This is a blog about Disney art, their work and their lives. I am an artist and this is my website.
I also have a blog where I talk about my personal experiences with depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder and other mental health issues. You can find it at A Life Less Ordinary: http://life-less-ordinary.blogspot.com/
If you like my site please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or just to chat!
If you are interested in purchasing any of the art on this website or would like to commission me for a piece please feel free to email me at monicadowenart@gmail.com
Enjoy your visit!**
DISNEY ART is the first blog to focus on Disney art and artists. It is also the only one dedicated exclusively to the better-known artists, rather than focusing on in-house artists or those who worked during a narrow time frame.
So, what’s here? Well, for starters, you’ll find pages for every artist who worked in animation and/or illustration for The Walt Disney Studios. That includes “live action” animators and directors who contributed to the animated features. You’ll also find pages for artists whose work appears in or inspired by the theme parks. And there are galleries of works by all these artists and more.
TDA was started in 2006 as a labor of love; it remains so today. The blog has been featured in several books and has been cited by many museums and libraries around the world.
The site is updated at least twice a week—and sometimes more often—with new material.”
Each piece of art on this blog has a story to tell. Who was the artist who created it, and how was it used? What are the stories behind the artwork, and what pieces of Walt Disney history can be found within?
The Disney artists have been with us since the start of our company. Their works have helped to shape who we are – and who we are today is the result of their artistry.
The Disney Art blog will provide you with an inside look at some of these artists and their work.
The artwork is original, or a reproduction of an original. The original may be in our archives here at Walt Disney Animation Studios or it may be with another collector or museum. In either case, we’re glad to share it here with you!
Disney art is a large and varied body of work that encompasses paintings, sculptures and other pieces. Many of these have been created by some of the leading artists of their time, from Walt Disney himself to some of the most influential animators in the business such as Grim Natwick and Eyvind Earle.
The artists who have worked for the Disney company have produced a vast amount of work that has not only been used in motion pictures but also for theme park rides, for parades and for shows at the Disney hotels around the world.
As a child, I was fascinated with Disney art. My mother and father would be busy working in their studio at the end of our driveway on Christmas Eve, I would sneak around to the side to watch them work. They would blow glass or sculpt metal, drawing was something they did when they were young but now that they were adults they made things out of glass.
My grandfather was a painter and my grandmother was a writer but I didn’t know that until many years later. I knew they did art but I thought it was a hobby they did while they were retired. When I visited my grandmother she had her writing room and my grandfather his painting room, and I thought that was just what writers and artists did, so when I grew up I thought I would have an art room too.
The first time my mom took me to Disneyland, when it opened in 1955, she said “Look! This is where Walt Disney got his ideas from!” She pointed out all the architectural details that she had painted on backgrounds for his animated films like Sleeping Beauty . And as we walked through the castle she pointed out the stained glass windows that Walt had copied for Cinderella’s castle at the park.
There is actually very little art by Walt Disney himself in the park’s public spaces
DISNEY ARCHITECTURE
Disney’s company town of Marceline, Missouri, located near the Missouri River in the middle of the state, was originally built as a company town for the employees of his Kansas City Film Ad Company. The area was chosen, in part because it was a rural area that would be less likely to be hit by tornadoes. The city is built on a grid plan and has public spaces representing the four cardinal points of a compass rose, plus New Orleans Square and Mickey Mouse Park representing the North East and South West quadrants.
Various buildings were constructed in varying architectural styles to mimic European styles of architecture. There are Tudor Revival-style houses with half-timbering; there are also log cabins, Mediterranean Revival, Mission Revival Style and bungalows. Some of these homes were built for Disney’s employees. Other homes were built by local residents to sell to Disney employees who wanted them.
The Walt Disney Company gave up its ownership of the town in 1994 when it sold most of it to the residents under an agreement that prohibits residential building outside of existing development or land zoned for commercial use (such as Downtown). The city is now a tourist attraction owned by the residents and is run by a board of trustees elected
Graphic art is an important part of Disney’s history, and led to the creation of a company that shaped the face of animation. As such, it is important to look back at how Disney has been represented throughout it’s history through the eyes of artists.
This blog will primarily focus on William “Walt” Disney’s own experience with graphic art, his early career and his contributions to the field. By doing this, we hope to give a better understanding of the man behind the mouse, and all that he brought to the world through his work.
