Portrait Paintings Inspired by Animation from the 40's and 50's

"Tom #1"

6.5x8.5 Oil on Canvas

2011

The more I look at these portrait paintings I’m reminded of the cartoons I used to watch as a little kid.  From the classics like Bugs Bunny to the Transformers cartoons from the mid 80’s.  Even more so, I thought of the old UPA (United Productions of America) cartoons from the late 40’s and early 50’s.  The animation in them was very simplified, a break from the style that Disney had become well known for at the time.  Many of the animators at UPA actually worked at Disney.  The style of UPA cartoons seemed much more stylistically graphic. 

As I sat back and tried to think of a few cartoons that reminded me of my portraits I kept coming back to the classic “Gerald McBoing Boing”.  The characters as well as their surroundings are very simplified.  We are shown just enough to know whether or we are on the playground, in the bathroom, or walking up the stairs.  Nearly everything is boldly outlined in black.           

I have always loved cartoons like these, and I’ll admit it, I still watch them today.  I went back a looked at a few of my paintings and I realized that my work was extremely influenced by the animation of the 40’s and 50’s.  Sometimes when I paint I don’t even realize where I’m getting my inspiration from until the painting is finished.  It is some kind of subconscious thing where the visual cues around me make their way into the artwork.

Learning more about my paintings is one of the main reasons I started this blog.  I wanted to write more about my artwork.  I’ve only been doing this for a week (and I still really don’t know what I’m doing) but I’ve already started to learn more than I expected.