Wonders from Wegman

 One of my favorite artists that I fell in love with from a very young age. I first saw his work as a little girl watching Sesame Street. Thank you for sharing your talent with the world Wegman. 

 

Walt Disney Imagineering Documentary: 2016

 

A documentary about Walt Disney imagineering by filmmaker Leslie Iwerks is due to come out sometime in 2016. I am very excited to hear about this because it was Walt Disney's show "The Disneyland Story" from 1954 that sparked my passion for animation at a young age. 

For those of you unaware, The Disneyland Story was when Walt Disney began hosting his own television show for ABC in 1954 in an unusual contract. Disney provided ABC with a weekly hour-long television program in exchange for funding for the construction of Disneyland. As a result, the television show was also originally named Disneyland. The anthology series has since gone through a number of name changes over the years: Walt Disney Presents, Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color, The Wonderful World of Disney, Disney's Wonderful World, Walt Disney, The Disney Sunday Movie, and The Magical World of Disney. The series spanned an incredible 54 years—13 seasons of which were hosted by Walt Disney, himself. 

The most influential episode for me as a kid was called "The Story of The Animated Drawing". This episode takes a look at the history of animation and animation techniques throughout the ages. However the best part was many animation pioneers, including J. Stuart Blackton, Windsor McCay, J.R. Bray, Max Fleischer and, of course, Walt Disney were featured! (Here is part 1 of that episode, below.)

I wonder if this new documentary will inspire a new generation of imagineers and creative thinkers...

 

 

My Mini Biography

I wrote a fairly entertaining biography of my life for a job I applied to at Nickelodeon a couple months ago. Should I incorporate some of this into my "About" section on here?

Stephanie Gibree had a lot of trouble learning how to ride a bike and rode a scooter until she was nine years old. She was not a natural athlete. However, she was born an artist! People often referred to her as a character. This trait began to manifest in her life quite literally at the whim of her parents.

 

To achieve the simplicity of bedtime, her father had to pretend his home was a hotel and that Stephanie was a little old lady in search of a room for the evening. She would not go to bed until she was given a full tour and found a room that was satisfactory. At age 5, her mother was instructed to assist and include her imaginary friend, ‘The Professor’ in their daily lives.  This included things like setting an extra place for him at the table and buckling him into his own car seat.

 

Thankfully, Stephanie is much easier to work with now and applies her sense of character into the world of animation. A perfect career choice fueled from strong imaginations.

 

Stephanie spent time crafting her skills and her passion only grew. She enrolled herself in a life drawing class outside of school and listened with intent all the way to the front door of Massachusetts College of Art and Design. Upon acceptance, her long awaited journey into animation began. She produced work centered in children's media, experimented in an array of mediums and absorbed feedback from fellow classmates and friends.

 

Stephanie now abides by the phrase “Do not be afraid to fail.” She believes that being an artist takes courage, not just for slaying dragons, but also for challenging limits and reaching one’s dreams. This spirited girl is currently on the hunt for her dream job in the animation industry. Look out, she hugs!

Marionette Thoughts

Here are two versions of my Marionette page. I had an idea! Maybe the text could be more music/song inspired. For example it could resemble a music sheet. Something to consider since it's about singing. That might be one way to have continuity with differing backgrounds in the story.

I also like the first marionette. His strings and pose are nice. What was concerning me was his lack of style. I was worried he looked naked even though he was made of wood. Maybe I could combine the two pages. The girl could be in the pose of the first marionette page.... 

I can also play around with a lighter colored background for the marionette. That way it will feel like its following a similar color palette as the Parrot image. 

Lana Del Rey Tribute

This is a page from my sketchbook inspired by the song "Dark Paradise" by Lana Del Rey. The lyric I was most interested in was "...There's no remedy for memory...".

I love her album "Born To Die" its so nice to have an album you can listen to all the way through. I'm teaching myself "Video Games" on the guitar right now. Its a great song to practice playing if your a beginner like myself. 

I used a lot of different mediums on this one and was able to get a matte effect. Now I want to use a more reflective paint to contrast the bottle with the label and background. 

Inspiration Post of the Year!!!

I am so blown away by this commercial for Lancome. The animation, design and direction is astounding. I am so inspired and know you will be too.

 

Lisa Frank Interview

This is an interview of the well known Lisa Frank! 

 

 

Royal Icing

A long time ago I drew these cupcake girls as a quick sketch. I am working on finishing them now. I think of these girls as friends of Marie Antoinette in her royal court for some reason. I love the Marie Antoinette movie with Kristen Dunst. The imagery is so inspiring and the soundtrack is nice too! 

This is just a start. Now I am collecting toile textile patterns as inspiration. I think it would be cool to tile these girls and create a fancy pattern of them. 

