mist the town has a relaxed vibe to it that you instantly warm to. The lovely folks at LAIKA had set up a tour of the studio for us-we were gob-smacked by the detail of the sets & puppets for Coraline. Many thanks to Patrick, Chris, Jan, Tony and everyone for making us feel so welcome.

On the way down to San Francisco we took a breath-taking route through the great Redwood Forest and the Avenue of Giants. We also found the 'Chandelier' or 'Drive-thru Tree'-it's 2400 years old!

After that it was on to San Francisco down through the vineyards of the Napa Valley. . .

The steep hills of SanFrancisco give the city a unique character but they're hard work!

Of course while in San Francisco we had to visit PIXAR! I did my Ronald Searle presentation for an appreciative audience & then we were shown around by our welcoming hosts Daniela Strijleva and Ralph Eggleston.

That was the last stop on the tour-we were pretty exhausted after so much travelling & visiting friends & studios. On the last night we relaxed in Haight Ashbury before hitting the road next day back to LA.

Back in LA on the last weekend I hung with my old buddy from Uli's studio Leo. We went down to LACMA- I was keen to see their Picasso collection.

We spent a recreational last day in LA hiking up Griffith Park with Amid Amidi. We toured the observatory before Leo led us up a treacherous route to the summit of mount Hollywood. We braved the threat of rattle-snakes, mountain lions & Amid's moustache to see the incredible view from the top.

The 'Theme Building' restaurant at LAX is currently shrouded in scaffolding while undergoing renovation work. I flew back to the UK on the 7th December after 3 weeks of countless sights & experiences. I saw as much as possible & met more people in that time than in a normal year back home. America was good to us - I'll be back . . .

American Odyssey pt.1 Los Angeles

2009-12-17T11:16:00.001Z

Demonstration on Hollywood Blvd-sketch made on location below.

I've recently returned from an epic 3 week trip around the west coast of the States. The first week I was in LA to speak at the CTN-X animation conference about Ronald Searle. Then I went on a week long road trip to San Francisco via Portland & Las Vegas! I went with 2 colleagues from Aardman-Kris & Jess. Together we drove over 2000 miles, ingesting 65 burgers, 1600 gallons of fuel, 12 packs of Camel cigarettes, three yard long margheritas & killing one pigeon!

Uli Meyer came to the expo too. He knows LA very well & was a perfect tour guide. First stop- Bob's Big Boy Diner!

Uli, Harald & I toured the Warner Bros. lot where we saw the soundstages & a fake town.

My old pal Leo Sanchez gave me a tour of his workplace-Disney Feature Animation where we ate Thanksgiving lunch, saw 'Princess & the Frog' & met Glen Keane.

The expo was a roaring success & my presentation on Ronald Searle went down well. Later that week we went to a special screening of Don Hahn's documentary on Disney animation during the 90s 'Waking Sleeping Beauty'-a riveting exposé of the 'golden' decade preceding the Lion King.

Colour pics by Uli Meyer. B&W by Jamie Bolio.

I tried not to be a fanboy at the expo but I couldn't resist asking some of my favourite artists to draw in my book

I spent an afternoon at Disney Consumer Products with Stef Kardos. That evening I was honorary guest artist at the French Society of Animation Artists-LA chapter, chez Guenoden.

On our last day in the city Kris took us down to the beautiful beaches of LA. After a relaxing afternoon we hit the road to Vegas . . .

Automne

2009-11-08T11:46:00.000Z

I just got back from a trip to revisit my old haunts in the south of France. I stayed with my good friend Uli who's living in Nice while working on various projects. He has a great pad above the port-here's the view from the balcony.

We toured around the Riviera sketching along the way. Here are two views of the great walled village St Paul de Vence.

I spent a day in Cannes-outside the high season & the film festival it's quite a quiet, relaxing town.

The Palais des Festivals and the Old Town from the Croisette

A blustery day in St. Tropez

I showed Uli as many of the places that I'd discovered while living in the south as possible. At St.Paul de Vence we visited the Miro exhibition at the Fondation Maeght. In Provence we hot-footed around the citadelle of Les Baux before a whistle-stop tour of the Luberon taking in Gordes, Roussillon & Bonnieux. Off the Vallee du Var we stopped at Gilette, Roquesteron, Sigale, LaPenne and Entrevaux.

Uli only draws at 'magic hour' when the rays of the setting sun flood his apartment, glancing off his spectacles & burning wonderful drawings onto the paper.

In normal daylight he just doesn't know what to do!

