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My guest today is the exceptionally talented Artist, Animator, Director, Professor, and Writer Nancy Beiman.
Nancy Beiman
connect with Nancy on Facebook!
Nancy Beiman hails from New Jersey, she likes to travel and owns a cat named Gizmo! She wasn’t the first woman to work at the Disney Studio. There were many women before her who worked on Disney films. But Nancy has earned the distinction of being the second female animator to be credited on a Disney film. She has taught animation at Savannah College of Art and Design, and taught at Rochester Institute of Technology, School of Film & Animation until 2008. She now teaches at Sheridan Institute’s Animation department in Canada.
Nancy was offered a scholarship to be part of the inaugural class of the Character Animation program at CalArts straight out high school. Her classmates included John Lasseter, Jerry Rees, John Musker, Tim Burton, and Brad Bird. Nancy was the first woman to graduate from the CalArts Character Animation Program. After CalArts, She went to work at Jack Zander’s Animation Parlour in New York. She has animated Bugs and Donald, Snoopy and Goofy, friends of Fievel Mouse and Mickey Mouse, and Don Martin cartoons! She worked with Chuck Jones, Bill Melendez, Gerhard Hahn, Steven Spielberg, Walt Disney Feature Animation, the Disney Channel, Disney television movies, and Warner Bros.
Nancy Beiman entered an industry that was pretty much a boy’s club. Her raw talent and hard work, combined with an appreciation of tradition, tenacity and courage in the face of adversity served her well.
Here at 9:04 you can see some of Nancy’s wonderful animation on the tragic character Billy Bones from Disney’s Treasure Planet. On a side note, yours truly did some inbetweens for Nancy on a few of these scenes.
She is the author and illustrator of two awesome animation books:
ANIMATED PERFORMANCE: Bringing imaginary animal, human and fantasy characters to life (AVA Press, 2010)
click the pick to get a copy of the book.
PREPARE TO BOARD! Creating Storyboard and Characters for Animated Features and Shorts (Focal Press, 2007)
click the pic to get a copy of the book.
Here are some of her cartoonist influences.
Robert Osbourne.
Check out this incredible blog post full of Osborn’s cartoons! Friggin’ fantastic!
Ronald Searle
Chuck Jones
Check out his awesome cartoon Feed the Kitty
Charles Schulz
Bill Melendez
At Bill’s studio Nancy got to work on her favorite character, Snoopy’s brother Spike for the production “It’s the girl in the red truck Charlie Brown.”
When I asked Nancy what character from literature she would most like to bring to life in animation, she said “The Last Unicorn” from a fantasy novel written by Peter S. Beagle and published in 1968.
click pic to get a copy!
She also would love to animate The Master and Margarita a novel by Mikhail Bulgakov. It is the story of a visit by the Devil to the atheistic Soviet Union and is considered one of the greatest novels of the 20th century.
clich pic to get a copy.
Nancy really likes Simon’s Cat by Simon Tofield. I was totally blown away by the sheer awesomeness of these cartoons! Simon Tofield’s beautifully animated and hysterical series of shorts done in full animation with flash have garnered tens of millions of hits on Youtube!
Be sure to check out Nancy’s Blog The Demon Duck of Doom!
Lastly I’d like to share with you Nancy’s 2010 Holiday Card! Lovely and touching isn’t it?
by Nancy Beiman
I would like to thank Nancy for dropping by Man vs. Art and reminding everyone that it’s also Woman vs. Art!
From all of us here at Man vs. Art, we’d like to wish you all a happy new year for 2011!
Ciao!
Raul
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Hola Minions!
In today’s episode of Man vs. Art I had the pleasure of speaking with the talented Ken Mora.
He’s a screenwriter, artist, and independent animator who’s determination, warped sense of humor, and resourcefulness have gotten him literary representation, an award winning CG animated short, and plenty of attention.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s begin at the beginning shall we?
Ken Mora is one of life’s late bloomers.
Born in 1960, Ken learned to “Draw Comics The Marvel Way” when he was 12. He developed his writing chops throughout high school and was brutally pummeled to death creatively, by the real world as an adult.
In 1995 he eventually got it together, picked up his pencil and brushes and studied art at Santa Monica College. He then transferred to the USC School of Fine Art where he earned BFA in Art in 1999 at the age of 39.
