Great Retta Scott!

     

Such a gorgeous collection of art, had to put it up here and show it.  It is impossible for me to get anything cooler or better--but i dare the universe to try! 

I got all this art as one collection, and it is all done by Disney Legend, Retta Scott!  (I had the Cinderella storybook as a kid, and it's pretty much the holy grail of Disney storybooks.  I know that's inside Disney, who knew this companion book was floating out there just waiting for me to find it and send it to an appreciative home!) HOPE YOU ALL ENJOY THESE.  I love my gallery and I love my JOB! 

HERE'S SOME INFO ON RETTA, THE ARTIST OF THE COLLECTION... 

Retta Scott (23 February 1916 - 26 August 1990) was an American artist. She is notable as the first woman to receive screen credit as an animator at the Walt Disney Animation Studios.

Scott was born in Omak, Washington. She graduated from Roosevelt High School (Seattle, Washington) in 1934. She received an academic scholarship from the Chouinard Art Institute, so she moved to Los Angeles, California. She spent much of her free time sketching wildlife at the nearby Griffith Park zoo. Her ambition was to mold a career in Fine art.

As she readied to complete her Institute training, the Institute's director encouraged Scott to apply at Disney Studios. She was hired in 1938 and assigned to the Story Department, where the ambitious Bambi project was being developed. Her stunning sketches caught the eye of Disney himself, so when the film went into production she was assigned to animate scenes of hunting dogs chasing Bambi's mother. This was a significant coup for the young woman, since at the 1930s-era Disney studio, women were considered only for routine tasks: "Ink and paint art was a laborious part of the animation process, and was solely the domain of women." She worked under the film's supervising director, David D. Hand, and was tutored by Disney animator Eric Larson.

After Bambi, Scott contributed to Disney features Fantasia, Dumbo, and Disney's version of The Wind in the Willows, which was shelved due to World War II and released in 1949 as part of the film The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad. In addition, Albert Becattini's website of animator credits lists her as an animator on the 1942 Donald Duck cartoon releases Donald's Snow Fight andDonald Gets Drafted, along with an unnamed Goofy short (1945). Retta appears on-screen in the Disney live-action studio tour film The Reluctant Dragon, alongside other Disney animators such as Wolfgang Reitherman in the portion of the film where Robert Benchley tours the Disney Studio's life-drawing classroom (where the model that day happens to be an elephant). Retta presents Benchley with a caricature of himself as an elephant. She was laid-off from Disney during a periodic studio downsizing in late 1941, (partially as a result of the infamous Disney animators' strike in the summer of 1941) but was rehired by the Disney Studio in 1942 to work in the Story Department. Retta Scott left Disney in 1946 and moved to the East Coast, where she continued to freelance, illustrating Disney publications such as the Big Golden Book edition of Disney's Cinderella. She remained active as an illustrator for many years and returned to film animation with The Plague Dogs, directed by Martin Rosen, released in 1982. Around that same time in the early 1980s she also worked for the animation studio founded by Bud Luckey, The Luckey-Zamora Moving Picture Co. in the San Francisco Bay area. That studio later became a part of Colossal Pictures, and Luckey later became part of Pixar.

Some writers have occasionally confused Retta Scott with another Disney artist with the first name Retta, Retta Davidson , who worked at Disney from 1939 through 1966.

Scott merited a chapter in The Little Big Book of Disney ("Retta Scott: Beauties and Beasts", pp. 303-319) by Monique Peterson, and also a chapter in Walt's People - Volume VIII ("Retta Scott") by Didier Ghez.

FROM HER DISNEY LEGENDS PAGE:

Retta Scott (Animation)

Inducted 2000

Though Retta Scott's career at Disney was brief, she left an indelible mark as the Studio's first woman animator, receiving screen credit on the 1942 classic "Bambi."

As "Bambi" former supervising animator Frank Thomas recalled, "Retta had an astounding ability to draw powerful animals. She seemed to have a keen understanding of their moods and attitudes."

Born in Omak, Washington, on February 23, 1916, Retta graduated from Seattle's Roosevelt High School in 1934. She moved to Los Angeles to attend Chouinard Art Institute on scholarship and spent much of her free time sketching wildlife at the nearby Griffith Park Zoo.

While her heart was originally set on a fine arts career, the school's director encouraged Retta to apply at Disney, and in 1938 she joined the Story department working on "Bambi." Her stunning story sketches and character development caught the attention of Walt Disney and director Dave Hand, so when the film went into production she was assigned to animate scenes featuring hunting dogs chasing Bambi's mother.

             

As she recalled, "I developed the hunting dogs into vicious, snarling beasts...running and scrambling, trying to climb the cliff and sliding back ...."

After "Bambi," Retta worked on "Dumbo," and the weasels in the Wind in the Willows segment of "The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad." In 1941, she appeared in Disney's feature film "The Reluctant Dragon," starring Robert Benchley.

Later that year, when the Studio hit a slump, she and other artists were laid off. Retta returned to Disney's Story department in 1942, when the Studio was producing U.S. military training films during World War II. Four years later, she resigned from Disney to move east with her husband, a U.S. Naval officer.

She continued to contribute to Disney as a freelance artist, illustrating "Cinderella" (A Big Golden Book) and "Cinderella Puppet Show," published in 1950. The cover of the "Cinderella" Golden Book was released by Disney Art Classics in 2000, as a color serigraph with gold enhancements, under the Art of Disney Storybooks line.

Creative Director of Disney Publishing Worldwide, Ken Shue, described Retta's work. "Her 'Cinderella' storybook illustrations are very stylized," he observed. "I keep the 'Cinderella' cover framed on an easel outside my office. It's a very detailed, complex composition that informs and inspires our art staff daily. It's show-stopping."