Cathedrale d'Images

2009-11-07T10:14:00.000Z

Whilst motoring around Provence Uli & I visited the impressive Cathedrale d'Images close to Les Baux. The old limestone quarries are these days used as a unique location for special projected 'art shows'. This year's spectacle is based on Picasso's work. It was quite thrilling to see the paintings blown up & projected at such a huge scale. The images were cleverly matched to the facets of the rock face so the cubist work took on a further dimension.

Classical music plays while the images whirl around & dissolve on & off the stone. The Guernica section is nightmarish as elements of the painting:-hands, tormented faces, the horse in agony- surround one 'in' the painting as it all builds to a cacophonous climax.

It's a fascinating location and was used by Cocteau to shoot 'Le Testament d'Orphee' in which Picasso took part.

Atelier Louis

2009-11-04T15:41:00.001Z

Uli's found the best life drawing class I've ever been to! Local Nice artist Louis Dolle runs regular classes in his tiny studio near to the Russian Cathedral. It's a typically French affair-music is played in the background, the models chat with Louis & the other artists as they pose and wine is served up during the break!

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The model made really interesting poses
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Rapid warm-up poses between 10-20 seconds.
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'Top of the cranium' angles are a challenge to draw.

Again, tricky perspective here-organizing the overlap of the forms was paramount.
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This was fun-we attended a sculpture class just to do more drawing. The model was posed on a turntable so after 2 hours we had a whole 'turnaround' series of studies.
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MicMacs

2009-10-31T16:30:00.000Z

Released in France this week is Jean-Pierre Jeunet's latest visual feast 'Micmacs a Tire-Larigot'. Typically it's an eccentric French comedy choc-full of inventive set-pieces with sublime photography by D.P. Tetsuo Nagata. France's favourite funny-man, Dany Boon, stars as Basil, a video store clerk whose father was killed by a land-mine & is himself inadvertently the victim of a drive by shooting. He survives a bullet lodged in his brain & despite falling homeless and jobless as a result of his injury sets out on a mission to ruin those who manufactered the weapons.

The picture features several animated sequences & wonderful 'live' automatons made from objects found in the junk-yard where Basil finds himself adopted by the eccentric 'family' living underneath. Within Jeunet's ouvre I'd say Micmacs lies somewhere between Delicatessan and Amelie. It's good to see him back with a new film after several years struggling to realise the film version of Yann Martel's Life of Pi.

Bohemia

2009-10-27T17:45:00.000Z

Last weekend I visited a part of Europe that I'd never thought I'd see- Slovakia! It was all down to my Canadian colleague, Mr. Kris Pearn, and his insatiable desire to drink beer in every European capital before he moves back to the U.S. Of course I needed little convincing to tag along on the expedition into the lower Carpathian region!

We visited the impressive Devin Castle, outside Bratislava. Twice unsuccessfully beseiged by the Turks but blown apart by Napoleon's soldiers-it's still an imposing fortress. We dropped water down the central well & listened until 5 seconds later it plopped into the Danube hundreds of feet below.

Bratislava is right on the border with Austria so we hopped on a train for a day out in Vienna. Majestic city-we tried to see as many of the great galleries as possible and had our fill of Klimt and Schiele at the Belvedere and Leopold museums.

The highlight for me was visiting the Secession building to finally view Klimt's Beethoven Frieze which I'd admired since art school days.
Love that monkey!

Term 2 Week 4

2009-10-17T17:37:00.000+01:00

Rapid drawing here-poses between 5 and 10 mins. Relatively short poses like this forces one to simplify the forms and avoid extraneous detail.

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Life Class Term 2

2009-10-14T12:11:00.000+01:00

In Life Class I've been trying out some different media for a change. I struggled like hell with pastels-talk about being outside my comfort zone-there's nothing like using blunt chalk to expose your weaknesses!

Conte crayons were a bit more manageable but the drawings are still inept!

I went back to pencil for some fancy anatomical studies.

Class-mate warm ups.

The art of film editing

2009-10-12T14:13:00.001+01:00

Back in July I attended a special BAFTA lecture by film editor Pietro Scalia. He's worked with Oliver Stone, Gus Van Sant, Ridley Scott amongst others and spoke very eloquently of his collaboration with these film-makers. It was a real masterclass in cinematic form & Scalia had us all fascinated with his dissection of key scenes from projects that he's worked on; the opening of JFK, the 'resurrection' of Oliver Reed in Gladiator and a key scene in Good Will Hunting.

This is Scalia's diagram analysing the symmetry of VanSant's camera set-ups to which he matched his approach to editing the sequence. Watch the clip below and it will all make sense!

The lecture was filmed and can now be viewed on the BAFTA website. Follow the YouTube links to see the other parts.

