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BUYING
ORIGINAL ANIMATION ART (PART TWO) |
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Two
issues ago my article touched on how original animation art was sold to
the public starting in the 1930s and how the market has evolved. The
usual rules for buying any kind of art apply to animation art as well:
Buy what you like and buy the best quality you can afford. Seri-cels,
limited edition “artwork” whether hand inked or painted or both, are
secondary markets and not worth buying. Just because a moment of
animation is reproduced on a cel, it is not intrinsically worth any more
than reproducing it on a mug or a T-shirt. A reproduction is a
reproduction, and a fake is a fake. Buy original production only, and
make your own cel of Lady and the Tramp eating spaghetti if you can’t
afford one. Yours may be as good as the one painted by some $9.63 per
hour artisan at Walt Disney World and won’t cost you over two thousand
dollars. So
how should you go about choosing which artwork to buy? You can buy
whatever you enjoy and have an accumulation of favorites, which is fine.
You may want a collection, which means specializing somehow. You can
specialize in a specific film, or TV series, a studio, have an
all-villains collection, or even collect the work of a specific
animator. One of the joys of animation art collecting is that however
you specialize, within that parameter you will have a great diversity as
a rule, of subject and style. Study and learn all you can about your
choice by reading as much as possible. What obscure films did a studio
of your choice do? If you want a drawing of every character from a
certain film, make a list and know what the secondary and rarer
characters look like so you will know them when they appear for sale. I
have bought fine old artwork which was misidentified to my benefit
because I knew more about the characters than the seller. A crocodile
from PETER PAN was really Ben Ali Gator from FANTASIA in one case for
about a tenth of its value. Your
artistic sense and observant eye will also help you when choosing
artwork. A key drawing is more interesting than an in-between drawing.
The poses are stronger and were done by the main animator of the scene
almost all the time. Looking at my drawings of the devil Chernabog from
FANTASIA, for example, you can see that those done by the main animator,
Bill Tytla, are indeed stronger than the rest, powerful and impressive
as they also are. He initialed his drawings with a “T”, others by
their initials quite often. If there are no initials, or you do not know who the main animator was for a scene or major character, your own knowledge of animation may help. There may be an animation “ladder” on the page, another major clue. The animator may have made drawings 34 and 38 let’s say, and left drawings 35, 36, and 37 for an in-betweener to do. The keys, 34 and 38 require his skills and define the moment and the timing, the others, while required to be done well, merely carry the action forward between those two strong poses. On one of the keys will be a small grid, looking something like a ladder with steps. The top step will be numbered 34, the bottom one 38 and those in-between w5, 36 and 37. The “steps” will be spaced equally apart for general timing, or some of the steps may be closer to others. The spacing indicates timing, so drawing 34 and 35 may be close together, 35 and 36 have more space between them, drawings 36 and 37 even more space between them and |
so
on, indicating that the action will be speeding up as the character goes
from the pose in drawing 34 and that in drawing 38. The ladder imparts
information between animator and in-betweener. Don’t
forget that one can always trade artwork with other collectors. We can
build our collections easier if every transaction doesn’t mean
the outlay of cold hard cash. I have traded for decades now, and my last
trade was a few months ago when I traded a Tinkerbell from PETER PAN for
three old Donald Ducks. The former was from the famous scene when she is
on the mirror, the Donalds were from 1936. A good deal and a fair one is
when both parties are happy with the trade. Was one side worth more than
the other? Who knows? Who cares? We were both satisfied. There is much much more involved with choosing original animation art, too much to go into here. I will be happy to hear from anyone who would like to get together as collectors or to get help or advice—or even trade! Peter Adamakos is an animation producer and director who founded an animation company 31 years ago. Peter has also been a collector of original animation artwork for over 35 years. His collection has formed the basis of major museum exhibitions in cities like Montreal, New York, Toronto, Tampa, Paris, Atlanta, Brussels and many more. He also teaches in animation. Peter can be reached by e-mail at peter@disada.com or by snail mail at: Peter Adamakos
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