In 1980, Retta worked on The Plague Dogs, a non-Disney animated film directed by Martin Rosen. She also helped animate television commercials produced by Luckey Zamora for such products as Cookie Crisp Cereal.

Retta Scott died August 26, 1990, at her home in Foster City, California.

Holidays at Reston, New Shows, Costumes. Yeah. We have fun!

Just came back from playing Belle in the Reston Town Center holiday parade.  I asked by sister Coco to play Cinderella.  She looks so much like her, she could be hired at Disney.  We also had the 501st Legion with us in the parade, and they are always wonderful to have--helpful, very interested in charity (we love that!)…

I've played Snow White (there are pictures…), Maleficent, the Queen from Snow White, Cruella, A fictitious professor at Hogwarts, a pirate on Jack Sparrow's ship, Princess Leia, the Grinch, Bugs Bunny, and now, Belle from Beauty and the Beast.  

Just when you wonder what good going to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in England will do…since when I dress as Snow White I look not a little like a drag queen I have discovered kids just love princesses, and they won't notice that instead of 15 she might look around 35.  Today as Belle I get spontaneous hus Bless them, I say…

We have been so busy this year we haven't had time to update what we've been doing on this blog, but let's just say we've spent lots of time out at conventions and special events...

like: 

I was at the Harry Potter premiere in London for the very last movie and walked a red carpet that is now in the Guinness Book of World Records for its length.

We had our very first panel for The Art of the Hollywood Movie Poster at the San Diego Comic Convention.  (it went so well we had folks who had sat in on other panels just to be able to get into ours!! a great sign!)

We were also at Leakycon, went to Paris and the South of France to visit animators and go to a family reunion, and went to D23, where we were the only ones who had ONLY original art by Disney interpretive artists.  

I'll tell more when I ever write "ArtInsights: The World Tour".

All of it went incredibly well, and we've had our best year so far!  

We have big new things in store, and have plans to work with more wonderful artists we met on our travels, but just getting through the year doing what we planned was amazing!

We haven't been actively open as much this year, because we've been gone so much so for those of you interested in visiting us, give a call and make sure we aren't off somewhere doing ambassador stuff for the art of film, or visiting John Alvin's wife Andrea, or some such fun thing, because we'd love to see you!

Meanwhile, one of the big additions to our offering (and workload!) is we started including movie reviews on our web magazine more and more, and Cinema Siren is featured on Patch now, not just a few favorite Patches, (like Herndon.patch.com and rosehill.patch.com, both of which are edited by good friends) but often we are featured on tons of Patches all over Northern Virginia and Maryland, and we've had up to 200,000 people read one review so far.  Should we aim for a million???

Not sure where that will take us, but we know it will expand awareness of film art, which is good, since it takes a long time to write them, and we take it seriously!

We are just finishing up the opening of Chuck Jones's 100th Birthday kick-off, (an honor from the family) and we were involved in the first Washington West film festival (I was a juror) and we represented Chuck's family at the festival.  I also voted for some amazing animated films and met some great film makers.

We've interviewed some great artists this year, and covered some great events (like the Harry Potter premiere!) and look forward to doing that more and more!

Our big new deal this December is some John Alvin art we've actually been authorized to sell for his estate, and we are trying to get as much of it on our site as possible.  We want also to try to change to Paypal International so we can take payments from all over the world without a headache for the clients, and so we can be assured everything gets processed smoothly for everyone.  We'll let you know when we get all that together!

Keep checking back to see more of John's art, like originals from Blade Runner and E.T. when he was working on the posters for those films.  VERY exciting!

New artists are joining us all the time, but we are only a few of us here, so we add them slowly!  Check back for that too.  We also have a new intern, Victory, so if she answers the phone, say hi to her, she's a great help to us.

Lastly, if you appreciate our web magazine, my interviews, reviews, and our educational perspective, both inside the gallery and out in the world, tell the world about how wonderful we are.  That's how we get our best clients, is through word of mouth.  Usually once people start buying from us, they find we are jolly good fun!!

Thanks and happy holidays!

Leslie (and Michael!)

Grading Disney's D23 Convention

It started months ago…when we heard from our superconnected Disney folks they were planning something really big, a sort of Disney version of San Diego Comic-con, through the new fan group D23.  Should we go? Some of the art galleries who do what we do go to all the cons, they have their own walls, they ship their art and their salesfolks, and either boom or bust.  The deciding factors vary…some cons are better than others…

We've done a very few. and we've sold tons of art and we've sold nothing at all.

So we were thinking, what could we do? We love our Disney clients.  I know a lot and have been doing it a gazillion years.  We always love finding new clients… what could we do?  

Lately we've had quite the time finding vintage Disney that we can trace all the way back to the studio, and I have to be able to do that when i sell vintage art.  The wider awareness of animation as "real art" has made collectors accept and turn their focus towards Disney interpretive art:  I mean, they have come to look beyond their family rooms, and accept Disney into their living rooms and bedrooms as well. and fine art interpretations of Disney subjects have allowed wider placement of the art in their living spaces…

This has been happening in no small part because of the company licensed to create and market the Disney interpretive art, Collectors Editions, headed by MIchael Young.  A serious Disney insider, he saw the changing tides while still with Disney, and has made a great business of promoting interpretations of Disney subjects by fine artists, some of whom have come from other genres, some of whom are longterm Disney artists.  

We've been, to be honest, doing incredibly well with their artists at our gallery for some time now.  We have sold more images that have turned into limited editions than any other gallery.  We still sell vintage Disney cels, although they have to be researched within an inch of their lives.  Of course, as you know we do a swift business in the art of Harry Potter and Star Wars--and we're expanding into other movie and illustration art, when we find amazing artists, which we're always searching for…but as far as D23 goes, we thought we'd do well selling the Disney interpretive art.  

I was pretty sure there were tons of potential collectors that had been to the Disney parks and seen or bought the Disney Fine Art limited editions, but didn't know the originals were available or accessible.  Our clients tell us stories that the "cast members" at the park stores never believe them when they say they have the originals to what's hanging on the store wall…I thought, if they don't know, how many collectors aren't aware that they have access to these originals?  

Michael Young knew us when we first opened our gallery almost 16 years ago, when in our first year we were asked to be on the Disney advisory board and won "Rookie of the Year" from Disney for doing so much business in our first year.

So, by virtue of our long standing success and Michael's knowledge of my and MB's business philosophy/wicked classiness, we asked for and were gratefully given an exclusive to represent the original art for the official Disney  interpretive artists in our booth!  

Collectors Editions definitely took a gamble with us.  They gave us over 90 pieces of art, much of it original, and sent all the artists over to our booth, (most of whom are really good friends of ours, its true…) to meet collectors.  That's some kind of trust and faith in our success and we were honored by it.

Meanwhile, in all the time we are planning all this, rumors are circulating within the collector community that the convention is going to be an unholy, unfocused mess.  Even a close Disney insider friend of mine voiced concern--You see, right after the announcement the convention was going to happen, Disney laid off a bunch of middle and upper management, many in the special events departments.  Ouch!   

But as Disney is wont to do, they pulled it together incredibly well just in time.  Although the marketing outside California could have been way better, it was still well attended and enjoyed by the majority of the collectors with whom i spoke.

So…what happened there, who was there, how'd we do?  

First let me say i had both MY Michael, (known in these blogs as MB)  and my lil sis Coco helping me, which was a first.  Usually MB stays in the gallery, and I'm doing these on my own, which, he has said many times, is nearly impossible and kinda nuts.  After Comic-con i lost my voice for 3 weeks.  And i'm a singer.  Cautionary tales should be heeded!

So we closed the gallery, put a note on the door, forwarded the phone, and went to Anaheim…A few hitches excepted, we all got along really well.  we're family, so we weren't sure….who was going to be the drama queen?  our answer?  apparently no one!

D23DAY minus 1:

We had to get up at 5 am and drive from Anaheim to Canoga Park, which should take 45 minutes or so, but this is LA!  So 2 1/2 hours later we get the van, load up all the art, and get it back to Anaheim--2 1/2 hours later!  Now i understand my friend Tony always saying "i'll be there somewhere between 10-2pm…well, the weather was gorgeous the whole time…I have to assume that's what inspires people to keep living there.

We put all the art up.  It looked gorgeous, and we were the only booth in the retail section of the show ("collector's showcase") with actual walls.  ($1400, if you're curious) Proud of ourselves, we went back to our room at the Candy Cane Inn, the only family owned hotels near Disneyland, had some wine and cheese, and went to bed…oh.  and then got up at 12:00 am to meet some potential new clients for drinks!

D23DAYS:

An incredible line, as you'd expect, to get into the show, which opens at 8 am.  An incredible line to get into the "Dream Store", which it turns out is a major weak link, having mostly the same stuff you get elsewhere. Big missed opportunity for Disney…A client actually called it "pedestrian"!  We give that section our first grade, and lowest score, a C-!

We had a mellow beginning in our neck of the woods, which was an enormous room sectioned off between retail businesses and Disney consumer product licensees promoting, but not selling, their wares.  Radio Disney was in the middle of the room, blessedly far from us, because they played Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers incessantly.  I like them both just fine the first 100 times i hear one of their songs…

I forgot to mention something REALLY cool.  

Out of all the galleries in the world, we got selected to premiere a new kind of limited edition called "Courvoisier Miniatures", which this famous restoration guy Ron Stark is creating using all the original colors and paints and equipment they used at the time--for more on that, go  HERE….We got the worldwide exclusive for the art, which was amazing, and the piece is lovely--but it needs explanation or it just looks like another pretty piece of cel art.  It's a cel of Snow White with chipmunks.  Hand inked, painted, airbrushed, it is representative of an era, an homage to a gallery that saw Disney cels as art from the very beginning.  We did well with it, although i will say it might have helped, if-- anytime during the presentation Ron did on Courvoisier and restoration, which was PACKED with people--he mentioned there was a piece was for sale…(!) I mean, as Dr. Evil would say, "throw me a bowie, here!" 

 I would try to explain the history and importance of Courvoisier and what the art was and passersby took me for a carnival barker.  We sold it to our clients, to people who already knew us, or already knew about Courvoisier.  The art series is going to take such time and effort i hope it will serve to educate a larger audience than just that! His presentation was interesting but i'd still give it a C for not even mentioning the art at the end of it…

Anyway.  There were LOTS of galleries specializing in vintage animation art there.  One gallery friend had a Disney interpretive artist, Mike Kupka in their booth, with his originals, but only our gallery presenting so much interpretive art originals.  We did have to continually explain that they WERE the originals, but once we did, Disney fans were really into it.  They enjoyed meeting the artists, learning about the art, talking about their collections, and just appreciating--whether or not they could afford the art--the beauty, creativity, and skill that a diverse group of artists can bring to subject matter they know so well.  

We made some great new clients, enjoyed talking to collectors, and especially to our booth guests!  Tim Rogerson, who had created the official art for D23, spent a lot of time signing art and talking to fans.  He had really long lines of fans waiting for his signature, and his pieces sold out every day.  By Sunday he looked like he could use a break, but he was a trooper.  Tim gets an A for both art and effort, for sure!  He was always either at an event, on his way to one, or coming back from one!

We had a beautiful piece he did of Simba, Timon and Pumbaa from Lion King that some new clients were interested in, so i introduced them to Tim--He said,  "Lion King is the reason i'm an artist."  Apparently he saw the making of the Lion King right before the movie came out, and then saw the movie. That night decided he wanted to be an artist.  Nice, story, Tim!  Later our new friends/clients jokingly asked if we'd planned that meeting!