Being married, having a lovely child, and the need to work an income-producing job didn’t slow Ken down one bit. He adapted a screenplay based on the life of the volatile painter Caravaggio, which gained him immediate literary representation, and a movie option.
Sadly the Caravaggio script went nowhere. Despite this, Ken continued to write and win competition and film fest awards. However, it didn’t take Ken long to figure out that knocking on doors in Hollywood was a naive person’s game. With Bill Plympton as an example to follow, Ken adapted his award winning feature comedy script Magnum Farce into a short CG-animated film in 2009.
Custom drawing of Bill Plympton, Magnum Farce's Detective Dick Hardon, and Ken Mora by Bill Plympton.
Since then, Ken’s won multiple awards for his short spoof, and after meeting the San Gabriel Valley Cartoonistas, via their mutual love of Bill Plympton’s latest work “Idiots and Angeles” Ken has decided to produce the feature film himself, with whatever resources he can muster.
Currently, Ken is adapting the Magnum Farce into a comic book for release at next year’s Alternative Press Expo. He is also laying down voice tracks for the Magnum Farce feature, tightening up the script, and planning the animatic with expert help from yours truly, the Man vs. Art.
In the show Ken shares his earliest experiences in art. How he was influenced by comics and how he broke into screenwriting. He then tells us about the creation of his CG animated short Magnum Farce and we discuss a few recent 3D animated features.
Ken will be previewing the “YouTube” edit of his CG animated short Magnum Farce on Jan 22nd at the “We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Badges” show at Geeks Comics in Whittier. For the latest, Ken invites you to check out his website http://www.magnumfarcemovie.com/ and you can find his Facebook profile here.
Below are some of the folks that helped Ken Mora with Magnum Farce by providing music and voice services!
BILL PLYMPTON & INDIE ANIMATORS SAY “WE DON’T NEED NO STINKIN’ BADGES.”
Twice Oscar nominated indie animator Bill Plympton headlines filmmakers whose short films will screen, free to the public, at a one of a kind show in Whittier, CA.
Plympton’s feature “Idiots and Angels” is on this year’s Academy Awards short-list along with the film “The Cow Who Wanted to be a Hamburger.” The short (also nominated for an Annie Award) will screen with a band of rebel animators who ride into Whittier, CA, armed with a “do it yourself” spirit that fuels their creations.
Included are old hands from Disney, The Simpsons, and Family Guy, Nickelodeon, who have turned indie along with other cult and rebel animators, ready to blaze their films across the screen to an audience hungry for what’s new, exciting, and different. Man vs. Art’s very own Raul Aguirre Jr. will serve as the master of ceremonies! “We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Badges” will showdown at GEEKS Comics in Uptown Whittier on January 22, 2011.
Bill Plympton
Dominic Polcino
Ken Mora
Raul Aguirre, Jr.
Mike Garvey
David Kolodny-Nagy and Steven Sievers
Jim Lujan
Grasiela Rodriguez
Andrew Miller
Jose Cabrera
Kevin Cross
..and a few surprises!
The show is FREE courtesy of Geeks Comics, and the Nuvein Foundation of San Gabriel Valley, CA, whose mission is to raise scholarships funds for students and professionals in the arts, and showcase art via community performances, and educational programs.
A pre-show mixer open to the public, starts at 7:00 pm with screenings to start promptly at 7:30. This show’s content is recommended for teens and adults.
GEEKS
6747 Greenleaf Ave Suite A
Whittier Ca 90601
562-696-9393
We Don’t Need No Stinking Badges on Facebook.
Sound off! Give your Minion Opinion by leaving a voice mail at the Official Man vs. Art Minion Hotline!
Me? An Animation Instructor? You bet!
One last thing, starting in January I’ll be teaching two classes, History and Principles of Animation and Timing for Animation at the Gnomon School for Visual Effects in Hollywood California!
Gnomon is your Pipeline to the Industry.
Gnomon School of Visual Effects is an innovative training facility that stresses the importance of creativity in computer graphics. We believe, that while technology offers new tools to create your visions, it is our ultimate goal to allow you to interact transparently with the software.
At Gnomon, we know that it is not the technology that drives results, but the artist. Therefore, our instructors are industry professionals with traditional backgrounds who started using the technology to bring their imaginations to life.
I’m really excited about this opportunity and am totally looking forward to lending my know-how to the students!
Ciao!
Raul
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Color theory has a ton of definitions! A ton.
