Alan Simmons at the Academy

At the last session of the Academy we enjoyed the company of guest speaker Alan Simmons. Alan is known for his amazing work on the WB's Batman, Superman and Batman Beyond series. He's currently a Background Designer at Marvel Lionsgate.

An enthusiastic audience for Alan's lecture and presentation, the Academy's students and staff get a close up and personal view of his portfolio.

Alan's work is incredible in its precision, vision and skill. Check out the post on August 9, 2007 in the blog's archives to get an idea of the level that he creates at. Alan Simmons is also a dedicated social activist who educates others with his ideas of improving the human condition. Afterwards, he stayed on for the evening assisting students with their perspective and design issues.

Many thanks to Mr. Simmons for sharing his thoughts, knowledge and experience with us. It was great to have him in our company. Looking forward to the next time he stops by for a visit.

Bridget McCarty's success

Some years ago a memorable student enrolled in the Academy's Teen Program. Bridget McCarty was in high school when she started with us. She soon began to distinguish herself with the unique and charming style she was developing to her art. This is from a class assignment she created while a student with us. It was painted in acrylics. Click on the image for a better view.

We recently heard from Bridget, now a grown woman and on her own. She started a line of miniature collectables which she sells on the Internet. She's been very successful with this endeavor and has caught the attention of a major corporation which is looking to license her product. This link will take you to her site. http://aliceinteacup.com

We're very happy for Bridget and proud to feature her as yet another successful artist who's been associated with The Animation Academy. We wish her continued good fortune.

Antoine Christopher's MJ masterpiece

That is a fitting description of this absolutely fantastic work of art unveiled for the first time at The Animation Academy in Burbank, California the evening of September 4, 2007, the occasion of the start of our latest semester, and featured online for the first time on the school's blog. This is a photograph of the original which I took in class. Clicking on the picture will give you a better view.

The artist is Antoine Christopher. He was with us in the early days of the school. A natural born inbetweener and animation clean up artist, I've never seen anyone like him that good who loved to work that way. Antoine was more than capable of working on a feature level.

Unfortunately, with the disbanding of the traditional process at local studios involved in features in favor of 3D, he never got his chance to prove just how good he really was. But that didn't stop him from creating. After several years on his own, Antoine reconnected with us. He unveiled the work you see here to the astonishment of everyone in attendance.

The original is about 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 feet. A large work, drawn from reference by hand, no tracing or projectors... in pastels!

The arrow that you see at the bottom right of the picture is what makes Antoine's creation all the more special. That's Michael Jordan's signature! He showed it to him, he liked it and signed it by scratching into the pastel. There's a little blue seal at the tip of the arrow I've drawn that authenticates the signature as that of Michael Jordan.

To see more of Antoine Christopher's unbelievable artwork, check out his website and prepare to be blown away. http://www.artchristic.com/