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Drawn to Life: 20 Golden Years of Disney Master Classes: Volume 1: The Walt Stanchfield Lectures | | Author: Walt Stanchfield | Usually ships in 24 hours
$15.74
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Customer Reviews24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
A must have for any aspiring Disney animators, April 13, 2000
These two volumes are a master class in Disney style animation thinking. Essentially, a goldmine of what we learned here at Disney as young animators trying to follow in the shoes of the masters of the craft of character animation. I was lucky enough to have been taught every one of these lessons from Walt himself over my thirty years and running as an animator/story man/director/designer at Walt Disney Studios. I only wish you all could have met the man who brings this wealth of knowledge to these pages. He made you feel good just being around him. He was never dour or sour or in any way unhappy. If he was, he hid it completely from us. He was the coolest "old guy" you could ever hope to be taught by. Athletic, youthful in every way, passionate, inquisitive, searching and digging for the answers all the time. He stayed hungry for improvement his entire life and we all try to emulate that to this day and make our teacher and friend proud of us for trying. You will not only most definitely be a better artist after reading these volumes I practically guarantee you will be a better person for having gotten to know Walt Stanchfield and his way of looking at life and art as one. We all feel this way at Disney, believe me. 17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
A completely unexpected pleasure, April 27, 2000
I acquired Drawn to Life thinking it would be nice background material on typical Disney animation characters - sort of an insider's look at their production and development. Perhaps even a way to acquire some unusual character drawings. Wrong entirely!
What this book is, is a very specialized art instruction book aimed at animation artists and Disney animation artists specifically. Still, it does teach focus on, and simplification of gesture in a way that can be effectively used in any medium. Had I to reduce Drawn to Life to its barest topic, it would be just that - capturing and communicating gesture. Animation requires special techniques adapted to 2D line drawing. Those are the heart of the book, along with Walt Stanchfield's philosophy, optimism, and personification of Disney post-WWII history.
The book is a collection of Walt Stanchfield's weekly lectures to the Disney animators, consisting of drawing handouts and notes. The lecture topics were, and are, essentially random (his own term) as this wasn't intended as a course of study, but as professional development and continuing ed for an existing, highly-accomplished staff of artists. There are 149 lectures in the first volume alone, under such titles as "Using Cylinders", "Think First ...", "Get Out Of Your Way", "Action Analysis", "Silhouette", and so on.
Having dabbled in art classes and books over the years, I often find such material highly-technical ... and deadly dull. Drawn to Life is neither. Though the volume is large (nearly 400 pages), each lecture chapter is short and to the point. Stanchfield's teaching style is literate and personable, often humorous and riddled with stories. Drawings accompanying each lecture are quite loose and sketchy, invariably on-point, and amazingly convincing. Who knew that the subtlest shift in the slant of a line could be so compelling?
I walked away with a renewed appreciation for animation artists, an enhanced vocabulary that includes terms like stretch and squish, and tools I lacked to evaluate animation quality. Recommended, not just for artists, but for anyone intrigued by animation. Naturally, the Disney characters and commentary sprinkled throughout are fun, too. 12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
The other half of the set-be sure to get both!, April 5, 2000
The first volume of DRAWN TO LIFE covers mainly basic gesture drawing, while the second volume explores how to 'push' the action and create distinct personalities in gesture sketches. These two books are a wonderful addition to the library of animation. 4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
A Must Have Course For Every Aspiring Artist, April 22, 2000
Each "lesson" of this major work will provide the reader/artist with what it takes to be successful in this field. The more than 400 pages in Volume 1 are jam packed with easy-to-read information that can only help the artist learn,and improve. It covers the basics of animation, anatomy, sticking to themes, action analysis, one picture is worth a thousand words, fine tuning, gestures, and much, much more. You don't have to be an "artist" to find this work interesting. There is an addtional work by Mr. Stanchfield. This first volume is "The Place" to start.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
It's a wealth of information and insight into drawing, animation and observation, May 5, 2000
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R348HGD04UHQUM Drawn to Life is a collection of lectures from long-time Disney animator Walt Stanchfield. He has worked for Disney since the 1950s.
There are two volumes, each with over 400 pages. The reason for two volumes is probably to make the books easier to handle. Both are on gesture and life drawing, even though the cover art might suggest otherwise, especially the one with the lion. You can start reading from any book and any lecture. The order isn't important.
There are plenty of essays in the books. Each is a lesson relating to drawing and animation. It can be tangent drawings, creating believable characters, learning to observe, understanding gestures, etc. There are tips on almost anything relating to drawing. Loose and sketchy sketches serves as examples to the lessons.
These books are more thinking than drawing technique books. For example, the lessons are not about how to draw perspective, the lessons are about how to use perspective. You can view sample pages for volume one and volume two on amazon.com to get an idea.
The books represent a tremendous wealth of information and insight into drawing, animation and observation. After all, Walt Stanchfield has more than 50 years of experience in animation.
This book is recommended to those who are into animation and drawing.
(More pictures are available on my blog. Just visit my Amazon profile for the link.)
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