Shenanigans

"When you're curious, you can find lots of interesting things to do." -- Walt Disney

[pearlypetal]

[jbknibbs]

Shadow of Movement by JB Knibbs

[neil-gaiman]

I love these. It’s the texture and the frozen moments.

[loumargi]

Annie French The Peacock Cloak

[yatesart]

Ive been getting an influx of messages from students asking me what they can do to become a story artist. I decided to put together a list of a few basic things to get you started on the journey. There is much more that goes into making a good story artist but these are just some of my personal suggestions to start.

First, I always like to suggest some reading material. Here are  few books that really helped me wrap my head around a few ideas:

Visual Story- Bruce Block

Story- Robert Mckee

The 5C’s of Cinematography- Joseph Mascelli

Save the Cat-Blake Snyder

On Filmmaking- Alexander Mackendrick 

Next i’d suggest watching as many movies as possible. Studies from the greats Kubrick, Spielberg, Hitchcock, Coen Brothers, Kurosawa, or whoever else you find yourself drawn to. When I say study, I mean really analyze the film from all angles. (camera, composition, Story telling, dialogue, acting.) Have a piece of paper nearby and draw small thumbnails of compositions. 

Check out the AFI Top 100 lists for starters:  http://www.afi.com/100years/movies10.aspx

Storyboarding involves a lot of drawing. Usually quick drawings that have clear reads. So to better your skills draw as much as possible! Draw everything! But not just mindless drawing really think about what you are drawing and why. Look for specific gestures, facial expressions, and designs. A great way to learn this is through life drawing. 

Lastly, Tell stories! The job of a story artist is to visually tell a story through drawings in order to inform others in the production. Great drawings are really second to great storytelling. A good way to improve on telling stories is to do it as much as possible no matter the medium.

Again these are just some of my personal suggestions and a place to start the journey. Hope its helpful! 

[life-imitates-art-far-more]

Anders Zorn (1860-1920) “The Widow” (1882-1883) Ink and watercolor on paper

[baroque-ladies]

Baroque lady

[art-of-eons]

The Butcher by Geliy Korzhev, 1990.

[tiuanarui-deactivated20190611]

The four horsemen of the artist apocalypse

Anatomy, Foreshortening, Lineart, and Backgrounds

[nevver]

The Jazz Age, Henry Patrick Raleigh

[motherchuckerr]

[dappledwithshadow]

Egon Schiele 1910-1912

[despazito]

CHICKEN DIVERSITY MASTERPOST

[dracomalfoys]

I feel like anyone who studied Romeo and Juliet in like Year 9 will always associate it with Troy Bolton because of that one god damned movie with that guy…you all know what I’m talking about

[darksilenceinsuburbia]

Jean-Michel Bihorel // Flower Figures Nº02

[as-warm-as-choco]

Before the computing era, ILM was the master of oil matte painting, making audiences believe that some of the sets in the original Star Wars and Indiana Jones trilogy were real when they weren’t. They were the work of geniuses like Chris Evans, Michael Pangrazio, Frank Ordaz, Harrison Ellenshaw and Ralph McQuarrie ! Forever thank you, to their handmade art and the work of their colleagues, that made us dream of impossible worlds and fantastic places across Earth and the Universe.

There are more background paintings on this article, featuring comments by the masters/artists themselves ! 

Some of the following pieces were made by other artists 2:

[the-time-goddess-of-221b-deacti]

exCUSE ME?!?!!??!??! TheYRE PAINTINGS?!??!!?!

[starsintheskysandsontheshore]

SHUT UP I thought they were miniatures!!!!

[sodeartomyheart]

It’s too beautiful. I could cry.

[firey-rising-demon-deactivated2]

I love this because I’ll be watching a movie and think “how did they do that? Is that a building they built for this movie? Was it there beforehand? Is it cardboard or CGI? Is that actually some place on Earth that they’re filming?” And the answer to all of these now is “nope, that’s a painting”. I can’t believe some of the most iconic, familiar shots were paintings!

[trembling-colors-deactivated201]

[cinemove]