Spyro going to the movies!

The Hollywood Reporter, Variety and many other entertainment media news outlets have reported that the popular video game character "Spyro the Dragon" will be heading to the big screen as a feature animated film. Here's a link to the announcement on Variety's site:

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117974762.html?categoryid=13&cs=1

I designed and developed Spyro for Insomniac Games and Universal Studios in early 1997. Needless to say, I'm happy to see the character make it all the way to the top of the animation market. The Spyro video game franchise has had more than $500 million in sales. The character is one of the most widely recognized video game personalities in the world. Here's a sketch I created of Spyro as a class demonstration in 2002. I used black line, color markers and some coloring pencil.

At the Academy we emphasize the importance of a marquis character or characters in the establishment of a character based franchise in animation and Spyro has turned out to be a wonderful example of that lesson.

The original development drawings of Spyro the Dragon have been online since 2004 in a presentation hosted by the school. This presentation has had continuous virtually non stop traffic since then with no promotion or advertising behind it, a testament to the popularity of Spyro and perhaps the educational value of the body of work. To view the Spyro presentation follow this link:

http://www.theanimationacademy.com/spyroindex.htm

The Animation Academy is a world leader in the subject of character design training and intellectual property development. Insomniac Games enrolled their production crew into our program in 1998 early in the Academy's history. The Animation Academy has been influential in the animation industry on many levels.

Spyro is scheduled to be released sometime in 2009. Here's to hoping that the script is strong, the production values are high, and the film proves to be as succesful as the video games.

Demo at CSUN

The Animation Academy enjoys a special relationship with California State University in Northridge. Located in the north San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles, Cal State Northridge (CSUN) has an excellent art and animation department with a long history of successful graduates throughout the animation industry. I currently teach at CSUN in addition to the weekly sessions of The Animation Academy.

This is a quick demonstration I created at yesterday's class. The image was sketched in blue pencil first, then followed up with black line and broad tip markers. I blended blue pencil with tissue paper for the blue tones and picked out highlights with an eraser. Clicking on the image will give you a better view.

These demos were also also created at the same session, in the spirit of Halloween, using a similar technique as the demonstration above.

If you're looking for a degree granting program in animation, fine art, graphics, photography and more that is of excellent quality and affordable, check out Cal State Northridge. Here's a link to CSUN's home page: http://www.csun.edu

This link will take you to their art department: http://www.csun.edu/art/

Supplement your education at The Animation Academy, or prepare for CSUN with us and your skills will skyrocket.

Manny Aguiler's narrative art

We recently introduced a new course for advanced students. The class is called Narrative Illustration and is geared towards making the most of Character Design, Background Design and Visual Development skills acquired through the Academy's program. Ongoing students can focus these skills into compositions intended to exhibit storytelling elements.

We've enjoyed a long relationship with Manny Aguiler, an associate instructor who also continues his education with us. His work has been featured before on the Academy's blog on April 12, 2006. Our associate instructors were at one time our students but they go on learning with us to challenge themselves creatively. Here's a recent example of Manny Aguiler's work from Narrative Illustration. He used graphite on paper to come up with this scene from "Jack and the Beanstalk". Click on the image for a better view.

Manny's dynamic composition features a good balance of shapes and tonality to capture the interest of the viewer and push the element of depth of field within his drawing. There's confidence in his draftsmanship and his work creates excitement and enthusiam with students looking to emulate his example.

Our sessions are attended by a host of excellent artists who've been with us for years and are generous with their knowledge and encouraging with their artistic experience. The Academy's next semester, our 52nd consecutive one, will begin next week on October 23. Manny Aguiler will of course be present.

An Emmy for David Colman

I'm very happy to announce that David Colman has won an Emmy for his character design work on Cartoon Network's "Class of 3000". Here he is pictured with his fiance at the award ceremony.

A former student of The Animation Academy and an accomplished author with his book "The Art of Animal Character Design", David has done remarkable things so far in his career. He is currently working in development at Disney Feature Animation in Burbank.

David Colman is scheduled to return as a guest speaker this coming semester on November 13, 2007 where we'll have an opportunity to congratulate him in person. You can see pictures of David's earlier visit to the school by referring to the blog archives and the entry on June 13, 2007. You can also visit David's blog by following this link. http://davidcolman.blogspot.com/

John Watkiss visits the Academy

It was a very exciting session at The Animation Academy last Tuesday as special guest speaker John Watkiss joined us and blew our collective minds with his incredible art. John is a master whose experience involves the visual development of several Disney feature films including Tarzan, Kingdom of the Sun (Emperor's New Groove), Atlantis and Treasure Planet.

He gave us an extraordinary insight and detailed accounts about how many of the Disney features he worked on came to be, especially Tarzan. Here he is working with a group towards the end of class, relating his views on art and sharing a peek at development work few people outside the studio have ever seen.

John Watkiss is an artist's artist. What he can do with a Sharpie and black Prismacolor pencil is astounding, not to mention his absolute mastery of acrylic painting. He trained artists at Richard Williams Studio in London during the production of Who Framed Roger Rabbit, he taught at the Royal Academy of Art in London, and he is without question one of the most incredible artists I've ever met.

It was a real honor and priviledge for us to host Mr. Watkiss and I hope he'll return again before too long. To see more of John Watkiss' work, visit his blog. http://johnwatkiss.blogspot.com

The Great Burbank Rainbow of 2007

A few days ago a heavy rainstorm passed through the Los Angeles area. I happened to be at the Academy's offices when I looked out the window to see a magnificent rainbow that was anchored almost exactly upon the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank. I went to the roof of the building to capture the image you see below. The white object at the furthest point of the lower right hand corner of the photo just above the tree line is the water tower at the Disney lot. Clicking on the shot will give you a better view.

As the gigantic rainbow reached its apex, I took a series of photos to create this composite image. The rainbow is anchored to the right at Disney, to the left on Cartoon Network. In between the arch left of center is where Nickelodeon is located and at right of center is DreamWorks.

This is a very rare occurence. Who knows when it will be seen again if ever. I hope you enjoy these special photos of the animation rainbow in Burbank and that it brightens your day.

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/

Ariel Acosta's latest

After studying with us extensively in Character Design, Background Design and Visual Development, Ariel Acosta is now a leading student at the prestigious Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. We had the pleasure of his company at the last session of the Academy as he stopped by to share with us his his most recent works. Ariel's been featured before on the Academy's blog on December 15, 2006.

This is an illustration Ariel created in Photoshop. Click on the image for a better view.

Ariel is producing very impressive art and is developing a portfolio that is as unique as it is exceptional.