Disney's Lorelay Bove - Academy Student

I was looking through the Academy student archives the other day and discovered work that was created by Lorelay Bove when she was a student here. Lorelay is currently one of Walt Disney Studio's top visual development artists and a new superstar in animation. 

 

She was a designer for "Wreck-It Ralph" as well as "Prep and Landing" among other high profile Disney projects.

In 2002 Lorelay was a student at a local college and was in need of specialized training. She wanted to apply to CalArts and came to The Animation Academy to prepare her portfolio. As my student she successfully completed Character Design 1 and 2 and upon request was provided with a Letter of Recommendation which I happily provided. She was accepted into CalArts and the rest as they say is history.

Here's what we have of Lorelay's early work from her time as a student in Character Design 1. Click on the images for a better view. 

You can see how Lorelay was attempting to get her fundamentals down. Her artwork showed promise but still had a ways to go to distinguish herself from her peers. She was a very dedicated student and her perseverance paid off. Now she's at the top of the game. That's the difference that good fundamentals makes in your art.

If Lorelay can achieve great things in her career from these humble beginnings you can too! We've had many students who went on to become standouts in the animation field as a result of their time with us. The Animation Academy can make a significant improvement in your art. If you're serous about a career as a professional animation artist or in developing your skills in working from your imagination then the Academy can help you establish a solid foundation that can take you to the next level as we see with the example of Lorelay Bove.

Click here to visit her blog.

Keep Creating and focus on those all important basics and great things will happen for you with your art.

Dedicated blog for The Art of Philip J Felix

I'm excited to bring news of a new blog that's gone up featuring the work of someone very special. I first met my great friend and brother-in-arms Philip J Felix when we were both working at Hallmark Cards in Kansas City. He was only a year out of high school and working in a department that was revamping previously published greeting cards. Very menial tasks that didn't offer much of a challenge for someone with his amazing potential.

Since that time Philip got into animation and worked at many studios and on many significant shows over the years. Philip created some of the very first concept art for Shrek including this early development sketch from February 1997...

He also produced concept art for Jurassic Park...

That's just to name a few of the many projects he's done. Philip was among our very first instructors here at the Academy. You know the Felix family name in animation. Paul Felix is Disney's top production design and visual development artist. David Felix worked on The Simpsons before he passed away in the 1990s. Philip J Felix is their older brother and the one who brought them both into the animation business. He is also a pioneer of independent marketing for animation artists, going all the way back to the 1980s when he and Gary Montalbano started selling posters of their art at the San Diego Comic Con years before other artists  started doing the same. Philip helped blazed that trail.

Philip currently resides in Tucson Arizona where he is the owner of Red Sky Studio. It's a combination tattoo parlor and art gallery. Philip made the transition to tattoo art several years ago and is booked months in advance. On top of his tat work Philip continues to paint and inspire everyone around him with his masterful creativity and highly imaginative themes. He is also developing new projects that will be coming to animation in the future.

Thanks to Joel Valdez from the Academy, a new blog is up that features Philip's artwork. It's updated frequently with a mix of new images and older ones from Philip's extensive archives. Here's the link... http://philipjfelix.blogspot.com/

Lam's Brain - Joshua Lam's book online

Happy to pass along the news that Joshua Lam's new book "Lam's Brain" is online and available for all to see. Joshua is a former student from the Academy. Like many of our students both current and those who've been with us in the past, Joshua has utilized work he created through class assignments as content for his publication. He's also embellished his book with more recent art. Click on this link to peruse through "Lam's Brain - The Art of Joshua Lam". You can access Joshua's blog here.

Academy's Joel Valdez meets Glen Keane

Every year at this time the CTN animation eXpo takes place in Burbank. The three day event has become a major industry attraction. This past weekend at CTNX 2012 one of our stand out students hooked up with legendary Disney animator Glen Keane. That's Joel Valdez on the right sharing his experience with The Academy's community.

   

Kristen Robertson's color studies

In a recent session of our Visual Development class Kristen Robertson did a nice job on an assignment she was given to create a variety of different moods for a background composition she created through the use of planned color schemes. Her medium  was color markers. Each study evokes a unique feeling. By applying basic color theory the single composition becomes differing versions that imply time of day and emotion as well as design abstractions. A very good exercise. See more of Kristen's work by following this link to her blog.

