Reference Research

  Bry had mentioned to me that this grey scale technique is used by Disney artists, and that films such as 'Tarzan' and 'Pocahontas' would be good places for me to reference tone and shade in the backgrounds. And so I did a lil hunt on google, and found this amazing blog that has loads of Disney backgrounds, just there for me to peruse.
http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fanimationbackgrounds.blogspot.com%2Fsearch%3Fupdated-max%3D2010-08-17T01%253A05%253A00-07%253A00%26max-results%3D7&h=tAQExDjQpAQGNtrp6GBpDpS8Osri2X1kg6x0NMr3qtxXe9w

 The images I plucked from her have indeed helped me to think about light and shade, and also to think more experimentally about the colours I could try. I've been really shocked when looking at these backgrounds that I felt that I knew well, seeing the colours and shapes that are present in the images, you need to study to really take in the colours and tones. All together they make amazing, atmospheric images.

These above images are from Disney's Pocahontas. I was surprised to see that the backgrounds are quite abstract in their placement of colour, and the shapes used in the scenery are subtle yet striking. I love the uses of green, blue and purple, and they blend really well together, and these will help me with the darker scenes, but sadly not the lighter scenes, which are the ones I'm having trouble with.

The above 2 images are from Tarzan, in darker scenes, the use of blue here is extremely effective, although there are light sources in these scenes, where as in Bryony's film, the dark scenes are to have no light source. 

I picked about these other 2 images from Tarzan because of the use of green, and also the depth of field present in them. These scenes do have a lot of brown, which I am not aloud to think about. And also, I have been told not to think about colour at the moment but to concentrate on tone. In these images you can see that detail is lost further away from the foreground. We've been having some trouble with a background tree at the moment, but I hope to touch that up the next time I visit the image.

The above 3 images are from The Black Cauldron. I realise that the colours and even vegetation in these images are completely wrong for referencing Bryony's work, but I thought that these background paintings portrayed some excellent examples of distance and depth perception. I'm glad to see that the further away trees are growing lighter in these paintings, as it's what I've been employing in my own paintings. 

After looking at these reference images, I am keen to get back into the tonal paintings. She has started to give me deadlines now, which is good for keeping me on track with all of my other modules on the go. I really don't think I'd be able to help anyone else, or take on any other work for this part of the Professional Practise Module, she has given more responsibility and creative freedom that I initially expected, which is fine with me!!