I was a big fan of Ren & Stimpy back in the early 90's, way before I ever considered a career in animation (heck, I was doing racy paintings in France at the time, but that's another story!). I've always admired John Kricfalusi's design sense and the energy and audacity in his work. I may not like everything he does, or agree with everything he has to say about the medium of animation, but I respect his work and the impact it's had on our industry. I'm even more impressed with him after reading this letter that he sent in response to an animation hopeful back in 1998. It's a good read with some good advice for burgeoning artists, and it's great that he took the time to respond in such detail. I can barely respond to all the blog comments and emails I get with more than a few sentences...
Well, see, now you have to blog about your racy paintings in France.
ReplyDeleteWhat he said ^^ :P
ReplyDeleteJohn K. Rocks!!! his views and theories are gold. He just gives and gives at his blog as well, so generous. Bless the man..
ReplyDeleteWow that's awesome! That's one of the reasons why I love this business I'm in. Generally people I've come across who have something to share, actually shares it! The ones you want to learn from only got as good as they are, because they care about art passionately, everything else comes second. That's very unique, in the status minded world we live in. I had the pleasure of meeting Jim Smith a few months back at a gallery I was showing at, and he was to put it mildly, very down to earth. Learn and pass it on seems to be the code in our community and I love that.
ReplyDeleteHave a great weekend.
-Hans
I loved reading this and think it's awesome that Jk would take the time out to share some of his thoughts and even a Preston Blair book with an aspiring artist he didn't even know. One heck of a guy! Thanks for posting it Victor! Query-what's up with the racy french paintings? Might be a nice addition to the Blog???
ReplyDeleteD
Hey Victor,
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised you even have time to update your blog with what I've heard about the crunch time over there.
Amazingly enough, one of your co-workers, who will remain unnamed, has been overwhelmingly generous with his time to me very similarly to what John K did for that kid.
The advice that he has given me has been absolutely priceless.
Mike Barnett - Now you've got me curious about who he/she is. Someone is ruining the curve for the rest of us!
ReplyDeleteOthers - those paintings are for a different kind of blog...
I'm not the first person to receive a little friendly advice; Brad Bird had Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas to give him feedback early on. I spoke to Andreas Deja several months ago and he told me he had received some good advice from Eric Larrson before he got into the business. Even that kid got a break with John K. I hope it's not looked at as a bad thing. Even this blog you keep is a great resource for us up-and-comers.
ReplyDeletethat's just...... awesome!
ReplyDeleteim a student 23 years old in miami
ReplyDeleteand i have found that people in twitter working in pixar are incredible kind and respectful and
they give all the advice in the world!
im really grateful for having such amazing artists and friends actually caring for others
utterly awsome, I'm going to try and draw better.
ReplyDelete