Hannah Williamson - Before and After

Take a look at the progress that Hannah Williamson has made in the Background Design and Perspective class she's currently enrolled in here at The Animation Academy in Burbank.

This is where she started from while embarking on the completion of some of her very first assignments...

Here's where Hannah is at a few sessions into the class...

It's amazing the artistic progress one can make by learning about and implementing basic fundamentals into one's art. Hannah is approaching a professional level with her skills early in her career. The content she's creating will help her to progress in ways that will have a direct impact on the art she'll be generating in the future.

The Animation Academy excels in helping artists develop a solid foundation to their abilities and our exceptional students always put us in a great light thanks to the very impressive work they create.

Chris Collins returns

Hi everyone. It's been a while since I've been able to update the Academy's blog. Things have been very busy in many positive ways and I'm happy to report that we're at a point where we can catch up on some overdo updates.

In 1998 in the earliest days of our school we were fortunate to have Chris Collins join us. Over the next few years Chris would drop back into our program as he gradually kept getting better with his art. he's had a long and successful career working in animation and now after more than a decade h's returned to the Academy to brush up on his skills in the Character Design 1 class. He's gotten off to a great start as the images below can attest. These are some of the character concept sketches Chris created since he's been back...

The Animation Academy celebrates 16 years - 1998 to 2014

Sweet Sixteen !!!

It was 16 years ago today on January 19, 1998 that The Animation Academy held its first session in the back room of a local restaurant in Burbank, California with a class of 20 students. Ever since it's been full speed ahead!

Our school has helped change the face of the industry in many significant ways and has been a very positive influence in the lives of a great many artists over the years.

To our current and former students who have defined the success of our school, along with our many friends, associates and well wishers all over the world, thank you for making The Animation Academy the wonderful phenomenon that it has become.

There's exciting things on the way in 2014. Here's to the future and to many more happy times creating together!

Charles Zembillas

President, Director and Founder

The Animation Academy

Burbank California

USA

Walt Disney's grave on his birthday - December 5 2013

Hello everyone!

In what's become a tradition for me every year since 2008 I take a trip to Walt Disney's grave in Glendale, California to pay my respects and to honor him on the occasion of his birthday. He was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1901 and passed away in Burbank, California in 1966. He would have been 112 years old. Here's what it looked like on December 5, 2013...

I recorded video of my visit as I did last year and wanted to share it with you on The Academy's blog. The video hasn't shown up on Blogger's YouTube search yet so I can't embed it at this moment but I will later when it becomes available and I'll edit the post.

Meanwhile you can take a look at how things went by following the link below. I had a mishap with the flowers but everything turned out alright. I get a little emotional when I'm at his grave as it's an intense personal experience for me being that close to him. I have a great affection for Walt Disney. In any case it's always a great privilege being there and representing in spirit the artists of the animation community and the world. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2f3fh6xZOB8

There are many people of fame and notoriety that are buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, California. If you'd like to see photos of some of the graves of a few famous people, follow this link to the AnimationNation Forums...

http://www.animationnation.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=5040

Thanks for checking this out. May the memory of Walt Disney help to keep you creatively inspired.

Charles Zembillas

The Animation Academy

Burbank California

In Memory of Zina Lahr 1990 - 2013

On April 2 2013 a most unusual student joined us here at the Academy. She came all the way from Colorado to take Character Design 1 in Burbank.

Her name was Zina Lahr.

She was a remarkable and talented young lady. She dressed in an aviator's head gear with goggles and had feathers streaming from her hair. She was such a gentle, kind and soft spoken soul you knew you were in the presence of someone very special every time you were with her. Someone so extraordinary she didn't seem to be from this earth.

Zina exhibited strong skills and a unique vision. She was involved in making life sized dinosaur puppets move. The kind that would require individuals suiting up inside of the contraption. Her art was beautiful and we all grew creatively while she was with us. Our experience with her was extremely positive and we missed her when she had to go back home to take care of her ailing grandmother. Just last month I received an email from Zina saying how much she looked forward to coming back here again in the future.

A week ago on Wednesday, November 20 2013, Zina Lahr fell to her death in an accident while hiking in the hills around her hometown of Ouray, Colorado. She was only 23 years old.

Here's the article regarding her passing.

Zina was the kind of person that is too good for this world. She will be remembered as someone of exceptional significance and her memory will always be held as something very special to me personally. Zina was the kind of girl that made you feel wonderful just by being in her presence. For myself and on behalf of everyone who knew her at the Academy we offer her family and loved ones our sincerest condolences. We were lucky to have known you and to have had you with us Zina. You'll be greatly missed.

Rest In Peace.    

Chance Raspberry's Indiegogo Success

The phenomenon of crowdfunding has become and is increasingly a major method of launching projects of any and all sorts. In animation and other creative fields sites such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo have transformed the way that business is done. This positive and dynamic development is making a difference in the lives of many people. It holds tremendous potential for the future considering how far this new system will eventually go.

Simpsons animator and Academy legend Chance Raspberry wrapped up his second crowdfunding campaign on  November 12 2013. This time on Indiegogo. Chance has already made history with his successful Little Billy project on Kickstarter last year. His follow up involved a showcase for his musical talents. It's a CD entitled "Old Souls.... Young Hearts". His goal was $4500 and he wound up with $6401. Now he can push Little Billy even further.

 

Congrats again Chance!

 

Here's the promotional video he created for the Indiegogo campaign...

 

 



 

Kiana Mosser animation

One of our long term standout students has been experimenting with animation featuring characters she's been developing through her time at the Academy. Take a look at this simple and poetic video Kiana Mosser created. It's called "Dusk"...



Here's something else she's created recently. This video is entitled "Journey"...

You can see more of Kiana's animation on her YouTube channel...

http://www.youtube.com/lunarwiind 

The Art of Vanessa Ramirez

We've had the pleasure of having Vanessa Ramirez as a student for most of 2013. She is a professional artist who attends class at The Academy to develop additional skills and further progress her projects. This is some recent art that Vanessa created while in the Visual Development class. She's been focusing on enhancing her tonal rendering through the use of blue pencil and free form black line sketching. Her style is unique and very distinctive. One look at her work and you know right away who did it. You're welcome to visit the blog of Vanessa Ramirez to get the full scope of her talents and see more of what she can do.

Class art from Chari Pere

Earlier this year we had the pleasure of Chari Pere's participation in Character Design 1. She successfully completed the class and will be returning next month to continue her creative studies. Chari is a  cartoonist who's been making inroads with her career through independent projects she's been developing. You can see Chari's website here.

 

Let's take a look at some of what she created in her Character Design class. Chari focused on nurturing her own style while focusing on fundamentals and the difference they make when applied to your art.

 

After Chari completed her concept designs she moved into a production mode. First she established the definitive look of her character through a rotation. The three pose rotation you see below is suitable for modeling the character in a 3D program. Next she delved into her facial expressions, action attitude poses, and finished off with a rendered dimensional drawing suitable for visual development. Solid work from a talented artist. Looking forward to what Chari will be coming up with upon her return.

 

 

 

 

 



Carlos Del Castillo on live TV in LA - August 25 2013

We had a surprise this past August 25 2013 when one of our students was featured on live TV in Los Angeles. The KTLA Morning News put a spotlight on Carlos Del Castillo, a talented artist and one of our youngest students. Carlos has been at the Academy for several months. He is a very promising student with a high degree of skill for his age. Watch how well he handles a live broadcast...