Showing posts with label The Lion King. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Lion King. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

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.

HAKUNA MATATA!


Here's one of the largest backgrounds I've ever digitally re-assembled. Over 100 inches long! It is an extraordinary piece.

A couple of notes:

The scene starts with a pan left to right, then top to bottom. This image is the recreation of the top to bottom pan. We'll leave the other (small) section for another time.

The action here is Timon is doing a "cannonball" into the water. The drop is animated at such a furious clip, each section of art is seen for only about one frame. Digitally, I couldn't eliminate all the Timons because the character dropped so fast, the piece of background behind him was already out of frame, one frame to the next!

I still think it's worth having a good look. Look how beautifully each section transitions one into the next. I've broken the entire B/G into several pieces so you can really have a good look. (Be sure and click on the images to see the large version.)

One of Disney's artists really earned their paycheck with this one. It's sort of the Mount Rushmore of background art!





THE LION KING part two

Here is a sampling of background art from Disney's THE LION KING. The artists did a wonderful job expressing mood with color, as well as capturing the majesty of the African landscapes.





The rain effects are of course embedded in this moody masterpiece:

The proverbial lion's den looks a bit foreboding...

I managed to digitally eliminate Simba but Zazu refused to budge!


This re-created pan was time consuming but well worth the effort. It's quite unlike any other B/G art I've ever seen. I love the dried texture of the rust-colored red dirt, against the olive and gold hues of the sparse African foliage.

What a magnificent gorge. And that sky!

Next some towering rock formations:



Sunset... incredibly lovely!

This breathtaking landscape is a digitally reassembled pan background. Gorgeous!

THE LION KING


I was able to eliminate several dropping monkeys - but Pumbaa insisted on staying!

Aren't these African jungle backgrounds drop dead gorgeous?









interesting treescapes...

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

The Lion King

The Lion King DisneyThe Lion King Disney
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The Lion King Cartoon DisneyThe Lion King Cartoon Disney

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

The Lion King Cartoon


The Lion King CartoonThe Lion King Cartoon


The Lion King MovieThe Lion King Movie


The Lion King AnimeThe Lion King Anime

Thursday, April 30, 2009

The Lion King Cartoons

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The Lion King Cartoon FamilyThe Lion King Cartoon Family

The Lion King Funny CartoonThe Lion King Funny Cartoon

Thursday, April 2, 2009

The Lion King American Anime Cartoon Film

The Lion King American Anime Cartoon FilmThe Lion King American Anime Cartoon Film

The Lion King ImageThe Lion King Image

The Lion King PosterThe Lion King Poster