Sunday, October 12, 2008

The Golden Age of Cartoons


"Golden Age of Cartoons" is the next Drawing Board topic.
I relied heavily on the Preston Blair book(s) to get the look.
A few years ago I was delighted to read that, according to someone who knows animation well, that any chump could become a good artist/animator if they drew and redrew the drawings from Blair's books to the point where they could reproduce them spot on*.
Hot dog! I thought. I can learn to really draw! I can be a real animator!
Then he threw in a warning that the advice was meant for people under 24. After that you'd be wasting your time, you'd be "creatively crippled", it was too late to train your brain, he'd seen it over and over.
Nuts, I thought. I'm in my mid thirties.
Is he right? Am I doomed?

*more specifically, reproducing the work correctly would help one absorb important animation and character design concepts, organic forms, solid construction, perspective, etc...

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love this drawing! I'm in midlife crisis wanting to start over. I'm hoping age is a state of mind....

Namowal (Jennifer Bourne) said...

Hi Stray,
Age might be a state of mind for women. I read somewhere that men typically peak creatively in their twenties (the Beatles, for example), and from there it's downhill.
Women, on the otherhand, neither peak or slide. So we can't use "too old" as an excuse.

Anonymous said...

wow nano. This looks great on my phone. A mature work. But not too mature of course. Age 40=baby.

Namowal (Jennifer Bourne) said...

Thanks Linda,
I like this 40 = baby theory.
:)

Sally said...

was that John K as is Krackfullovshi?

You definitely could make it as an animator, the only issue is the "it", the jobs available after what you've been used to. From what I gather at Cold Hard Flash it's been a dry time for animators. But that's a constantly changing cycle.

Namowal (Jennifer Bourne) said...

Yup. That's (snicker) the guy.
He has his fans, but most people I know in animation aren't too fond of him.
I've found some of his tips for artists useful (though perhaps not in ways he'd deem acceptable).
That being said, I prefer your animation (and your blog) over his.