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A Brief Overview of the Creation of Animation Art
Animation art begins with storyboards depicting the action for individual scenes and model sheets .
The model sheets allow for the consistant drawing of cartoon characters in a film, even if multiple animators work on drawing the same character, though individual animators were in charge of drawing certain characters. The storyboards and model sheets lead to further refined pencil drawings, referred to as production drawings, drawn by the animators. These drawings are then traced onto acetate and then hand inked, as in the case of vintage animation art, to produce an animation cel. The cels are then placed in order in front of a background, and photgraphed sequentially. There can be as many as 1200 separate drawings and cels for each minute of animation; as the individual cels, when filmed, create the illusion of movement.
During the early years of animation, many of the drawings and the cels were discarded because no one thought of animation as an art form. This accounts for the limited number of production material from early animation features. Another major contributor to the reduced number of cels available has to do with economics. The acetate that was used to create the animation cels was very expensive in the early days, and therefore the cels were simply washed in water to remove the paint as the paints used on vintage cels is water soluble. This early form of recycling enabled the acetate to be reused for later animation.
Production Cel
The result of creating animation using traditional ink and paint
techniques. Cel inkers transfer the animator's drawings onto transparent
acetate sheets, and cel painters paint the character's colors on the
reverse side. The word "cel" comes from "celluloid nitrate," an early form
of the acetate material used today.
Production Drawing
The animator's drawings which are used as the basis for creating animation
cels. Usually rendered in graphite and/or colored pencil on paper, drawings
illustrate an animator's creative process of bringing characters to life.
Limited Edition Cel
A cel created in very limited numbers using the same hand-painting
technique as production cels, and is derived from either original art or art
created exclusively for sale. Limited edition cels are often signed by the
artist or director. They are frequently the only images available
reflecting the Golden Age of Animation (1930's, 40's and 50's) because most
of the production cels prior to the 1970's were destroyed or washed for
reuse. Also, with the advent of computer-finished animation, hand-painted
production cels are no longer the end result of the animation process.
Therefore limited edition cels give collectors an opportunity to own
important works of art representing classic moments in animation filmmaking
which may otherwise be unavailable. Nearly all animation artists and
studios create animation artwork in limited edition form.
Seri-Cel
Serigraphic (a silk-screen printing term) cels are fine art limited
editions created by meticulously screening the colors of an image onto the
back of an acetate cel - one color at a time. Although silk-screened
sericels do not embody the traditional process of hand-painted animation
art, they do represent the unique look at modest prices.
Pencil Model Sheet
A group of original pencil drawings on one sheet that illustrate an animated character in a variety
of poses and expressions. Model sheets are lithographed and distributed to the
animation team to ensure a uniform look and feel to a character throughout a production.
Production Background
An original background painting used in the final version of an animated film or short.
Studio Background
A non-production background perpared by the studio for publicity or presentation purposes.
Hand-prepared Background
A non-production background prepared by a studio artist to enhance or complet a cel setup.
Cel Setup
A cel or cels usually combined with a background. A cel setup may have one or more levels of cels overlaid on the background.
Storyboard Drawing
Any drawing or sequence of drawings used to describe the plot of a film visually.
Background Drawing or Layout
A sketch used as the basis for a background painting, occasionally with color highlights. Drawings or layouts may show proposed action of animated characters.
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