There is so much that can be said about Color Theory that it could fill the Library of Alexandria. It can be overwhelming, so for the Man vs. Art Intro to Color Theory, I’m going to give you the underwhelming Cliff’s notes version. Here are a few basic concepts.
The Color Wheel
A painter's best friend! Thank you Sir Isaac Newton!
In 1666 the genius Sir Isaac Newton put together the first circular diagram of colors. Ever since then, artists and even scientists have studied and created numerous variations of this concept. Over the years much debate has been provoked due to the differences of opinion about the validity of one format over another. In my opinion, any color wheel which presents a logically arranged sequence of pure hues is valid.
First a couple of terms you should familiarize yourself with about color.
Hue: is the name of a distinct color of the spectrum—red, green, yellow, orange, blue, and so on.
Tint: is the mixture of a color with white
Shade: is a mixture of a color and black
PRIMARY COLORS
The color wheel is based on red, yellow and blue.
In traditional Color Theory, these are the 3 colors that cannot be mixed by any combination of other colors. All other colors are derived from these 3 hues. The holy trifecta or triumvirate of color is what I like to call it.
SECONDARY COLORS
Green, orange and purple are the secondary colors.
These are the colors formed by mixing two of the primary colors in equal parts. Thus red with yellow gives you orange, blue with yellow gives green, and red and blue give purple.
TERTIARY COLORS
Yellow-orange, red-orange, red-purple, blue-purple, blue-green and yellow-green.
These are the colors formed by mixing a primary and a secondary color. That’s why the hue is a two word name, such as blue-green, red-violet, and yellow-orange.
The primary colors are arranged on the color wheel at 3 points opposite each-other and the secondary colors in between the two primaries. The tertiary colors are between the primary and secondary colors.
Color Schemes
The color wheel is your homie!
Color Schemes are rules for combining color that gives a harmonious result.
Complementary color Scheme:
Colors that are opposite each other on the color wheel are known as complementary colors. Red and green for example. Using opposing colors create maximum contrast and maximum stability.
The high contrast of complementary colors creates a vibrant look especially when used at full saturation. You need to be careful using this scheme so it is not disturbing.
Complementary colors are tricky to use in large doses, but work well when you want something to stand out. A Complementary color scheme is definitely not recommended for text. If you don’t believe me just check out some people’s crappy ass MySpace pages.
Analogous Color Scheme:
IMHO Analogous is the funniest named color scheme. LOL!
For the Analogous scheme, you use colors that are next to each other on the color wheel. They go well together and create placid designs. Analogous color schemes are often found in nature and are harmonious and pleasing to the eye.
Be sure you have enough contrast when choosing an analogous color scheme.
One color should dominate, a second to support. The third is used (along with black, white or gray) as an accent.
Split Complementary Color Scheme:
Split Complementary Color Scheme is a variation of the complementary scheme. You choose a base color and use the two colors adjacent to its complement.
This has the same strong visual contrast as the complementary color scheme, but has less strain.
The split-complimentary color scheme is a good choice for rookie artists because it is hard to screw up.
Triadic Color Scheme:
A triadic color scheme uses colors that are evenly spaced around the color wheel.
Triadic color harmonies tend to be vivid, even if you use pale versions of your hues.
To use a triadic harmony successfully, the colors should be carefully balanced – let one color dominate and use the two others for accent.
COLOR HARMONY
Harmony can be defined as a pleasing arrangement of parts, whether it be music, poetry, or even a gorgeous platter of tacos!
Harmony is something that is pleasing to the eye. It engages the viewer and it creates an inner sense of order and balance in the visual experience. When something is not harmonious, it’s boring or chaotic. The first extreme is a visual experience that is so ordinary, so dull and lackluster, that the viewer is not engaged. Our brains always reject under-stimulating information. I know mine does.
At the other extreme is a visual experience that is so overdone and chaotic that the viewer can’t stand to look at it. Our brains reject what they cannot organize or understand. We need to present a logical structure. Color harmony delivers visual interest and a sense of order which we find comforting and pleasant.
What I’m saying is, extreme unity leads to boredom, extreme complexity leads to over-stimulation. Harmony is a dynamic balance between the two. Like when balance is brought to the force.
Here are a couple of paintings that I believe achieve perfect color harmony.
Waterlilies by Claude Monet
Cafe Terrace at Night by Vincent Van Gogh
Chop Suey By Edward Hopper
Portrait of Natasha by Diego Rivera
Ciao!
Raul