We met the artist Noah for the first time, who is large (6'5) and lovely--someone inside Disney had said how hot he was, so of course to me that meant he had to prove himself.  It turns out he's a really close friend of Mike Kungl's, and he was incredibly sweet to our client's baby, without pretending.  kids can always tell…so that's enough for me to like him. He did a presentation on the Dream stage, which was next to the Dream store, and while he painted, he talked about how he chooses his colors, how he sees his paintings progress, and was incredibly comfortable and gracious with his crowd of fans.  His presentation--and, ladies, his smile-- get an A!

Once we met him and liked him, we sold the heck out of him!  We are also excited about a new style of art he'll be doing involving classic movies, that will be really cool.  If you love Casablanca, or Wizard, or Hitchcock, or whatever, you'll be really into it too.

Jim Salvati, the movie production painter who's work we sold so well at the Harry Potter convention, stopped by, and we talked about the movies he's worked on and what he's doing next, which as usual is top secret.  James Coleman, who created backgrounds for Little Mermaid, Black Cauldron, Fox and the Hound, and lots of other Disney movies, hung out with us in our booth with his new limited edition.Michael loved talking to both of them, and they had some amazing stories.  Jim Salvati worked with Andy Warhol!  James Coleman worked with some of Disney's nine old men!

Movie poster artist John Rowe came by for a while and we sold several of his pieces.  His collectors really like him because he's into symbolism and can explain everything he does in his art.  Mike Kungl came by, and hung out quite a long time with us.  Then Noah came by and that's when i discovered what close friends they are!  We're very good friends with Mike and his wife Dana, and showed up at our booth with a brand new piece from a series he'd been up until 4 in the morning painting, called "Tink-tini"--It got a HUGE amount of attention.  He's been all over the entertainment news lately, which has made his art more expensive, so he created this new series that collectors could more easily afford, by painting a great image of Tinkerbell in four colors.  (good idea, good marketing!) Of course i'd only give my lovely artist friends an A.  Not a grumpy or pretentious one in the lot, only happy, grateful, lovely guys.  The artists who were supposed to show up and didn't get an incomplete.  Remember those from college?  You'd get them for not showing up?  Enough of them and you'd fail.  Who says there are no parallels to real life in the educational system?

Meanwhile, outside our little world, there were big events with John Lassiter, where they played the whole of the new 3D Toy Story.  There was a Princess and the Frog panel with all the major animators where they showed 1/2 an hour (!!) of the movie. I don't know much about the events with ABC and Disney tv stars, although i know Miley Cyrus was involved, and there was some kind of fracas at the Kelsey Grammar event involving security and police, which somehow Donny Osmond restored order to and then the fun resumed (D turned into B+, extra credit to Donny!)….The highlight for most attendees was a panel with Johnny Depp and Tim Burton promoting Alice.  That was loved by everyone who went to it--A.  For each of these events they took everyone's phone into a "phone and camera check" , so some of the events were poorly attended that followed the biggies, and i heard it took a LONG time to get them back, so we give that part a C-.  

They showed Nightmare in 3D, had a Sleeping Beauty showing with her voice, Mary Costa, and a Beauty and the Beast showing with her voice, Paige O'Hara, who premiered her own paintings of Belle that i sold at the show! I spoke to her quite a bit and she was delightful, and so wonderful with her fans.  That all gets an A, but you can't give Mary Costa anything else, really.  She rocks.

I know lots of other events happened, but we were there by 7:30 in the morning and were so busy we rarely left the booth--especially when we had artists there!  The consensus is everyone had a great time.  There were a few glitches here and there, and it could have been better attended, i think they said 40,000 attendees.   Hopefully next year it will be better promoted from the onset.  I think it has a good chance of turning into a pretty fair approximation of the Disney version of Comic-con long term, but it took them many years to become what they are now… which some would argue is:  bloated, overpressed, overhyped, overcrowded--(remember my Harry Potter panel had 175 seats and 600 in line!) so we all hope Disney's D23 will grow slowly and carefully, and keep offering new and exciting events for the fans every year.

After D23 was over and we took back the art we hadn't sold, and drove into LA to stay at the awesome and laid back swanky Sunset Tower Hotel.   I saw Elizabeth Moss, who plays Peggy on the awesome show Mad Men when we pulled into the hotel driveway!  We had $20 martinis, saw a bunch of movie stars and musicians, and i got to hold a new friend's Emmy!!  

MB, Coco and I finished our trip by going down to Santa Monica with good friends.  Randy Martinez, a Star Wars artist and recent author of "How to Draw Monsters".  I have all the original art from it and will be premiering in late October in honor of my favorite holiday!  We also loved seeing his partner Denise Vasquez, with whom he's writing a book on sketch cards.  We all met up with Mike Kungl and Dana, and Mike Kupka.  That's two Mikes we'll be doing more art shows with, so check back on that…!  We took Coco to the Santa Monica pier for the first time, and put our feet in the ocean, thanking LA for a great and successful show.  Santa Monica and the beautiful weather get an A too.  We expect to at D23 next year breaking this year's record for making sales and great new clients.  Afterwards i'll have find someone's new Oscar to hold!  

If our experience with D23 were a high school report card, we could almost get a full ride at the college of our choice.  Almost.  but they might expect us to plump up the aspects that are lacking.  And so we say Disney, plump up the aspects that are lacking, and your fans will give you a free ride.  

Of course, maybe you should all go next year and decide for yourselves.  I am notorious for finding something to like in everything…. I grade on a curve.  

  here is a collection of pics from D23: 

Tim Rogerson with fans

Tim Rogerson and drawing

Michael, Coco and I with a bunch of awesome artists

Noah painting

Michael talking to James Coleman

Disney Fine Art panel

Things are Warming Up in the Art World

As it says in "Hello Dolly", (and Wall-E!)  "It only takes a moment"... for everything to change.  Brrrrr, it's COLD in January… for us life is about finding art no one in their right mind could refuse.  I could say I trust in the universe on that, and maybe that's true, because invariably we find something spectacular and our clients are beside themselves with glee.  Is it enough to skip headlong through the financial daisies?  Sometimes.  Mostly, though, it's like hibernation.  We wait and work, continuing our search for new great art and artists we want to represent, hoping we encounter collectors and artists who match their talents and desires.  