Here is a clip from the movie for fun.

 

Why Children Need Art

This is a great picture I saw posted on Facebook by the Massachusetts Teachers Association. The caption read 'Why we need art in our schools and in our lives'.

 

Nick Artist Program

I found a cool video today about an artist named Samantha Kallis I follow on Tumblr. I have been following her for a while and last I saw she was going through the Nick Artist Program. She has since been successfully working as a Visual Development Artist and discusses her adventures in the video below! I found this very inspiring and the Nick Artist Program sounds great. 

 

Inspired yet?

1. This should inspire your creativity to go round and round. 

Apache from oneedo on Vimeo.

 

 

2. A collection of amazing paper artists all in one little book to enjoy. 

3. "Designing Your Perfect House" by William J. Hirsch is not just for architects! It goes perfectly  with "Setting The Scene: the art and evolution of Animation Layout" by Fraser McLean. They both evoke new thoughts on how to design space.

4. Some eye candy that also benefits a good cause!

Good Books - Metamorphosis from Buck on Vimeo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Norman Rockwell

One of my favorite artists is Norman Rockwell. I am drawn to character work naturally. I love the poses he chooses to express the emotions, just like a great animator would. He gives these static images life. I can look at "Prom Dress" and see the young girl twisting and turning in her mirror or hear the deafening argument in "Election Day". 

I decided to start drawing from his work recently. Its always good to copy from great artists. I am also working on my human figure skills and thought his work would help. I am trying to learn from his facial expressions specifically.

These are not finished but I thought it would be good to show my process, for you and for me. 

Norman Rockwell

One of my favorite artists is Norman Rockwell. I am drawn to character work naturally. I love the poses he chooses to express the emotions, just like a great animator would. He gives these static images life. I can look at "Prom Dress" and see the young girl twisting and turning in her mirror or hear the deafening argument in "Election Day". 

I decided to start drawing from his work recently. Its always good to copy from great artists. I am also working on my human figure skills and thought his work would help. I am trying to learn from his facial expressions specifically.

These are not finished but I thought it would be good to show my process, for you and for me. 

Joanna Quinn: How I Animate

Joanna Quinn is a real inspiration for me. I think she is an amazing character animator as well as conceptual artist. If you haven't seen her work you just must.

Joanna Quinn: How I Animate

Joanna Quinn is a real inspiration for me. I think she is an amazing character animator as well as conceptual artist. If you haven't seen her work you just must.

Feelin' Gooood

I went to see a presentation by Chris Landreth at Paramount Theatre last Wednesday. It was so inspirational and I found out he has a class about facial animation coming up. I wish I could take it.
Hearing him speak made me realize how lucky I am to be a part of the animation world. I'm so happy that I get to be around such talented people and have the opportunity to hear them show and talk about there work.
Heres some sketches and notes from the show.

Feelin' Gooood

I went to see a presentation by Chris Landreth at Paramount Theatre last Wednesday. It was so inspirational and I found out he has a class about facial animation coming up. I wish I could take it.
Hearing him speak made me realize how lucky I am to be a part of the animation world. I'm so happy that I get to be around such talented people and have the opportunity to hear them show and talk about there work.
Heres some sketches and notes from the show.

BlackWing Pencils

 I bought some new pencils for my degree project! I always read about how great blackwing pencils are and I always think about how I want to get them someday but I never do. The other day I realized I should buy some for my degree project as a special treat.
Heres a post about them from the Blackwing Diaries.
 I always have trouble drawing too lightly and I barely pressed down on the pencil and got a really good line. Its true they are half the pressure and really smooth. Worth it.
 I'm trying to get better at drawing hands and I found a great post by Toby Shelton. Check it out.

BlackWing Pencils

 I bought some new pencils for my degree project! I always read about how great blackwing pencils are and I always think about how I want to get them someday but I never do. The other day I realized I should buy some for my degree project as a special treat.
Heres a post about them from the Blackwing Diaries.
 I always have trouble drawing too lightly and I barely pressed down on the pencil and got a really good line. Its true they are half the pressure and really smooth. Worth it.
 I'm trying to get better at drawing hands and I found a great post by Toby Shelton. Check it out.

Homemade Animation Table

Every since I was a kid I always wanted to be a character animator. I used to watch movies over and over studying them. I had books on how to be a cartoonist and constantly drew. Now I'm a senior in college at Massachusetts College of Art and Design going for animation! I told my grandfather about all the work I am doing and how much I love school. I told him about how I want a desk to animate but they are hundreds of dollars. My grandfather is a handy man and makes all sorts of things. He asked if he could make me one and we looked up tutorials online. Thanks to my grandfather I have a beautiful animation desk and its even better because he made it for me. 

This picture is an old picture from my phone but here it is!