Published for the first time ever, Drawn to Life is a two volume collection of the legendary lectures from long-time Disney animator Walt Stanchfield. For over twenty years, Walt helped breathe life into the new golden age of animation with these teachings at the Walt Disney Animation Studios and influenced such talented artists as Tim Burton, Brad Bird, Glen Keane, and John Lasseter. These writings represent the quintessential refresher for fine artists and film professionals, and it is a vital tutorial for students who are now poised to be part of another new generation in the art form.
* Legendary lessons from a master Disney animator – meet the man who put the wiggle in Jessica Rabbit’s walk!
* Packed full of illustrations from some of the top animators in the world including Brad Bird, Glen Keane and John Lasseter
* Two volumes and 800 pages of pure gold – get in-depth advice and instruction on bringing your characters to life
Sample Pages from Drawn to Life: 20 Golden Years of Disney Master Classes, Volume 1
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D Woodley –
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.
Alejandra Diaz –
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.
MS –
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.
adpdl –
Ce livre compile les cours que Walt Stanchfield a donné pendant des années aux dessinateurs de chez Disney, en interne. Il animait un atelier de dessin d’après modèle vivant avec pour objectif principal de réussir à capter l’esprit d’une pose, d’une attitude ou expression plus que la fidélité photographique au modèle. Ce n’est pas livre scolaire classique mais un ensemble de réflexions sur des sujets aussi variés que l’analyse de la dynamique d’une pose, l’utilisation intelligente et délibérée du trait, la composition d’une image en valeurs, l’exagération, la simplification, le design de personnages, le carnet de voyages, la prise de notes, etc. Beaucoup de réflexions d’ordre quasi philosophique sur l’art du dessin. C’est passionnant, bien écrit et très vivant: on a l’impression d’avoir l’auteur devant soi.
Un des bouquins sur le dessin parmi les plus intéressants que j’ai eus dans les mains, le plus proche d’un cours “en live”.
Kermit –
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).
Cliente Amazon –
Compré este libro por que me puede ser muy útil ya que estoy estudiando animación. Cual fue mi sorpresa cuando lo abrí al ver que la cubierta estaba estropeada, el lomo tenía una especie de pegamento blanco y además había señales de uso en el exterior (huellas como grasientas) y en el interior (marcas).
Tras ponerme en contacto con Amazon solo conseguí que me devolviesen un 25% del importe o tener que molestarme yo en ir a correos a devolverlo y esperar otros X días para tener otro.
El contenido del libro es excepcional. No esperéis muchas imagenes ya que mayoritariamente es texto.
Os recomiendo esta edición pero si podéis comrarla hacedlo por USA ya que si te llega en el estado que a mi me ha llegado te devuelven el 100% del importe sin tener que devolver el producto.
Diego N. Rockenbach –
Um excelente livro para desenvolver a mentalidade do desenho gestual.
Parka –
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Drawn to Life is a collection of lectures from long-time Disney animator Walt Stanchfield. He has worked for Disney since the 1950s.
There are two volumes, each with over 400 pages. The reason for two volumes is probably to make the books easier to handle. Both are on gesture and life drawing, even though the cover art might suggest otherwise, especially the one with the lion. You can start reading from any book and any lecture. The order isn’t important.
There are plenty of essays in the books. Each is a lesson relating to drawing and animation. It can be tangent drawings, creating believable characters, learning to observe, understanding gestures, etc. There are tips on almost anything relating to drawing. Loose and sketchy sketches serves as examples to the lessons.
These books are more thinking than drawing technique books. For example, the lessons are not about how to draw perspective, the lessons are about how to use perspective. You can view sample pages for volume one and volume two on amazon.com to get an idea.
The books represent a tremendous wealth of information and insight into drawing, animation and observation. After all, Walt Stanchfield has more than 50 years of experience in animation.
This book is recommended to those who are into animation and drawing.
(More pictures are available on my blog. Just visit my Amazon profile for the link.)
TechWizardTime –
Bought this book for a college class and I have to say here I am over 10 years later and this book is still paying me back. The concepts are easy. Reading it is more like reading a comic. My drawing has greatly improved.