The Venice Chronicles - Enrico Casarosa

Quick Facts:

Title: The Venice Chronicles

Author:  Enrico Casarosa

Where to buy: Amazon

Number of Pages: 144

Type of Book: Autobiographical Comic/Art Collection book

Review

I picked this book after seeing Mr. Casarosa at his SIGGRAPH presentation for his Pixar short “La Luna”. His presentation held many of his illustrations, and I became enamored of his fun style, as well as his skillful use of textures and coloring.

When I got the book in the mail, the first thing that struck me was how gorgeous this book is. The weight, the feel of the hardcover, the slight raise of the lettering on the cover, this was just a joy to view and hold.  So I of course quickly judged the book by its cover and dove straight into the pages.

This book was especially touching to me personally because my heart seems intertwined with Venice. I visited it once when I was going through a period of depression. I was surprised when I visited how quickly I fell for the city. Thoughts that had been plaguing me for months fled my mind and I found myself wearing a true smile. My heart was lifted and I felt myself floating throughout the city.

An example of the pages found within

There was so much love in this one day trip for me that my fiancé and I decided to spend our honeymoon there.

There could not be a more perfect book to curl up with as I try to de-stress from wedding planning. It reminds me of all I will look forward to during this time, a nice relaxing trip with my loved one, to be filled with new and unique memories.

Mr. Casarosa’s book is a travel log of this joyous city. He manages to capture the wondrous details one may take for granted, and presents his memories in a gentle and touching way. The pacing jumps around a bit, but it isn’t something that detracts from the read. It in fact reminded me of the rush one gets when traveling, the speed one wishes to capture those fleeting moments. I finished the book in one sitting, but I keep going back to it to stare at his art. Aside from documenting his trip to Venice he also speaks of his blossoming romance with his girlfriend. To keep the story going, his character directly addresses the reader and interacts with his shoulder angels.

His angels speak of many issues artists deal with, and its nice to be reminded on how every artist doubts themselves at times.

I'm sure LOTS of people will enjoy it!

I know I did! And I am glad this  got published, it’s a proud addition in my library. Thank you!

An Animation Mentor Eager Beaver

This year SIGGRAPH took place in Vancouver, Canada. What a welcome change from the dreadful heat and drought of Houston, Texas. SIGGRAPH was a joy as always, however it did seem a bit smaller than the past years I have attended. A lot of film companies were notably absent(most were at the job fair, but not in the exhibition hall), and there seemed to be less in terms of emerging technologies and even the art gallery felt smaller. In either case, it was still a lot of fun getting to meet like-minded individuals and check out the talks.

Instead of going day-by-day, and describing every waking detail, I will just highlight the events that left the largest impression on me (in no particular order).

PROJECT SKYLINE

Steven Roselle presenting Project Skyline

This project was probably the one that got me the most excited, in terms of OMG THAT WOULD BE SO COOL TO WORK WITH. I even went to two of the presentations since the first time I walked in it was halfway finished. First, I am not a gamer. I adore video games, don’t get me wrong, I just avoid playing them as I get hooked so easily. With that being said, I haven’t really considered being in the video game industry, but my current company is attempting to start one up, and this tool would be so awesome for animators, companies, and programmers.

It makes the workflow so much cleaner and easier for the animators to check on how their animations work during gameplay.

Visit the following link for more info:

Steven’s The Area Blog

LA LUNA

I didn’t go to many production sessions (I would always just miss them!) but the one I couldn’t miss was the La Luna Production Session. These past months I have been jealous of all lucky enough to have seen this short, and I couldn’t believe I would have to wait until Brave is released next year.  Thus, imagine my glee upon hearing I too would be lucky and get to view this short film in its entirety. The wait in line was so worth it, and we, my companions(Chely Ho , Josh Anderson ) and I, were lucky enough to snag seats front mid center. Enrico Casarosa introduced his short film, and it was just so captivating. I won’t spoil anyone here, but the atmosphere in the film is just magical.

Enrico went on to talk about his inspiration for the story, his grandfather and father, the lighting, and the textures. He went on to describe how they would hand paint most of the textures and add some water colors for the background and how he pushed his film to be as tactile as possible.

