Hot Pin Up Babe, Tribute to Alberto Vargas

Pin-up girls!

I just discovered Alberto Vargas (2/9/1896-12/30/1982)!  A Peruvian painter who moved to the U.S. where he became well known and respected for his paintings of smoking hot American babes.  He worked for several magazines most notably Esquire and Playboy, and is also well remembered for his WWII era babes with patriotic fever.  I've always loved his work, and only recently realized who he is.  A fantastic discovery!

This is a pencil drawing pin up babe of one of Vargas' classics.  A little life drawing for a warmup.

Some of the artists that influenced Vargas are Raphael Kirchner (1876-1917) and Maurice Milliere (1871-1946).  All three deserve a google search and some time to browse their great bodies of work. Enjoy!

Walt Disney Animation Quote of the Day

"Animation offers a medium of story telling and visual entertainment which can bring pleasure and information to people of all ages everywhere in the world."

-Walt Disney

Warmup Work

Practice makes good, because nobody's perfect.

Several warmups in multiple mediums.

A little pencil life drawing.

 This is a great exercise, paint a movie still in a smallish amount of time.   Drawn from 300.

This one's a pen and ink of the alien queen (or queen xenomorph).  I gave her a very designy makeover in this one, in a medium that has no eraser.

Marc Davis Animation Quote of the Day!

Maleficent by Marc Davis.

A legendary animator, incredible draftsman, and one of Disney's Nine Old Men, Marc Davis is a hall of fame artist in the field of animation.  He was quoted in the book "Illusion of Life" on the loss of Walt Disney.  It's a little window into that historic studio, and the world Walt created.



"Animation is just an incredible medium, and...it's just waiting for another great leader...and it will be equally great.  And yet, there's something that came out of the Disney point of view, this business of bringing things to life..."



Of course, there can never be another Walt, but today we may have a new type of leader in animation with a similar vision, fearlessness, and a sensibility for entertainment, John Lasseter.  With what he has done at Pixar, and now the greater Disney, it is easy to arguably say that he is a real life answer to this quote by Marc Davis.  The worlds that he has helped create, the atmosphere, the ease of just letting go and being engulfed in the movies he has created is definitely an echo of the old Disney style.  They make you feel something, they bring it alive and make you care about it.

Jeffery Katzenberb (Dreamworks CEO, and former Disney Chairman in the early 90's) deserves an honorable mention here.

Deinonychus Drawings

This is a little preview of some key 'bad guys' in my kids book.

One of the fiercest dinosaurs ever, pronounced (die-NAH-nih-cuss) which translates as terrible claw and lived in the Western US during the late Cretaceous (121-98 million years ago).

Here is a pair of young male deinonychus posturing in full mating plumage.

Deinonychus could grow up to 5 feet tall, 12 feet long, and 165 pounds.  Not the biggest dinosaur, but with more than 60 sharp teeth, a 5 inch claw on each foot, and a sturdy agile body that allowed this flightless bird-like predator to attack prey much larger than itself in a variety of ways. This dinosaur was one tough costumer!  It could jump onto it's prey, balance with it's tail to kick and turn on a dime, had fantastic senses far beyond our own, and had an enlarged brain in the 'social' area which means this dino was most likely a smart pack hunter and a caring parent.  It's bone structure tells us that this animal was a close cousin to the dinosaurs that evolved into modern birds, and was most likely feathered.  Like birds of today, deinonychus may have had brightly colorful feather patterns for camouflage and/or attracting a mate;)

This is a big female deinonychus.  Like female birds today, they often have more neutral colors than the boys.  Here she is surrounded by her chicks, in protect mode.

Labor Day! Honors Winsor McCay!

Today is an American holiday.  Animation is an American art form; created and developed right here in America.  In honor of such hard work and patriotism, I'm bringing out the first animated short from a man later known as 'the father of animation', none other than Winsor McCay, and his 1911 piece "Little Nemo".

All animation people should know his work.  Winsor McCay's work started animation off at such a high level of excellence, we must strive to follow in his footsteps and keep this unique art form in the highest levels of artistry and fun.

Most people have seen parts of Winsor McCay's next animated short, "Gertie the Dinosaur" (1914).  A must for dinosaur and animation lovers alike.  Or anybody like likes cool stuff.

Amazing artist, incredible draftsman!

Here's a little taste of his incredible traditional work.

Emery Hawkins Animation Quote of the Day!

Emery Hawkins,

"The only limitation in animation is the person doing it. Otherwise there is no limit to what you can do, and why shouldn't you do it?"