A Kaa Moment

A few years ago  I was "freeze-framing" through a scene with Kaa and Shere Khan. The tiger has settled into his position by a tree, ready to interrogate the snake about Mowgli's whereabouts.

"It's me Shere Khan. I'd like a word with you if you don't mind." 

"Shere Khan, WHAT a surprise!" The vowel A on WHAT was drawn by Milt Kahl in such a beautiful way, I had to take closer look. Kaa's head is tilted back, mouth wide open. It is an astonishing drawing. The way Milt figured out this angle showing the inside mouth of this python and keeping it graphic is masterful. I wondered about Milt's observation of real snakes and his discovery for such an effective and interesting expression.

Recently I saw a photo of a snake with a similar head position. Honest to God...all the stuff Milt KNEW!

Kimball Roughs

I was about 11 years old when I first saw what Disney animation drawings looked like. My parents had bought me a little Super 8 film box set with a clip from Lady and the Tramp. It also included a little brochure on Disney Animation. And this photo of a young Ward Kimball caught my eye in a big way. These sketches of the rooster Panchito completely mesmerized me for a long time. At the time they were the most beautiful drawings I had ever seen. So lively, so appealing, I kept studying them.

I don't think these are Kimball's actual animation roughs though. It looks like he used a grease pencil here, and he drew them for the photographer. Still...to this day, absolutely masterful!! And the fact that Ward had the time of his life working on Saludos Amigos comes through in his spirited line work. Pure joy!

Here is a series of his animation drawings from the deleted Soup Eating sequence in Snow White, drawn a few years earlier. Ward took what Fred Moore had introduced in terms of character styling as well as squash and stretch, and he made it his own. These are his roughs, not the clean ups used in the pencil test sequence most of us have seen. Stupendous work at such a young age.

PS  There are key drawings missing from this scene. There is no way #6 follows #5 directly. 

Sargent

I have been meaning for a while to talk about American artist John Singer Sargent (1856 - 1925). There is a new exhibition currently at the MET in New York called "Sargent and Paris". He lived there from 1874 - 1884. Sargent is one of the most important American artists. Yet...his work has often been criticized as being too commercial with a painting technique to impress. He took portrait commissions from the rich and famous. And he was gay, too.

Be that as it may, Sargent's art introduced impressionism based on solid realism with a sense for experimentation. I am definitely a big admirer.

Probably my favorite Sargent painting "Smoke of Ambergris". What an unusual gesture for the woman to catch the perfumed smoke. Gorgeous!

Early Yzma II

The last time I posted some of my early Yzma designs was in 2011. I had a blast exploring the possibilities for this character. I was trying for 100% Eartha Kitt. Sultry, sensuous, vain, with a hunger for her lost youth. A total diva. Dale Baer did a fabulous job when he took over the character. But it goes to show you that in traditional animation you will get a very different result depending on who the animator is.

Here is another sketch from my batch of experimental designs for Yzma.

 

The earlier post with more drawings is here:

https://andreasdeja.blogspot.com/2011/09/early-yzma.html

Lilo Roughs

After seeing a few of my first pass Lilo rough animation drawings online, someone asked me, why some of them look clean while others are drawn in a sketchy way.

The answer is simple. Every time I am dealing with slow, subtle movements there is no need to draw in a rough manner. Very little motion comes into play, and the key drawings are very close to each other graphically. The first image is an example of this. 

Whenever Lilo is excited, and she is gesturing a lot, I feel the need to explore those broader movements in a loose, more exploratory way. Here there are more things to figure out, like fast arm gestures, quick angle changes on her head etc. 

Also the fact that faster motion requires more key drawings leads me to draw quicker in order to get all those keys done. And it is easier to feel the character's emotion that way. 

It's funny when I look today at the way I drew Lilo's hands. Way back I had studied art from the European Rococo period. Lots of cherubs in those paintings. Subconsciously I gave Lilo those hands.

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijzgYsQqTjg7dfrpG9qo3l2E1-H788ipFKOONckTGaEt6Z0t3GSUEc2bcdNdIaS4CSFqV19ztatGODVTNe-x61-zi1IHSccnOqazdfJBkXLiHnV0-UAXdvrkeCvaOxQVBaZKGwUCGu4GvW/s1600/ADRPB.jpeg

Clean or rough, after my first pass it was always important to add detail in graphite, in order to give as much information as possible to the clean up artist.  

Cinderella Storyboard Sketches

I love Joe Rinaldi's story sketches.  Much like his colleague Bill Peet, on top of his superb storytelling he worked out camera angles, staging, terrific character poses and expressions as well as color mood. As I said before, sometimes it is difficult to distinguish Rinaldi's sketches from Peet's. The drawings are deceivingly simple, the main idea for each sketch is boiled down to its essence. Everything reads instantly, which makes for excellent communication while watching the film in story board form. 

All sketches are from recent Heritage Auctions.