Vision 4.

Ink and Acrylic on Paper. Copyright Dreamworks.

Vision 3.

Ink and Acrylic on Paper. Copyright Dreamworks.

Vision 2.

Ink and Acrylic on Paper. Copyright Dreamworks.

Vision.

This set of upcoming images needs a little introduction. At this point in the story, our hero and his friends are at their lowest point, stuck in the mine, and with no hope left. Yet, Spirit will not give up and in an effort to cheer up his mates, he talks about the open range with such lyrical power that they can see it in the flickering light of the candle, in the texture of the wood or the shape of the rocks. They have a vision. These are some of my experiments with this idea.


Ink and Acrylic on Paper. Copyright Dreamworks.

Collapse 2.

Pencil. Copyright Dreamworks.

Collapse.

Pen & Pencil Sketches. Copyright Dreamworks.

Toil 2.

Orange Pencil and Pencil. Copyright Dreamworks.

Toil.

Orange Pencil & Pencil. Copyright Dreamworks.

Stables 2.

Pencil. Copyright Dreamworks.

Stables.

Pencil. Copyright Dreamworks.

Below 8.

Pencil Sketches. Copyright Dreamworks.

Below 7.

Pencil thumbnails. Copyright Dreamworks.

Below 6.

Pencil. Copyright Dreamworks.

Below 5.

Pen & Pencil. Copyright Dreamworks.

Below 4.

Pen & Pencil. Copyright Dreamworks.

Below 3.

Pen & Pencil. Copyright Dreamworks.

Below 2.

Pen & Pencil. Copyright Dreamworks.

Below.

For a while I struggled with the inside of the mine, unhappy with the results, until my friend Christian Shellewald, coming to my rescue, produced a quick sketch that immediately set me on the right path. Thanks.


Pen, Pencil & White Gouache. Copyright Dreamworks.

Tracks.

Pencil. Copyright Dreamworks.

Mine Head.

Pencil. Copyright Dreamworks.

New Town 2.

Pencil. Copyright Dreamworks.

New Town.

Pencil. Copyright Dreamworks.

Rough Town.

Pencil Sketch. Copyright Dreamworks.

Long Pan.

Acrylic Sketch. Copyright Dreamworks.

Bridge.

Acrylic Sketches. Copyright Dreamworks.

Thumbnails.

Acrylic Thumbnails. Copyright Dreamworks.

Tilt.

Gouache on Photocopy. Copyright Dreamworks.

Town.

Pencil Sketch / Gouache on B&W Photocopy. Copyright Dreamworks.

Toil.

Pencil Sketches. Copyright Dreamworks.

Smokestacks.

Gouache over Photocopy. Copyright Dreamworks.

More Industrial.

Pencil Drawing. Copyrights Dreamworks.

Gold Rush.

The next forty (more or less) posts will show some of the work I did for a sequence that was entirely cut from the movie. At this lowest point in our hero's journey, he was to be put to work in a mine, litterally buried alive. Very dramatic. Unfortunately, after many attempts by the story department (including Ronnie del Carmen, Simon Wells and Larry Leker among others) to make it work, it was decided the tone was too dark and the logistics of the necessary escape too contrived... so it was scrapped.


Gouache over Pen Drawing. Copyright Dreamworks.

Waterfall 3.

Pencil & Acrylic Sketches. Copyright Dreamworks.

Process.

Somebody recently ask me to explain my process in making these drawings and I was unable to provide a very clear answer to that. It seems I have been unable to stick to a failsafe recipe when it comes to drawing and I am never sure if I'm going to pull it off on the first try or if I'm about to trudge through a dozen of half-baked versions, slowly building up to something I'm finally happy with (when it comes to that, I work on the light table). Both possibilities are equally likely although if I spend some time beforehand researching my subject and visualizing the picture I want to make, it usually helps.
Over a serie of drawing though, a refining and editing process takes place and it can be seen here with the waterfall design eventhough I posted the various stages out of order.
In this case, there were three main stages to the process: visual development, water design and shot specific production design.
Example of the first stage, are the posts: 'River', 'Going down' (top), 'Waterfall' (bottom), 'Waterfall 2'.
'Rapids 3' (bottom) and 'Going down' (bottom) were devoted to water design.
The others ('Rapids', 'Rapids 2' and 'Waterfall' top) are example of the final stage in which these explorations are used to design specific shots in the movie.
Cheers.

Waterfall 2.

Pencil Drawings. Copyright Dreamworks.

Waterfall.

Pencil Drawing & Acrylic Sketch. Copyright Dreamworks.

Going Down.

Pencil Drawings. Copyright Dreamworks.

Rapids 3.

Pencil Drawings. Copyright Dreamworks.

Rapids 2.

Pencil Drawings. Copyright Dreamworks.