Blog Feed: The Blackwing Diaries

If anything from my experience of the last 15 years or so has made itself clear to me as a story truism, it's that the importance of the smallest details matter.It's that the difference between a dull scene or a stock character and one that breathes, that thinks, is in the details. Details spring out and suggest themselves when the story artist believes in a character's reality no matter how superficially unlikely the scenario they're placed in might be.There are times when a story artist is giv [..] > read more

On Story: No reason to sacrifice character to plot

Published on 2012-03-06 20:21:00

This is a reposting of a Diaries entry from March 2006 that I think bears revisiting. Michael Sporn posted this still of Bill Peet-taken from the Sword in the Stone DVD-on his blog in 2008 Michael Barrier makes some sharp--and challenging--comments about the point of great character animation in his most recent post. He describes his friend, animator Milt Gray, flipping some of Ollie Johnston's animation of "Jock" from Lady and the Tramp, and being startled by the amazingly lifelike performan [..] > read more

Fred Moore Pinup Girls up for auction today

Published on 2012-03-02 12:05:00

This typical Fred Moore group of ladies en deshabille is being auctioned online today by Heritage. It's lot 78744, 12x13.5", watercolor and ink mounted on cardboard(as were many of Fred's "presentation" girls), and described as being from the estate of one John McLaughlin. The bidding's currently at $1200(as of 10am PST). It's certainly going to be over my budget, but perhaps there's a Blackwing reader who'd be interested. Barring that, at least here's the artwork to peruse gratis. This one look [..] > read more

A Disney Story Session-for the Camera, 1951

Published on 2012-02-25 22:34:00

I came across this today and thought I'd post it; I haven't seen it elsewhere although as one of many hundreds of such photos taken for publicity purposes, it's likely floating around somewhere. So here's a pretend-impromptu story session for "Alice in Wonderland" with some of the gentlemen of Disney's story department, including its first head, Ted Sears. Walt's holding the glasses he'd rather not be photographed in...actually, perhaps it really was an actual meeting. I wonder how many shots ex [..] > read more

Actually, every scene DOES get the storyboard treatment

Published on 2012-02-24 16:18:00

Time magazine's online edition has a "behind the scenes" slideshow featuring Pixar's next release, Brave. Worth a look to see some nice photos of the crew(including one showing directors Brenda Chapman and Mark Andrews on a Scottish hillside covered in heather), but the accompanying captions by Jared Miller include one major error. Alongside a story panel from the sequence "The Prize" Miller writes[emphasis mine]: Not all scenes get the storyboard treatment, but this one, called "The Prize," cl [..] > read more

Inside Walt's Apartment with Diane Disney Miller at Disneyland Park

Published on 2012-02-07 18:32:00

Everything published on Blackwing Diaries is copyright Jennifer Lerew 2007; no unauthorized swiping and reposting of text or images from this site will be tolerated. Linking is one thing(I do too, of course), but plagarism is bad, bad, bad. Do NOT do it. > read more

Hope for Hand Drawn Animation: Minkyu Lee's "Adam and Dog" trailer

Published on 2012-01-10 13:51:00

Traditional character/hand-drawn animator (and current Disney visdev artist) Minkyu Lee has been working on a personal film over the past two years, a short that from the looks of the footage I've seen proves it's possible for beautiful and polished work to be achieved by a very small number of individuals, if the people involved--and especially the person in charge--has the chops to pull it off.Obviously Minkyu Lee does. This has the look of what we tend to call "classical animation". By the wa [..] > read more

Merry Christmas from a couple of legends

Published on 2011-12-20 13:27:00

A Christmas card from Ray and Charles EamesLast night for their season finale, the PBS series American Masters aired a new documentary about the work and lives of Charles and Ray Eames, called "America's most important and influential American designers" in the PBS description--a claim I'd be hard pressed to argue with. Watch the trailer for the film here: Watch Charles & Ray Eames: The Architect and the Painter on PBS. See more from American Masters.Bob WirthThere's a brief shot of the two wor [..] > read more

Icons of Animation-another great Fred Moore piece going, going...

