Animation Art: Ray Patterson At Mintz

Ray Patterson's career in animation spanned seven decades. He was responsible for the animation of Jerry Mouse dancing with Gene Kelly in Anchors Aweigh as well as animation for Dumbo and the "Pastoral" sequence of Fantasia. In 1954 he formed his own studio Grantray-Lawrence and he worked at Hanna-Barbera and Sanrio Productions as well.

Today, his family is sharing some of his earliest work with us... Ray began as an inker in 1929 at the Charles Mintz Screen Gems studio, working on Krazy Kat and Scrappy cartoons. By 1930, he had worked his way up to a position as animator. Here are some rare sketches and model sheets from his tenure there... Enjoy!




















Many thanks to the family of Ray Patterson for sharing these treasures with us. We will have more to post soon.

Stephen Worth
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive
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Media: Mice and Duck Models

This post is just the tip of the iceberg... see the bonus reason on our The Top Ten Reasons To Support The A-HAA for links to more great posts featuring animation art.

Today, we had a full complement of volunteers, and we digitized more of the model sheets loaned to us by Archive Alliance member, Van Eaton Galleries. The batch consisted of models of Mickey and Donald from various vintages. For more Disney model sheets, see... Reluctant Dragon and Pinocchio Model Sheets and Two Disney Concept Artists.















One of these model sheets surprised me. Take a look at them and see if you can see why. These images are perfect to use to hone your drawing skills in Lesson Seven of John K's $100,000 Drawing Course.

These original production photostatic model sheets are available for sale by Van Eaton Galleries for $50 apiece. If you decide to add any of them to your collection, tell the folks at the Van Eaton Galleries that ASIFA-Hollywood referred you, and they will donate a portion of your purchase price to the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive.

For more Disney model sheets, see... Reluctant Dragon and Pinocchio Model Sheets and Two Disney Concept Artists

Thanks
Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive

9.5.08
.

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Media: Two Disney Concept Artists

This post is just the tip of the iceberg... see the bonus reason on our The Top Ten Reasons To Support The A-HAA for links to more great posts featuring animation art.

Today, we digitized more vintage model sheets on loan to us by Archive Alliance member, Van Eaton Galleries. (For our previous posting, see... Reluctant Dragon and Pinocchio Model Sheets.) Among the collection were some fascinating early concept sketches by two very unique designers... Albert Hurter and Charlie Thorson.

ALBERT HURTER

Albert Hurter was born in Switzerland in 1883. He came to America during the first World War and found work in the New York animation scene. He moved West and ended up working at Disney as a concept artist. His influence is seen in many of the Silly Symphonies and early features. His strengths were an unfailing solidity of drawing, and an eye for creating situations, not just designs. For more info on his life and career, see Bud Plant's Biography and John Canemaker's book, Before the Animation Begins.

Here are some inspirational designs by Albert Hurter...











CHARLIE THORSON

Until Gene Waltz's book, Cartoon Charlie: The Life and Art of Animation Pioneer Charles Thorson, few people had heard of Charlie Thorson, but once you see his work, it's hard not to recognize his unique style in many cartoons from the 1930s. Thorson was responsible for the first model of proto-Bugs' Bunny and the Porky Pig redesign at Warner Bros, as well as numerous characters in Disney Silly Symphonies and Fleischer Stone Age cartoons.

Here are two beautiful model sheets Thorson created for Disney's "Little Hiawatha"...




I'm not sure who did this next piece, but it impressed me with the amount of detail and refinement Disney allowed his concept artists to instill in their work... I'm sure when this concept drawing was created, no one had any idea how the delicate pastel rendering technique would be translated into ink & paint!



These original production photostatic model sheets are available for sale by Van Eaton Galleries for $50 apiece. If you decide to add any of them to your collection, tell the folks at the Van Eaton Galleries that ASIFA-Hollywood referred you, and they will donate a portion of your purchase price to the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive.

For more vintage Disney model sheets, see... Reluctant Dragon and Pinocchio Model Sheets. Thanks to the Van Eaton Galleries for their support of the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive.

Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive

9.02.08
.

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Media: Reluctant Dragon and Pinocchio Model Sheets

This post is just the tip of the iceberg... see the bonus reason on our The Top Ten Reasons To Support The A-HAA for links to more great posts featuring animation art.


Today, I'd like to introduce you to our latest Archive Alliance member, Van Eaton Galleries. Mike Van Eaton has been an ASIFA-Hollywood supporter for some time, and he has hosted several fundraisers for the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive at his storefront gallery in Sherman Oaks, CA. His walls are jam packed with wonderful animation art, and he has generously agreed to allow ASIFA-Hollywood to digitize material in his inventory for inclusion in the archive database.

Earlier this week, Mike brought in a box full of Disney model sheets. The Disney Studios was probably the best organized operation ever to produce animated cartoons, and the heart of their production process was the Model Department run by Joe Grant. Concept designs were quickly duplicated and distributed as preliminary models, allowing development at the studio to proceed at a rapid pace. Once designs were approved, they were distilled into sheets full of drawings that captured a full range of angles and expressions. These detailed instructions on how the characters were to be constructed and posed were provided to every artist working on the film.

Here are a few samples of the model sheets Mike Van Eaton generously allowed us to digitize today...

The Reluctant Dragon (1941)






Pinocchio (1940)





These original production photostatic model sheets are available for sale by Van Eaton Galleries for $50 apiece. If you decide to add any of them to your collection, tell the folks at the Van Eaton Galleries that ASIFA-Hollywood referred you, and they will donate a portion of your purchase price to the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive.

Thanks to the Van Eaton Galleries for their support of the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive.

Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive

8.27.08
.

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Media: Early 50s UPA Model Sheets

This post is just the tip of the iceberg... see the bonus reason on our The Top Ten Reasons To Support The A-HAA for links to more great posts featuring animation art.

A couple of years ago, when Amid Amidi and I were working on Ren & Stimpy: Adult Party Cartoon, I lent Amid these model sheets to use in a proposal to Chronicle Books for a history of 50s cartoon design. Well, Amid sold the book and has been working hard on it ever since... It's just been released. The title is Cartoon Modern: Style and Design in 1950s Animation. (Click on the title to take a look at it on Amazon.) I haven't seen the book yet, but I'm sure it's as good as Amid's wonderful Cartoon Modern Blog. Way back when, Amid promised me a free copy of his book when it came out; so if you happen to see him, remind him to send one to me!

Here are some UPA model sheets from the early 50s...














These last two are from the animated
segment of "The Girl Next Door" (1953)
(See Mark Mayerson's Blog for more info.)


For a pencil test from the Magoo Golf picture, see Art Babbitt's Greatest Scene

If you found this article to be interesting, see also... John Sutherland's Rhapsody of Steel, Artzybasheff's Machinalia, The Alvin Show Pilot Storyboard, Jules Engel's Alvin Show Color Keys, UPA Done Right, Herb Klynn The Shrimp, and Grim Natwick's Post UPA Commercials.

Today, Amid put up a great Flickr set of photos of the biggest names in animation during the 1950s. The picture below is of the UPA staff around the time these model sheets were created. Click through it to see the rest...



Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive

8.27.08
.

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