Persistence of Vision: Aaron Blaise

Apologies to Mr. Blaise for copping his title. How could someone not be inspired by this man?

Aaron Blaise is an accomplished and amazing artist, animator and filmmaker who has been extremely generous in sharing his work, insights and advice on his website The Art of Aaron Blaise (www.creatureartteacher.com)   Aaron Blaise has produced beautiful work on films such as Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Mulan and Brother Bear which he directed. 

All artists are always trying to learn, grow, build up on what they have spent years mastering.  Whatever motivates the artist,  there are always stumbles and outright obstacles.   Every now and then, the artist finds an oasis of information or inspiration that can help keep him/ her going.  Aaron's online advice is certainly one. 

One of the most important things about the art process is that it's not so much "what you do" but "how you think" about your work.    This is one of the greatest areas of advice you will find on Aaron Blaise's website or Youtube channel. 

His advice is clear, accessible and most important, sincere.   

If you want to improve your knowledge of art, painting, composition, animation or filmmaking,  go to his website, you will not be disappointed. 

The clip above left a considerable impression on me as it was a testament to the amazing things you can do when you find it in yourself to persist and keep moving forward.   There are good things in the world, there is magic that you, yourself can make.  It's there if you can persist. 

"...persist.  Persist in your art, persist in life, persist in creating beauty for everyone else.  It's our job to make someone else's life better."   - Aaron Blaise

Thank you for your efforts and inspiration, Aaron. 

Shigeo Fukuda (福田 繁雄) - Graphic Design: 30% Dignity, 20%, Beauty, 50% Absurdity

A recent graphic design assignment has availed me to discover and rediscover some great artists in graphic design.  Shigeo Fukuda being one of them. 

Victory 1945 is perhaps one of his best known works.  Awesome, simple and effective commentary.


Fukuda has a very stark and compelling sense of design that could make someone say, "a Japanese Saul Bass"  but Fukuda takes it one step further.

Using planes that are clearly flat and 2D with subjects which had undeniable weight and volume make them greatly appealing.

Some his work compels the eye to travel so well the images border on being animated.

Fukuda was quoted, "I believe that in design, 30% dignity, 20% beauty, and 50% absurdity are necessary.  Rather than catering to the design sensitivity of the general public, there is advancement in design if people are left to feel satisfied with their own superiority, by entrapping them with an optical illusion." 

Inspiration.

Post #100.

Good timing.   Much of what has inspired us has come from the sharing of others.  As artists, we starve to expand not only our "visual vocabulary" but our academic understanding of technique, theory or process.    All artists have had an experience where that "one little tidbit" of information if not set them on the right path, got them over a tremendous hurdle in improving themselves.  

Every single action we do has an affect on others.  The smallest act you do might have tremendous impact on other people.  It's my hope to simply inspire and  share some of what has inspired me over the years.  Pardon any semblance of vanity as I post sketches or drawings from my sketchbook.  Only the result of inspiration at work.

"Impression without expression equals depression."-  Walt Stanchfeld.

A great inspiration of mine is Peter De Seve.  I can't say he has been a major influence, but he does subscribe to much of what I find inspirational.  Peter de Seve has been an illustrator for The New Yorker and has been a character designer in animation for many years.  

Hero.

The photo above I shamefully swiped from Apple.com so I could make this post. As the icon landed on my desktop I saw that whoever named the file didn't label it with a random series of alpha-numeric characters. The file as was named: "Hero".

Steve Jobs, 1955 - 2011 was indeed one of the few true great innovators remaining from the 20th Century, perhaps the most culturally, technologically expansive centuries known to mankind.

American illustrator, J. Scott Campbell in his tweet about Jobs' passing called him, "the Walt Disney of technology". He is so right. Aside from his key role in the development of Pixar Animation, he like Disney, and many other visionaries, furthered the technology of his industry as well as the culture surrounding it.

When I think of the innovators I respect, I notice that they all have this in common: they have created their own universes and were driven by indomitable passion to follow the voice of what they felt to be important and what made them happy. Even when they failed (and think of those innovators you admire) ....failure didn't stop them.

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary." - Steve Jobs

An Oasis of Creativity

I have a tendency to run off at the mouth when I get excited about the things that inspire me. Kong Xi (Confucius) said, "Truth and sincerity never needs embellished words."

Michael Mundy, a great photographer, a great artist, a great human being has just that on his blog: truth and sincerity. And that is no embellishment.

Being creative can be frustrating as we as artists occasionally over analyze. Sometimes a dose of clarity in the form of inspiration can help clear that up.

http://anafternoonwith.com/

http://www.therefind.blogspot.com/