BY KELSEY NORDEN
On May 9, the illustration department hosted the Illustration in Motion Symposium, a panel about the future of illustration and its use in animation.
The panel opened with a sample of animated shorts including “Ollie the Day Owl,” a project based on an illustrated book by Allie Rotenberg produced last year. Illustration professor Julie Lieberman explained that the involvement of illustration in animation has increased over the last 20 years because of media changes and technological advancements that make integrating media easier. Some of those media developments include graffiti, graphic novels, stop motion animation and animated illustrations on web publications such as Wired.
John Colette, chair of the motion media department, expanded on technological advancements. Animation used to be done on large capture machines, where each frame was drawn by hand and “captured” into a computer by a camera. Only big studios like Disney had access to this equipment, but as technology became more advanced, more individuals could use it.
Digital art replaced capture machines. In the 1980s, Paint Box became available as a form of producing digital art for illustration or animation. Around 1,000 people in the nation had access to this software; but when Photoshop was released in the 1990s, suddenly millions had access to digital art software and could produce work independent of a studio.
Now Adobe has an entire suite of programs tailored toward different artistic uses. Flash has become the industry standard for animation, but now Photoshop has a tool that mimics flash. Software and tools are spreading out and overlapping in such a way that large studios are not necessary for producing animated shorts. Really, anyone with a computer can do it.
The second panelist, Richard Borge, presented his portfolio of editorial illustrations and a reel of work he did for companies like Sony Music. Borge highlighted using After Effects to composite illustrations into animated shorts, where he also spliced live action footage that he shot himself. This was his demonstration that animation rules are changing and that the foundation of illustration is shifting with them. Illustrators have a vast number of paths to follow now that so many technologies are available.
David Cowles, the third panelist, showed how to use Photoshop to break illustrated characters into pieces so they can be imported into After Effects for building working puppets. Then Cowles presented a short called “Mesopotamians,” done to a song by the band They Might Be Giants. Cowles did the concept art and storyboarding while animators used this break-down process to put his pictures in motion.
The final panelist, Ed Binkley, presented illustration as it is translated into 3D animation, primarily for concept art in video games. He showed illustrations of fantastical creatures inspired by his own backyard. These characters were developed enough that they could easily be handed over to and translated by a 3D modeler. Binkley finished his presentation by reminding students: “There is nothing you can imagine that you cannot create.”
The panel presented a great window into the opportunities opening for illustrators today, and students left with an idea of how to expand their horizons into the ever-changing world of entertainment.