Monday, October 31, 2011

We all love José Ramón! First Part

Puedes leer esta entrada en español aquí.

How many times I left my little painting to see the children's programs on TV! In one of them, "Sabadabada", which soon became "Dábadabada", I discovered a wonderful and endearing artist, José Ramón Sánchez. With a prodigious ability he performed, for all children, illustrations of the stories that he was telling at the same time.


The two entries that I write about him are dedicated to its most Riquiño side, in other words, its children's book illustrator and animator side, so that you know him a little better and complete as far as possible the gaps in this regard. In this particular entry I focus on previous work to join the television world.

José Ramón Sánchez was born in Santander in 1936. Since tiny he felt a great fondness on cinema. In fact his first assignments, being still very young, were cinema billboards.


In 1957 he moved to Madrid and worked for two years in the animation department of the Estudios Morothe most prestigious advertising studios of the 50’s and 60’s, especially remembered for many animated ads, and mainly "La Familia Telerin". There he met two titans of the Spanish animation, Cruz Delgado and Pablo Nuñez with which he collaborated later. At this time he began to make illustrations for various publications, posters and exhibitions.


In 1966 he illustrated his first book, “Como nace una familia” (As a family is born), dedicated to a young audience.





However, it will in 1970 when he actually starts his hard work as an illustrator of children's stories and animator. In that year, in addition to realize several covers for Santillana editorial stories books, he fully illustrated several educational books from the same publisher, the "Veleta" (Weathercock) workbooks  and the three read and write method books  "Saeta," with texts by Fernando Alonso , which were entitled “El Molino” (The Mill) , “La Piragua” (The Canoe) and "La Noria" (The Big Well).





But that´s no all, also in 1970 he is the responsible for the artistic direction of the short educational cartoon “Como nace una familia” (As a family is born), based on the illustrated book from 1966,and “¿Conoces las señales?” (Do you know the signs?). Both shorts were conducted in the Cruz Delgado studios.

Como nace una familia

¿Conoces las señales?



In 1971, he beautifully illustrated Jaime Ferran books “Angel en USA. Norte” (Angel in the USA.North) and “Angel en USA. Sur” (Angel in the USA. South ) and is responsible for a short film called "El Gripoterio" or “La Pandilla” (The Gang) starring the animated version of a very popular children's band in Spain, La Pandilla, which earned him the best animated short Golden Pelayo in the IX Gijón International Film Festival for Children and Youth.


Inside illustration from "Angel en USA. Norte"


Stills from "El Gripoterio"


The reading book “Senda 3” illustrations, from 1972, were also done by him. Click on the image bellow to enjoy the full book:



Francisco Macián, director of the animated film starring the Famila Telerin, “El mago de los sueños” (The Dreams Wizard,1966), was charmed by "El Gripoterio" and decided that Jose Ramon had to take charge of the film he had in mind for many years, "Candelita", the story that happens to one of the shepherds who goes to worship Jesus Child on Christmas Day. A book from this project with the same name was published in 1973 with Gloria Fuertes texts and trailer was introduced with great success in the Gijón International Children and Youth Film Festival held in that year. Unfortunately the project was unfinished, and today is a thorn for Jose Ramon.







From 1973 are also the short films commissioned by TVE “Paco Pum” and “Juegos” (Games).

Paco Pum
Juegos
 

In 1974 he illustrates one of the books from the “Yo soy” (I am) collection created by José Luis García Sánchez y Miguel Ángel Pacheco, “Soy un pez” (I´m a fish) and starts a strong collaboration with them. But that belongs to the second part dedicated to José Ramón Sánchez. ;D



Documentation:

“José Ramón Sánchez. El aprendiz de brujo”. Colección Animadrid. Nº6. 2010 Begoña Vicario y Jesús Mª Mateos.

“El dibujo animado en España hasta 1966. Proyectos cinematográficos de Francisco Macián en los Estudios Macián”. 2011. Trabajo de Investigación de Susana Rodríguez Escudero para optar al D.E.A.

Susana Rodríguez Escudero personal collection.








Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Hurray Maria!

Puedes leer esta entrada en español pinchando aqui.

