I would like to know, what is the single IMAGE/and or EVENT which convinced you all that you were meant/or going to be animators. Mine was a gas station commercial, and I didn't make the connection until years later. :)
Waiting to hear!
I was 6 years old. The family and I were watching the Flintstones on a summer evening. I drew with a blue (how significant) pencil crayon a drawing of fred taking cues from the screen. The family thought it was good. They said I was an artist.
Until then I wanted to be a policeman. Good thing too. Do they have short nearsighted policemen?:)
I was twelve and I read a 1992 National Geographic on computer graphics and completely fell in love with the idea. I found later that I had a pretty decent sense of timing, so animatiopn seemed like the right thing to do. I also watch cartoons religiouly, even at 24.
When I look back on it, I think Jurassic Park had the greatest impact on me when I was kid. I couldn't believe computers could create such believable looking creatures. But it wasn't til just 3 years ago that I got a hold of 3ds max... it was all over after that! I am an accomplished dancer as well, so motion and animation wasn't completely foreign... :D
In 1968, yes that's 1-9-6-8, I was preparing for a track scholarship to UVA.
I was practicing so much I injured myself and was led to fill the three classes with art.
Our school has a program that year in FILMMAKING. My teacher, Mr. Wiz. had a super 8 camera with a cable release. My first short was about a hippie and a flower- it lasted just over 35 seconds - 436 drawings. BUT......I WAS HOOKED!
I was a big fan of one of my classmate's work...Daniel. For a 5 year old, he drew fantastic cartoons, that impressed all the kids in his class, including me.
Although I had always loved drawing, Daniel's cartoons of birds and things always stuck in my head.
(I'm sorry, it seems that awn is sending my messages automatically, I didn't even get the chance to finish what I was writing....alright...let's continue).
Yeah, so Daniel's cartoons knocked my socks off, and gave me something to aspire at.
So in 1981, the scholastic book illustration competition came around. We all had to draw something that had to do with books. I remember mine being a soccer player kicking the ball all the way into the clouds, over the head of the sun, who was sitting on the clouds reading a book. (you can tell where my head was back in the days eh? hehe...ahem)..
YEAH, so they lined all the drawing up on the wall, with little ballot envelopes under each one, and the students had to vote which ones they liked. well, I took first place...at the ripe age of 6. I couldn't believe that my drawings could hold water next to Daniel, who to me, was the undesputed shit.
Regardless, what it taught me, was that maybe I had something going on with this drawing gig. With a family of painters, I figured that that was more or less where I'd go...and even went on in my later years to study fine arts...
But even after attempting to follow in my family's footsteps, I realized that my true passion layed in animation. That's where I could express myself. That's where I could make people feel for my work emotionally. So, once I was done realizing that painting wasn't my gig, I went on to study Classical Animation.
In essence, if it weren't for Daniel's talent, I might not had been attracted to the idea of drawing cartoons at such a young age. And to add to it, for the first time in over 22 years, I ran into Daniel at a local restaurant, where I had the honor for the first time in my life, to thank him for inspiring me. He's also a cartoonist, which came as no surprise to me.
So 3 cheers for Daniel & his magic birds!
Adam
PS...of course, religiously ingesting Saturday morning cartoons for 28 years hasn't hurt either.
Devil 3D-you remind me of the great filmmakers, Maya deren, Gene Kelly, and Yvonne Rainier, all dancer/filmmakers, i think Yvonne Rainier may even animate some. :confused:
Larry-'age ain't nothing but a number!'
Wonderful story, Adam!
Daniel, I remember that Pink Panther!
Graphiteman-I'm glad you choose animator!
Ender-wonderful anecdote!
Hummm, I soooo tempted to swipe your stories for my scriptwriting journals! :D
With full credit acknowledged of course!
I was six, in first grade, early seventies. Our class did the "All about me" books, with our self portrait on the cover using yarn for hair, and a page each about our family, our friends, likes, and dislikes. I think the last page was what we wanted to do for a living. I wanted to be a cartoon character (did I spell that right in my book? I'll ask my mom, curator of such things) because they make people laugh.
That was 31 years ago. I've been doodling forever, have had an idea for a cartoon since I was 20, and finally started even trying several years ago. A year ago I finished my first short, a 30 second piece called Mac and Retro. Last spring I took my first art course, a life drawing class at the local community college.
I'm "sick wid it" now. School starts monday, and I'm teaching multimedia and 11th grade English. I started working on handout to go with a lecture, and it suddenly occurred to me it would be easier (???) to make an animated cartoon lecture than to write the handout, do the lecture, and prepare the slideshow. Sup'm wrong here, but I'm going with it...
I'll let you know in about a week. I'm doing a major slam through it, not working too hard at animating, using Toon Boom to automate my lip synch. Still, better than looking at me talk on any given day.
I'm also going to work on a cartoon for the opening of Catcher in the Rye, which we'll read second semester. I'll try some other limited animation techniques to make that work, but it will need to be more than a talking head. Love to share it with Salinger hisself.
I was 6 years old. The family and I were watching the Flintstones on a summer evening. I drew with a blue (how significant) pencil crayon a drawing of fred taking cues from the screen. The family thought it was good. They said I was an artist.
