Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Marc Davis, Fine Artist

Just got back from a party, where I saw Marc Davis'  wife Alice again. She looked great and was in good spirits.
So I thought I would post one of her husband's drawings, a sketch that I think qualifies as fine art.
I remember Alice giving it to me as a Christmas gift a few years ago. I know…lucky me!!

When I first visited the home of Marc and Alice Davis years ago I was literally overwhelmed.
Marc's art was (and still is) all over the house. Oil paintings, lithographs, watercolors…you name it, beautiful drawings and paintings done in a variety of techniques.
I remember asking Marc : " How can you animate Tinker Bell at the studio, then come home, and do Fine Art?"
His response was: " Well, I consider myself an artist first. As an animator I express myself in acting and graphic motion, as a painter I use different mediums to make a statement."

This sketch of a bull shows animation, realism with some abstractions, but most of all a thorough understanding of anatomy. Just stunning!

More on Marc Davis' Fine Art in future posts.



14 comments:

  1. Beautifully done. I'd love if someone published a book of some of Marc's personal art.

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  2. this is so great. have found you by luck and i love your work.

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  3. I really wish that I could draw women as good as Marc could.

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  4. Tinkerbell must have been such a fun character to animate. I wonder how he would feel about how the character is handled today in CGI and talking.

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    1. I would hope he would knock some people out, or fire them on the spot. It's absolutely HORRID what they've done with Tinker Bell. Pants? Talking? CGI?!?!? She started off as a beautiful, sexy, sassy, gesture-driven character. Her green dress is iconic in and of itself. And what do they do? Add words, robbing her of her once-expressive body-language-only sense of self, and put her in PANTS!!! Not to mention furthering the demise of 2D animation by opting to turn her into a CGI franchise. It just appalls me. I'm with you--- I wonder what Mr. Davis would think, and I sure as hell would hope he'd have never let it get this far off of his original design!

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    2. I agree. Its not so much the CGI that bothers me as much as the talking. However, I do wish they'd leave these classic characters alone. I like all mediums of animation. I prefer to animate traditionally and I think that the way Disney handled CGI, by which I mean, demolishing the 2D department instead of embracing both forms left a bad taste in our mouths towards CG.

      Back to Tinkerbell I completely agree with you on how they took the character away from her roots. The nonspeaking Tinkerbell said so much more than this version ever could.

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    3. Certainly they had to make her a 'role model' for girls the way they've changed her character. Nothing like the days when I though of Tink as a presenter myself (if only due to the familiar Disney anthology program I've watched on TV).

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  5. Wow, magnificent drawing :D And yes, I miss the classic Tink too...

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  6. Some times I think that I dream of Jeanie was inspired by Tinker Bell, and I wonder if the witch Endora in Bewitched inspired Madame Madusa. I agree with you guys on Tinker bell, only truly skilled artist seem to be able to capture the grace and beauty in the female characters, it takes a delicate touch some artist seem to run out of talent and are better at the more cartoony characters, putting pants on Tink, I know what are they they thinking.

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  7. Marc Davis was an incredible draftsman as well. His character designs are some of my favorite for how he boils down human anatomy to the simplest lines which still convey a wealth of information. His Briar Rose character is a fantastic example of this.

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  8. I met Mr. Davis years ago and I was just so awed by him. He was at a Disney store doing a special appearance. One of the questions he answered has always stuck with me....someone asked which of the recent DIsney films he thought DIsney might have disliked and his reply was Aladdin due to how easily the gags could become dated. Then Aladdin was fairly recent but I really see what he meant by watching it now.

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