Watson B. Duncan Middle School art students were treated to a guest lecture by Disney Artist Les Carpenter. Mr. Carpenter explained the process of pursuing a career in animation and brought along model sheets of famous characters as well as a collection of new characters from a cartoon series he is currently working on. He also showed visual art academy students what a portfolio for a job interview in animation might look like, and reminded them to practice drawing animals and people from life.
After the visual demonstration, which included looking at character design and 2-D animation, Mr. Carpenter led the classes through a step-by-step lesson on how to draw a Disney character. The students were surprised to see how well their drawings turned out as they followed the method of beginning simple shapes and filling in details later.
He left behind the Disney model sheets for the art students to continue practicing, and reminded students that Duncan Art teacher Courtney Hess is also a certified Disney Artist resource as well.
Both Kathee Strivelli and Mrs. Hess’ classes learned a great deal of practical knowledge about animation that they were able to apply to their art work almost immediately.
For more information please contact Assistant Principal Kate Wynn at kate.wynn@palmbeachschools.org or 561-799-7463.