Animation Drawing
A pencil drawing on animation paper, created by the animator and used as the basis for an image on a cel.
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Animator
An artist who draws characters in motion.
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Aquatint Engraving
An artist creates a clean graphite line, which a master printer uses to make a plate to capture the subtle nuances of the original drawing. The aquatint plate is created by dusting powdered resin on a separate plate in a free-form design and then allowing acid to eat away the plate surface from around it. Once the two plates have been cut, the depressed areas are filled with ink and the non-printing surfaces wiped clean. This image is then transferred to premium quality acid free paper by being pulled through the etching process.
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Background
The opaque painting that serves as the scenery behind the animation. Thousands of cels may be photographed over a single background to create one scene in an animated film.
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CAPS
Computer Animation Production System. Stop motion animation: Inanimate objects are made to move on the screen. Hand created figures are moved almost imperceptibly for each shot of film. The technique requires one image per frame, twenty four per second, unlike regular animation, which sometimes can get by on "twos", the same image on two frames.
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Cel
From Celluloid, referring to the plastic sheet on which the animation is drawn. An outline or line drawing of a character, and sometimes certain special effects, either hand-inked or xerographically transferred onto a clear sheet of cellulose acetate, or nitrate cellulose. The image is then painted on the backside of the sheet. Cels are mostly in two standard sizes: a 12-field, about 12 x 10 inches; or 16-field, approximately 16 x 12 inches.
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Cel Set-up
One or more cels overlaid on a background. Xerography: An electrostatic process adapted for transferring animators' pencil drawings to cels. It was tested in Sleeping Beauty, and then used for the first time in a feature with 101 Dalmations. The process was used through The Little Mermaid, after which the computer obviated the need for cels.
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CGI
A term meaning computer graphics imagery, used by Disney, for example, in the crowd scenes in The Hunchback of Notre Dame to create thousands of individual characters moving simultaneously by computer.
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Clean-up
The process of refining the lines of rough animation and adding minor details.
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Clean-up Sketch
The animator's drawing used as the finished image to be transferred to a cel.
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Color Model
A preliminary cel of a character or prop, created to establish the colors and values to be used in the film. The final color model becomes the guide for inkers and painters.
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Concept Art
Defined as any preliminary art on paper contributing to the finished product of the animated cartoon including the conception of character, mood, scenery, and story.
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Courvoisier
Refers to the gallery in San Francisco owned by Guthrie Courvoisier that marketed all the cels for Disney from 1938, with the first full length feature, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, through 1947, with Song of the South. These cels were released with backgrounds ranging from original backgrounds from the studio to simpler airbrushed backgrounds made by the artists at Disney or the Courvoisier Gallery, to cels with backgrounds made of wood-veneer or even a piece of wrapping paper. They ranged in price from a few dollars to $75 for the most elaborate pieces. These set-ups are highly sought after in the current market.
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Giclee
Based on the French term meaning spray of ink, it describes a print made through a process where four precision nozzles spray up to a million microscopic droplets of ink per second on to fine art paper. A variety of sizes can be outputted without compromising detail or color vibrancy. The result is an image that mirrors the original to a stunning degree. There are giclees available of Warner Brothers characters now, and Disney is getting ready to release their premiere images next year.
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Hand-Inking
The outline of each drawing is traced onto the surface of a cel by hand, using different ink colors. This technique was used exclusively through Sleeping Beauty, (although there was a test of xerography in a small part of the film-can you find it?) and was used to enhance xerographic cels where needed. For example, Ariel's liplines and all the bubbles in The Little Mermaid were created with hand-inking.
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Key Set-up
The combination of original production cel or cels and the original background on which these cels belong, making the complete picture as seen in the film. Generally the rarest and most valuable of any studio's art.
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Layout
The black and white rendering done by a layout person that determines the basic composition of the scene.
