THUMBS, THUMBS THUMBS: Been so busy, have not had time to paint! So! Late night, in order to get away from the computer, I sketch. What would LePardine look like? She is a tense savage so I was playing with body calligraphy and attitude. Years ago, when I worked at Disney Feature Film as a clean up artist, I would stay late on Fridays to see the pencil tests on the Scene Machine and study the drawings and animation. When I first came into Animation, I was trained as an Illustrator, pushed to give a fine line, a finished illustration; I loved the clean line. After cleaning up rough lines from the animators, I really fell in love with the rough line. So much energy and emotion come from the rough; in a good rough, everything should be there: the attitude, the personality, and of course the action. A bad clean up artist will suck the life out of a drawing, a really good clean up artist will "plus" it out. A black and white animated scene is just gorgeous to look at. With Glen Keane's drawings, he would search for the right line, playing, experimenting and it would be the clean up artist to pick the line that would read the best. Lots of energy in his drawings. With an animator like Sergio Pablos, his lines were so clean, when I would do the clean up on Delbert Doppler, most of the drawings were so perfect, I felt like a 5th wheel~this guy knew exactly what he wanted and left no room for anyone's intepretation. Some of the most amazing figure work I saw was when I studied the animation tests for Tarzan. Incredible exaggeration with anatomy with the figure. And color~color will kill a small percentage of how the character reads as opposed to how the rough black and white drawings reads. I was on the big crew of Milo from the film Atlantis. There was a scene where Milo figures out how to get a floating vehicle to work. In the black and white pencil test, Kita was in the background, having just explained how she had tried everything to get it to work, and the subtle expression on her face when Milo casually got it to work was just amazing. The look of being stunned, just blown away was somewhat covered up with the color. Didn't read as much as the test. Animator Randy Haycock did a superb job of an emotion that was so understated with just the right timed pause, it took my breath away. It all starts with the Thumbnails, do lots of them. It will increase your speed, make you think, give you varieties of drawings for the same concept pose.

Working on a project for my daughter. She has to make 15 animals for a "Web Environment". I told her I would help with the 4 legged deer like animals. Here are sketches of a Yak and a Turkmenian Markhor (a hairy looking goat). I've wired wrapped the frame and will apply with sculpey. I suck at wire frames, so I decided this is my grand opportunity to get better at it! These will be tiny; no more than an inch and a half high. Here, I am having great fun with the shapes. These sketches are drawn with reference.

Lots of freelance in the last week and a half...no time to work on my own things, BUT I can doodle inbetween times. Here's a page of quick sketches of the big cats~my goal here is to capture the "calligraphy" of the body design. With the big cats, there is lots of opportunity for squash and stretch~you can squash the hind quarters and stretch the front areas or vice a versa. You can twist the body in mid air. Big cats are animals with a flexible spine, which makes it fun to come up with many varieties of shapes. Make sure you get a flow in these animals, from the tip of the tail to the length of the body. My tool? Hello Kitty makes the best ball point pens! You can't beat the Japanese, these cheap pens have a fluid ink flow that goes and goes. This was all done without reference.

Took a quick trip to the L A Zoo during Spring Break with neighbors and kids. Did not have much time to draw animals, but spent the most time with the Rhinoceros, about 15 mins. If I want to learn how to draw dragons, I come here. But with kids, it's look and dash. I feel sorry for most of the kids; they are accustomed to being entertained every minute on new technology, who have to walk to look at the animals, and who are sorely disappointed when the animals don't have the energy or passion to perform as they do in Madagascar. As I quietly observe and sketch, admiring the forms, shapes and anatomy, kids were banging against the fence, screaming at the animals to do something, parents are ignoring their behavior or just looking away, some kids were shoving me to see the animals while I tried to draw; and to my horror and disgust, I saw one girl chuck an object into the Black Bear's enclosure. As a nation, we are raising scores of kids who have no appreciation for the natural world before us, nor know how to be still and know how to just be. The sense of wonder has been robbed by immediate gratification of being entertained...

Update

Rare footage: Dean Cornwell paints! Posted by James Gurney on Facebook. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cs7VY16nTA0

Check out the work of Jose Prats: http://joseprats0.carbonmade.com/ Lovely, charming stories!

Taking my time, got a few licks in. Also upgraded to CS6!

Not a lot of time this week: Ok I'm going on a rant...freelancing is great but it is a fight to protect my time. I work from home and sometimes the phone will ring every 40 minutes. I don't answer my phone anymore..I kinda live the life of a recluse, hiding out from neighbors and solicitors. People don't realize that a deadline job is very different then a more conventional job; I will work weekends, holidays, weeknights if I promised that I will have the job done at a certain time. I have an unshakeable focus, one which must have driven my mother crazy when she raised me. Sometimes I will lie awake and wonder: How could I have done that better? If I could do it again, what would I do differently? More efficiently? I have an 11 year old daughter, who will sometimes continue to talk to me, loudly, in my ear, as I frantically rush to finish a job. Then I have to pause, make dinner, do laundry between "breaks" and juggle, juggle, juggle. But I would rather have all this then face an LA commute! ~Thanks for listening...

