Ménagerie du Jardin des Plantes

Il était Une Fois

Went to the Disney expo at the Grand Palais last night & was blown away! Hundreds of pieces of original art- Mary Blair paintings, Eyvind Earle backgrounds, Heinrich Kley drawings (some in colour), sculptures, models, projections. There's a mini exhibition within the main show just on Destino. The short was projected with Dali's original sketches surrounding it.




The selection of pieces on display is very well chosen & laid out, leading from the early days with original Ub Iwerks drawing through the influence of European cinema on the early films of the Golden Age up to Alice In Wonderland, Sleeping Beauty & the Jungle Book. A breathtaking, enlightening & inspiring exhibition.And the catalogue is GORGEOUS!!
Pierre Lambert's new book L'Age D'Or was also onsale in the museum shop - it's one of the most lavish books yet published on the artwork of the Disney canon.
It was released to coincide with the exhibition & similarly focuses on the films made while Walt was alive - Snow White to the Jungle Book.

Cartoon

The Louvre, at night! Layout by Francis Buchet.




Colour Key for the opening set at a stadium rock concert. The CG boys made every little person move! Layout by Francis Buchet.


Study of a Tex Avery gal.



These are some colour keys I made for the show.





Here are some early roughs for the TV pilot I worked on as my first job in Paris.

Out Of Picture

Last night I went along to the OUT OF PICTURE exhibition/book launch at the Arludik Gallery. Several of the artists who contributed to the book were over here to draw for the fans & chat about the show.
I'm working with Bob Camp who knows these guys from his time at Blue Sky so he introduced me to them - they were all very pleasant chaps & happily made drawings in my sketchbook for me.
There were a lot of animation & comic people at the show and the party afterwards. Moebius was there but I didn't get a chance to talk to him, although Bob did. It was my pleasure to meet Pierre Alary & share a few beers with him, he kindly made a unique self portrait in my sketchbook. I also got to meet a couple of the fellas who made BURNING SAFARI - the terrific short from Les Gobelins this year. These guys are SO good!

Henry Moore

Today, the 31st August is the 20th anniversary of Henry Moore's death. Two summers ago Crookie & I spent a pleasant afternoon sketching the sculptor's work outside in the grounds of Dulwich Picture Gallery.

Paris life

This is the street where I live - Rue de Rosiers in the Marais. Last week I saw someone walking a poodle that had been dyed purple & was wearing a pink vest!

My local grocery, at the other end of the street.



I'm not far from where this famous used bookshop is, opposite the Ile de la Cité.


This is the Japanese Garden at the Musée du Panthéon Bouddhique.



More street art-

Riviera

Here are some pics from my recent break in the South. Unfortunately the Musée Picasso Nice is closed for a year but the Musée Matisse made a fine second choice.



The museum is housed in a beautiful 17th century villa where Matisse lived.




Sketches I made of sculpture by Matisse.


Cannes is dotted with buildings that have enormous cinema themed murals painted on them.







These sand sculptures were drawing crowds on the beach at Cannes.

First month in Paris . . .

I'm back from the Riviera! We spent 4 all too brief days in the sun on the beaches of Nice, Cannes & Monaco. Beautiful part of the world - the coastal train ride between these towns is just unreal. C'est dommage a retourne a Paris dans la pluie!






C'est tout pour maintenant, je vais a la Cote D'Azur pour le weekend.


More Parisiennes.





Public sculpture.




Through the guys I work with I've been introduced to the work of some amazing artists that I'd never heard of before, some of whom work at the studio & some who are dead!


Look at the illustrations of Georges Beuville - link on the right.




Rembrandt Bugatti had a great first name, a great surname, a famous brother & was a GENIUS of animal sculpture too! Missed this great exhibition of his work in London a couple years ago but there's a book & I intend to find it.





Superb, dynamic sculpture & drawing by Michel Lauricella, Professor of anatomy at Les Gobelins. I'd love to take a class taught by this maestro. Link on the right.




http://www.cyberie.net/michael/
This is the website of an animator I'm working with here, Michael Bataille - he animates directly on a Wacom in ToonBoom & makes incredible line tests! No paper, no pencils - they do everything a little differently over here!






Personnes sur la rues et le Metro de Paris. . . et un pigeon.



Last week a French colleague told me that with his limited English & my poor French it was easier for him to converse with a DOG! A German one!! So to improve communication he's learning German & I'm learning Alsatian.



Paris street graphics.



Musée du Quai Branly is Paris' brand new museum dedicated to tribal artifacts from African, Asian, Oceania & the Americas. I spent an afternoon in here but you could easily draw for a week & still find interesting objects to study.





OK, here come the sketches. Had some trouble adapting to French scanners which are disguised as photocopiers or fax machines & getting to grips with Photoshop in French! Anyway, here's the first, another from Les Buttes Chaumont

Ronald Searle

Writer, broadcaster & animation afficionado Brian Sibley got in touch with me recently to tell me he's a fan of my Searle blog. Links on the right.

Fee Fi Fo Fum . . .

This is my entry to the latest EVAC theme. Link on the right.

CARS

Saw CARS last week & really enjoyed it. Blown away by the animation - the range of expressions they put into these limited bodies is extraordinary. Must have been even more of a challenge than animating fish for FINDING NEMO. The world they create for these characters is entirely credible & dispels any worries that this one has 'gone too kiddy'.
My favourite scenes were the 'cow tipping' & when the pimped up cars harass John Ratzenberger's character (he also gets the best end credits sequence of any Pixar flick). The little VW bugs are a great touch too.