In “The Art of Home” (by Ramin Zahed) Dreamworks’ animated feature, (released in theaters today) takes a BTS view of where the multiple worlds represented in the movie come from, both philosophically and in the hands of the artists and designers.
The movie is based on Adam Rex’s best-selling book, The True Meaning of Smekday, and in an afterward to the book he confesses his original misgivings about the visual representation of his lead character, OH, the misfit from another planet. The afterward comes at a perfect place in this book, as you are introduced to the characters and worlds not by words, but by three fundamental shapes, in the table of contents: a circle for THE BOOV, a square for THE HUMANS AND THEIR WORLD, and an inverted triangle for THE GORG.
The Art of Home – Shapes define characterReprinted from The Art of Home by Ramin Zahed published by Insight Editions. DreamWorks Home © 2015 DreamWorks Animation L.L.C
Reprinted from The Art of Home by Ramin Zahed published by Insight Editions. DreamWorks Home © 2015 DreamWorks Animation L.L.C
Character designer Takao Noguchi gives one of his greatest insights into his approach for these simple geometrically-based characters: “They had to be simple enough for a kid to be able to draw them: ‘I started out by doodling them, using the illustrations in Adam Rex’s book as a point of departure…'”
As a book, this isn’t meant to be a night-time read to tuck in the youngsters, but for a young aspiring artist, character designer, illustrator, animator or visual storyteller it’s filled with insight and inspiration. There are plenty of sketches next to finished images, of which many look far too detailed to imagine they are stills from the production video, yet perfect for study.
Reprinted from The Art of Home by Ramin Zahed published by Insight Editions. DreamWorks Home © 2015 DreamWorks Animation L.L.C
The book sits somewhere between reference and cofee table status, as the size (and thickness) makes it outstanding even on the shelf, but the quality of the printing makes the case for not everything should be uploaded into your Kindle to read on the road.
Reprinted from The Art of Home by Ramin Zahed published by Insight Editions. DreamWorks Home © 2015 DreamWorks Animation L.L.C
Enjoy the movie, but you can enjoy this behind-the-scenes book in its own right, as the spirit of discovery and humanity from the story are translated beautifully into this “making of” book.
