Bracketed by Walt Disney reading quotes from Robert Henri’s The Art Spirit, this delightful short from 1958 briefly visits four Disney animators in the studio, where three of them are at the time working on the classic Sleeping Beauty animated feature, and then follows them into the California countryside, where they paint an old live oak.

Accompanied by jaunty Disney documentary background music, the four artists, Marc Davis, Eyvind Earle, Joshua Meador and Walt Peregoy, set up their equipment and, in a variety of media and styles, each paint their interpretation of the subject.

I was particularly interested in the approach of Eyvind Earle, who I have featured previously, as he painted the detailed textures of the gnarled tree trunk in casein (images above, bottom two). Earle eventually went on to a successful career as a gallery artist.

[Via Mark Frauenfelder on Boing Boing]

I’ve written before on Lines and Colors about the beautiful and groundbreaking series of Superman cartoons created by Fleischer Studios that ran before feature films in the early 1940′s.

I’ve written a more extensive article for Tor.com that delves into their place in the onscreen history of the character. It was posted this morning and you can read it here.

“Cartoon Kevin” is a project by Kevin McShane in which he has over a period of two years drawn cartoon self portraits in the style of 100 different animation artists, from Winsor McCay to this year’s fascinating Disney short, Paperman (my post here).

When viewing the images, hover for the style, click for the larger version.

[Via Cartoon Brew]

This 1939 Paramount “Popular Science” newsreel explains the basic principles of cartoon animation in the course of a visit to Fleischer Studios, where they are working on a Popeye cartoon.

I don’t know how long this will be available on YouTube before some copyright troll or other demands a takedown.

[Via @MaxtheMutt]

Adam and Dog is a beautifully designed, realized and animated short (14 minutes) written and directed by Disney visual development artist Minkyu Lee, assisted by a group of friends from other animation studios like Dreamworks and Pixar.

The story — of man, dog and woman — unfolds slowly and wordlessly against a series of strikingly beautiful backgrounds.

You can get an idea from a one minute trailer on Vimeo, and see the entire short on YouTube.

I can’t find a site for Lee, but there is a Tumblog with pencil tests, the official poster and a list of the crew.

[Via @ParkaBlogs on Twitter]

GRworks is a gallery and curatorial venture by Gennie Rim, an animation professional who is endeavoring to bring animation artists into the gallery community with shows like the current Ladies of Animation exhibition that opens with a reception this Saturday, February 9, 2013 in Los Angeles and runs until March 2nd.

Though the selection of works featured on the GRworks site (mostly on the home page) and on an accompanying Flickr gallery is still limited, you can refer to the GRworks page for Artists and follow links to the artists’ individual websites or blogs for more.

(Images above: Fawn Veerasunthorn, Sho Murase, Brittney Lee, Sho Murase, Claire Kean, Lorelay Bove)

“Paperman” is a superb six minute Academy Award nominated animated short from Disney Animation that was shown in theaters before “Wreck it Ralph” last November.

Disney has wisely posted it to YouTube for all to see.

Created by a small team at Disney led by first-time director John Kahrs, the film is beautifully conceived, designed and drawn, and is fluidly animated in a novel technique that seamlessly combines elements of CGI and hand-drawn animation.

The almost monochromatic film (except for touches of red) carries forward the feeling of early 20th century animation —particularly, to my eye, the beautifully done 1940′s Superman cartoons from Fleischer Studios.

Even though the latter were in color, and their action/adventure tone is very different from the wistful comedic romance of “Paperman”, there is something about the care and skill with which the atmosphere and feeling of the city is portrayed, particularly the use of value, light and shadow, that echoes the best animation of that era.

There are a couple of brief interviews with director John Kahrs, as well as a longer, more technical breakdown of the CGI process on It’s Art.

Kahrs said he wanted to bring the visual charm of the concept art drawings back into the final look of the film, and the result is remarkable. It’s also wonderfully in line with the Disney Animation lineage, bringing back some of the visual character of moving drawings on screen that is lacking in standard CGI animation.

The story, about chance meetings and “what ifs”, is told wordlessly, with expressive characters, effective but unobtrusive music, well crafted sound and a masterful appreciation for what animation can achieve when the aim is emotional subtlety rather than heavy handed attempts to dazzle.

Hopefully, this bodes well for the future of American animation.

[Via Underwire]

The Reward is a nine minute animated short created by a team of animation students for their Bachelor Class project at The Animation Workshop in Denmark.

In addition to being beautifully realized, the story, about two rivals who must learn to cooperate in pursuit of a treasure, is told wordlessly in a demonstration of superb visual storytelling skills.

The film was created by a talented team of animators, storyboard artists, character designers, colorists, background artists, music directors and voice actors, led by directors Mikkel Mainz Ekljær and Kennith Ladekjær.

It can be viewed on the Animation Workshop’s page for Bachelor Class projects 2013 (thumbnail at lower right, other years projects here), on Vimeo or on io9.

[Via io9]