The Book of Life: 2D Flashback 002

Above: Some key color frames for the 2D bullfighting flashback

One of the key themes in The Book of Life was that the main star, Manolo, was unable to kill a bull in the ring. He did defeat a bull once however when it was struck by lightning. Which is the moment this key frame illustrates. Of course Manolo goes on to defeat the grandest bull of them all... with love.

Below: Some color day time color exploration.

SEA Concept Design Master Class

The final design without lettering. 

Recently I was asked to design a poster for a concept design class in Viborg, Denmark called "SEA." The master class took place between Feb 15th - March 1st 2014.

"SEA (South America – Europe – Asia) is a 2-week intensive concept development master class based on cooperation between three continents, each represented by the partners: Anima Mundi (Brazil), The Animation Workshop (Europe), and Office H (Japan). Together, the three partners aim to strengthen the network between the international animation industry and young concept development artists, across the three territories." From the SEA website.

Above: I submitted several design concepts, of which the above rough was chosen.

I felt the fish in the design should be based on several folk art styles... and should also be hand-made. To get more variety, I asked several artists to participate in the final artwork. 

Linocut by our visiting intern Sirid Garff

My paper-cut fish

... and watercolor by Bang-On Phothi-In

Sirid and On working on the linoleum block in our studio.

Animation Workshop Films 2014

It's that time of year for a new crop of short films from the amazing students of The Animation Workshop of Denmark! This last year I served as a story/design supervisor... and along with a group of very talented professionals helped guide the different student teams through the rigors of short film making.  The films speak for themselves! Enjoy!

 







Look for these and other TAW student projects on the official videosite HERE. 

Jingle Bells

A number of years ago I proposed a title sequence for a series of direct to DVD Christmas specials I was supervising in the Philippines.  My inspiration was classic Christmas card art. There was no real budget per say, so I proposed titles that would be inexpensive to produce, using lots of animation cycles, and panning artwork etc. Ultimately the studio decided to go in a different direction... and even though these are just rough sketches, there is something about them that I like.

All art copyright Tod Polson

Undercover Blues Trailer

While I was still in college I worked for a small animation company called CimityArts, ran by producer Barbara Cimity. Working in a small studio is the best training a young animator can have... and I recommend it to anyone starting out in the industry.  The fact that the crew is so small, you end up doing whatever comes in the door; animation, design, boards, ... even directing.

A section from my "Undercover Blues" trailer board.

One of my early assignments was the trailer for the family film "Undercover Blues." (1993) I was asked to art direct, and board the trailer. This was in the days before computers were really part of the production process... so we shot actual objects... and actual baby under camera. We had a "spare baby" stashed in back just in case the first one didn't work out.

During this period I was heavily influenced by the art of the amazing designer, Cliff Boule. Cliff sort of took me under his wing, and showed me the ropes production wise. At the time he was well known for his black paper pencil sketches.

I have a video copy of the trailer on 3/4" tape... one day I hope to transfer my old work to digital media... and will post the video at that time.

A Little Lindy

 As a youth the story of Charles A. Lindburgh inspired and captivated me. Through the years I have played around with the idea of making a short based on his first trans-Atlantic flight. A friend of mine even built a 3D model for me as reference. Recently I bought a balsa model of the "Spirit of St. Louis" with a 34 1/2 inch wing span!

In honor of "Ink-tober" I decided to post a few of many quick inspirational ink sketches I did for the project. In these sketches I tried to explore Lindy's inner thoughts and feelings rather than simply re-telling his story.

All images copyright tod polson

Pumpkin Miniatures

Above: Early concept sketches for "The Pumpkin of Nyefar."

I have long been an admirer of Persian and Turkish miniatures, and have always wanted to design a film in that traditional style. While researching "The Pumpkin of Nyefar" in Turkey years ago, I saw my opportunity, and made a number of small paintings inspired by the art I saw on tour. Much of my early concept art attempted to remain faithful to the style of the miniatures. But as the story of "Pumpkin" developed, and became more and more wacky. It was clear that the artwork needed to follow suit.

Above: Stills from "The Pumpkin of NyeFar. Character layouts by Mark Oftedal.

So instead of trying to replicate Turkish miniatures, I tried to create a look that better fit the story... but still contained elements of the miniatures that I so loved. One day I hope to have the opportunity to design a film that will allow me to explore this style further.

art © tod polson, film stills © tod polson and Mark Oftedal

A Noble dream fulfilled

Above: Mr. Noble at work in his home studio

Maurice had wanted to pass on his knowledge about animation design in book form for many years. Now with the help of many talented artists and friends, his dream is a reality.