All hail the thaw--the warming up!  Something about it here on the east coast and here in our gallery leads to fresh optimism, to deals finally taking shape, interests peaking, and new fans and collectors becoming loyal clients here.  It has happened every year.  And this year is no exception.  I'm SO GLAD!  

So what about ArtInsights?  As we've sprung forward and are moving to summer, what's new and exciting?  

Well, we just returned from a great trip to LA, Burbank and Hollywood, and interviewed a slew of incredibly talented artists--animators and illustrators and film artists.  For the most part we have some of their original work or are representing them in some way, or hope to in the future--and they all have very interesting stories to tell and lessons to teach-- 

Let me tell you about some of the very talented artists well known in Hollywood and the exciting partnerships we are entering into:

We are working with artist James Goodridge, who is still a working artist in Hollywood, having worked on Sucker Punch, True Blood, HP7.1 and HP7.2, as well as a host of great recent movies.  He created images for Wall-E, and that work is filled with heart and the best of what the movie became.  I discovered i had Mr. Spock as my first love in common with his wife…and his interview was inspiring-- this artist teaches how determination mixed with talent is an unbeatable combination!  

        

 

 

Things are changing in the Disney interpretive art world as well.  We are just now putting together the interviews for some of the best and brightest artists who have worked inside Disney and we'll have original interpretive art by them available either by commission or as they become available.  There are artists like Lisa Keene, who has worked at Disney since The Black Cauldron era and has had a hand in many movies over the past 15 years up to and including the very latest, Tangled.  We also talked to art director for The Little Mermaid, Mike Peraza, and will be interviewing him again with his wife, who is also an animator!  Once we heard his influences and experiences inside Disney, you could really see each of these mentors expressed in his own art.  Once again, humble.  and once again, awesome!

Also, Acme has stepped up their game in the Disney Studio interpretive art with new artists and images more classically inspired--by artists like the movie concept artist Stephan Martiniere and famed movie concept artist for Lilo & Stitch, Brother Bear and Star Wars William Silvers, who we also interviewed for the web magazine.  Bill has been doing original backgrounds for Disney and Industrial Light and Magic (for Star Wars) and has just begun creating a new series of traditional Disney images, as well as a super funky alternative design style he paints on paper called "birds nest", which really has to be seen in person to be believed.  Totally all about texture and speed, which is the opposite of the mat paintings.  Both express his artistic passion but in completely different ways.  His interview was so great, and I found he would be very inspiring to new artists and those reaffirming their commitment to their own vision.

While we were in LA we all went to the El Capitan theatre--where Citizen Kane made its debut in 1941, and saw the exhibit by Disney artist Andreas Deja that was part of the release of the movie "African Cats".  He created images in watercolor (some of which were turned into limited editions) of a variety of African wildlife, with a portion of proceeds to benefit the African Wildlife Foundation.  I interviewed Andreas about his career and heard some great stories and trivia and the video is on the web magazine!

For more information about these artists you can call me or check them out online on our gallery site, as we add new art, and each of the interviews we've done!  And of course,  we'll always add more information and interviews as we find them or conduct them!  Some of the artists we just interviewed aren’t quite ready to be seen yet (Disney gets the first OFFICIAL eyeball) so just keep checking back and we’ll have new surprises showing up often now!

Lastly, the folks over at Pixar allowed a few interpretations of their films by Disney interpretive artists, and we got to sell some of the originals--we were very pleased with their images, and since many of these artists are our friends, we love to see the excel.  Check these images out!  They are also on our site, so if you’re into Pixar movies, go look at what is available from your fave Pixar release...(mine are Monsters Inc, Ratatouille, and Wall-E)

Comic-Calm: How to Survive San Diego

DO YOU FEEL INSANE TRYING TO GET PREPARED FOR SDCC? TRY NEW CALM-I-CON!

I'm imagining a commercial for some new drug made especially for us gallery owners who are freaking out about the HP con and the San Diego Comic-Con.  

You know, maybe Jon Favreau or Kevin Smith is the spokesman, and it's called 

"CALM-I-CON "....

Kevin Smith says, "Use new Calm-i-Con for "CON STRESS"  Side effects include patience, a wicked sense of humour, and an ability to get everything done in less time than you ever thought possible!

Because when your partner of 10 years says you're "ill tempered" and that you should "have a drink", its time to take stock about just how much con stress is oozing into your interactions with the ones you love...

Mind, i'm aware i'm not brokering peace in the middle east, I mean, i sell cartoons for a living after all...but the folks who broker peace in the middle east DO buy from me, (umm, well, at least one of them does) and so i know animation, illustration, and film art is important in at least one way that inspires and motivates me to find as many new and interested clients as i can: the art i sell can reframe someone's day in seconds, pull them from the intensity of their work day, be that peace talks, experimental brain surgery, wall street trading, or 3 screaming toddlers.  

My personal experience with the power of animation and film art is from when my sister was killed.  I was told about her car accident while i was at work.  (which i wouldn't recommend...the gallery had a pall over it for a long time even the most insensitive of foot traffic could discern) At first, for about six months or so, I could barely look at the cels of Winnie the Pooh, Bugs, etc.  It was like they were mocking my grief.  At the time I remember wishing i worked anywhere else...but within a few months after that i starting really understanding the power of the art.  It was like the movie "Sullivan's Travels". (google, imdb, or watch that if you don't know the reference..it's worth your time. Joel McCrea and Veronica Lake, directed by Preston Sturges) No one could ever talk me out of the power i believe cartoon and film art has to bring people joy and a feeling of warm nostalgia.  Even the art from Alien and Blade Runner does that!