Remember this, Sergio? Ha, ha ~Years ago, when I worked at Stormfront Studios in Marin County, my Art Director was Sergio Lobato. This was at a magical time when there were no mortgages or children and we would work crazy hours to meet deadlines, but the artists there were some of the most talented group of people you could ever wish for, and just really fun to boot. Sergio's wit and sharp thinking always had us on the floor laughing! It was the first time I had ever felt that I had come home. Artists are a wacky group to begin with but we all understood each other and very much liked to hang out...There were times we would work long hours, then go out to dinner and laugh it all off... I must have been on a private rant about someone not pulling their weight and he probably quietly left this drawing on my computer when I got back from a lunch break, ha, ha. Serge is now a full time painter! Here is his website: http://www.sergiolobato.com/index.php

Some thumb concepts for a series about Rebirth and Renewal. I actually did some of these on the plane while flying home after Dad died. It just happened to be his birthday: Ground Hog's Day. I plan to do these on canvas this year, taking everything I've learned while painting the screen shots to a bigger playground. Fun. Just pure fun.

Rare that I am alone. Even more rare that I am up this late! So quiet and peaceful, what a gift..so I did this little sketch for the fun of it; the next screen shot I am working on...

Been watching a lot of Cesar Milan on Youtube. This is a drawing of his favorite Pitbull, Daddy. Been really busy with work, and sometimes ya just have to sketch for yourself..keep the hand loose...this one was done in less than 5 mins.

WOW! Finally got a few moments to finish this! I've permanently added two new colors to a very small palette: Quinacridone Blue Violet and my new favorite: Light Blue Violet. Light Blue Violet is a very versatile color because what it really is is a cool neutral grey; and can be mixed with flesh tones and does not overwhelm warm fleshtones, just cools it. Manganese Blue can often turn the fleshtones too cool too fast. Also the Blue Violet is excellent for shadows on white (early morning).

WIP: People ask me if I use a pencil to sketch in the figure before starting. I do not. I paint in guidelines very quickly first, making sure that those simple few lines carry the composition and emote what there is to emote. Then I block in the shadows, either warm or cool, depending, then put a light wash of sepia over the whole thing. I can tell you this, that this painting will be the best I've done yet.

A snippet of part of the color pallette; I really liked these color harmonies. I bought a colored rock at the swap meet a few weeks ago and was inspired by the colors and came up with this pallette. This is what I used for the last painting post. Painting sketch is acrylic on bristol vellum bound in a sketchbook. Ron Velasco suggested that I mix my paints on a neutral gray wax paper and it has made all the difference in my color mixing choices and I'll never paint without it again.

A rough start and a weird pallette. Had to go back and saturate the flesh tones a little more to bring the figure out a little more. Happy Valentine's Day!

Hello Everyone: My father recently died of complications of cancer a few days ago at the hospital. I have not been able to create or blog any work for this period and will be returning Saturday to the Los Angeles area. This is one of the last photos taken of him; we were very close. He is the greatest man I have ever known and it is because of him, that I am the artist I am of today. Kimberly See you all in February.

Amazing, amazing gallery show at the Weisman. It's the first time an illustration show has been featured at Pepperdine. For all you that could not make it, this is one of the best shows you will see for the year 2013, esp if you like art from this period. You won't likely find the quality and amount of the draftsmanship, craftsmanship in one gallery this year. I believe it runs til March so you still have enough time. It's free! What's astonishing is the concentration of talent that flourished in this short period. I can't get over how creative each artist was with composition, gesture, the ability to tell a story in a glance, and the brushwork! Oh the brushwork! Leyendecker, Pyle, Wyeth, James Montgomery Flagg, Mead Schaeffer (next to Leyendecker, one of my favorite work examples, powerful, with huge bold and brave brushstrokes), Cornwell, Parrish, Charles Dana Gibson and even a Frank Leyendecker were represented. This is why I became an Illustrator. And the gallery was packed after 6! I talked to Stuart Ng, Ruben Procopio, http://maskedavengerstudios.blogspot.com, animal sketch teacher, Marshall Vandruff (Gnomon), even ran into my illustration teacher, Bunny Carter, who had flown in from San Jose, California just to see the show and the collector of these extraordinary pieces. Many people were not able to make it this weekend, but I am planning to circle back to visit again with some folks so I will keep you notified of the next gathering. Thank you, everyone, for your interest and support! Kimberly

FINI! Finally gave birth to this one! I'm actually sick of looking at it, but did have lots of fun with it.

Doggone tired today..Miss painting; did not get a chance, but drew some horses. The lines which go beyond the figures are guidelines and help to keep the flow in the subject. I learned this method from Mark Westomoe and Paul Wee. Paul pushed me to find the "calligraphy" of the figure, a much more eloquent and descriptive word which made more sense to me than "find the gesture" or "design of the figure", etc.

