Irma Gruenholz is a Spanish illustrator who specialises in three dimensional illustrations in Plasticine/clay. Irma’s illustrations are used in books, magazines, advertisement, online marketing, etc. Once an illustration is finished, it is photographed and delivered to clients in a digital format.
I recently came across an excellent website about creating animation called Make Movies. It belongs to scriptwriter Stan Hayward, notable for his work at the Bob Godfrey studio and in particular on the Henry’s Cat TV series.
It is a great resource for introducing children to animation because it is clearly laid out. It covers drawing simple cartoon characters and, as you might expect from a master of scriptwriting, some instructive and detailed articles on animation scriptwriting.
It is great to discover new animation blogs and if they are written by professionals in the animaton industry then that is a special treat. Much can be learned from the wisdom imparted by these talented bloggers. Sometimes even a casual remark can shed light on the creative process.
Pencil Test Depot is a blog for the people who love pencil tests. Jamaal Bradley has amassed a collection of pencil tests from classic Disney films plus interesting pencil tests from other sources. A recent addition is a series of pencil tests from Disney’s Princess and the Frog that were animated by Matt Williames.
The 11 Second Club holds a monthly character animation competition in which animators from all over the world can participate. The challenge is to animate a character speaking a line of dialogue provided by the club.
Emma Lazenby’s film “Mother of Many” has just been nominated for a BAFTA in the Best Short Animation category. Emma has documented the making of her film in a fascinating blog called MoM written under the pen name of ElsieDarkwinter.
Colors! is a painting program that takes advantage of the pressure sensitivity of the Nintendo DS touch-screen to create a digital sketch-book. Animator Sheila Graber, who has been experimenting with it, told us; “It is great for ‘smudge and click’ as I used to call it in ye pastel days when I used 16mm film. It is SO much easier using this programe and you don’t get your hands dirty! I can recommend it for animators of today”.
A series of short videos about the making of the animated puppet film “Coraline” can be viewed on the Film in Focus website. Coraline is directed by Henry Selick and is said to be the first stop-motion animated puppet adventure to be originally filmed in 3D.
A collection of 13 short films from the Aardman Animations studio have been added to a film site called Indie Movies Online. The movies are free to watch although you do have to sit through a 30 second advert before the movie plays.