Life Class-new term!

2009-10-02T13:25:00.000+01:00

It's surprising how rusty one gets at life drawing even with a short break over the summer. I passed almost the entire first session warming up drawing my class-mates. People have great un-selfconscious expressions when they're focused & concentrating.

Cloudy

2009-09-29T09:28:00.000+01:00

Last week we saw CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS in 3-D!! After those ugly early screenshots & near ZERO publicity my expectations of this picture were pretty low. But it's got a lot going for it. The design is pretty eccentric for mainstream Hollywood animation but refreshingly different. In 3-D the characters have an appealing, vinyl-toy aesthetic, especially the policeman (hilariously voiced by Mr T.)

There's a lot of fine animation too-particularly memorable is the posing & facial expressions on the greedy Mayor (a perfectly cast Bruce Campbell) and the nimble little moves of the monkey.

In general it seems a lot of artistic decisions that may have been watered down at other studios survived the process. There are story points towards the end that are just plain surreal but funny as hell. Congrats to my Aardman colleague Kris Pearn who was head of story on the movie. Check out some of his boards over on his blog.

Avast!

2009-09-20T17:02:00.000+01:00

Last week I joined the story crew of the other feature being produced at Aardman - 'PIRATES!'. On my first day Pete Docter & family came in to visit & posed for a photo with us briny rogues in story.

We have Captain Lord & Midshipman Rej Bourdages either side of Pete Docter. That's me with thumb in air next to able-bodied seaman Ash Boddy. On the right are Andy, Dave, Mike & Victoria.

Later that day Docter did a Q&A at the studio with Nick Park after screening UP.

Aix

2009-09-13T15:37:00.001+01:00

While in France recently I visited the charming city of Aix-en-Provence. It's right in the heart of Provence with good access to all the nearby places of interest-Les Baux, Rousillon, Gordes etc. Marseille, Nimes & Arles are not far either. I drew the land mark fountain from the Cours Mirabeau and a nearby manège.

I was in town to hit the Picasso trail. I checked out the Cezanne Picasso exhibition at the Musee Granet. There were some excellent examples on show-including Picasso's own collection of Cezanne paintings. The Spanish artist often cited Cezanne as his artistic master- Cubism was hugely influenced by Cezanne's work. I got to scrutinize works that I had only seen previously seen in print-including Cezanne's academic life drawings.

Next stop was a visit to the second to last home of Picasso. Towards the end of his life he purchased the imposing Chateau de Vauvenargues, in the foothills of the Mont St Victoire-the famous mountain that dominates the Provencal skyline & which featured so often in Cezanne's work.

This summer, for the first time, it has been opened to the public. I woke at the crack of dawn to queue for a ticket & later that day got to join a small tour around the whole building. We saw the living quarters, the studio & the large dining room where Picasso & Jacqueline entertained guests.
They are both buried there too, beneath a grassy mound outside the front door, the monumental bronze Woman with a Vase serving as a headstone.

The last house Picasso lived in was a villa close to the Notre Dame de Vie chapel in the hills above Mougins and Cannes. It took me forever to find the place. The artist must have enjoyed the privacy this location afforded him in old age. The villa is privately owned & inaccessible so I could only draw the ramshackle old chapel now in a state of disrepair. Picasso died here & after the Mougins authorities refused permission for a burial in the village his body was taken back to Vauvenargues instead.

There's one address Picasso lived at on the Cote d'Azur that I'm yet to see-the villa La Galloise at Vallauris. It holds special interest for me as the name translates as the Welsh house! Next time I'll find it . . .

La Haut

2009-08-30T19:08:00.001+01:00

I finally saw UP-it still hasn't been released in the UK but I caught it last weekend while in France. It's one of Pixar's best-had me crying with sadness & joy. The (beautifully) stylized design of Carl & Russell must have proved awkward to pose but the animators worked wonders wringing emotion from their stumpy limbs! As others have noted the flights of fancy give the film a Miyazaki quality. To enjoy the picture you do have to buy into the conceits of the floating house, canine thought vocalizers, giant birds & dogs piloting aircraft!

On a side note did anyone notice the similarity between Muntz and the Kirk Douglas inspired character from the BIG STORY? I' m not implying any plagiarism but it was great to see the Douglas physiognomy applied to a CG design too.

As usual with Pixar movies the French dub is excellent. Charles Aznavour voices Carl in the version Francais.
I can't wait to see the film again in English & in 3-D!

At the cinema I learnt there's a live action Lucky Luke movie coming soon starring Jean Dujardin. Watch the trailer here. It's only been a couple of years since the last animated version.