Hi everyone one more day! :D

I´m coming today with a RIQUIÑA artist in capital letters, besides she is galleguiña (from Galicia), Maria Longa. I owe her my cute logo. XD

Maria was born in Vigo in 1974, and she grew up watching lot of tv, devouring lots of books and true-romance magazines (more glamorous on those days) and listening to the Beatles, Horacio Pinchadiscos (a puppet from a Spanish TV show) or whatever who was worthy. All of this nurtured her powerful imagination, so she needed to take it out from somewhere, so she decided to give free up to it with pencils and paintbrushes. In 1999 she had her degree in Design and Audiovisuals at Fine Arts in Pontevedra.

Maria looks like Arale (the robot girl from Dr. Slump) but in a ye-yé way. :D A little notebook goes with her everywhere and he lets her illustrate him with her crazy ideas, odd dreams or funny situations that happen to her that are worthy to be expressed.




On her illustrations you can appreciate her influences starting with Thelma Thumb (a Sesame Street cartoon), Ulises Wensell, Michael Ende and José Ramón Sanchez (the largely responsible that lots of children who grew up in the 80´s in Spain get involved on art), apart from lots of references from the 50`s, 60`s and 70`s such as the Bruguera cartoonist, Raf, Conti, Escobar or Peñarroya with his “Gordito Relleno”, the illustrators Fiep Westendrop, Miroslav Sasek, Mary Blair and the Bruno Bozzetto, Rankin Bass, Hannah Barbera o UPA animations.







Today she keeps living in Vigo and shares her main activity as graphic and web designer in a telecommunication company, with exhibitions and artistic projects in the field of Illustration, graphic design, etc.
Here you can have a look to the interactive Christmas card that she designed, even the funny texts, for the company she works for. Click over the image and enjoy.



Her Christmas campaign for the IT Solutions company Innova causes great expectation. Click over de image to see the animation. :)


She works with Poetas da Ostia (a poets collective), doing some posters, poetical art objects and live paintings.


 

Her last witticism is the “Milonguitos”, a everyday minipoems very funny. :D






And of course she is now getting ready my beautiful web. :D


Isn´t Maria a really RIQUIÑA artist?

Here you can know a bit more about her. ;D


Monday, October 24, 2011

I love Mary Blair!

Puedes leer esta entrada en español pinchando aquí.

What a nice coincidence!

This space just started to go on the same day that Mary Blair, one of the most riquiña artist of all times, would be 100 years old, so I´m going to dedicate this entry to her and her wonderful illustrations. :)

Mary Browne Robinson was born a 21 of October from 1911 in a small city from Oklahoma State called McAlester. It was in 1931 that she received a scholarship in the Chouinard Art Institute, located in Los Angeles, where she met who will become her husband, Lee Blair. Thanks to this relationship she would introduce herself in the animated cartoon world, firstly replacing her husband (who started a new job at Disney Studios) in the animation department of Metro Goldwyn Mayer studios and later in 1940 she joins the Disney Studios.

It was in Disney Studios where she started to develop her extreme creativity. Her first project was done for a discarded sequence from the movie “Fantasia” (1940) called “Baby Ballet”, a performance of “Berceuse” from Chopin.



In 1941 she travelled to South America together with Walt Disney and some other members of his team to carry out studios for the shot movie “Saludos Amigos” (1942). Disney was so impressed by her art work that he decided to appointed her artistic director for this movie and the feature film sequel “The here Caballeros” (1944). Here is a documentary from 2008 about this experience called “Walt & El Grupo”.


In 1943 she created some watercolors for “the Lady and the Tramp” first project.


The following years she will be the artistic director from the studios main projects like “Make mine Music” (1946), “Song of the South” (1946), “Malody Time” (1948), “So dear to my heart” (1948) or “The adventures of Ichabod and Mr.Toad” (1949).

"Two Silhouttes" from "Make mine Music"
"Song of the South"

"Once in wintertime" from "Melody Time"
"So dear to my heart"
"The adventures of Ichabod and Mr.Toad"

In 1950 she conducted the art concept for the featured film "Cinderella".




In 1952 she surprised again with her creativity in "Alice in Wonderland".




In 1952 she realizes the concept art for "Little Blue Coupe" and "The Little House".

"Susie the Little Blue Coupe"

"The Litttle House"

Again in 1953 she shows of her talent to create the atmosphere and sets for “Peter Pan”.






Some other projects for Disney that have never been realized were “Penelope” (a time-traveler girl) and Don Quixote.

"Penelope"
"Penelope"
"Don Quixote"

Mary Blair left the Disney Studios after “Peter Pan” conception to develop personal projects. But that will be part of a following chapter that I have to dedicate to her. :D

This are a few of her available books:

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...