Monday, August 1, 2011

More Character Panels

Here are two more character panels.
It's fun to see the range in design that developed over the years at Disney.
It's hard to pic a favorite, though I feel I could give a lecture on the drawing of Mowgli. All lines direct the viewer's eye toward the open hand, about to grab that twig. And the proportions are perfect.
The same goes for Brave Little Taylor Mickey. You just can't beat the appeal in this Fred Moore drawing. And look at the perspective, the hands are not "twinning", they both gesture outward, but are drawn differently from each other.
I like the simplicity in the Kahl drawing of Duchess. Milt knew everything that goes on anatomically inside that cat's body. But through his economy of lines he is able to give us the essence of that pose. I always am fascinated by how much Milt leaves out in a drawing.
The Snow White poster design gives you an idea of how Fred Moore would have handled the title character, a little more cartoony.
Look at the Medusa pose. That's one insane character you can't take your eyes off. That hair is like fire, her mouth shape stretched to the limit,  the hands
are masterfully drawn (as usual). Complex drawing, simple flow through the body.
Maleficent and her raven would be Marc Davis'  first crack at an idea for staging that scene. Your eye ends up looking at her finger touching the bird. Nothing else distracts from that. All lines support that thought.
And check out the warmth between Gepetto and Pinocchio. The feeling of:
-Something awful just happened, but I love you anyway- is so strong in that sketch. That's a Milt, too.
I will have a pencil test of that scene later.
The Queen of Hearts, Stromboli...study them all and form an opinion, one way or another.
I think your own work will benefit from it.



  




15 comments:

  1. Amazing!Very skillful sketches. Very inspiring!!!

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  2. lovely,

    I heard once that marc davis use to draw what he wanted the veiwer to focus on first. Then everything else in the pose would help support that idea.

    Anyways , there is a insane collection of beautiful drawings there. Thanks for sharing.

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  3. Loooooooooook, at the Gorilla on the First Panel! Makes me think. Is it possible to make character designs better than this?

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  4. The top drawing of Duchess was the first to catch my eye - especially the feeling of volume in her belly which is so truthful to a real-life cat but which a lot of people designing an 'attractive' female cat character would probably avoid.

    The 'classic' Disney animator's feel for the dynamics of weight and volume is one of the main things that really makes you stand out from all the rest (and something that CGI doesn't do very well).

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  5. Thanks a bunch for this post and all the others on this blog – I am always happy to find a new post in my rss-inbox :)

    There is just one thing that would make it even better: more of those absolutely astonishing, beautiful, most appealing Donalds by Freddy ... and maybe some other good Donalds by other animators ... ;)

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  6. I think the combination of Robin Hood and Maid Marian is worth mentioning. Robin has a very clear line of action, but Marion compliments it by opposing it. I feel like if my eyes start at her feet, they move up through her body, going left, before sweeping round following an invisible arc from left to right, joining up with Robin's line of action.

    I love that even Robin's feather in his cap creates a smooth sweep leading into his sword.

    Brilliant :D

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  7. Mr xyz,
    I will do a post with some cool Donald drawings by Milt Neil in the near future.

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  8. Nicht so förmlich, Du kannst »X« zu mir sagen ... ;)

    Jokes aside, I am looking forward to it, thanks a lot :)

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  9. Truly beautiful, truthful drawings.

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  10. are these donalds really by Fred Moore? They are such strong statements.

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  11. Yes, they are, John. When you look at the real drawing, it's pretty obvious. Some of these ruffs are in "The Illusion of Life". I will post a few more from that sequence later.
    A few Donalds by Milt Neil will also be shown on this blog.

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  12. oh I love these film.... I grow up on them and they are my biggest inspiration
    so charming..... :)

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  13. So many great poses I feel like a better artist just looking at them.

    Thanks for posting.

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