Throughout most of his presentation he showed sketches that he drew, and they were lovely and fun. If you can check out his books! Here’s a link to one below.

The Venice Chronicles

I just hope a book on The Art of La Luna is released! There was so much in that presentation that would be worth seeing again!

EXPO HALL + SWAG

View of the Expo Hall

First day the expo hall opened, I went to buy the one thing I said I would buy. Pixologic’s Zbrush! I was the first person to buy a copy and got an awesome hat to go with it. Below is the image of my swag I was able to get by purchasing Zbrush as well as from the kindness of a super nice booth attendant by the name of Mike.

Two hats, a scott spencer creature book, and of course, Zbrush

No trip to SIGGRAPH is complete without bearing witness to the loooong line(I am sure there’s some youtube videos on it..OH WAIT Here’s one!) that forms for Renderman’s famous teapots.  Most people partaking in the line feel that its a bit silly, but if you’ve been to past SIGGRAPH’s and you have the past teapots…it is now impossible to stop your collection. As can be noted by the following image:

Left to right: 2008, 2011, 2009

I am only collecting those for the years I am able to attend SIGGRAPH, it makes it feel a bit more special and personal. I do wish I had the 2007 one though!

Some other interesting pieces of SWAG can be found below, I am particularly fond of Prime Focus’  decision in handing out these exquisite Ganesha figures.  I was also amazed at the lovely book by Animation Magazine that was being given away, its filled with all of their covers over the past decades. How it fills my heart with nostalgia.

Various items from the expo hall

PATHS OF HATE

This film won the jury award at SIGGRAPH, and it does indeed blow you away! It’s by Platige Image, a studio that has always produced top notch short films and a mastery of the craft. Paths of Hate blows you away with the fluidity of the planes weaving through the clouds. The style of the short really draws the viewer in, and the drama just continues to increase even through the credits.

Damian Nenow’s talk at the autodesk booth was amazing. He went through his WHOLE process, clearly and concisely. He even gave a quick tutorial on how he did the clouds! I won’t describe too much more as you can just watch him at the link below(THANKS AUTODESK)!

Paths of Hate Production Session Link

SIGGRAPH DAILIES

Most of us had no idea what this event was, as it was introduced in 2010, but it sounded really interesting so we decided to go ahead and see it. I am so glad we did! The atmosphere was so fun! From professionals, to students, to fine artists, to engineers, they all had 90 seconds to present their work. It was a lot of fun, and it was great work! You could feel the joy in the room as well as the support everyone had for each other. It was very inspirational and I know it inspired my friends to try to take part in one in the future.

Below is an example of the format so you can get a better idea.

Terrene Backstory: SIGGRAPH Dailies! Entry

ANIMATION MENTOR

Animation Mentor Booth at SIGGRAPH

Throughout the Animation Mentor event’s I felt like Beaker from the Muppets. My eyes were wide, and there was so much going on and so much joy in my heart I feel like all I said during this time was a quiet Meep Meep! I was overwhelmed by the number of people and how everyone just seemed so happy.  Everyone was really nice too, helping me feel very welcome and a part of this large group. Most everyone I spoke to were alumni’s or close to graduating, and it was VERY helpful to hear their stories and their tips(especially reassurances that it is possible to go to work FT as well as do AM). It was very nice to see and hang out with everyone in the after parties, the food on Wednesday was super delicious as a side note!

Thank you in particular Bobby M, as well as Liz, Edwin, John, Erin, Ken, and Eray for making me feel so welcome! I wish you all greatness in all of your future endeavors!

VANCOUVER

Outside the Convention Center

I’ll admit it, I fell in love with Vancouver. I want their summer weather (but from what I hear, we went when it was especially gorgeous). I loved how we could walk anywhere and explore, the first day we went for a short visit to Granville Island & Public Market. Ahaha I stuffed my face.

I really felt at home in the Gastown district. The lighting when you walked down at night made it feel magical, and the structures gave you the feeling that you were living in another time. Here we ate at the Spaghetti Factory a couple of times, and how I wish I could take all of my friends and family to sample their ice cream. Here I also bought my red panda hat, which I did wear Wednesday night as I probably will never wear it again here in Texas.

The Magic of Gastown

The last night we were there we also got to see a scene from Supernatural, the tv series, being filmed. It was a great experience and I wish we could’ve had more time in Vancouver, and at SIGGRAPH.

All in all, it was great fun, and if you ever get the chance to attend, please do! These were just snippets, and just LOOK at the size of this post ; ) So much more I didn’t get to see and do, but that’s why SIGGRAPH always leaves me wanting more!

Hope to see you next year!

Peace-Burial at Sea, 1841 - J.M.W Turner

Over the summer of 2010 I was able to visit the Museo del Prado with my family. I’ll be honest, I mainly wanted to go as I had just seen a huge banner displayed across the top of the museum with one of J.M.W Turner’s paintings. I gaped at it, my heart going to my throat in excitement. Sure enough, as I read the title, it was an exhibition staring one of my favorite artists. The exhibition was titled “Turner y los Maestros”. Turner and the Masters.

I had no idea what to expect, but I did know I just HAD to go to it. I pleaded to my parents that the extra fee would be worth it. This was an exhibit meant for me! I just knew it! For you see, Turner has always been one to capture my imagination and my respect with his pieces such as Rain, Steam, and Speed. They agreed, and I bounced up and down in glee, and hugged them tightly. I couldn’t wait to see what I was to find through the museum’s doors.

I will begin by admitting a part of me was dissapointed with the exhibition. It’s not that I didn’t love seeing all the grand artworks put on display, however I was hoping to see more of Turner’s later work, which is my personal favorite and often considered his best by critics.

Instead, I was met with Turner’s early work. Not only was it his early work, but the exhibit was clearly shown to be a competition between Turner and the painters he was inspired from. Turner’s painting would hang next to the grand master he was attempting to imitate, and it was up to you to decide who “won”. I learned that Turner was fiercely competitive and would constantly challenge himself and his contemporaries by stealing and copying and adding his own twist to the image.

The Deluge, 1664 - Nicolas Poussin

The Deluge, 1805 - J.M.W Turner

In most cases, especially when a human face was involved, I chose the master’s version. There were some versions of course, where Turner triumphed, but my heart fell because I was hoping to see an exhibition in which Turner shined. I wanted my parents to see why Turner was so amazing, to prove to them that this was an artist worth respecting.  I could see how my parents eye also fell to the master’s piece and how they tended to choose them over Turner. There were very few paintings that displayed his strength, and I left the exhibit feeling a vague sadness in my soul. It wasn’t until my dad spoke up that I realized how foolish I was being.

“I can see why you like him,” He started “He sure did a lot in his life! You can see how he was growing, practicing, and learning from all those paintings!”

There.

There it was, the glow in my heart was back. My love for Turner grew even brighter as my father’s words hit me. Of COURSE he wasn’t a master painter right away. It took time, and what we just saw were paintings that took up all of that time in between student and master. With each painting one could see where his strength was, atmosphere. Each of his paintings that, when compared to the master’s, won was because of how he captured light and the slightly hazy but all too clear vision.

I had a smile on my face the rest of the day. My eyes danced as I realized what this meant.

Rain, Steam, and Speed - The Great Western Railway, 1844 - J.M.W Turner

This idea is exactly what my blog will be about. Learning, practicing, and growing. It’s time to compete with oneself and keep on pushing the limits of what we as artists can do. This blog will hopefully be of use to you in that I will gather information from our contemporaries and analyze them, and let you the readers know if its worth your time and money.

This means, in short terms, that I will be reviewing tutorials, art magazines, art books, anything art related. I just know how at times when I see $100.00 tutorials, I would SO love to see the material in it and see if it’s worth it and read a nice and thorough review. I hardly ever find this, sadly, so sometimes I invest and come out losing.

I love learning, and reading other people’s techniques in addition to exploring my own. Just like Turner, I believe in studying one’s fellow artists.

I hope this blog is useful to a few of you! And since I am studying current day artists, that means that if you are an artist who has created a teaching tool and would like me to review it, please don’t hesitate to ask!