These are the two Disney Feature Animation interns who sat opposite me in the office. There were 4 four animation desks then an opening to the hallway and four more desks in the room.
John Mahoney to the left held his pencil in an unexpected way. He is one of the most gifted visual development artists I ever met. His work today is twisted and brooding. I like it.
While I was struggling with each animation assignment he was creating entire sequences for an animated short. His drawings done in the life drawing classes were also spectacular. He would take the figure and twist it with elegant exaggerations. Darren Webb seated behind John went on to have a long career in the computer animation industry. I tried turning to computer animation but couldn’t take staring at a computer screen all day and started sketching from life once again.
The transition to sketching on location again has been slow. I teach most nights until 8pm which rules out the usual events I used to sketch. Right now I am designing a COVID Dystopia book which keeps me at my desk until I pass out most nights. My schedule is work, eat sleep much as it was when I was an intern. I had Sunday off yesterday and spent the whole day designing. I have decided I need to hire an editor to get the book solidly in the works. I am one of the worst at endless typos.