Innocence in Illustration - Have you lost your innocence?

Have you lost your innocence in illustration? Remember how you drew as a child? Especially when you were emotionally affected by something? Did you ever put a caption with your drawings?

I just loved these paintings done by Japanese children affected by the 2011 tsunami. They are real and personal paintings and on exhibit at the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens in Florida.

This is by Niziho Takahashi, Grade 5, who said "I drew my wish that in 10 years, the earth and the grass will be healthy enough to walk my dog."

Created by Nanami Ogata, Grade 4, who said: "This is a picture of people holding hands so that no matter how hard or painful things get, we can find the strength we need as long as we stay connected. It's a picture showing the whole world coming together as one, and that the people are going to overcome hurt and hardships and be happy. It was hard to draw the hands holding each other."

I would love if you shared your innocent, early drawings on my blog. You should always enjoy applying innocence in your work. Sometimes innocence is what we need to affect the viewer in our paintings.

2nd Annual Breakthrough Contest Winner Announced

2nd Annual Breakthrough Contest hosted by Richard Solomon

Max Kostenko - represented by Shannon Associates

Richard Solomon Artists Representatives announced the winner of their 2nd annual Breakthrough Contest to find young talented artists and help them break into the illustration industry. After receiving great portfolios from illustrators worldwide, an amazing group of judges consisting of art directors, designers, and art buyers evaluated each portfolio.

They proudly announced the winner to be Max Kostenko of Moscow, Russia - another great international illustrator!! They'll bring him to NYC, host a reception and introduce him to their friends, as well as award him his prize. For more information about Max, visit his website.

Richard Solomon Artists Representatives will be updating their blog regularly with more information about the rising star and his NYC visit, staff picks, runners up, etc. So, stay tuned by following them on:

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Print and Animation Success - Brett Jubinville

You've got to see the entire portfolio and presentation of this multi-talented illustrator and animator to understand all his skills. Brett Jubinville is Creative Director at Tinman Creative Studios in Ontario, Canada. Tinman specializes in design and pre-production for animated film & series. Among Brett's skills he lists Creative, Technical, Animation and Character Director.

Brett Jubinville's portfolio can be seen at DirectoryofIllustration.com. He uses the Directory program for print and animation opportunities.

Over the years I've seen Brett do some fabulous work. Two of my favorites are also the most recent:

Brett Jubinville - Red Samurai 

"A yearly exercise I do is design or animate a red samurai in a style that I've been working in recently."

Tinman Creative Studios - LabDoor "A spot we finished August 2012 with Scofield Editorial for LabDoor, a product safety ratings and review app"

Brett Jubinville's page in Directory of Illustration

Advice for Animators from TWO of the Best

Hungarian born animator Tissa David (Wall Street Journal article) will be remembered as one of the first female animators who overcame all odds to achieve her own success. She had excellent advice, what was called "golden nuggets", that she would pass along to other animators who braved her honest assessments or tough love advice including:

~ "Animation is all caricature"
~ "Don't show what isn't absolutely necessary to the story"
~ "Always think of how your character feels"
~ "The greatest animation is the simplest" 
~ "Animation is such a long, hard work...you have to keep doing, doing, doing to learn." 
~ "You can only have one love if you want to be an animator: animation. You can't devote yourself to it part-time."

Ms. David's credits include European and American projects, animated characters in children's films like "Raggedy Ann and Andy: A Musical Adventure", animated letters in "Sesame Street", scores of  television commercials in the 50's, 60's and 70's geared to the adult population, and way too many to mention here.

Per Nicholas Blechman's suggestion I contacted his respected father R.O. Blechman (Founder of the New York-based animation studio The Ink Tank) who hired and worked closely with Ms. David to share his thoughts since her passing. 

R.O. quickly responded via email to a few questions: 
  
1.  What was it about Ms. David that made you hire her initially as a solo animator? "Tissa was more-- far more-- than an animator.  She was an animated filmmaker who had a special gift for creating or adapting existing storyboards."

  2. What special personality traits/talents/skills did she possess to keep her career going? "She was extremely visual, intellectual, emotional-- and a charming person besides."

  3. What advice would you give to illustrators today? "Do what Frank Sinatra did. Do it "your own way."

I ended my conversation with R.O. complimenting him on his amazing talent and career and he humbly said, "A lot of "my" talent was Tissa's."

Mr. Canemaker in  his Wall Street Journal article said,  "To those privileged to have known her and her extraordinary art, Tissa David was "Animation in person."

Ms. David and Mr. Blechman - both absolutely amazing talents with a lot of advice to share!

Read more abut Tissa David's career

Read more about R.O. Blechman's career

R.O. Blechman - illustrator and animator