The animator from Portland, Oregon, Bill Plympton visited MCA this past Tuesday for a lecture. As a major in Illustration with a mixed emphasis on Animation, it was really an interesting lecture learning more about his process and seeing some of his work.
Bill Plympton grew up loving Disney and Warner Brothers animations, and he also began his work as an illustrator first before becoming an animator. Being an illustrator brought out the style he wanted to focus on in his future animations. The first animation created independently was Your Face, which was also what brought success in his career when he submitted it into an art festival. It was interesting how he pointed out the importance of entering work into film festivals first, as it really will help expand more into the animation career.
He showed a few of his animations, with the first being called Hot Dog, which featured a dog character he frequently uses in his work. The animation was very funny, and he also demonstrated afterward how the dog was drawn. He mentioned character evolution, and it stood out to me that he also mentioned that doing the animations can eventually bring out more of the character's identity.
Other animations that he showed were The Fan and the Flower, The Cow who Wanted to be a Hamburger, Horn Dog, Cheatin', and Santa the Fascist Years. They all retained his style and it was interesting to learn he focuses more on traditional methods of animation. He mentioned he often got his ideas from the New York streets, and how he keeps a notebook to write story ideas.
His lecture overall was inspiring and useful as an animator, as learning more about his methods of creation and his career brought out some ideas for myself for my future animations as well as seeing where my career path goes.
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