Drawn to Life: 20 Golden Years of Disney Master Classes: Volume 1: The Walt Stanchfield Lectures (Walt Stanchfield Lectures, 1)

One of my huge dreams when I was younger was to work at the Disney Animation Studios and work under (and hopefully alongside:) animation greats like Mark Henn, Glen Keane, and Andreas Deja. That never happened and I pursued other things, but I've always wondered what it would have been like if I had:) This book kind of makes you feel like you're there...sitting next to the greats and listening, learning and drawing alongside all the animation heroes who have also been taught by Walt Stanchfield. Many of those same animators' drawings adorn the text and give glimpses into the teachings and notes that fill every page. The text itself is quite amazing...informational and extremely inspiring. I've become a bit rusty in many areas of drawing, but this book helped me remember why I ever (as a boy) wanted to pick up a pencil in the first place. It might sound a bit dramatic (and perhaps it is) but cracking open this book made me remember drawing superheroes at 3 am in the morning on an old dusty table in a closet sized room... drawing mickey mouse in Biology class and trying (in vain) to draw a successful flip book with my typing paper. Drawing was often fun in those day... and was more about adventure and exploration and expression than the often goal-oriented and perfectionistic ruts that I've often walked in since. So maybe it sounds silly, but this book kind of helped make drawing fun for me again...and kind of helped breathe new life into an art form that I had placed on a dusty shelf. There's such a wealth of information that one could easily read the book several times and not get it all, but what's great about this book is it's kind of written as if Walt Stanchfield himself is coming alongside you and helping you along on this journey of art (and specifically drawing). Each lesson is rather quick and usually concentrates on one point (gesture, or variety, or not copying a pose but feeling it from the inside out). One can read it in gulps or in small increments and still gain a wealth of information and encouragement. I can see that an animator especially would enjoy this book, but I bought this book as mainly a drawing help aid and the lessons contained within would apply to any artist. So if you love to draw...or want to draw better, I would definitely recommend this book. I doubt you'll be disappointed. (Note: As a youngster I submitted a portfolio to Disney for review. Their training department sent me a packet of drawings for my help and inspiration drawn from the likes of Walt Stanchfield, Glen Keane and Andreas Deja. Many of those same drawings and hundreds more are contained within these pages. They are amazing to see).

If you are looking to be a better artist, illustrator, animator, cartoonist, Graphic Novel-ist, GET THESE BOOKS. They are not "How to" books but books that teach basic principles, and rules that make a good drawing an even better drawing. I even applied some of the techniques to my oil painting such as "squash and stretch" and it helped out. These principles are not just for animation but for illustration in general.My teacher at AAU in San Francisco, CA worked with Walt Stanchfield and took over teaching his Quick Studies class when he couldn't do it anymore, she would always refer to these books The principles are not "Walt's" but industry standards/principles that he learned over the years, took the time to write down, and teach other people.Hey if it's good enough for the people that brought you Cinderalla, Snow White, Bambi, Sleeping Beauty, The Rescuers, etc. then it should be good enough. All these principles are in use today by all the big studios and small studios alike.***Update 12/29/2014***Still have these books in my library and constantly refer to them. I am getting into storyboards professionally and these books are always helpful. Again they are INDUSTRY STANDARD PRINICPLES that all animation and art studios use and that are taught in major schools such as Academy of Art University, Cal Arts (in so cal). If you are trying to make your drawing better and more appealing get these books, read them, and put the principles into practice. Volumes 1 and 2 cost about 80-90 dollars and a class at AAU in SF costs about $2500, and they will teach you these principles. Save money and get ahead of the curve. These "rules" are so important that they are mentioned in all animation classes and are the foundation for any good illustration.

This book is a wonderful surprise. Walt Stanchfield's lessons have been transcribed so that you get his voice speaking to you form across the years - and what an inspiring voice it is!I expected great lessons in Disney style drawing and animation and I got those - in abundance! How life would have been different if I'd had these lessons in squash and stretch and drawing the gesture ("Draw the verb in front of you, not the noun!"). But the real treasure is how he goes beyond the drawing lessons into lessons about how to be creative, how to live life!Sometimes it's about inspiring you to draw: "...Whether your heart is set on the fine arts or on animation, quick sketching is the shortest route to training yourself for capturing those spontaneous gestures and poses that are so essential to good drawing. Break one of your bad habits today. Which one? The habit of not sketching."Other times he goes beyond this: "You must create. The injunction of life is to create or perish. Good physical and mental conditioning are necessary to do this. Remember this: the creative energy that created the universe created you, and its creative power is now in you, motivating you, urging you on - always in the direction of creative expression. I have a formula: "Impression minus expression equals depression." This is especially applicable to artists. We have trained ourselves to be impressed (aware) of all the things around us, and in the natural course of our lives those impressions cry out to be expressed - on paper, on canvas, in music, in poetry, in animated film. So shape up!"Allow yourself to be inspired again - buy yourself this and the companion volume!

Um excelente livro para desenvolver a mentalidade do desenho gestual.

Este libro no es para aprender a dibujar. Esta totalmente enfocado en aprender dibujo gestual o "gesture", lo cual es realmente muy importante para que los dibujos no se vean rígidos y sin vida. Es vital para cualquiera que quiera ser buen animador, de hecho. Si me ha ayudado mucho a mejorar mis dibujos.

Bought both volumes 1 and 2. Both full of information and detail, will take me a long time to get through it all but suspect it's going to be well worth it.

Ajudou bastante o meu irmão nos desenhos dele, muito bom o livro.

EXCELENTE EL CONTENIDO ES SUPER FUNCIONAL SI TE QUIERES DEDICAR A ALGO ENFOCADO A LA ANIMACIÓN O AL DISEÑO DE PERSONAJES , LLEGO EN BUEN ESTADO Y A TIEMPO COMO SIEMPRE