#famous animator
14 messages in this thread
Very interesting and insightful comments, Ed. What do you teach?
Alec Jason
Hello Alec
I teach various drawing classes, design classes, Art History, and animation.
We do traditinal animation and my students now work at Disney, Hanna Barbara,
Turner etc. We (Allan Hancock College ) cant afford a room full of 3ds seats or
I would be teaching computer animation. The more I think about it though the
more I think students need a firm grounding in art/design before they get to
sophisticated software. In our graphics program for example the students who
start with cut and paste, drawing etc seem more resourceful than the ones that
start on computers.
Ed
"hand" and more in doing everything entirely electronically.
While this will enhance their abilities in certain respects (too many
"hand"-drafters treat CAD like nothing more than a glorified pencil and thus
miss out on a lot of the features it has to offer), the fact is that until the
day (if it ever comes) when the electronic data file IS the end product,
knowledge of how to craft a detail that is clear and intelligible on the
printed page (the blueline used by the contractor in the field) seems to come
easier to those with a "manual" background.
Heck, besides — nothing beats the feel of a pencil gliding across paper once
in a while. <g>
Dave
David – I believe that part of what you say here can b CAD does not make a bad draftsman a better one – only neater.
or
Just because one has all the tools, doesn't mean they are a craftsman.
Good summation. Maybe I should hire you as my speech-writer! <g>
Dave
where more and more students will have less and less experience with drafting
by "hand" and more in doing everything entirely electronically.
Some of the most respected schools like Art Center in Pasadena require lots of
prep for students before they will allow them to play with their SGIs. But I
can forsee that educators will have to deal with a generation of people who
have been on the computer since they were children. Actually Ive noticed for
several years that lots of students reach the college level without the
faintest idea how to deal with tools and materials. I guess the things we did
as kids , besides ng forts and plastic models prepared
us to be resourceful.
Ed
>>I guess the things we did as kids , besides watch tv, such as building
>>forts and plastic models prepared us to be resourceful.
I know this sounds like "old-fogey" talk (well, I AM 32, so I can't be
trusted), but when I wanted to make a space-ship with Legos, I didn't have
pre-formed spacecraft parts from the Lego spacecraft e" tools (meaning basic, not backwards or lesser) help
to develop resourcefulness.
You know, it's an interesting question — many computer tools are modeled on
traditional "hand" methods — Fractal Design's Painter software for example.
While you can use this software to create traditional looking output by
following traditional methodology, you can also mmulates?
Dave
Ed,
I find your thoughts very interesting. It is strange that since I've startedmany
hours to get things right. I did keep thinking how much easier it would be if I
could work with a computer: instead of drawing each of six rungs on a chair
back, I wanted to clone the first one, resize it and paste the clones where
they belong.
The more I get into computer animation/graphics, the more I wish I could draw
with a pencil and paper. For a long time I thought I would suddenly be able to
draw when I got the right computer and the right software (like Fractal
Painter) and then I knew I was being held back by not having a pressure
sensitive tablet. But now that I've got all these things, I have no excuses.
Skill and talent are, I have reluctantly concluded, still required. Darn.
Alec Jason
<<I did take a serious "right-side-of-the-brain" drawing class and I found that
with great effo work with a computer: instead of drawing each of six rungs on a chair
back, I wanted to clone the first one, resize it and paste the clones where
they belong.
I really enjoy drawing in Painter because I can resize and rotate an eye rather
than erase and draw it over. Some terrific artists such as Frank Stella say
they cant draw, but I think a skill like drawing, which dosnt make someone an
artist, certainly makes artists and designers more free.
<<Sce drawing isnt
required those who find it more of a struggle often quit. The hump in drawing
is seeing clearly without regard to what we know. The rest is practice, endless
reps.
Ed
PMJI,
>>The more I get into computer animation/graphics, the more I wish I could draw
with a pencil and paper.
For me, it's been kind of the opposite; sincoing traditional
freelance illustration (pencil/pen/airbrush) and started doing 3D, I've found
myself sketching less and less. Heck, I haven't touched my airbrush in over a
year. One thing I've noticed, esp. lately, is that I'm doing a lot more
sketching (or whatever its analog could be considered in 3D programs) in the 3D
programs themselves. The alien I uploaded recently started out as a half hour
3d 'sketching' session, with no real image planned, and it gradually came
together into a finished image (some might still consider it a sketch, tho'
;^). Don't know whether to be happy or sad that I've laid down some of my other
tools at the roadside as it were.
>>Skill and talent are, I have reluctantly concluded, still required. Darn.
:^) Ditto. Hopefully I'll get to the point skillwise that I'll actually be able
to display some talent.
John Stetzer
JWS
<< Hopefully I'll get to the point skillwise that I'll actually be able to
display some talent >>
Good statement. Much truth there.
Alec Jason
In my experience the biggest trick in school was to "tune in" to the
instructor's expectations. ie if he didn't like it forget it there was no A on
the way<sheepish g> What I'm saying is that perception and fashion can really
distort an artistic piece. Look at Pop Art in the 70s…. eeeu….
MC Escher was vilified by the art community because they felt that his work was
too calculated and therefore was not Art. I had an art teacher give me grief
when he discovered that I had taken drafting, therefore everything I was doing
was "too designed".
The issue becomes; are you pleasing yourself with your work, does it satisfy
you? Or are you chasing a standard as defined by "them". Hopefully the stuff
you create expresses your urges and impresses those others. There are few
successful "true artists".
PMJIH – As an alumnus of AHJC ('71 – '73), I couldn't bear not to ask –
Are they still growing strawberries in Nipomo?
I sometimes miss the aroma of fertilized fields blowing in from Oso Flaco.
<<I sometimes miss the aroma of fertilized fields blowing in from Oso Flaco.
Yes we still have "Bandini Days". Were you at AHC when John Madden was there?
Ed