Background Layouts & Element Designs
Animation Illustration
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Background Layouts & Element Designs
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Animation Illustration
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The Care Bear Movie
Background Layouts & Object Designs |
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| On the strength of my illustration work, in 1984 I was hired by Nelvana, a Canadian animation company, as a freelance Background Layout Artist. I was one of several people brought in to work on 'The Care Bear Movie'.The sense of camaraderie and mutual support that developed between the artists was like none I have experienced before or since; although under pressure to work quickly to tight deadlines, the friendships that developed made it a wonderful, though at times chaotic, working environment. Perhaps it helped that we were all a bit loony.... Our supervisor, Ricardo, was an expert at diffusing tension and taking care of his staff; he made what was a stressful working situation a pleasure to be a part of. |
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During the period of my work on the film I gradually gained the confidence of my superiors and acquired more responsibilities — including the training and supervision of newer staff. I was also asked by the film's director to produce designs for various objects and things that would appear in the film, including a merry-go-round, a calliope, a vending cart, a magic cauldron, the runic text of a magic book, a stand for a magic book, etc. |
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Droids (Star Wars) TV Series
Background Layouts, Background & Object Designs |
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Everything that appears in a frame, whether animated or static must be designed, including vehicles, buildings (exterior and interior), scenery, objects, and even eating utensils. Initially Lucasfilm had one of their designers work with us to provide a sense of direction and continuity.The overall appearance of the series was intended to reflect the style of the popular French illustrator Mobius. Although some of our earlier concept illustrations employed the detailed linework and shading characteristic of Mobius, when the show entered production it was decided to scale this back for the final layouts and animation due to the excessive work required to achieve a true 'Mobius style'.During this period I was functioning as a member of two departments: Design and Layout. I also began working on the second Star Wars series being developed by Nelvana, 'Ewoks'. |
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Ewoks (Star Wars) TV Series
Background Layouts, Background & Object Designs |
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The art style chosen for Ewoks was softer and looser than that used for 'Droids', with the intent of reflecting the fun and 'natural' environment inhabited by the main characters.My design work for this production included the creation of some Ewok buildings and 'Ewok tech', such as the 'Single Pilot Glider' design below.Producing designs and background layouts for this production was a lot of fun. Once again, I had the pleasure of working with some great people. |
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This page was last updated October 19, 2004
Content copyright © 1980 to 2004 by Kevin Davies. All rights reserved. Images from The Care Bear Movie copyright © 1984 Nelvana. Images from Droids & Ewoks copyright © 1984 & 1985 Lucasfilm Ltd. |
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