I don't have time to comment on them but they sure are interesting. Obviously Kimball would have had no trouble making a living as an illustrator if Disney hadn't worked out.
All these pictures are from Canemaker's "Nine Old Men" book.
I'm not so sure he would have had no trouble(if not for Disney's)--not because he wasn't suprememly talented--of course he was--but because it was the lousiest time possible to come of of art school-1935? 'Depths of the Depression', as Art Babbitt called it. Lucky for Ward and luckier for Disney's that he did get hired.
Ward kept a Diary of the daily goings-on at the Disney Studio in the 30's and 40's (I don't know if he kept it up beyond those years). There are excerpts from Ward's journal quoted in the the Canemaker book and in the long article on Walt Kelly's years at Disney in the book "Ten Ever-Lovin', Blue-eyed Years with Pogo" .
Based on those excerpts that's a book I'd like to read !
Canemaker wrote in the Nine Old Men book that Kimball could've found work at many of the other studios if Walt passed on him. Canemaker also cited Kimball's style of humor as a bit of an influence on Ren and Stimpy among other creator-driven cartoons of the 90s.
Kimball did admit to trying acid at least once. He used to hang out with some jazz musicians outside of his sphere of friends at Disney. He was an amazing guy- he painted, he animated whole sections of Disney films, he became a producer/director on the Disneyland TV show, and on the weekends he would drive down to Anaheim and play in a Dixieland band at Disneyland, plus in his SPARE TIME(?) He built model fucking railroads--from scratch. Just thinking about what his days must have been like makes me tired.Forget about acid, the cat must have been on speed.
I don't have time to comment on them but they sure are interesting. Obviously Kimball would have had no trouble making a living as an illustrator if Disney hadn't worked out.
All these pictures are from Canemaker's "Nine Old Men" book.
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ReplyDeleteThose Ward Kimball paintings are pretty cool! The first one looks a little like Brian Froud's style.
ReplyDeleteI have a feeling you might be seeing a lot more of Ward's personal art sometime in the near future.
ReplyDeleteI'm not so sure he would have had no trouble(if not for Disney's)--not because he wasn't suprememly talented--of course he was--but because it was the lousiest time possible to come of of art school-1935? 'Depths of the Depression', as Art Babbitt called it. Lucky for Ward and luckier for Disney's that he did get hired.
ReplyDeletedamn, they're too small! Thanks for sharing anyway, i find the first one specially cool. Nice contrast between the characters and the bg.
ReplyDeleteHey Uncle Eddie!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the really cool Ward Kimball post!
These paintings are super awesome!
Ward was one of my faves!
Never mind the first painting...I WANNA SEE A CLOSE-UP OF THE SECOND ONE!!
ReplyDeleteI can't wait until I'm to the Ward Kimball chapter in the 9 Old Men Book! I'm currently on the Eric Larson chapter.
ReplyDeleteWard kept a Diary of the daily goings-on at the Disney Studio in the 30's and 40's (I don't know if he kept it up beyond those years). There are excerpts from Ward's journal quoted in the the Canemaker book and in the long article on Walt Kelly's years at Disney in the book "Ten Ever-Lovin', Blue-eyed Years with Pogo" .
ReplyDeleteBased on those excerpts that's a book I'd like to read !
Canemaker wrote in the Nine Old Men book that Kimball could've found work at many of the other studios if Walt passed on him. Canemaker also cited Kimball's style of humor as a bit of an influence on Ren and Stimpy among other creator-driven cartoons of the 90s.
ReplyDeleteDidn't Kimball do acid? I thought I remembered reading that in Canemaker's book.
ReplyDeleteKimball did admit to trying acid at least once. He used to hang out with some jazz musicians outside of his sphere of friends at Disney. He was an amazing guy- he painted, he animated whole sections of Disney films, he became a producer/director on the Disneyland TV show, and on the weekends he would drive down to Anaheim and play in a Dixieland band at Disneyland, plus in his SPARE TIME(?) He built model fucking railroads--from scratch. Just thinking about what his days must have been like makes me tired.Forget about acid, the cat must have been on speed.
ReplyDelete