"The Noble Approach" kindle version is now available for download HERE.

The hard bound copy of the book will be available after Oct. 1st 2013 HERE.

A Noble Effort- Article by Eric Molinsky

A nice article about one of my mentors; Maurice Noble... Put together by Eric Molinsky -Click on the arrow above to hear the article... Or read it... and see some of Maurice's art click HERE.

If you liked this article... check out Maurice's Biography

Stepping into the Picture: Cartoon Designer Maurice Noble by Robert J. McKinnon.

.. and Scott Morse's illustrated book, Noble Boy. 

My upcoming book based on Maurice's design notes... The Noble Approach: Maurice Noble and the Zen of Animation Design will be out in Oct. 2013

Facebook Icons

I

A while back I doodled some Facebook icons for my wife On, myself, and a dog named Rudolph. Embarrassingly I'm not sure what kind of dog Rudolph is... but he is an avid Facebook user... and quite a character.  -tod

all images copyright 2013 tod polson

The Noble Approach in print

"The Noble Approach"- Maurice Noble's design book is one step closer to getting out into the world. This week I received a pre-view copy from my publisher, Chronicle Books. Everything is on track for the Oct. 1st publication date.

The book is available for pre-order HERE!

F

It's hard to believe that it's been exactly twenty years since I finished my undergraduate degree. My final film project was called "F," and explored the Asian American experience of the early 20th century. Hopefully one day I will be able to transfer the project to digital format.

Above: Exploratory ink sketches from the film... inspired by artists such as Lynd Ward, and Rockwell Kent. It was "F" that led to a job with Chuck Jones, and Maurice Noble. Unknown to me, Maurice was also a huge fan of woodcut artists from the 1930's... and had been looking to train young artists that had influences outside of animation.

all images copyright Tod Polson

Dallas International Film Festival Interview

"Escape of the Gingerbread Man!!!" is still running the festival circuit, and was recently invited to screen at the 2013 Dallas International Film Festival. 

I had a chance to chit-chat about the film, and about story in general with Chad Jones. You can read the interview HERE. 

For those that haven't seen the film, an online version can be seen HERE .

To "The Monk Studio," "The Animation Workshop" and everyone who helped bring Ginger to life... thank you!

Indian Paintbrush and the SMK exhibit

-Recently I was asked to participate in an exhibition at the Statens Museum for Kunst, part of the National Gallery of Denmark in Copenhagen. The show is called "Flowers and World Views"... For my subject I chose to paint the Wyoming state flower... the Indian Paintbrush. 

Please read more about the exhibit here

Above: I made several versions of the painting, inspired by the badlands near my house in Wyoming. The badlands are in fact an ancient seabed... and fossils of fish, turtles, and even crocodiles can be found way up in the mountains. Once I picked a bouquet of Indian Paintbrush flowers for my grandmother, not knowing they were endangered, and illegal to pick. Luckily she was kind enough not to turn me in to the authorities. I've not picked them since. -tod

Bumpers 1

Long ago, in my 21st year I went on a summer internship creating bumpers for a major network. Bumpers are of course the short pieces of film that often come before and after a commercial break. The agreement with the studio was to create five approved bumpers for my internship. I had already produced several bumpers for the TV show "Home Improvement" during my school days... So I figured these bumpers wouldn't be too difficult. 

The key phrase was "approved" bumpers. My fellow interns and I kept pumping out ideas and sketches... which of course were never approved... because the studio was going to get as many ideas out of us as possible. Days turned into weeks... and weeks into months. Soon the summer was over with dozens of good bumper ideas... but still no approvals... for any of us. We left.

Above: Quick concept sketches for a proposed action/horror theater. The character would turn to camera and under his breath.... whisper "FOX!" 

The above sketches were inspired by the great Italian comic artist Paolo Eleuteri Serpieri.  A style I was still trying to grasp at the time. This series was one of many, many looks I tried out that summer. More examples of those to come...  tod

The Noble Approach FLIP interview

A great interview for Alex Williams of FLIP! regarding the making of Maurice Noble's design book " The Noble Approach." To check it out ... please click HERE.

Above: A few Maurice Noble images from the article.

"The Noble Approach; Maurice Noble and the Zen of Animation Design" is available for pre-order at Amazon.com

Gulls of Jutland

With the book nearly complete I have had a bit more time each morning to stretch my wings ... so to speak... working up some sketches just for fun. These particular sketches are inspired by a field of Black Headed Gulls I pass on the way to the Animation Workshop where I've been teaching the last few weeks. The gulls of Denmark are quite a bit different than most of the birds we observe in Thailand and Wyoming. Fascinating critters.