Post 12- Partly Cloudy

So, I was watching the Pixar documentary on Netflix the other day and I found it extremely interesting. At one point, they talk about how the computer was thought to ruin cartoons and animation for artists. People thought the computer would do all the work. Through out this "crisis" for animation artists, there was the group of technological experts that wanted to marry art and technology together. This group of people, eventually named Pixar, a break off of Lucas films, proves that art and technology can be put together and that it doesn't put out artists, it just is a different form of art. One of my favorite messages in the movie was about how these artists push the limits of the technology and then the technology improves to meet the art requirements. This is a super simple basis on what the documentary is about, though it is worth watching. While I was watching the movie, they showed a couple of the short films that they won awards for and that made me remember watching a few of the Birds short films and I decided to look up the most recent short film. The most recent came out with Toy Story 3 and is called "Day and Night". "Day and Night" is a touching story about Day and his opposite, Night, who show off all their differences and good qualities but end up forming a friendship and see that they arn't so different. From an art aspect, I really liked how it's a mix between old school looking animation and 3D animation. They were talking about how they never wanted to degrade 2D animation and this short film shows that they can mix together. The director of this Short Film is Teddy Newton who also earned an Oscar Nomination for it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpN0vwgVBZk

http://www.pixar.com/shorts/d&n/anim_short_before_and_after.mov

Post 11- Frazetta

Frank Frazetta was a science fiction and fantasy artist who did the old Tarzan covers and some of the Conan covers. He just passed away last year May 10, 2010. Frazetta was the type of fantasy artist that was the inspiration for all sorts of up coming fantasy artists. This artist was all over the art scene for fantasy geeks like me. He's done comic series, paper backs, lord of the rings series, and his rep sheet goes on and on. From all of his artwork I would have to say my favorite piece is Chained Conan.

This piece starts with the contrast between Conan and the snake which leads to the change in proportion between the snake and Conan. The size of the snake catches your eye after the white of Conan's back. There is also a tension to the overall piece. Conan is straining against the chain and looks as if he is about to snap the chains and kick some reptilian butt. Beyond the contrast and the proportion and the tension, there is also a certain lay to the figures. It is set up in a pyramidal form that leads your eye to the top of the piece. The base of the pyramid are the two sets of chains which leads to Conan which leads to the giant snake towering above him. In the background is also many half formed devilish looking creatures that kind of hide in a formless smoke. This just adds to the dark scene. What I really like about this piece is that I connect it with an action scene from a book like Conan. You can tell a story about most every piece but this story connects with books I enjoy reading. 

Post 10- Bert Monroy

Damen Train Station:

This piece was created by an artist named Bert Monroy. Bert Monroy works with digital paintings/creations. He started digital art in 1984 which makes him one of the first artists to embrace art at the digital computer level. He was even the co-author of the first Photoshop book and is in the Photoshop Hall of Fame. This piece, called Damen, is mostly all Photoshop, with some illustrator for a few symbols and words in the train station. This is the Damen Station in Chicago. The size of this piece is 40 inches by 120 inches. The file size is 1.7 gigs and the overall amount of Photoshop layers is 15,000. Now, this is an incredible size if you think about how about 400-600 songs will fit in 1.7 gigs and most Photoshop files have less than 50 layers (maybe approaching 100). What I find jaw dropping about this piece is it's depth. If you look at the overall piece, it is crisp and clear, but unlike other paintings, as you zoom in, the items in the piece don't get blurry, they just get  bigger: 

The overall piece is amazingly realistic with the train tracks receding into the distance. I chose this piece for a couple of reasons. First, I never saw this piece until recently in my Photoshop class and secondly because I can't stop staring at it. There is just so much detail in it that it is over the top amazing. I find myself thinking "I think I would go crazy if I did something like that." It really reminds me of how if this piece were on a huge billboard, you could stand far away and see the top post, then as you walk closer you see the detail. It seems like a lot of digital art misses that key, the sheer size effect.

http://www.bertmonroy.com/damen/damen.html

http://www.bertmonroy.com/timessquare/timessquare.html

Post 9- The Wood Dragon

The Wood Dragon and The Ladybird:

This is another piece by Phil McDarby. Phil McDarby is a freelance graphic artist who started digital creations in 1998. Right now he lives in Dublin. I only mention where he lives because I imagine that the scenery around his home has inspired a lot of his digital paintings. Like, with The Wood Dragon, the characters are created with his Wacom Tablet and his background is created from his own photography. I love how in all of his pieces, he adds to the environment. He doesn't change it or make a whole new environment, he just adds to it. In this piece, there is a big element of design being used between the dragon and the ladybird, that being a line in line of sight. Line of sight and focal point. His focal point is created by contrasting colors of the ladybug and then the movement through the piece is back and forth between the dragon's eyes and the ladybug's eyes. I find this piece to be comical because it reminds me of an old west shoot out or a staring match. Either way this dragon is definitely intent on this little itty bitty ladybug. With his horns/antennas forward and his left leg lifted a little, I would say it's more curiosity towards the lady bug than malicious intent. Besides being comical, I would definitely label this as a cute picture of a dragon. Whenever McDarby does a fantasy work of art, he is able to add magic to a normal environment without ruining the environment. This dragon actually looks as if it plausibly fits in the environment.

Here are some other wood dragons:

http://www.philmcdarby.com/index.php/digital_art/