This book is a wonderful surprise. Walt Stanchfield's lessons have been transcribed so that you get his voice speaking to you form across the years - and what an inspiring voice it is!
I expected great lessons in Disney style drawing and animation and I got those - in abundance! How life would have been different if I'd had these lessons in squash and stretch and drawing the gesture ("Draw the verb in front of you, not the noun!"). But the real treasure is how he goes beyond the drawing lessons into lessons about how to be creative, how to live life!
Sometimes it's about inspiring you to draw: "...Whether your heart is set on the fine arts or on animation, quick sketching is the shortest route to training yourself for capturing those spontaneous gestures and poses that are so essential to good drawing. Break one of your bad habits today. Which one? The habit of not sketching."
Other times he goes beyond this: "You must create. The injunction of life is to create or perish. Good physical and mental conditioning are necessary to do this. Remember this: the creative energy that created the universe created you, and its creative power is now in you, motivating you, urging you on - always in the direction of creative expression. I have a formula: "Impression minus expression equals depression." This is especially applicable to artists. We have trained ourselves to be impressed (aware) of all the things around us, and in the natural course of our lives those impressions cry out to be expressed - on paper, on canvas, in music, in poetry, in animated film. So shape up!"
Allow yourself to be inspired again - buy yourself this and the companion volume!Get more detail about Drawn to Life: 20 Golden Years of Disney Master Classes: Volume 1: The Walt Stanchfield Lectures.
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