Showing posts with label Halloween. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Halloween. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS (1993)

As we enter the week of Halloween, it's altogether appropriate that we celebrate with a first for our Animation Backgrounds blog: miniature background sets from a stop-action masterpiece... Disney's (and Tim Burton's) THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS (1993).

Here's the first THIRTEEN! If you are superstitious, we can just call it a baker's dozen...












A Disney Halloween!

In celebration of Halloween, I thought I'd post a couple of illustrations that I drew and painted about 3 years ago as part of a Disney Halloween book published by Random House, entitled "Don't Go Bump in the Night!" The book offered a series of safety tips to kids by utilizing various characters from both Disney and Pixar films to illustrate them in a fun way. This book can still be ordered here on Amazon.

In this painting of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the point was to show kids how important it is to carry a flashlight in order to see your way in the dark. The characters were drawn on paper and inked traditionally with brush on a transparent sheet of mylar. The linework was then scanned in and coloured with Photoshop (including the outlines) on a layer that was created on top of the background painting that had also been scanned in beforehand. (Click on all images to see them larger.)

Here is the background art on its own. I try to paint each background in a style that matches the film itself. In this case, I was trying for a more delicate watercolour look, although I was actually using dilute layers of gouache to achieve the effect.

In this painting of The Lion King, the tip was regarding the recommended use of makeup instead of facemasks that might hinder one's eyesight. This was just a single page illustration, as opposed to the 2-page spread of Snow White above.

Again I was trying to match the background style of the film itself, this time using the gouache more full-strength as it was used in the actual film production. By the way, this hybrid approach of traditionally painted backgrounds combined with characters that are traditionally drawn and inked, yet coloured up in Photoshop, is about as much as I would want to involve the computer in my artwork. I do not personally care for the look of digitally painted backgrounds and I also prefer the tactility of real paint on a cold-pressed illustration board. For me, it is all about the aesthetic.

Unfortunately, I can't take credit for the cover of the book, as it was illustrated later by one of Disney's in-house artists, I believe. From what I recall, the design concept for the cover had not been finalized when I had first been sent the project.

Happy Hallowe'en!!

Now, please go away while I'm having dinner...

Monday, March 7, 2011

Have a Happy Hallowe'en!



I thought that Hallowe'en should be properly acknowledged here in The Cartoon Cave with an appropriate caricature. Nothing too scary of course - just slightly sinister mixed in with a healthy dose of sex appeal in the shapely, sassy form of Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. I must admit, Elvira was harder to draw than I thought she'd be. My first sketch showed her face in a direct front view but, after taking a fresh look at it, I wasn't so sure I'd caught her. So I tried a three quarter view to better show off her facial features and inked that up instead. I hope this one is better!

I quite admire Elvira's alter-ego, Cassandra Peterson. She's a smart, attractive and funny lady who has created a very successful franchise out of her Elvira persona. Here is an interview with Cassandra where she explains the origin of her creation:



And here's an Elvira blooper reel that's pretty cute:



I hope you all have a safe and happy Hallowe'en!

Pete Hawley Halloween







Hundreds more beautiful Hawley scans on Cartoon Retro!

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Happy Halloween!!

To celebrate Halloween this year, we went and found some of the best pumpkin carvings out there.


[VIA]

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Halloween Donald Duck Transformers Toy

Last year, I posted about the Transformers X Mickey Mouse Halloween toy, this year Donald Duck gets the evil treatment! As cheesy as it may sound, it's a pretty well crafted toy by Takara and will be available from HERE as a pre-order.




[VIA]

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Phone Pics

I lost the cable that connects my phone to my laptop, but luckily for me, my phone is super out of date and my lady's flatmate had an old one that she dusted off to give me. Thanks Erin! One day this medium of camera will be super art fag and every gallery in town will want a piece, so without further or do, here is a selection of the best from my phone: