Seek Criticism, Not Praise
For my first year or so as a filmmaker, one of my personal hurdles was gaining acceptance and approval. I was new at this, and wanted to find out if I was “good” or not. I quickly learned that approval is actually quite easy to find, even if it might not be warranted. Criticism, on [...]
Life Drawing: an Essential or an Extra?
Observational drawings of a preschool girl at a research session by Tim Rauch.
As kids, one of me and Tim’s earliest animation heroes was Glen Keane. Tim wrote him a letter and included a photocopy of some of Keane’s Aladdin thumbnails asking for an autograph. The photocopy was returned with Glen Keane’s signature and a form [...]
Talking UP to kids
I’m submitting “Q&A” to the Chicago Children’s Film Festival this week. One of the submission requirements is a statement of filmmaking philosophy that addresses, “the reasons for which the filmmaker has chosen to make films for children, the impact the director feels film has on children’s lives, and why he or she chose to address [...]
Looking Outside Animation
Ask just about any animator which director was responsible for the 1955 cartoon above and they’ll probably be able to tell you.
Ask that same animator to name the 2001-2003 United States Poet Laureate pictured right and you’ll probably get a blank stare.
The point here isn’t about how much poetry animators are reading. The point [...]
It’s a Small (Friendly) World
Signe Baumane’s “Teat Beat of Sex” (L) and Greg Ford/Mark Kausler’s “It’s the Cat” (R)
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: being an independent animator can be lonely, difficult work… until you get yourself out there and meet other independent animators! One of the great things about living in New York is that [...]
One Big Happy Blogosphere
the lonely artist pre-blog-discovery
When I got back into animation two years ago, after 4 years as an “Artist” (ugh), I quickly discovered the world of animation blogs. There are all kinds of blogs: production blogs, blogs focused on fan-boy ranting, I-just-made-a-drawing-and-here-it-is blogs, analysis and criticism blogs, and blogs for sharing cartoon-miscellany. Anyone with a computer [...]
