Monday, June 12, 2006
Ow, my eyes
Before I became an animator, I was a cartoonist and illustrator. Illustration is, in general, easier than animation, because it usually involves making only one drawing that will be looked at for several seconds, as opposed to making 24 drawings that will be looked at for only one second. My illustrations were usually black-and-white line art. If color was needed, I added it digitally. I was considered fast.
This fake Indian miniature painting project, however, has brought me to my knees. I am humbled. Drawing takes time. Painting takes even more time. Who knew? All those years I was cranking out daily comic strips, I thought I was Ms. Speed Queen. HA! When I planned this painting phase of the project, I thought it would only take me a month to paint eighteen scenes. EIGHTEEN SCENES! And I thought each scene would include new renderings of characters and architecture and trees and skies and clouds. HA HA HA! No, I'll be re-using every character, tree, and background I paint as many times as I can, to avoid re-painting anything. But even with repeats, this project is progressing humiliatingly slowly. And it's not like the quality is anywhere near real Mughal miniatures. I recently saw a real one belonging to an art-collector friend. The detail is mind-boggling even to my nearsighted self. I'm pretty sure Mughal miniature painting is what they did to make little children go blind before they had Nike factories.
That said, I'm happy with my latest and best background painting: Lanka on the ocean. I hope to have a benefit for Sita Sings the Blues this Winter, during which I can auction these puppies off to fund more filmmaking time. Bidding starts at a bazillion dollars. (OK, I'll probably lower the start price when my neck stops hurting and my vision returns. After all, If I had a bazillion dollars, I'd buy a real Mughal miniature instead of crude facsimiles made by an amateur.)
Here's my Hanuman Photoshopped over a detail of the same background.
Comments:
haha, this animator wishes illustration was easier for me than animation! i'm having a much harder time doing backgrounds than making my characters move. i think the key is, while animators have to make more drawings, each drawing isn't looked at nearly as long as the background is. i think your work is beautiful - i'll keep checking back for inspiration.
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