The point is I take selling this art, and my place in this corner of the art community very seriously, and I'd certainly rather be the one to bring the above mentioned joy than one of my competitors, not because i aim to own a house in Hawaii, but because we give to charity, tend to be less hard sell, strive to educate our clients and have really wonderful partnerships with the artists and collectors/folks from whom we buy art.  To be found and appreciated by new clients is a huge part of success in small business.  

Well, the cons are a major part of finding new clients.  In my case, they are also a way of educating them.  I'm going to be presenting or taking part in 3 classes and panels relating to Harry Potter, one shows the history and design of the official art released by Warner Brothers of Harry Potter, and one is a workshop where we're storyboarding 

either HP fan fiction or scenes from Deathly Hallows.  I'm also on an HP panel at Comic-Con (which i'm excited about.  We get special stinking badges) So this stuff requires preparation, packing up, compiling, shipping...Oh. We also got 2 worldwide exclusives, AND our gallery is the only one in the whole of Comic-Con that will have original art by John Alvin, which is getting harder to find by the day!  So there's the preselling, (don't want my current fabulous clients to get wadded undergarments)...

sidebar:  The weirdest thing about my job is as i'm building the website, writing our blog, twittering, facebooking, finding new art and artists, interviewing for my videos, creating new educational series vids, etc, i remember...

oops.  I'm supposed to SELL ART!  

Anyway, this lead me to being so stressed out some of my clients/friends came to the gallery in a sort of cartoon art sales intervention, and went about the place doing my bidding so i could get everything done in time.  Did i mention there are only two of us?  Which leads me to ask, why do small businesses that only have a few people running it pretend they have a huge staff?  Why isn't it more impressive that everything runs and is successful with only a few making it all happen?  Doesn't that prove the business runs well and smartly and as a client you'll be dealing directly with ONE WHO KNOWS THE ANSWERS?  I love that we don't have a bunch of people working for us.  (except in the last few days!) 

There are only a few of us in the animation and illustrative art sales business doing truly well at this moment.  Two of them are run by trust fund babies.  In our gallery there isn't a cash infusion waiting in case we make bad choices or no one shows up.  But our clients DO show up.  And they tell their friends.  And people find us on the web.  (working on our site!  know its hard to maneuver!   please just call me if you can't find what you want...as god/goddess is my witness, we are soon  going to have a site that is educational AND easy and searchable!)

Meanwhile, tell your friends.  Watch my vids relating to HP...    We loved  the different cool t shirts we created that my little sister and I wore--the one that says "hey, fan boy, soap is sexy" was created by a client as a gift.   

Wish me luck. Don't worry.   I'll be taking my "Calm-i-con"

L

Celebration 5

Today Michael and I are running around like lunatics getting ready to drive to Florida to take part in our 3RD convention this summer, Star Wars Celebration 5.  

For those of you who have been sleeping inside a Tauntaun for the last 30 years, it’s the anniversary of Empire Strikes Back this year, since it was released in 1980...

So for the 5th official time on US soil, LucasFilm is throwing a con/party to celebrate, and all manner of cool geekasm inducing doodads and thingimajigs are being offered for sale exclusively there--and as you may have seen in my “Instant Insights” section of our webmagazine site, George Lucas will be there being interviewed by Jon Stewart as “The Main Event”.  

What the jabba the hut will we be doing there?  We will have a booth offering the official art of Star Wars--that is to say the art that was commissioned by LucasFilm for use as posters, books, limited editions, etc., by artists who have been working for them-- some since the movies were released, some who have only recently been interpreting the stories...

The coolest things about our being there:

1. we will be representing the art of John Alvin.   If you don’t yet know who he is, check out our fan site at www.johnalvinart.com or see him on imdb.  you can also read all about him and his importance to the history of Star Wars and film in general at rebelscum.com, where i did an interview with Andrea Alvin, his wife, who will be there with us to meet John’s fans and help carry on his legacy by displaying all his gorgeous original work from Star Wars still on the market (not much!) and some from other films too!  I am completely honored to be representing John’s original art worldwide and also honored to have an exclusive limited edition of the art he painted as he was contemplating what he would do for an official poster for C5, which he was asked to do before he passed away unexpectedly.  We don’t have much of his art on our site yet, because our new one is SO new, but i can send pictures when we get back if anyone is interested in what might still be available for purchase at that time.  The limited edition is $150 and there are only 100 of them.  There are also some new limited editions of his work at the Acme booth...
3. We got art from Randy Martinez, who will be at our booth during the con every day, and his work is gracing every promo, every event poster, magnets, postcards, even a beachtowel.  His work melds Star Wars with Florida life, and Steve Sansweet, who KNOWS his art, bought some of the originals.  We’ll have most of the others there!  We love Randy, and Randy was a close friend of John Alvin’s, so there’s definitely some symmetry there.  
4. We got art by William Silvers and Christian Waggoner (#1 most collected limited edition artist for LucasFilm official art!) of Star Wars imagery, and it’s the first time anyone who wants to buy art by those artists have had access to it, because George buys almost everything they’ve ever done.  Finally we’ve gotten access to a few!!  First time ever, so even for those who can’t afford it, it’ll be exciting to see them in person.  Christian will be there, and he promises to come by our booth from time to time!
6. We get to have access to all the special items available at the Celebration store--like the Wampa with detachable arm and the Eau Lando--want to see what they’re selling?  GO HERE.
8. Little did we know when we signed up to be part of Celebration that we get passes to “The Main Event” with George and Jon by having a booth.  Otherwise we’d have to stand in line starting the night before--(and don’t think we wouldn’t!) Oh BOY!!!!
10. We just found out some special guest is coming to the exhibition hall early on Friday morning and “it would behoove us to be there, because we don’t want to miss it”...???  The anticipation is killing us!  We’ll keep you posted...