Until then I wanted to be a policeman. Good thing too. Do they have short nearsighted policemen?:)
I was twelve and I read a 1992 National Geographic on computer graphics and completely fell in love with the idea. I found later that I had a pretty decent sense of timing, so animatiopn seemed like the right thing to do. I also watch cartoons religiouly, even at 24.
Great thread Bird...
When I look back on it, I think Jurassic Park had the greatest impact on me when I was kid. I couldn't believe computers could create such believable looking creatures. But it wasn't til just 3 years ago that I got a hold of 3ds max... it was all over after that! I am an accomplished dancer as well, so motion and animation wasn't completely foreign... :D
"i love the graph editor"
[ChrisMagovern.com]
and visit me on myspace...
Whew!
In 1968, yes that's 1-9-6-8, I was preparing for a track scholarship to UVA.
I was practicing so much I injured myself and was led to fill the three classes with art.
Our school has a program that year in FILMMAKING. My teacher, Mr. Wiz. had a super 8 camera with a cable release. My first short was about a hippie and a flower- it lasted just over 35 seconds - 436 drawings. BUT......I WAS HOOKED!
All I wanted to do was animation!!!!
Thanks for reminding me....
Larry
web site
http://tooninst[URL=http://tooninstitute.awn.com]itute.awn.com
[/URL]blog:
[U]http://www.awm.com/blogs/always-animated
[/U] email:
larry.lauria@gmail.com
It was 1981...that's right 1-9-8-1!
I was a big fan of one of my classmate's work...Daniel. For a 5 year old, he drew fantastic cartoons, that impressed all the kids in his class, including me.
Although I had always loved drawing, Daniel's cartoons of birds and things always stuck in my head.
(I'm sorry, it seems that awn is sending my messages automatically, I didn't even get the chance to finish what I was writing....alright...let's continue).
Yeah, so Daniel's cartoons knocked my socks off, and gave me something to aspire at.
So in 1981, the scholastic book illustration competition came around. We all had to draw something that had to do with books. I remember mine being a soccer player kicking the ball all the way into the clouds, over the head of the sun, who was sitting on the clouds reading a book. (you can tell where my head was back in the days eh? hehe...ahem)..
YEAH, so they lined all the drawing up on the wall, with little ballot envelopes under each one, and the students had to vote which ones they liked. well, I took first place...at the ripe age of 6. I couldn't believe that my drawings could hold water next to Daniel, who to me, was the undesputed shit.
Regardless, what it taught me, was that maybe I had something going on with this drawing gig. With a family of painters, I figured that that was more or less where I'd go...and even went on in my later years to study fine arts...
But even after attempting to follow in my family's footsteps, I realized that my true passion layed in animation. That's where I could express myself. That's where I could make people feel for my work emotionally. So, once I was done realizing that painting wasn't my gig, I went on to study Classical Animation.
In essence, if it weren't for Daniel's talent, I might not had been attracted to the idea of drawing cartoons at such a young age. And to add to it, for the first time in over 22 years, I ran into Daniel at a local restaurant, where I had the honor for the first time in my life, to thank him for inspiring me. He's also a cartoonist, which came as no surprise to me.
So 3 cheers for Daniel & his magic birds!
Adam
PS...of course, religiously ingesting Saturday morning cartoons for 28 years hasn't hurt either.
Hey all, you guys are FASCINATING!!!!!
Keep 'em coming! :)
Devil 3D-you remind me of the great filmmakers, Maya deren, Gene Kelly, and Yvonne Rainier, all dancer/filmmakers, i think Yvonne Rainier may even animate some. :confused:
Larry-'age ain't nothing but a number!'
Wonderful story, Adam!
Daniel, I remember that Pink Panther!
Graphiteman-I'm glad you choose animator!
Ender-wonderful anecdote!
Hummm, I soooo tempted to swipe your stories for my scriptwriting journals! :D
With full credit acknowledged of course!
I was six, in first grade, early seventies. Our class did the "All about me" books, with our self portrait on the cover using yarn for hair, and a page each about our family, our friends, likes, and dislikes. I think the last page was what we wanted to do for a living. I wanted to be a cartoon character (did I spell that right in my book? I'll ask my mom, curator of such things) because they make people laugh.
That was 31 years ago. I've been doodling forever, have had an idea for a cartoon since I was 20, and finally started even trying several years ago. A year ago I finished my first short, a 30 second piece called Mac and Retro. Last spring I took my first art course, a life drawing class at the local community college.
I'm "sick wid it" now. School starts monday, and I'm teaching multimedia and 11th grade English. I started working on handout to go with a lecture, and it suddenly occurred to me it would be easier (???) to make an animated cartoon lecture than to write the handout, do the lecture, and prepare the slideshow. Sup'm wrong here, but I'm going with it...
Cartoon Thunder
There's a little biker in all of us...
Hey Rupert!
I sure wish I had a teacher like you when I was growing up! I think your plan for a 'cartoon lecture' is wild and your class is gonna love it. :)
I'll let you know in about a week. I'm doing a major slam through it, not working too hard at animating, using Toon Boom to automate my lip synch. Still, better than looking at me talk on any given day.
I'm also going to work on a cartoon for the opening of Catcher in the Rye, which we'll read second semester. I'll try some other limited animation techniques to make that work, but it will need to be more than a talking head. Love to share it with Salinger hisself.
Cartoon Thunder
There's a little biker in all of us...