Published on 2011-12-17 14:52:00

Profiles In History's "Icons of Animation" auction is happening right now, 11am PST, Saturday the 17th, so you still have a shot at acquiring the Fred Moore piece pictured above.[5pm PST: it sold for the low-end estimate of $3,000]Everything published on Blackwing Diaries is copyright Jennifer Lerew 2007; no unauthorized swiping and reposting of text or images from this site will be tolerated. Linking is one thing(I do too, of course), but plagarism is bad, bad, bad. Do NOT do it. > read more

Christmas in Manhattan, 1934

Published on 2011-12-15 19:28:00

...as imagined by Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett, Woody Van Dyke, inspired by Dashiell Hammett and interpreted by Myrna Loy, William Powell and Asta, I give you Christmas morning with the Charles family.Everything published on Blackwing Diaries is copyright Jennifer Lerew 2007; no unauthorized swiping and reposting of text or images from this site will be tolerated. Linking is one thing(I do too, of course), but plagarism is bad, bad, bad. Do NOT do it. > read more

A Merry Christmas from Disney's in 1955

Published on 2011-12-13 15:43:00

This is a repost of one of my earliest entries, shortly after I began this blog in 2005. I think it suits the season and so merits an encore.This is the front of the Disney Studio's 1955 Christmas card. It's quite a beautifully done thing; printed on a soft, high-quality paper, it's a large card that opens into a double-spread of the brand-spanking-new Disneyland, with a calendar running down the sides. I was unable to scan the entire thing, as it's just a bit longer than my scanner is. Grea [..] > read more

Bravery

Published on 2011-12-08 16:23:00

Although it won't be on shelves for another seven months, last week Amazon put up the cover art and a short description for "The Art Of Brave", which I had the pleasure of authoring. It's going to be quite a beautiful book, one that I only wish could have been twice as long as its 160 pages. I'll write more about it here as publication time draws nearer.In other Brave-related news, Brenda Chapman began using Twitter and has started a Tumblr blog. There's not much there yet as she only just began [..] > read more

The Story Man, or Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose

Published on 2011-11-15 10:47:00

Heck Allen, Tex Avery's story man, in 1953. He stands outside the MGM animation building. This and many others are from Michael Barrier's indispensable animation history blog .It's always a little startling to look at color images from periods of history that we're used to seeing in only grey tones, especially scenes and people engaged in ordinary, everyday pursuits. Just about the only color photographs one does see are holiday snaps which are usually not the best quality. So what a pleasure, a [..] > read more

Fred Moore's 100th

Published on 2011-09-07 13:16:00

Moore with his wife Virginia and baby daughter in the late 1930sRobert Fred Moore, animator, was born on this day, September 7, 1911. 100 years on and his influence is still meaningful in the films he worked on, the characters he helped define, and the effortless joy of his draftsmanship. Happy Birthday, Fred!Edited to add: I wrote this before seeing the wonderful post Andreas Deja wrote to mark this occasion. Andreas is a great admirer of Fred's work and has one of the finest collections of a [..] > read more

The Fred Moore Expert: Tim Walker's new book and booksigning

Published on 2011-03-18 19:32:00

James-also known as Tim-Walker holds one of Fred Moore's original, well-worn pencils, along with a photo of Fred advising Ollie JohnstonOne of the oldest friends of the Blackwing Diaries is a gentleman I met through our mutual interest in Fred Moore. > read more

Chouinard Art Institute Redux: Dig This

Published on 2011-03-10 20:04:00

Some time back I posted a page from a vintage Chouinard course pamphlet. Here's one of the covers:Chouinard's class catalog, circa 1951Those were the days at Chouinard-even their disposable, flimsy paper class lists sported designs like this. Two of > read more

