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Surf's Up Academy Award Nomination!

35 comments
Today I just found out that Surf's Up was nominated for Best Animated Feature. Woo-hoo, now that was a pleasant surprise.

Chances of getting this award are slim because last year another animated penguin movie won, and it would be hard pressed for the Academy to vote two penguin movies back to back. Nonetheless, it was great to have the nomination, and there's always a chance.

Here's a drawing I did for Surf's Up in order to work out what we expected from the water effects. In this drawing I tried to draw every aspect of what we needed from our CG bretheren, Rob Bredow and the rest of the guys at Imageworks. I called out each of the individual components we needed to see, from the swell, plunging wave, rolling foam, soup and shoreline foam. There were about 25 different variables I had called out.

Still, this makes a pretty drawing, so I thought I'd post it. It also has a Vignali penguin standing on the shore. You can also find this drawing in the Making-Of book. (This image is nice and big! Enjoy.)

--M

35 comments :

Alessandra Sorrentino said...

Marcelo that's way more than just a pretty drawing!
Clear and beautiful. Congratulations on the nomination, you guys deserve it!

Mark McDonnell said...

Beautiful Marcelo . . .so crystal clean and wonderfuly handled. It has the beauty and grace of the most picturesque qualities you would imagine in a dream.

MAC

bog_art said...

Wonderful drawing!!.. how big is it??.. and congratulations for the nomination.. it is not a big surprise for us..

Cookedart said...

Congratulations Marcelo!

It's great to see this movie recognized!

Anonymous said...

Marcelo,
This is another Obra Maestra... I will always love your work.
D

Marcos Mateu said...

Marcelo, after we were briefly introduced at Zuma beach on my 'first day at work', one of the first pieces of artwork I ever saw of yours was this one as part of the folder I was given containing the results of your detailed study on how waves behave, and out of all the folder I was specially impressed with this particular one, not only for the amount of work it reflects but also for the incredible subtleties of the pencil work as this evolved on the paper, which can be appreciated only up to a point on the screen.
Fantastic work.

Marcos Mateu said...

And by the way! great news on the Surf's Up nomination! ...well deserved I'd say

Francis Vallejo said...

Hey Marcelo! Congrats on the nomination. With such a talented crew it's no wonder!

I don't believe you made it to the Revelations workshop in Seattle did you?

take care!

Shuku said...

Congratulations, Marcelo! I really hope you guys get that award! And that is one -wonderful- drawing. Detailed, beautifully executed, and to the point. And a Vignali penguin to boot! Even better!

--Shuku
Making more bracelets

Anonymous said...

Marcelo, you did a fantastic job on this one!
Happy New Year!
TOR

Daniel said...

I love the sense of movement in the water. I feel like I'm there.

Congratulations on the nomination!

Daniel

Alfred Llupia said...

Congratulations of course!And thanks for show these great artpieces Marcelo!Greetings.

Erwin Madrid said...

Beautiful drawing!
Congrats on the nomination. I was surprised it wasn't nominated for a Golden Globe since it had great reviews and it was an amazing movie I have to say.

Paul Wee said...

Congats Big Moe! I'm glad your film got a nomination!

Heidi Smith said...

I love the penguin!!

Jed said...

wow wow wow wow.

You're such a thinker, Marcelo. The thought process is surpassed only be the exectution. Fantastic.

monkeyfeather said...

Great stuff Marcelo. I have REALLY been enjoying your Surf's Up posts. It was definitely a film I thought deserved better recognition than it got... well until Oscar any ways. Congrats to you and the rest of the crew. My wife got me the art of book for Christmas and I look at it often.

Thanks for the inspiration!

Unknown said...

BEautiful waves!! Getting nominated for the Oscar is great achievement!! Congrat!

Dave Dick said...

Congrats!!! Well desreved!

Lena said...

Greetings!
All is very interesting!!
I wish you cheerful days off!

Billy George said...

Coolness. I can smell the salty air.

Awesome movie too- I finally saw it the other night and its brilliant. Best animated film ive seen in years. Of course now that ive said that I probably jinxed it for the academy awards.

craig said...

Hey Marcelo,

Congrats on the nomination! You guys did a great job on that film.

Marc said...

Congratulations on the nomination Marcelo! Stellar work as always. You put so much thought and craft into your artwork and yet it always retains a fluid appearance of spontaneity. I always learn so much by seeing your work.

Urban Barbarian said...

Water is such a beast to draw! Amazing drawing! Congrats too!

Lena said...

Здраствуйте дорогой Марсело! Я попробую написать Вам по-русски!Благодарю за благожелательный комментарий к моим скромным работам! Большое спасибо! С уважением, Гагарина Елена.

GWhitehall said...

amazing detail, really nice to just stare at if for a good 5 minutes and just soak it in. Great job. How much reference/research would go into a drawing like this?

Brandon said...

I love your pencil renderings. Please grace us with a tutorial one of these days.

Congrats on the nomination.

Marcelo Vignali said...

Thanks everyone for all your wonderful comments and for wishing us well at the Oscars.

Blog Art, the original is not that much bigger than what I've posted. I would guess it's about 15x12.

Francis, no I didn't make it to the Seattle workshop.

Erwin, yeah, a Golden Globe nomimation would have yet another wonderful feather in our cap. Alas.

Jed, I've always been the kind of kid that would take something apart to find out how it works. I would like to think I haven't lost that sense of wonder.

Monkey Feather, I'm glad you liked the book.

Спасибо Лена!

Gino, I pulled quite a bit of reference, but none of this was drawn directly from reference. I had to make this work, and I had to understand how it worked, so I drew it using my reference as a guide to structure, but not as a rendering guide. I think that is why the entire drawing works well together, with no areas being weaker or stronger than the others.

Brandon, I get asked for a tutorial from time to time, so I guess I need to do that.

Thanks again everyone!

flaviano said...

i'v got the art book and man, your bkg work is really huge!
i don't know were you find the patience to draw every single wave or stone but the result is great! the mountain of fish is really funny.
i want to be onest, the story is cool but from many year we still miss a very creative and original story. apart from this you, Triaureau, Lasaine, Marcos and Arman are all ten steps over the others!

Marcos Gp said...

Best of luck with your annie nomination and thanks for share all the great artwork :)

Hans said...

Hey Marcelo,

Congrats on the nomination!!
I've been studying and looking at this drawing over and over again, it's truly amazing. So many awesome nuances and details. Thanks yet again, for all the inspiration;)

Take care and good luck at the oscars,

Hans

Jamal O said...

BIG Congrats Marcelo!

I'm glad the amazing amount of Talent and artistry that went into that film is being recognized.

Congrants on your Annie Nom also.

Vincent Pétremann said...

Woww... What a nice piece of artwork! The movie is so cool, you deserve it without any doubts! The water effect is really ... i've got no word for that. lool

C.Deboda said...

To be honest, I still haven't seen that other penguin movie. But I LOVE Surf's Up! Congrats on the nomination.

Unknown said...

Best of luck to you and the crew Marcelo! Congratulations on the nomination and awesome post as always!