Photo dump from barcelona
I met director Sotoshi Kon at a Paprika premiere
Paprika directed by Sotoshi Kon.
Around 07-08 I had the privilege of meeting one of the best directors of Japanese cinema. Paprika had just been released in the united states. I had seen the film on DVD but when the opportunity of seeing it on the big screen with director Q&A presented it self I jumped to it. I bought tickets for one of the New York screenings (which there was only two dates). I got to see the film in Japanese with english subtitles, which is usually the way to go when it comes to foreign films.
If you haven’t seen Paprika I highly recommend it. Paprika is one of those film you just gotta own and rewatch from time to time. It’s director Sotoshi Kon is, was, and will always be a legendary man when it come’s to story telling through animation. I am beyond grateful to have met the man.
Above is a autographed original drawing done by Sotoshi Kon. It was a gift I received personally after the premiere. When the Q&A started my hand was the first one up. I don’t remember exactly what I asked him, in hindsight it probably wasn’t a great question, but I was young and I have always enjoyed asking questions so it doesn’t really matter I suppose. After the question he asked me up to the stage and handed me this piece of paper It was very surreal and still feels that way now. He said since I was the first person to raise my hand this was a reward. I’ve had this for more the a decade, and Im sure I will have it for the rest of my life. I wonder how many other’s there are in the world, can’t be to many of that i’m sure off.
If you are not familiar with any of Sotoshi Kon’s films you MUST educate yourself and go watch them. They are ALL amazing films. There is a great video easy about his editing style. Watch it for a quick synopsis about this legend. This is a great channel about film making, support if you like it
My mentor Tsukasa
When I was in art school I had a mentor named Tsukasa. He was about 10 years older then me, grew up on 90's hiphop lived in Brooklyn and was from Tokyo Japan. I was very drawn to the man for several reasons. His artistic voice and abilities as a draft men and animator where some of the best I'ed ever seen. His key poses where something unlike anything I’ed seen. They contained so much movement and power, I would study his drawing in awe.
Unfortunately while he was working on his final project the Tsunami hit Japan and he ended up leaving to help his fellow country men rebuild forcing him to pause his thesis project. Before this occurrence I was helping him with his project. I would clean up some of his scenes and scan them, preparing them for compositing. He was an upper classmate and as tradition goes they usually enlist the under classmates to help. After his return I was knee deep in my own thesis and didn’t have much time to help him, I tired my best but as is usually the case with thesis projects it was a huge undertaking and he just didn’t have enough time to polish his.
However he did manage to complete the majority of his rough animation and a few cleaned up scene. Long story short I ended up storing a few boxes of his during one of his moves. These boxes contained his thesis drawing, I have recently re discovered them after about a decade in my basement closet. There is a lot of animation and the majority is beautiful worth studying and sharing.
So this lead me to the purpose of this post, within the coming weeks I will be re scanning some of his drawing. I will try and composite some of the scene’s and I will share them on this site. I don’t know exactly how long that will take, I am knee deep with my own animation project so it will be an on going restoration project, but believe me when I say it will be worth it. I also don’t know the timing of his scene so I will be using my judgement and opinion when the time comes.
Final note about mentors, I have had two mentors since my journey as an animator started in 2007. Both have influenced me in different ways, I have fallen out of contact with both but I still feel like I will carry their teachings with me for the rest of my years. Do you have a mentor story? How have they helped you grow?
These are some key poses from the project. As you can tell…AMAZING!!
Travel log Milan Italy
Milan cathedral
Spent some time in Milan Italy a few years ago. It was pretty beautiful.
Museum Sculpture 3
Some more sculptures from the museum of art in lyon France. Really cool stuff! I spent almost all the morning drawing and admiring the museum. It was quite lovely
Hand made feel animation
This production still is very fond to me. Back in 2008 I was a young artist learning the animation ways. During my freshmen year I made two friendships that would last a life time. The end of the semester had come but me and my two new friends wanted to continue working. We had more ideas then we could ever produce and an endless amount of enthusiasm.
There was a contest for etsy.com we had heard of and the theme was “hand made feel". Naturally we decided to produce a contest entry and try our luck at winning. It took us (the trifecta, what we ended up calling the group) roughly 2-3months to write design and produce.
Needless to say we didnt win the contest, however we again something way more valuable, experience and a short animation. The short and it is short, roughly 40sec in length was fully animated but never colored.
I think I still have the drawings somewhere, I have to file also buried away in on old used drive somewhere. It so cool to see pictures like this after such a long time. This was the first group project I was a part of, it lead to years of collaboration with friends in producing short animation, for freelance and for pleasure.
Have you ever worked on group projects? Have they lead to something larger? I believe the trifecta will reunite one day. Our story has not ended only momentarily paused.
Museum Sculpture 2
More sculptures from france
Museum Sculptures
This sculpture really caught my eye when I saw it in Lyon France.