Random Fred Moore

Published on 2011-03-10 17:16:00

While on a Google search for Wilfred Jackson I happened upon this image, part of a terrific post of screen grabs Michael Sporn did back in December. Here, from 1951's "Operation Wonderland", is Fred Moore and Johnny Lounsbery. Artfully lit, they're l > read more

Walt Disney sends his regrets, 1938

Published on 2011-02-18 17:40:00

click to enlargeThe original of the letter shown here was an item for sale at the bookshop I once worked in, Larry Edmunds in Hollywood (still there, and still well worth a visit). At $400 dollars my 21 year old self couldn't think of buying it, but > read more

Dave Pimentel published a lovely book: "Evoke"

Published on 2010-12-15 16:52:00

I've written on these pages several times already about my colleague Dave Pimentel. Dave is a story artist who's probably the loudest cheerleader I know for drawing, drawing, drawing--at all times, in all places and with all media--and he's got the > read more

Chouinard Art Institute Brochure circa 1950

Published on 2010-12-01 20:25:00

Submitted for your approval: the back cover of Chouinard's list of class offerings for the 1950-51 school year.How many of the instructor's last names can you recognize--and what would you pay for a time machine to take you back to the Westlake Distr > read more

Toby Shelton

Published on 2010-11-10 11:40:59

Toby Shelton's cintiq sketch revisiting his design for the title character in the Disney series "Darkwing Duck" and his story panels from "How To Train Your Dragon" and "Princess and the Frog" from his blog. CLICK to enlarge.In an industry full of ta > read more

Lee and Mary Blair's 1939 Los Angeles Home On the Market: (UPDATED)

Published on 2010-11-06 09:44:00

I can think of an awful lot of people who are going to enjoy this.The Hollywood Hills modernist home designed in 1939 by architect Harwell Hamilton Harris for Disney artists Lee and Mary Blair is for sale, listed at $725,000. Harris worked for two o > read more

There is only one Glen Keane...

Published on 2010-11-05 20:06:00

As long as he's been working and as great as he is, he always seems to get better. From the page about his upcoming Paris exhibition Nov. 10 through Jan. 8th, 2011 at the Galerie Arludik, here's a sketchbook drawing done in 1999. Click to see it p > read more

Imagination+animation+technology= a profoundly jaw-dropping filmic experience

Published on 2010-10-17 15:22:00

I was emailed about this yesterday(thanks, Joe and David Doherty), and it's something I thought the passersby here would definitely appreciate. The link comes from a site called Kotaku, and as they wrote, in "a technique called video mapping, the Ma > read more

Squid Pro Quo

Published on 2010-09-29 15:36:00

Growing around my desk this past month is a stack of fine new books I've wanted to write about. One by one they arrived, were pored over, enjoyed...and then the struggle began to find the time to do them blog justice. Time: there's the rub. As the da > read more

The Blackwing Returns

Published on 2010-08-24 01:51:00

Some of my Blackwing pencilsNOTE Today I heard from two story artists simultaneously with exciting news via Mark Frauenfelder at boingboing.net: apparently that mighty elegant instrument, the extinct Blackwing pencil, is soon going to resume producti > read more

Fred Moore Girl Statue

Published on 2010-08-22 15:40:00

I saw the prototypes at Comic Con, and they were beautiful. There's a blonde and a raven-haired paint, and last but not least a red headed, green-eyed version available by special preorder from Electric Tiki. Just wanted to share.Everything publish > read more

John Canemaker signs tonight at the Americana on Brand

Published on 2010-08-17 15:12:00

I really don't want to remember today as the anniversary of Joe Ranft's death. I understand why many would, as I'm a person who's fascinated by history, the lives of people who've gone before us and marking their passages. I remember very well where > read more

Great Inspiration: music-only soundtrack for Lampwick's transformation in "Pinocchio".

Published on 2010-08-04 16:59:00

I just found this on the blog written by Jaime Weinman, Something Old, Nothing New-which he in turn found on youtube. It's arguably the most frightening scene in animation history-Pinocchio witnessing the wages of childhood sin on his new friend Lamp > read more

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