ANIMATION STYLE
LO2 2.1 - 2.2
To expand my knowledge of animation styles, I will research traditional Japanese artwork as well as existing media.
The art of Studio Ghibli's "The Tale of Princess Kaguya" (2015) is particularly interesting to me. I've been inspired by Studio Ghibli's work on many occasions, and because some of their work reflects my own ideas, I'd like to conduct research into the art of one of their films.
The animation's visual style in "The Tale of Princess Kaguya" is very distinctive from other Ghibli films. The animation's impressionistic aesthetic is reminiscent of historical Japanese ink, water colour, and brush paintings.
The intensity in the scenes are demonstrated by rougher pen strokes and a more muted colour palette, which provoke an emotional response from the viewer. It appears that the purpose of the animation is to recognise the simplicity and elegance of movement in art. Princess Kaguya review
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The art style used to animate The Tale of Princess Kaguya’ is similar to Sumi-E. Sumi means ‘black ink’, ‘e’ means ‘painting.'
Sumi-E is a traditional Japanese art form painting motifs from nature and the natural world, using simple black ink and carefully curated white space. Empty spaces take inspiration from the Buddhist concept of mu or ‘without’ and the principle of ma, the ‘gap’ or negative space’
I have purchased an old Japanese brush painting book in a charity shop from 1984 in order to look into how they would have created traditional Japanese art in the Sumi-e style.
The essential tools for traditional Sumi-e painting are known as "The Four Treasures". This includes, ink stick, ink stone, brush, and paper. What Is Sumi-e?
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The type of ink typically used is called 'Asian ink' and it was invented over two thousand years ago, made from soot produced from the inside of ovens.
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This ink is permanent and looks new on scrolls over 1000 years old.
The Edo period (1603-1867) covers two centuries of relative peacefulness, during which numerous artistic developments emerged. It is one of the richest in the history of Japanese art.
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Woodblock prints thrived alongside the traditional types of artwork. It is also known as Ukiyo-e, which means "pictures of the floating world" in Japanese. National gallery of art
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To make a traditional Japanese woodblock print, an artist would first draw an image on washi, a thin but durable type of paper.
The washi would then be glued to a block of wood, and the artist would carve the image into its surface using the outlines of the drawing as a guide. Woodblock Printing
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ANIMATION STYLE CONCLUSIONS
Researching into these art forms has led me to consider using some of their elements in my own animation. I think that using a lot of plain white space for the backgrounds will save time while still being visually appealing. Due to having a personal interest in traditional Japanese art, I have found researching the Sumi-e art style to be very interesting.
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Because I would like to replicate this art style for my animation, I will ensure that the brush tools in my animation software, Procreate, are capable of replicating the traditional Sumi-e art style.