Know your Artist – Mary Blair

Mary Blair (1911-1978) was a designer, color stylist and concept artist who contributed immensely to the look and feel of some of the most path breaking animated films created by Walt Disney in animation’s Golden Age.

Mary graduated from the Chouinard School of Art in 1933 wanting to be a watercolor artist. Her first job was as a cell painter at Ub Iwerks studio. Later, she and her husband, Lee Blair would both work at the Walt Disney Studio.

Walt Disney was impressed by her painting style and assigned her as art supervisor on animated feature films Saludos Amigos and The Three Caballeros. She would work on the colour styling and concept art of major films like Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan. Her influence can be seen clearly in the completed films.

Blair left Disney to work on graphic design and illustrations. Her Golden Books and Hallmark cards were very popular. Later at the request of Walt Disney she created murals for Disney parks and hotels.

Mary Blair had a flat and graphic style of painting in which she used vibrant colours and abstract forms which were very appealing to the eye. Her art would capture the emotion of the scene and make the animated movies an unforgettable visual experience. Do check out more of her work at http://magicofmaryblair.com/mary-blair-gallery/.

Know your Artist – Ed Benedict

Ed Benedict (1912-2006) was an American Character Designer, Animator and Layout artist whose work influenced animation produced for television. Benedict started his career at Disney in 1930 and would then move to Universal.

In the 1950’s Benedict joined MGM and worked with the legendary animation director Tex Avery as a layout artist and character designer. Notable was his work on the Deputy Droopy theatrical shorts.

In the late 50’s he worked with Hanna Barbera to create character designs for the The Ruff and Ready Show, he would later design very popular characters for television shows Yogi Bear, the Flintstones, Huckleberry Hound and Quick Draw McGraw.

Benedict’s designs look simple but each of his characters displays a unique personality encapsulating charm and warmth. He was truly one of the greats of animation’s Golden Age.

Know your Artist - Chuck Jones

Charles M Jones, popularly known as Chuck Jones (1912 to 2002) was a legendary animation director who created some of the most memorable cartoon animated shorts of all time.

He showed a keen interest in drawing from childhood with the active encouragement of his parents. Due to his father’s frequent changing of businesses, there was plenty of good quality stationary available and Jones and his siblings would make good use of them. Jones was especially fond of drawing cats discovering early on that each cat had its own personality.

He would later drop out of school and join Chouinard Art Institute and during his education worked as a part time janitor. He got his first job in animation at the Ub Iwerks Studio as a cel washer. He would later take up the roles of cel-painter and an in-betweener.

In 1933 he would take up the job of assistant animator with Leon Schlesinger Productions where he was assigned to work with Tex Avery who helped Jones flower into an excellent animator and later a Director. Jones would go on to create some memorable shorts with characters like Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Poky Pig and most memorable of all Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner.

Jones was the master of quick sketch and would capture the essence of the pose and expression of his characters in a few lines. Here is his famous advice to young artists:

“All of you have one hundred thousand bad drawings in you. The sooner you get rid of them, the better it will be for everyone.” His biography “Chuck Amuck” is a must read for upcoming artists. For more about Chuck Jones do visit https://chuckjones.com.