Concrete Jungle

Here's another scene of the alley in the city. 

The next step will be to draw and animate the characters in this scene. It is important that they can be seen clearly. If they can't, then the background will be changed. I might make it darker or lighter, or change the colors. The colors must be constant, from scene to scene.

Today's Background

In keeping with the big city theme, here's the background for a scene taking place in a dark alley. That in itself would suggest "loads" of possibilities.

Night Time Horizon

This "mysterious" picture is a background from Animan's next video. The video is less than 1/6th finished, and there is a mountain of work to do on it yet. But I never worry, because the more I work on it, the faster the pace starts to go. It's like doing a jigsaw puzzle--in the beginning, only the pieces around the edges can be understood. And then, as more and more pieces are filled in, the process speeds up, and the puzzle is completed. Making an Animan video is very much like that.

Another Picture Off the Web

I found this interesting picture, entitled "Decollette", and it seems perfect for Animan's World. It's a watercolor painting done by a French artist whose name I cannot decipher. If anyone knows the artist's name, please send your comment to this post!

The Big City

Here's a background from the next Animan video. We've had stories in the country (Camp), the beach (Coach Ben's Big Beach Adventure), and the suburbs (Sex Ed, Twist Party), as well as an exotic foreign country (Carmen). So, a story with an urban theme seemed like the next logical step.

One of Animan's Favorite Paintings

Recently I did a temporary post and put this painting on it. Several readers wanted to know the name of it, and who painted it. Animan has done his homework and can now reveal the title of the work and the name of the artist. It's "Silver Slipper" by Waldo Pierce. It was painted during the 1930's. The Silver Slipper was an establishment adjacent to Sloppy Joe's in Key West, Florida.

Animan loves this wild picture. The sign over the door says "No vulgar dancing", but the sailors don't seem to be paying any attention. They are full of sexual energy and really burning up the dance floor. The band in the background is interesting, because the drummer is pounding the bass drum and hitting the cymbal in a very un-jazzlike way--it's more like a German polka. And the drummer's chair looks as if it's about to fall off the stage! Although the painting may not be considered as "high-class art" by many, this painting is absolutely delightful, and shows how much animation can be found in non-moving art.

                             SILVER SLIPPER by Waldo Peirce                                             

                                   Artwork images are copyright of the artist or assignee

I received this nice e-mail today:

Hey Animan,    Just wanted to let you know that I recently purchased your last 3 videos & they "blew me away" (literally!)!!  All three were amazing but adding the sound with the voices to the last two really added to the whole experience.  The bullring scene in Carmen was especially "unique" & way "HOT"-- for a moment there I almost thought the bull was going to mount Escamillo to complete the tagteam effect!!  Again, excellent composition & animation for a genre which heretofore did not exist!  Please keep producing these amazing features!!        J.

                    Don José's guardhouse as it looks today--gaily painted.

A Man After My Own Heart

In early 1941, Walt Disney and a group of his artists flew to South America to gather material for their upcoming animated film, "Saludos Amigos". They visited Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Peru.

Recently I came across these pictures of Walt Disney at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. I don't remember any scenes like this in the movie, so perhaps Walt was just taking these home movies for his own personal "research".  It looks like he has excellent taste in subject matter! My only complaint is that the swimsuits are WAY too large.

The photography on this blog remains the property of its copyright holders, displayed here for educational purposes only, with no commercial intent whatsoever. It is expressly forbidden to download, copy, distribute and/or reproduce any of these images without prior permission of the copyright holders. Thank you.