Update on screen pic: A few days ago, Pop was diagnosed with cancer literally flowering at the end of his esophagus. And the reason why I mention this is because I fell into a deep depression; my Dad one of my favorite people, the man who has taught me how to be independent, to have integrity, the man who brought me into this world, was dying. Usually I attack everything with speed and confidence; I never rest and this day, could did not even know who I was. I was frozen. In order to break out of this I unplugged myself from the world and needed to get my brain activated. I painted. Back in November, I attended CTN in Burbank and talked to world class artist, Rob Rhuppel, and had shown him my book of painted screen shots. I am learning to turn the figure with warms and cools, learning to abstract the painting a little esp. in the background, getting some environment in there and he said simply, you now need to show some depth, make sure the fore figure comes forward and everything is pushed back in the background. So this will be the next goal. This will probably be the last entry for this year. Everyone, have a wonderful and memorable Holiday! And stay safe out there! Kimberly

Quick plein aire in Mission Viejo with my best friend's daughter. It's a bird sanctuary called See and Sage. I suck at plein aire since I don't get enough practice in..it was a dark overcast day with brackish water...

WHAT'S NEW: An interview with Animation Insider: http://www.animationinsider.com/2012/12/kimberly-m-zamlich/ and thank you, Mike Milo: mike@animationinsider.com

This is a book published by artist Pascal Campion, titled Papa c'est Moi. I met Mr. Campion at CTN this year in Burbank and as I rarely buy art books at these kind of events, I highly recommend this one as a Christmas gift, and yes, I did buy it. It is was wonderful mix of the magic and joys of being human. Garunteed you will feel lighter and at peace after looking at his family oriented art. These images stand out among the edgy, dark and cynical work that you typically see on the internet. Sit down with the family, relax and immerse yourself in this kid friendly collection of images which will have you wonder and smile.

Ruff for a digital illustration

Update: Feeling weird today, not sure of what I was doing, but it worked to my advantage. I like the non editing going here and will try to stay in this vein...done during lunch...

As posted on FB: "What goes on in my mind when I work or just breathe? Pushing the pencil around! The loving dog belongs to Steve Andrews and we dogsit him when we can. He is really fun to sketch while I work. But drawing him helps me draw dragons...sabor tooth cats ...And no matter how I put the drawing in the scanner, it's always upside down!"

Actually finished this one this last weekend...a bit overdone I think...

ROUGHING IT IN: This is where the ability to draw really kicks in. First I sketch in the figures; hence story, with umber and aliz. crimson. This is a tense scene in which Queen Elizabeth has found out Mary, Queen of Scots, was found plotting to assasinate her, and now Elizabeth must have Mary beheaded. She literally becomes ill; and I read somewhere that Queens did not like to kill other queens because they felt that all queens were appointed by God and thus Elizabeth felt she was going against the will of God. One of my favorite scenes because it shows that even tho Elizabeth was beholden to no mortal, she did have a moral compass and thus made her more human. This is a great shot since it has some remarkable silohuettes that tell the story. I had to repaint the position of Elizabeth's head to lower it, to show how she is struggling for breath, trying to pull it together to appear a strong leader. The first sketchbook I filled was color thumbnails, almost color keys, to push for speed. The second sketchbook was to go to a bigger canvas space, turn the form with warm and cools, ad more environment; and slow down and be more contemplative with my color decisions. This next one is to saturate my colors even more, find that fine line between a color sketch and not overdoing it, with the intentions of really stepping it up this time.

More from Elizabeth: The Golden Age

INFLUENCES My art career began with the gaming industry years ago in San Rafael, California. Back then, there was no 3D and a very disappointing and limited color palette. I found these images on Yahoo from a game called Dishonored (I think). It's strong art direction is just striking; whoever did the concept art in this game really knew what they were doing. It's a colored film noire, gorgeous dramatic, moody lighting, the stills look like they were painted. Just lovely to look at. I did not work on these altho I wish I had...

More from Prague: a shot of my Dad at the Hardrock Cafe. He looked so regal, I thought it would make a good shot. Ok~I love my Dad. He is the only soul in this world who I can hang out with and hardly say a word, and feel completely at peace. I guess it's just his familiar energy. He has taught me to love what I chose to do, know who I am and to keep on aspiring. Also in this set is a religious figure on a tour to the underground cities of Prague. There are a set of cities on top of each other under the clock tower; fascinating history of the residents; and all I can tell you is that: I am glad I was not born in that era. Lots of torture and drudgery and when you look at the holes in the ground where people were thrown for 7-8 days with no food and water..it's inconceivable...And can you guess why they were thrown down there in the dark? It was not for violent crimes or stealing...it was for not paying their taxes.

Some of the light and colors of Old Town Prague at dusk. Some of the images are blurred and I apologize. When traveling I am not in control of when I eat sometimes and the crash in blood sugar makes my hand shake and head spin. These are mostly shot for color and when I do look, I squint anyway just to see the form and color and value simplified. But the colors and light are just a dream here. Towards the end of the day, it was so pleasant and peaceful that I felt so far away from earthly troubles that I felt I was floating. I imagine this is what my heaven will be like...