In Which I Ruminate Upon Copying Other Artists And Finding Nemo

Plagiarism is a bad thing. I shouldn't have to say it, but some people in our society apparently don't understand that.

However, utilizing another's work for educational purposes is a great idea. Some don't think that's the case (well, he's kind of against the selling of copied art, which I agree with), but in art, at least, copying others has long been one of the best ways to learn things yourself. In fact, since 1793

[The Louvre] has allowed, even encouraged, artists to hone their skills by copying the masterpieces in its collections. Thousands have done so, including great classical painters from Turner to Ingres, Impressionists from Manet to Degas, and modernists like Chagall and Giacometti. “You have to copy and recopy the masters,” Degas insisted, “and it’s only after having proved oneself as a good copyist that you can reasonably try to do a still life of a radish.”

Of course, once you copy other peoples' stuff, you shouldn't go around selling it. Sometimes people will notice and sue you, and that's bad. It's also unethical. So, don't do it.

I have always loved looking at others' work. I love copying it from time to time, especially when I think it'll help me learn something valuable. I did that recently, from one of my favorite "Art of" books, "The Art of Finding Nemo."


I've mentioned before how much I love the artistic choices that went into Finding Nemo, primarily the way the color of the water was used to indicate the mood of the scene (and therefore, usually, the mood of Marlin, the father character). The concept art for the movie's color scripts were done in chalk pastel by Ralph Eggleston, who is awesome. I decided to practice my color and composition by copying some of them. Mine (of course) aren't perfect, but they accomplished their purposes by teaching me some new things about light and color.

For example, Marlin's translucence as a fish means that when light is shining through him, his fins, which are thin, will be lightened, while his body, which is thick, will be darkened. The blueness of the water and the orangeness of his body will turn his body into a nice, deep purple. Fascinating!

On the other hand, when trapped inside the whale, the light is no longer the bright sun shining through clear water. Instead, it is a low yellow, tempered by the blues of the baleen. What's the neatest to me, though, is the light reflection off of the whale's tongue onto Marlin's back fin. Also, the brightness of the outlines of Marlin and Dory, showing off their 'shininess' when they are in the air instead of the water.


The last one I did was mostly for color and composition. The murky green palette does a couple things. First, it's somewhat dank and dreary. No one likes green water, because it reminds you of the scummy, polluted, industrial water of cities and mucky ponds. You don't think of vitality there. Second, it emphasizes how far the tropical fish have come. Dory's bright blue and Nemo's bright orange stand in stark contrast to the green. They don't blend or match their surroundings. They are in a foreign place. The crab, on the other hand, is also a muted yellowy color, which shows that he's right at home where he is. Third, it diffuses the light in a neat way. Because they are swimming above/standing on a metal pipe, the light is reflecting slightly off of it, but only if you are close enough. That's why Dory gets a little bit of that reflection and the crab gets a lot. Nemo, however, doesn't get any. He's too far away for that reflected light to reach him.


So, go and copy! Copy, copy, and copy! Maybe you'll learn something, and then you'll create your own stuff that other people will copy, and copy, and copy!

Exhibits

Exhibit A: Ring-Tailed Lemur.

Exhibit B: Sifaka.

Some Various Things!

Haven't posted for a little while. Here are some things that have happened!

New Muppet Trailer!

Based on the one for The Hangover II.



First Rendered Still from Brave!

It matches well with the concept art, too:


On a similar note, an interview with Brenda Chapman, former director of Brave.

Wear a Helmet! (Even If You Look Stupid)

My Morning

This was basically my morning, except replace "school" with "work" and "Tuesdays" with "Wednesdays."

Muppet-Related Emissions

AAAAAHHH!

Muppet poster: released!

Muppet teaser trailer: released!

Contents of my bladder due to my excitement: released!*




*

A New Site!

Hello, people. I'm now a contributor to an Animation Mentor student sketch site, Spike's Sketch Squad. You should check it out! My first drawing is pasted below:

Chimpanzee: "Orang you glad I didn't say banana again?!"

A Little Animation

Today I was able to listen to a live question and answer session with two animators from Rio. It was really informative, especially when they discussed how they went about animating birds and how they keep animation from shot to shot consistent. During the discussion, I animated a lion yawning (because it's an interesting movement, not because I was bored...):

Wrong Incentive Much?

Seriously? This is supposed to stop me from using this urinal?


On a related note, Happy Belated Star Wars Day!

h/t Geekologie

The Father of Imbibing

Everyone already knows that George Washington is the man, what with telling the truth about chopping down that cherry tree, defeating the British, being made of radiation, and killing zombies. Apparently, that's not all. Our nation's first president was also a connoisseur of that fine early malt tradition. In his "Notebook as a Virginia Colonel" in 1757, the crazy hooligan added a recipe for "small beer." Described as "roasty" and with an aura of "coffee," the founder's brew is easy to make, so long as you know when the temperature is "Blood warm."

Anyone up for some celebratory brewing? Start now and it might be ready by the Fourth of July.

The recipe:

To make Small Beer
Take a large Sifter full of Bran Hops to your Taste. - Boil these 3 hours. Then strain out 30 Gallons into a Cooler, put in 3 Gallons Molasses while the Beer is scalding hot or rather drain the molasses into the Cooler & strain the Beer on it while boiling Hot. Let this stand till it is little more than Blood warm. Then put in a quart of Yeast if the weather is very cold, cover it over with a Blanket & let it work in the Cooler 24 hours. Then put it into the Cask - leave the Bung openhole open till it is almost done working - Bottle it that day Week it was Brewed.

Last WWI Combat Vet Dies

Wow--it truly is the end of an era. The last combat veteran of World War I, Claude Choules, has died in Australia. How crazy, to see something like that happen. I remember an estimate that there were 65 million combatants in World War I. Someone had to be the last to survive. Mr. Choules was it.

Reflecting on his 108-year life back in 2009, Mr. Choules told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that "I had a pretty poor start. But I had a good finish."

And, as expected, the Great War, which began with the shots heard around the world, has passed with barely a whisper.