ARTIST — current posts — Fantasy/Animation

Top 10 Tools Every Artist Needs in Their Drawing Kit

Drawing is a skill honed through practice and passion. While natural talent gives some an edge, those willing to invest time and effort can learn to draw. Whether you are naturally gifted or diligently learning, a good drawing kit is vital — not just for beginners but for experienced artists and animators refining their skills. As this blog post argues, each tool in an artist's kit serves a unique purpose, helping an animator achieve a high level of precision, depth, and creativity. Let’s dive into the ten must-have tools and why they are essential for every artist.

EDITORIALMarcus MinchJanuary 31, 2025DRAWING, TOOLS, ARTISTComment

The Best-Laid Plans of Mice and Magic, the lost art history of the Walt Disney Studio The Courvoisier years, 1938-1946

This article is dedicated to Giannalberto Bendazzi, Italian historian and writer.

There is no glitter that plays with the souls of film fanatics like the art produced by the Walt Disney Studio. The films made by Disney hold an emotional spot in the hearts of their fans and this is not by accident. Their characters are drafted to connect to how we feel about ourselves and where we feel we fit within our own lives. The good-versus-evil plot lines that come out of Disney sell us the fantasy that people in power are punished when they try to hold other people back, and the way these narratives are designed to exploit our need to believe in these happy endings has created a cash machine for Disney that is almost unique in the realm of big box office animation.

EDITORIALRon BarbagalloMay 24, 2024DISNEY, FILM HISTORY, CEL ANIMATION, ARTISTComment

“Two Cadaverous Vultures”: Disney’s Gift to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York

In January 1939, the Metropolitan Museum of Art announced its acceptance of an animation cel set-up from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (David Hand, 1937) and “presented by the artist, Walt Disney” (Burroughs, 1939) (Fig. 1). The gift — an ink and gouache painting on transparent celluloid, laid over a hand-painted background — was duly hung with the museum’s other “recent accessions,” and immediately generated considerable coverage in the nation’s major newspapers, magazines, and wire services.