Tuesday, September 5, 2017

MASTER DRAWING JAPAN - Aaron Blaise's SUMO Sized Tokyo Seminar - Summer 2017



Apologies to everyone for not posting this sooner. Those who follow Master Drawing Japan are well aware that this summer, its biggest and most ambitious seminar to date was held.

Aaron Blaise, veteran Disney animator of over 20 years,  film director, illustrator and wildlife artist was our guest in Tokyo for an amazing 13 days!



In partnership with CG World / +ONE Knowledge, Master Drawing Japan invited this animation heavyweight to share his priceless knowledge with the aspiring artists of Tokyo.  During that time Aaron held two seminars on animation, creature design and an additional two intensive masterclasses on character design and human/ animal comparative anatomy.


Well over a hundred students and professionals came in attendance for Aaron's first teaching seminars in Japan.








Aaron covered all the essentials of animation and design.  A very interactive instructor, Aaron designed the lion above with direct guidance from the audience.


And Aaron went on to animate the lion as seen below.



For his next trick...! The Creature Design segment of the seminar , Aaron designed and completely rendered this amazing dragon from start to finish right before everyone's eyes.
















Aaron graciously greeted everyone and left a lot of happy faces behind..




But this is only half of the story....

With still two more masterclass seminars to go, Aaron generously offered everyone interested to join him at an open drawing day at Tama Zoo







Aaron hailed Tama Zoo as one of the BEST zoo experiences he has ever had.  Coming from an animal illustration master  like Aaron, that's a huge compliment!


The last two days of Aaron's teaching tour ended at the Sokei Academy of Fine Arts with two masterclass seminars on character design and comparative anatomy.  Sokei has been a very generous sponsor of previous seminars for Master Drawing Japan.  Notably with one of Aaron's previous drawing instructors, the venerable Glenn Vilppu







It was an amazing experience and unforgettable adventure in art, design and illustration. Thank you Aaron, it was a great honor having you.  (P.S. Have to give s shout to Nick Burch - thank you too Nick! You were the rock that made sure that everything was steady!  You're a great guy!)    Looking forward to seeing you again!  


If you want to see more about Aaron's experience in Tokyo go to his YouTube channel: The Art of Aaron Blaise or look at Master Drawing Japan's blog on the experience!