ARCHIVE: THE PAINTED STAGE┊INDEPENDENT FILM┊FEATURE ANIMATION
⁂
The Painted Stage
A selection of hand-painted animation background and installation works created for independent film and feature animation. Developed in collaboration with directors and production teams, these works define the atmosphere and spatial structure of each project, giving form to the emotional life of the painted environment.
Independent Film
Imitation of Life
(2013), directed by Mathias Poledna
Watercolor and gouache environments created for the film installation at the Austrian Pavilion at the 55th Venice Biennale.
Editions of the film installation are held in the permanent collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, and international institutions including mumok (Vienna) and Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst (Ghent).
Key Art
Watercolor and digital composite
Original Production Plate
Watercolor and gouache on paper
Feature Animation
The Little Prince
(2015), directed by Mark Osborne
Premiered at the Cannes Film Festival.
Environment Artist, digital painting. Consulted on stop-motion sequences (dir. Jamie Caliri).
Production Plate and Study
Original plate (left) and digital paint-over (right), design development for monumental scale
┄
Walt Disney Animation Studios
(1997 - 2003) Lilo & Stitch ⸱ John Henry ⸱ Brother Bear ⸱ Mulan ⸱ Tarzan
Selected works from a production history averaging 1,000 hand-painted backgrounds per film, created by a team of ten to twelve painters.
Traditional Background Artist. Original paintings are held by the Walt Disney Animation Research Library and in private collections.
Lilo & Stitch
(2002), directed by Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois
Production Plates
Watercolor on paper, unless otherwise noted
John Henry
(2000), directed by Mark Henn
Production Plates
Acrylic and scratchboard, mixed media
Brother Bear
(2003), directed by Aaron Blaise and Robert Walker
Production Plates
Acrylic, mixed media
Mulan
(1998), directed by Barry Cook and Tony Bancroft
Production Plates
Acrylic, mixed media
Tarzan
(1999), directed by Kevin Lima and Chris Buck
Production Plates
Acrylic on board
┄
Archive Credits
Background paintings authored and all page text written by Geraldine Kovats.
Background images © Disney Enterprises, Inc. and respective production studios.
All rights reserved.