We are very excited.   More updates soon, on this blog...Wish the force being with us!!!

Leslie and Michael

Infinitus

Here at Infinitus it’s like MAGIC!  Time stands still.  In good ways and in bad ways...

We are here from ArtInsights at the Harry Potter convention Infinitus at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.  There are 2700 convention attendees of the best fans in all fandom!

  

Two days before we (my little sister Coco and I, who drove from Washington DC) got here, we were framing like lunatics (or should i say Michael was!), writing press releases, making sales from our “Marvel vs. DC” show, figuring out what to wear in the Florida heat/convention air conditioning, making up price lists, and of course, despairing of ever seeing the official art we got for the show--which was with Mary GrandPre to be signed, having just been printed and given the go ahead--

but wait.  let’s rewind...

We have been working on finding something super special for this convention, partly because i had made such great friends and clients last year, partly because it was the opening of Wizarding World only a tiny bit before (on June 18th, the day Michael and I got married, we like to think the opening was in honor of our wedding!) and we’d been working for some time on it.  Through a series of happy coincidences and friendships we discovered Tommy Lee Edwards had some original art he’d done for the 1st movie, which is just about unheard of!  So I planned a trip to his house so i could see the art in person, and wound up loving him and his family (actually a prerequisite for my selling art in my gallery...no matter how awesome it is.)  So he said I could take it, trusting i’d find the right people to sell it to--they had to be real fans!

So we had some really special art tucked away--which turned out to be a good thing when the art we were expecting to get in time for the show got pulled so they could release it at the movie premiere!  Oh, well...Back to begging and pleading for something --one piece--we could release as a special image for the HPWW opening.  Enter my friend at Clampett Studios (who is connected with Warner Brothers) and her saying “well, there’s this one piece, but it doesn’t have a character in it.” 

I got a bit hopeful said “send it along and let me see it, i’m sure it’s lovely!”  Sure enough, she sends it, I see it, and--in the words of a Potterhead, “SQUEE!!!”  (that means, wow, cool!  it’s the sound of a tweener shrieking...) 

I WAS SO EXCITED!  and really honored that i got to actually get a piece for Infinitus.  It means Warner Brothers, or at least Ruth Clampett, believes in the value and importance of the Harry Potter fans.  Enough that they would put out a special piece for 1. the opening of Wizarding World and 2. Infinitus.  

So...between the art we got from Tommy and the special Mary GrandPre art, we decided to drive down to Florida instead of flying (because you can lose it, and it is insured, but we want them in the hands of fans, not in some baggage claim!!)

We are having an amazing time, and the fans are incredible, and i’ve met and now INTERVIEWED!! Christian Coulson (Tom Riddle and tons of great English tv/film/and he’s also an amazing) have seen Chris Rankin again, (lovely as usual) met this awesome gal who represents Jim Dale (voice who read the HP books, amazing guy) and aforementioned awesome gal shows up this morning with gorgeous hand painted HP shoes to see the gallery.  

Interviewed Chris Rankin about the 7th movie and his future plans.  He’s been wonderful here, fans love him!  As to Christian Coulson...pretty.  which belies the brains that noggin houses...hardly seems fair.

The special piece has been selling like crazy and today has been brisk for not only it but all of Mary GrandPre’s limited editions and some lovely originals by Tommy Lee Edwards have found happy homes!  if any of you are interested in the special Hogwarts piece, email me atartinsights@gmail.com, because you’ll have to be added soonish to make sure you get one!

2009 Year-End Animation Round-Up

This afternoon, on January 1st, 2010, i was staring at the fire in our fireplace, and started thinking about the movies i'd seen this year.  I realized what an incredible year 2009 has been for animation features.  When I think of all the artistic expression and talent poured onto the screen,  i feel very proud to be a part of that world, and it fills me with excitement for the future of animation.  From Pixar's poignant "UP", to the gorgeous yet thoroughly creepy movies "Coraline" and "9", the beautifully executed and charming "Fantastic Mr. Fox" and reinvigorations and reinventions of 2D classic animation of Miyazaki's "Ponyo" and Disney's "The Princess and the Frog", this year in animation has been absolutely amazing.  Such talent and beauty should be lauded, rewarded, and thoroughly appreciated, and the aforementioned movies were just the major releases.  Imagine what they were doing at the universities and in studios across the world…

I started selling animation art in 1988, right before the "new golden age" at Disney, with "The Little Mermaid", "The Lion King", and the other new classics.  Of course, i've been a fan of cartoons my whole life, starting all the way back to when i lived in Positano, Italy and Paris, France.  All the Disney movies and many of the cartoon shorts showed there, teaching me early that animation was universal.  At my gallery ArtInsights I get daily affirmation of the universality of animation with the visitors we get  from places like China, Finland, Scotland, and Indonesia, who know the characters  Cinderella, Mickey Mouse, and Bugs Bunny, among others...  In the time i've been selling and promoting the art of the animated film, the industry has changed significantly.  I have watched the Pixar revolution alter the way computer animated cartoons are seen and appreciated, Stop motion animation has gained respectability through the genius of Henry Selick and Tim Burton.  More and more traditional film directors are embracing animation films as part of their filmography, attempting to articulate their aesthetic through the medium, as Wes Anderson did to great success this year with The Fabulous Mr. Fox.  The same is true for actors and actresses now actively choosing to voice characters in animated films.  Of course the financial proposition of creating a successful feature length animation film means getting the biggest names involved as possible, but clearly enthusiasm by these big names to be considered or thought of first for starring roles has increased as the artistry of these films has become more universally accepted.  

