Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Colored page
Page one of Daisy, all water colored. The skin came out a bit dark, but overall I like it.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Thoughts on The Princess and the Frog...
I don't know how to convey just how disappointed I am with The Princess and the Frog.
But here are some points:
1) Did they REALLY use the BEST animators out there? Because the animation looked terrible. Especially, mostly, the humans. Miyazaki's crew upstaged you in Ponyo (even though his story lacked).
2) If you're so desperate to return to hand drawn animation, why rely on CG for EVERY special effect? It looks overly airbrushed, overly filtered, overDONE. With as many computer effects they used, they may have well just used the CG process. (BTW, Studio Ghibli's Ponyo takes place UNDER WATER and that whole movie - sans very minimal CG effects used - were all drawn, painted, done by hand)
3) Why be worried about being "politically correct" if this just means re-writing history WHILE making stereotypes out of EVERYONE, including those you are worried about being P.C. (All black people love pots of jambalaya and speak a certain way. All bad or silly people are fat, people to be taken seriously are gorgeous and skinny). I think the story would have been more powerful if she was Maddy, the chambermaid of a rich debutante, like she was supposed to be originally. Now THAT'S a circumstance to overcome gracefully!
4) To bring back the golden times of Disney princess does not mean you have to steal scenes/ideas from all the other princess movies. I could literally point out every scene in The Princess and the Frog and from which previous Disney film it came from.
5) The villain's motive was weak. Power? Over the city of New Orleans? Let's have a review, shall we?
- Snow white - Queens wants to stay queen and rule over the kingdom
- Cinderella - Evil step mom wants daughter(s) to be princesses so she can be rich
- Sleeping Beauty - Malificent wants to rule over the kingdom
- Little Mermaid - Ursula wants to rule over the kingdom
- Aladdin - Jafar wants to rule Agrabah
WE NEED A NEW MOTIVE.
6) The story is sooo tired. The prince (who comes from some nation I've never even heard of. Way to reach for a prince!) suddenly realized why he should love this poor girl because of one song. I think they fell in love in approximately 24 hours.
7) Moral of the story: You can't achieve your dreams in life if you don't get that ring on your finger. (Also, the way to a man's heart is through his stomach).
8) Afterthought, why are John Goodman and Oprah Winfrey listed as "starring"?
/end rant
There were a few positives... there is one musical scene where Tiana is singing about her dream of a restaurant. It's very stylized in an sort of UPA way. That was visually interesting, and by far the biggest visual risk.
Also, the alligator and the firefly were very good as comic relief.
But here are some points:
1) Did they REALLY use the BEST animators out there? Because the animation looked terrible. Especially, mostly, the humans. Miyazaki's crew upstaged you in Ponyo (even though his story lacked).
2) If you're so desperate to return to hand drawn animation, why rely on CG for EVERY special effect? It looks overly airbrushed, overly filtered, overDONE. With as many computer effects they used, they may have well just used the CG process. (BTW, Studio Ghibli's Ponyo takes place UNDER WATER and that whole movie - sans very minimal CG effects used - were all drawn, painted, done by hand)
3) Why be worried about being "politically correct" if this just means re-writing history WHILE making stereotypes out of EVERYONE, including those you are worried about being P.C. (All black people love pots of jambalaya and speak a certain way. All bad or silly people are fat, people to be taken seriously are gorgeous and skinny). I think the story would have been more powerful if she was Maddy, the chambermaid of a rich debutante, like she was supposed to be originally. Now THAT'S a circumstance to overcome gracefully!
4) To bring back the golden times of Disney princess does not mean you have to steal scenes/ideas from all the other princess movies. I could literally point out every scene in The Princess and the Frog and from which previous Disney film it came from.
5) The villain's motive was weak. Power? Over the city of New Orleans? Let's have a review, shall we?
- Snow white - Queens wants to stay queen and rule over the kingdom
- Cinderella - Evil step mom wants daughter(s) to be princesses so she can be rich
- Sleeping Beauty - Malificent wants to rule over the kingdom
- Little Mermaid - Ursula wants to rule over the kingdom
- Aladdin - Jafar wants to rule Agrabah
WE NEED A NEW MOTIVE.
6) The story is sooo tired. The prince (who comes from some nation I've never even heard of. Way to reach for a prince!) suddenly realized why he should love this poor girl because of one song. I think they fell in love in approximately 24 hours.
7) Moral of the story: You can't achieve your dreams in life if you don't get that ring on your finger. (Also, the way to a man's heart is through his stomach).
8) Afterthought, why are John Goodman and Oprah Winfrey listed as "starring"?
/end rant
There were a few positives... there is one musical scene where Tiana is singing about her dream of a restaurant. It's very stylized in an sort of UPA way. That was visually interesting, and by far the biggest visual risk.
Also, the alligator and the firefly were very good as comic relief.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Post-Art Hop
The art hop went well, sort of. Many people came out. Not many people came into the building where I was stationed. It seemed like the coffee shop was the hub of the event. Oh well! I didn't sell anything, except for one piece that my grandma bought. Thanks gramma!
Here are some photos, however
I think I would still do it next year, if given the chance. I think the first art hop was a bit foreign to the folks in our town. I think it'd improve greatly if it had another chance (and maybe on a date that wasn't so close to winter).
Also, next time I will scope out the venue, because I was sharing it with one other artist and had a TON of wall space to use up. The place looked pretty sparse (it was a tax service office, and they moved out all the furniture so we had to tables and all the walls to cover).
Lastly, here is a new, better photo of my charcoal drawing:
Here are some photos, however
My station
My wall
More wall
I think I would still do it next year, if given the chance. I think the first art hop was a bit foreign to the folks in our town. I think it'd improve greatly if it had another chance (and maybe on a date that wasn't so close to winter).
Also, next time I will scope out the venue, because I was sharing it with one other artist and had a TON of wall space to use up. The place looked pretty sparse (it was a tax service office, and they moved out all the furniture so we had to tables and all the walls to cover).
Lastly, here is a new, better photo of my charcoal drawing:
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Art hop tomorrow!
Daisy is done! Been putting together some dummy (sp?) books for class, but I think I might have a few on my for the art hop tomorrow. I will also have tote bags for sale, $5 each!
We also had our first snow fall today. Boooo. I'm not a fan of snow, and as soon as I am able, I'm packing up for Texas! May be a couple years before I can do that, but all I can do now is hope :)
I have a lot to do to prepare for tomorrow. I have my placement in the morning at the middle school and then I have to run, run, run (safely, of course, on the snowy roads) down to Wayland for the art hop.
Wish me luck! And come say hi! :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)