3.21.2010

The one thing (amoung others) that I learned while at Pixar...



The one most defining piece of information that I took away from my experience being a texture artist at Pixar was the fact that everything has a story. Meaning that weather it be a table or robot, rug, car, pencil or whatever! it all has a story. who's pencil is it? does it have chew marks? does the character use it often? Is the desk use by children.. if so the smudge marks would be half way on the desk not on the very top. Maybe some crayon marks too.

Those objects are a reflection of it's environment and that reflection needs to tell the story of who the owner or owners are. Now I feel when I paint I think about that idea so much. I think about the space and who occupies it. It less becomes about how good the painting is but more about how well I am portraying the character of the object.

Maybe that is stupid. I dunno.

I tried to apply that philosphy in this painting. Maybe not my best, but a good learning lesson. This is a vendor I see when I walk to work the the morning. He always looks bored. I love his little colored rags he puts under the pretzels...

11 comments:

Chase Standley said...

I think this looks great. Its not a poor illustration at all, colors and composition are very nice. Also, As your text points out, all the detail really helps tell the story of the vendor.

Michael Yates said...

very insightful! thanks

Stephan Royer said...

Thank you for sharing! I love this piece, its a very nice slice of life. Great colors and textures, that's why i like visiting here. I am always touched and appreciative of artists who aren't afraid to share their knowledge.

Gigi said...

thank you guys! i am so glad you enjoyed my missed spelled and poorly grammatic post! your comments are really touching. i never realized that people don't share tips on there blogs... know that you mention it stephan you are right! :( that is sad.

Shaz Enrico Lym said...

awesome work!

rae said...

This is a great post. It never occurred to me that SO MUCH detail had so much story, but I guess that's the mark of a good artist. I'll be more appreciative in the future.

And I LOVE this illustration! Makes me feel like home.

Ty Carter said...

This is BEAUTIFUL Gianna! I love the way you use your line and paint to tell a story

(I think I saw this guy in Salt Lake last week......does he travel?)

yezi xue said...

aw it reminds me of street vendors in China, the carts and bags are always so colorful!

Avner Geller said...

Gigi! This is beautiful!! yes finding a little story in every small thing makes it all so much richer :) love this guy, and hot dog carts are awesome in general :) like a transformer full of greasy little things... keep painting :)

Marcos Gp said...

Nicely said...The Vendor painting has a lot of history and it reads immediately. God job

Brett Wharton said...

Hey Gigi, thanks for sharing the advice. I hadn't thought that way before. Your painting is also wonderful, especially the colors.