As to the movies themselves, they are as real and deep, as or perhaps more filled with meaning as their live action counterparts.  I'd love to see at least one of these movies listed in the best film oscar category.  I have my own favorites….I have a lot of loyalty to "The Princess and the Frog", having interviewed several of the lead animators and loving New Orleans as I do.  The backgrounds and visual effects in this movie were more beautiful than even i was expecting.  Every song was great, and the leads were wonderful, especially Anika Noni Rose.  I can't believe the box office totals haven't been higher, as witness the great disparity between it and the new chipmunks "Squeakwal", although i'll have to say i haven't seen it and probably won't see it…call me a cartoon snob, i admit it.  I'm hopeful the international sales will be much higher and will lead to its ultimate success, because a lot is riding on it, no less than the future of 2D animation at Disney.  Coraline is spectacular in every way, and although it creeped the hell out of me, I think i could watch that movie 100 times.  The colors were vibrant, the story flowed easily, and there were layers of meaning that allow both children and adults to walk away in contemplation, and the movie stays with you.  I think Coraline will be much like Nightmare Before Christmas in it's longevity and cult to mainstream following.  This places Henry Selick even higher in my esteem as a director.   "UP" was interesting in that I went to see it more because I had to than any genuine enthusiasm for the storyline or visual appeal,  but walked out shocked at how wonderful and deep it was. Visually stunning, yes, even more so than Wall-E, and more colorful, although that was in part the difference in story.  The fact that Ed Asner, an actor i respect and love, was one of the leads also got me to the movie theatre, and as usual, he was not a disappointment.  There was a poignancy to his story, and such growth in his character.  I loved that, because he was older, so that was a great lesson to older viewers, as well as a goal to stay open for younger ones.   

"9", "Ponyo", and "Fantastic Mr. Fox" point to the power of auteur directors and their skill of storytelling.  FIrst time feature director Shane Acker, Japanese national treasure Hayao Miyazaki, and independent darling Wes Anderson are the artists responsible these three films, and they definitely brand these releases with their unique aesthetics.  Miyazaki is responsible for some of the best animated films to come out of Japan.  Although his movies have never been seen as "just animation" in his home country, his studio has a huge share in the responsibility for expanding the acceptance and love of the animated feature film worldwide. Not all his cartoons have been revoiced for english audiences, but more and more of them have plans in that direction as they are released.  (his two most recent movies are Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke) Having the long standing personal label as "the Japanese Walt Disney", it makes sense that Disney has been collaborating for some time now with his Ghibli Studio.  Wes Anderson is known for his independent live action films like Bottle Rocket, Rushmore, and The Royal Tenenbaums.  One of my favorite directors Martin Scorsese is a big fan of his movies, and he is in crowded company, so the fact that he has added a stop motion animated movie to his filmography is exciting.  It means he thought it was an important addition, a way to expand his knowledge of filmmaking, and he'd be right.  I think his love of the craft, the fun he has creating all his movies, shows on the screen for the entirety of Fantastic Mr. Fox.  Shane Acker is a first time feature animation direction with 9. Time will tell if he will be the hot director many believe he's destined to become, but he sites influences German animator Christoph Lauenstein and the Czech artist Jan Svankmajer, who also inspired Tim Burton and Terry Gilliam, so that's a good sign for his future, and a sign of his dedication to learning and expanding his artistic perspective.  He was involved in all aspects of the feature, very auteur, but supposedly very collaborative as well.  I forgive the confusing ending for the gorgeousness of the movie as a whole.  

Also in 2009, animation made two big splashes in the art world. The one man retrospective show at MOMA, "Tim Burton", is the largest show ever to feature a filmmaker's art (http://www.moma.org/ interactives/exhibitions/2009/ timburton/ ). The largest collection of original animation art ever featured in a museum show is at the New Orleans Museum of Art, in "Dreams Come True: Art of the Classic Fairy Tales from the Walt Disney Studios"  (http://www.noma.org/dreams. html).  

My experience of and desire for animation being seen as real art stems from the many times people new to ArtInsights in the years we've been open and after 30 seconds in the gallery, do a 360 degree twirl and ask, "are there any galleries with FINE ART in the center?".   I've also been shuffled from department to department when sending press releases to the Washington Post:  from the arts section to the movie section to the children's and back again…We once had Marc Davis and Mary Costa, one of the most famous animators in the history of Disney, a Disney "Legend",  and animator of Maleficent, and the voice of Sleeping Beauty herself, and we didn't even get listed in the arts calendar.  That was about 10 years ago.  This last year has given me more expectation of the art form being accepted as a whole.  I am a little surprised, however, at how little press the show in New Orleans got.  When John Lasseter said he wanted the next big show featuring art from the animation research library inside Disney, where more than 60 million pieces of original animation from the history of Disney are stored and catalogued, to be held at MOMA, he knew what he was talking about.  The amount of press the Tim Burton show got surpassed the NOMA show by about a factor of 100!

Now would be the time to say that, as Oscars go, i'm rooting for UP and Coraline.  I loved The Princess and the Frog, and urge you to see and support it, even though Disney is big business, not independent.  Supporting 2D going forward is supporting the melding of the old and the new, the hands on artistry with the innovative.  UP, though not as much my long term personal favorite as Wall-E or Monsters Inc, featured a story that fearlessly showed loss, grief and neglect, as well as families made, not born.  It was flawlessly acted and visually stunning.  and funny.  I want it to get at least nominated for the Oscar.    Coraline is so quirky and yet so beautiful.  I absolutely predict it will be a longterm favorite and its fans will grow steadily over the years.  If it gets nominated or wins best movie, i'd be beyond pleased.  I'm so excited about what the release of these movies in 2009 means for the industry.  

Note to directors, both new and established:  Animation can be part of your the future in the movie industry.  You can bring whatever you want to it.  

It can be creative….artistic…fearless… funny…innovative….  

But i've been saying that for years.

 L.