Somehow in the course of 3 or so hours, I came up with enough material for 3 posts... this is the first.
Upon hearing that I was going to be spending a week in LA, Kevin emailed me a link about the Tim Burton exhibit that was taking place at the LA County Museum of Art. I'd heard about it already, but the email was a great reminder to see one of the coolest museum exhibits I've been to (probably rivaled only by the Walt Disney Family museum as the two had a similar format). I apologize in advance for the lack of pictures - it was a strict no photo zone. For those who know me in real life, I bought a few coffee table books from the exhibit and you're welcome to flip through them next time you visit. For those who don't know me, but love Tim Burton - the books can be purchased here and on Amazon (yes, they are two different books).
The exhibit was a collection of Tim Burton's sketches, sculptures, paintings, short films and movie props. It was incredible. You started the exhibit by walking through a giant clown mouth which leads you into a sort of preview room where you can see a few sculptures and sketches that prepare you for what is coming.
From there, the exhibit shows you his early life. They explain how his creative mind was always restless in Burbank and from a young age, entered (and won) drawing competitions until he was able to attend Cal Arts, but this is all stuff you can find on Wikipedia. The exhibit continued into a large room with a zig zag wall in the middle creating a multitude of surfaces. Each one was covered with paintings, sketches and cells of some of Burton's early works including Frankenweenie (which is now being made into a full motion picture) and Vincent (the story of a young boy who wanted to be like Vincent Price or Edgar Allen Poe).
The galleries then led into one of the most popular Tim Birton creations - yes, The Nightmare Before Christmas. Even before it got to that point, you could see that he had spent years dreaming up that world. There were so many sketches of grinning skulls, blue stiched women, striped snakes, and creepy clowns. The rooms that focused on the iconic movie showed more of the individual sulptures.
Last year, just before Halloween, I bought the movie on Blu-ray. I had figured it would have revealed some flaws in the clay sculptures that came from a time before computer animation was as big as it is now. However, it just showed how much detail went into each figurine. Seeing them in person, I can verify that they really are perfect. They are just so precise with so much thought going into every character, every scene.
The rest of the exhibit really focused on a lot of his movies and the artwork behind them. There were costumes from Batman (including the Catwoman suit, the first of two that I would see that month) and Edward Scissorhands, there were melted puppets from Willy Wonka, and just so many story board drawings. I think my favorite thing was a sketch from Sweeney Todd that even looked like Johnny Depp.
The whole exhibit was really inspiring. No, I don't plan on sitting in a dark room and sketching skeletons and clowns - but seeing a real artist who spent his life bringing his unique vision to life, reminds me that I love to create too and that I need to get back to that.
Upon hearing that I was going to be spending a week in LA, Kevin emailed me a link about the Tim Burton exhibit that was taking place at the LA County Museum of Art. I'd heard about it already, but the email was a great reminder to see one of the coolest museum exhibits I've been to (probably rivaled only by the Walt Disney Family museum as the two had a similar format). I apologize in advance for the lack of pictures - it was a strict no photo zone. For those who know me in real life, I bought a few coffee table books from the exhibit and you're welcome to flip through them next time you visit. For those who don't know me, but love Tim Burton - the books can be purchased here and on Amazon (yes, they are two different books).
The exhibit was a collection of Tim Burton's sketches, sculptures, paintings, short films and movie props. It was incredible. You started the exhibit by walking through a giant clown mouth which leads you into a sort of preview room where you can see a few sculptures and sketches that prepare you for what is coming.
From there, the exhibit shows you his early life. They explain how his creative mind was always restless in Burbank and from a young age, entered (and won) drawing competitions until he was able to attend Cal Arts, but this is all stuff you can find on Wikipedia. The exhibit continued into a large room with a zig zag wall in the middle creating a multitude of surfaces. Each one was covered with paintings, sketches and cells of some of Burton's early works including Frankenweenie (which is now being made into a full motion picture) and Vincent (the story of a young boy who wanted to be like Vincent Price or Edgar Allen Poe).
The galleries then led into one of the most popular Tim Birton creations - yes, The Nightmare Before Christmas. Even before it got to that point, you could see that he had spent years dreaming up that world. There were so many sketches of grinning skulls, blue stiched women, striped snakes, and creepy clowns. The rooms that focused on the iconic movie showed more of the individual sulptures.
Last year, just before Halloween, I bought the movie on Blu-ray. I had figured it would have revealed some flaws in the clay sculptures that came from a time before computer animation was as big as it is now. However, it just showed how much detail went into each figurine. Seeing them in person, I can verify that they really are perfect. They are just so precise with so much thought going into every character, every scene.
The rest of the exhibit really focused on a lot of his movies and the artwork behind them. There were costumes from Batman (including the Catwoman suit, the first of two that I would see that month) and Edward Scissorhands, there were melted puppets from Willy Wonka, and just so many story board drawings. I think my favorite thing was a sketch from Sweeney Todd that even looked like Johnny Depp.
The whole exhibit was really inspiring. No, I don't plan on sitting in a dark room and sketching skeletons and clowns - but seeing a real artist who spent his life bringing his unique vision to life, reminds me that I love to create too and that I need to get back to that.
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