Goodbye to Gene Deitch
Its always sad when a legendary artist passes away, Last month one of the greatest animators passed at 95! His name was Gene Deitch. He ran one of the coolest and certainly the most influential studio of all time. He was a cartoon modernist who ran the UPA studio in NY and Terrytoons. If you are a fan of the UPA style then check out his work. He will be missed but never forgotten. Check out the article on cartoonbrew.com for a more in depth bio of the name and his achievement.
google image of Gene Deitch
google image of Gene Deitch
google still of Tom and Jerry, during the Deitch area
Brick doodles in oil pastels
some oil pastel doodles
The Art of WALLE pt.6
looney tunes had acme, PIXAR has Buy n Large (B&L)
The Art of WALLE pt.5
some more PIXAR’s the art of WALLE scans. this book is filled from cover to cover with beautiful pages, i just cant help myself but to share some of them. this update will focus on the axion and a few other things.
i really like the final design for the “auto pilot”
early concepts, very cool to see how much it’s changed and where they where trying to go early in the production
The Art of WALLE pt.4
some more scans from PIXAR’S The Art of WALLE
The Art of WALLE pt.3
Its no secret WALL E is one of my favorite animation films, this update included’s a few beautiful concept boards from the PIXAR film. needless to say these drawing are sooo beautiful, the skill and simplicity are what i strive for in my work.
The Art of WALLE pt.2
the page below is beyond cool! i love concept designing for animation projects, you can really go in opposite directions when it comes to designing worlds. below that are some storyboards of concept backgrounds for the film, also very cool. i love the animation process and when i dive into books like these i get so motivated about my own work not to mention develop a greater appreciation for the film
On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin pt.1
On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection written by, Charles Darwin
On the origin of species (as its commonly known) is a fascinating book by the one and only Charles Darwin. this was not Darwin’s first book, but its my first Darwin book. I am a big believer in reading and learning and this book has been on the list for some time know, one day i came across while searching the library shelfs for something new to read. its a beautiful big blue book filled with A LOT of words and quite a few beautiful illustrations. not sure if Darwin him self made the illustrations but he certainly made all the observations. If you like history and science and nature or just learning i highly recommend the book.
below are a few beautiful pages from the first few charters -enjoy
the book is a bit dry but its packed with amazing facts and observations, so much that its a pretty easy read, its just a lot of information
if you want to learn more about Darwin and what made him who he became, read the book Mastery by Robert Greene. Greene covers Darwin in one of his chapters. an amazing book! the audiobook is available on youtube. https://powerseductionandwar.com/ this is a link to Greenes website.
this illustrations are sooooooooo coooooool!
Big Beautiful Blue Book
The Art of WALLE pt.1
What of mankind had to leave earth, and somebody forgot to turn off the last robot?
That is the question that the creators at PIXAR kept asking while developing their amazing and genre defying film WALL E. This film is one of my favorite in the Pixar universe for many reasons, but mostly because its a great story told with out any dialogue. They went back to the student film days and made a silent film or as its known pantomine. This is an incredibly difficult thing to do on such a large scale but they proved why they are Pixar.
Anyway, this is such a beautiful film and I will be sharing a few images from their art of book. below is a link for anyone interested in buying the book
https://www.amazon.com/Art-WALL-Tim-Hauser/dp/0811862356
WALL E (WASTE ALLOCATION LOAD LIFTER-EARTH CLASS)
NYICFF 2020
If you haven’t heard about the New York International Children’s Film Festival you have been missing out!
It is a festival geared towards children with film’s from every corner of the globe, there is live action and animation. 2D, stop motion and 3D. some story driven and some experimental, the festival has something for all ages. I highly recommend everyone to attend a future screening if possible. It runs from February 21 - March 15. Saturday and Sunday screenings with opening night being a Friday.
This is my 3rd year volunteering at the festival. I love helping out at such a cool place. A few pics from the 2nd weekend.
happy alex
Spain 2019 trip
A recent trip to my favorite place Barcelona Spain. I really really really really love the city of Barcelona, this was my 4th time there with a 5th already in the works. It is a place rich in culture, art and architecture. Growing up I thought about being an architect life how ever took me in another direction but not to far. When I travel a must is to wonder the streets with my sketch book, I stop and I draw I observe and process. Drawing the city and trying to capture all its glory is a challenge but a fun and satisfying one. It is one of my favorite things to do even when Im in my home city.
A few pics from Valencia a city 4 hours south of Barcelona, It’s known for its City of Arts and Sciences which I must say is Spectacular!. A must visit for anyone, its architecture is out of this world. Its scale and design is something very rare. We need more gems like this. Talk about thinking outside the box
Oroboros art show
Showed some work at the Oroboros art show on the 22nd. Always a good time. New artist new connections
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