Merry Christmas!

I wish you a Merry Christmas one & all! Here are some early presents for you, first some colour sketches for ideas I've been noodling with lately.





Also updated my GARY blog. Added the third part of the FAMOUS ARTISTS COURSE to the MORGUE & updated the MOLESWORTH, LONDON, USA & St.TRINIAN's sections of the RONALD SEARLE blog.
Added a new painting to my HEIDI blog.
I started a FLICKR set of my Paris sketchbook too. Link on the right.
I hope everyone has a great festive season & New Year celebrations. Catch up with you in 2007.

Paris Street Art

SCOOP!

Yesterday the Cote D'Azur media press descended on our small team as the Minister for Industry paid us a visit. We all shook hands with the man & had our photos taken while Bibo was interviewed & Monsieur Ministre gave a speech. The Region wanted to thank Bibo Films for bringing the production to Nice & encourage other film-makers to come too.

Bibo & Bruno appeared on the regional news last night & the photos made it into the papers this morning. Here's a pic of Bibo getting in the way of my storyboards!



More info for French readers here, &here.

Bibo Studio Brings World-Class Film Animation to Nice 04/12/2006

“The Côte d’Azur is to France what Hollywood is to the United States, star system and show business, but also technology and know-how,” states Bibo Bergeron, director and producer, Bibo Studio. After seven successful years with Hollywood giant Dreamworks, Bibo Bergeron is coming home to France and has chosen the Côte d’Azur to establish his own studio. With 1,000 square meters of space on rue de la Liberté in the heart of Nice, Bibo Studio will invest € 1 million in its network of 3D animation stations, and plans to create 120 jobs over the next three years. Bergeron cites as key factors in choosing the location: the proximity of Sophia Antipolis, the film industry’s regular visits to the Côte dAzur for festivals and markets, and the technical training available at the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis, with which he will partner to develop a Masters in Film Animation. “We want our Nice studio to become a benchmark in the production of film animation,” Bergeron continues. Bibo’s target market includes producers of Europe’s high-budget animation films (€ 15 to 25 million). Its first production will be “Un Monstre à Paris,” directed by Bibo Bergeon and developed with EUROPACORP. With his storyboard team in place in Nice since November, Mr. Bergeon will continue production in Paris until Bibo’s Nice facilities are fully operational, in May 2007. The arrival of Bibo Studio in Nice is a major event for the Côte d’Azur, which today reinforces its cinema activity, known around the world in the days of Studios Victorine.

Aquarium Porte de la Dorée

Sketches made at the 'Poissons et crocodiles d'Afrique.' expo at the Paris Aquarium.

Le Magnifique

Stef, Will Kane & the rest of France will probably already know this film but I'm 35 years late in discovering it! My French colleagues showed this to me & it's a revelation! Mike Myers must have seen this before making the Austin Powers films, it has all the ingredients that Myers used & more. Belmondo is a comic genius, Bisset is gorgeous, the production design is fabulous & the 'parallel' realities an inspired take on the super-spy genre.
This is one movie that fulfills the thrills promised on its groovy poster.

Belmondo poster gallery.

Super Baby

I made this small painting for an old friend who was holding a charity auction. It's based on his baby son.

September People

RATATOUILLE

The countdown begins ... 8 months to go ...

Rembrandt

Before I left Paris I managed to squeeze in a couple more exhibitions. To celebrate the 400 years since Rembrandt's death Paris is hosting several shows in honour of the great Dutch master, of which these two are the main ones. REMBRANDT:dessinateur at the Louvre is a collection of original sketches, drawings & studies, including those made for the 'hundred guilder' print. To get this close to the master is always inspiring & to be able to study his work up close is enlightening. There are many in-jokes & references to be found & he seemed to love including dogs as often as possible!



The second show, Rembrandt:Eaux-Fortes, is at the Petit Palais.
On display are scores of prints & engravings made throughout his life. Many are no bigger than a postage stamp & look like they've been etched with a needle. Extremely fine artistry & bravura draughtsmanship in both shows. I couldn't make it to Holland this year to view the special celebratory exhibitions but these two shows in Paris are a fine alternative.

Ciao Paris!

I'm packing up my blog & moving south for the winter. I'm heading to Nice to storyboard on a top secret film project. Leaving wet & windy Paris behind for the beaches & palm trees of the Riviera. When I'm not drawing I'll be perfecting my Cary Grant impression in the casinos of Monte Carlo. Ciao for now.

ROBOTBOY

I spent September working at Alphanim in Vincennes, storyboarding an episode of Season 2. I had a really enjoyable time working with the team. Series director is cartoon maestro Bob Camp, storyboards are supervised by Rich Codor. Heath, Richard & Baptiste and their design teams are doing REALLY stellar work & this season is going to look 'magnifique'.


This is Act 1 of my board. I had a groovy episode based on an outline by Heath. Tommy, Robotboy & Gus get trapped inside a surreal, fantasy world created by an evil magician.


The deadline was pretty tight & Heath helped me out with a section, despite having a killer schedule of his own he jumped on board to make this episode extra special.



Here's a real-live French animation artist! This is Baptiste, he's supervising layouts on the show. He's very good too.




Bob had us look at Harvey Kurtzman's work for inspiration, specifically his CLEAR & FUNNY posing. These are some studies I made.


Bob also has a complete collection of the FAMOUS ARTISTS CARTOON COURSE. It's pure gold. These are some sketches I made from the 3 volumes.

I'll be posting some scans of the best sections here. Starting with my favourite of the artists VIP Partch.

Expositions a Paris

MICKEY dans tous ses états. July through September the Hotel Dassault on the Champs Elysees had an exhibition of Mickey images made by dozens of different artists. There were some interesting interpretations & statements.





French cartoonist Cabu is honoured by a retrospective show at the Hotel De Ville, Paris. His sketches of the people & streets of Paris are delightful.



Excellent collection of travel posters on show at the Bibliotheque Forney, Paris.



50 designs by Yves Saint Laurent inspired by his travels around the globe.

MIT

The future of drawing.

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-