Milt Kahl: Crocky

Few people can draw cartoon animals quite as well as Milt Kahl. Here is a model sheet of Crocky from "Bedknobs & Broomsticks".

Disney Model Sheet: OWL

I was about to write yet another post about an observational sketching book, but then I thought maybe I should post something fun and cartoony before the Thanksgiving Holiday. Well here it is, a model sheet of the Owl teacher from the Walt Disney shorts "Toot Whistle Plunk and Boom" and "Adventures in Music: Melody". Enjoy and have a great holiday!

Peter Pan Model Sheet: Mike

Here's another model sheet I like from Walt Disney's Peter Pan. Some people might say he's just the typically cute and generic Disney kid, but I think there's a lot of great things going on in these drawings. The simplified indications of his body poses are very appealing to me. Especially when it comes to the shapes of his hands, legs, feet, and the way drapery of his pajamas is handled. There's a lot of nice contrasts between straights and curves, as well as the simple sides of the shapes versus the more interesting and complex sides of the shapes. It's interesting how the drapery of his pajamas tends to play a big part in many of these nice contrasts.

The drawings of Wendy here are beautiful as well. Unfortunately I'm not sure which artist at the studio drew these, but I think they're worth taking a closer look at.

On a side note, but an important note nonetheless, fellow DreamWorks story artist Louie Del Carmen has recently written a great post about composition on the Art Center Blog.

Here's the link:

http://theartcenter.blogspot.com/2010/03/louie-del-carmen-rhythm-and-spacing.html

Milt Kahl: Hands

Here's a model sheet of hands drawn by the legendary Disney animator Milt Kahl. These have a dynamic combination of anatomical knowledge fused with great graphic appeal and shape.

Original Tinkerbell Model Sheet

I apologize for the lack of recent updates. I've been pretty busy at work as well as in my personal life.

Here is one of the original model sheets for Tinkerbell in Walt Disney's Peter Pan. I'm pretty sure it was drawn by Marc Davis. I don't think Milt Kahl did a pass on this character (ala Bambi or Alice), it's 100% Mr. Davis as far as I know.

When I say "original" I mean that it's her original character design. The Disney company has done many variations on her character design over the years due to her popularity. Some are good and some aren't so good, but none of them really come close to the appeal of Marc Davis' original design in my opinion.


I know that we've seen these all before, but I think they're exquisitely beautiful drawings and definitely worth taking another look at. The appeal and design of a pose is so important in animation and these poses are wonderful. I hope to do a post elaborating more about the design of a pose some time here in the future.

Even though these aren't extremely cartoony or pushed, I think there's some really fun stuff happening with her proportions here too. Her small hands, larger head, tiny feet and wider hips really play off each other and contrast in an interesting and appealing way. I also think Marc Davis' knowledge of the human figure really shines through in these designs as well.

I wish I had a better copy of it, but this will have to do for now. Hopefully I can do another update here sooner rather than later.

Tinkerbell: Peter Pan Peanut Butter Model Suggestions

Back in the good old days, even when they redesigned her for Peanut Butter commercials, the Disney artists kept Tinkerbell looking appealing.