Emergence of Allan Ceccaldi

It's always an exciting experience for me to showcase an emerging artist from the students of the Academy. This is some of the work of Allan Ceccaldi. Allan started with us about a year ago, took some time off, then came back on a scholarship that was awarded to him upon graduation from an arts organization in California. A Burbank resident, he went through the Character Dersign aspect of our program and really started taking off once he got into Background Desiogn. These are some recent graphite pencil tonal studies he's created from his Visual Development class along with a blue pencil rendering from his BG Design class. A huge artistic leap forward as Allan is discovering his strengths.You can visit Allan Ceccaldi's blog at this link.

   

Charles Zembillas daily art blog

In late May this year I did something I've been meaning to do for a long while. I finally launched a personal blog for my art. Since then with the exception of a break for a few days earlier this month, I've been posting entries on a daily basis. Class demonstrations, old stuff, new stuff, vintage stuff, and lots of art dealing with the popular video game character Crash Bandicoot. My personal art blog is developing a good following and I'm happy for the opportunity to feature work in an educational environment which supplements what is posted here on the Academy's blog. Feel free to stop by and visit by clicking on the link below... 

Zembillas.blogspot.com  

Tyler Yu - Emerging Talent

A recently enrolled new student is making his mark at the Academy. Tyler Yu is a resident of Burbank in his last year of high school. He's with us to improve his skills and prepare a portfolio for submission to a degree granting college or university.

Take a look at the very first drawing he did on June 4 when he began with us. It shows imagination, talent and promise. It is also crude, lacking the fundamentals that are necessary in building a solid artistic foundation.

Compare the above drawing to what Tyler was doing just a few sessions later in Character Design 1. A full five pose rotation of a character he came up with as part of his class assignment. Clicking on the image will give you a better view.

Also compare the following assignment which involved rotating a character in three poses for modeling on a software program for computer generated imagery.

Quite an improvement in a short period of time. Tyler is typical of the talented and motivated artists who come to the Academy to get their basics down and greatly improve as a result. Our emphasis on developing core skills essential for confidence and professionalism in one's work makes all the difference. Students such as Tyler continue to contribute to the legacy that The Animation Academy enjoys. 

Art from a session of Visual Development

I thought I'd try something different on the Academy's blog by presenting an entry not of one particular student and their work but of several simultaneously. From a session of our Visual Development class this week I picked up some of the art that was being created by our students for the purpose of showing our productivity during a typical class. Clicking on the images will give you a better view.

From our most recent session of Vis Dev this past week here's the work of Kiana Mosser. 

This is what Cal Arts bound Justin Noel came up with as he broke down his images into shadow, tonal and color studies.

Kristen Robertson is designing a new character for development.

Izzy Alcala has recently joined our program and is creating some very impressive subjects.

Margo Akopov is a working on design and gray scale tonal relationships.

Marietta Semerdjyan is experimenting with fashion.

This is one evening at the Academy. Imagine what students are coming up with in our other classes and sessions Monday through Thursday. There's a lot of very positive developments happening at The Animation Academy in Burbank. Our new environment is working out great. We're growing and our program is expanding. I'll have some good news to share along those lines soon. In the meantime you know what we say when it comes to your art. Strive for excellence in everything you do and... Keep Creating!

Bridget McCarty's Miniature Success

When she was with us as a teenager Bridget McCarty created very charming characters and backgrounds through her art. Here's an example of her work when she was with us from a previous write up on the Academy's blog on September 15, 2007.

Now as an adult she's established herself as one of the leading figures in the world of miniatures. In fact, Bridget has the distinction of a Warner Bros license to create miniature art for the "Wizard of Oz" franchise. Take a look at what she does. Clicking on the images will give you a better view.

It's amazing to see how our students evolve creatively over time. They may start out in one area and show a special skill, style or interest in something special and grow into a leading talent in a field that you wouldn't necessarily expect. Such is the case with Bridget. To see more of her work follow this link to Bridget McCarty's blog. You can also visit her website here.