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Limited Edition Cel
This term is used to refer to cels created by hand in the studio of the character or film's origin made in limited number, usually between 200 and 750 pieces, generally made from original drawings from a film, either xerographically lined or hand inked but always hand painted. Each one is an original in the sense that it has been hand painted, but it was not used to make a film. Some collectors prefer limited edition cels because they are chosen from a cartoon's best scenes, painted with today's highest quality paints so damage and restoration is not a concern, and the price is set by the studio of origin. They are far more affordable than some older Disney production cels, and some production cels from Warner Brothers cartoons are entirely unavailable because of a fire in their warehouse in 1968. Many collectors determine their favorite characters, their budget, and then choose to buy production cels and limited editions accordingly.
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Mat Set-up
A cel set-up released through the art corner at Disneyland between 1955 and 1968, having been trimmed to a standard size and placed in a thin single mat against a lithograph or colored mat, with a bronze and burgundy seal behind the backing declaring it to be an original cel. These were originally sold for between $1.00 and $2.75, and are often stuck to their backgrounds. Many great cels from the fifties are found with these identifying marks of authenticity.
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Matte Painting
A special effect whereby an object or landscape, for example a castle or an island, is painted on glass and set in front of the camera so that both the real setting and the painting are filmed as one.
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Model Sheet
Drawings of a single character or grouping of characters, in a variety of attitudes and expressions, created as a reference guide for animators.
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Nine Old Men
Walt Disney called his key animators in the 1950s his Nine Old Men, after FDR's Nine Old Men on the Supreme Court. They were Les Clark, Marc Davis, Ollie Johnston, Milt Kahl, Ward Kimball, Eric Larson, John Lounsbery, Woolie Reitherman, and Frank Thomas. Drawings created by any of these influential men at Disney are highly desirable. These men are responsible for many of the classic characters created at Disney from the beginning through Robin Hood. Two animators that predate this time period but are reknowned are Bill Tytla and Freddie Moore--many collectors seek drawings only by these men.
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Production Background
Original backgrounds actually used in the production of a film.
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Production Cel
Any cels used in the making of a production. This may include cels that were meant to be used, but were cut from the film. That is why it is important to find the exact location of the production cel you are considering in the film of its origin. (Remember Tinkerbell could be not from Peter Pan but from the Wonderful World of Color, and must be priced accordingly!) Some cels are rarer for their being cut, as in the case of the scene of Jessica Rabbit applying a garter to her upper thigh considered too hot for the film. Production cels are an essential part of any animation collection.
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Restoration
Many older cels have paint that has cracked or separated off the cel. While ArtInsights tries only to deal in cels in mint condition with the original paint intact, there are some cels that require restoration out there in the market. If we are offering a cel that may require restoration, we show the cel in its original condition first, so the client can see what will be required. Most of our clients would rather have a cel in its original condition for aesthetic reasons. When being restored, a cel can either have its paint wetted and reapplied, (which is not so bad, since it is still the original paint) or new paint of the appropriate color is mixed and applied to the cel. That new paint can be either gouache or acrylic. The biggest problem is that many galleries have cels restored without telling the collectors who may purchase the piece. Although the value of a restored piece is considered the same as one in original mint condition, to our minds this is an unethical practice. Also some restorers are better than others, and some use the wrong colors or may even re-ink a piece, which is really unacceptable. If considering a cel for purchase always ask if it has been restored (many vintage Warner Brothers cels have been restored, and it is more acceptable because they have usually been through a lot more than the average Disney cel) and if the damage is in the plastic itself, i.e., there is a rip or a crack actually through the plastic near or on the image, it is unrestorable. Do not purchase that cel. If you have a cel that needs restoration, we can guide you to an ethical restoration artist.
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Rough Sketch
The animator's drawings used in the process of creating the finished image to be transferred to cel.
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Sericel
This term refers to cels, usually created from a film's original drawings, where lines and colors are transferred one color at a time onto a cel through the fine art process of serigraphy (each color is forced through the silk screens as the cels are hand-fed through the printer, one color at a time). Sericels are the least expensive of the animation art collectibles. With edition sizes usually ranging from 1500 to 5000, they are priced between $150 and $650 depending on the size and number of characters on the cel. Disney just recently began adding backgrounds to their sericels, making their appeal much greater to the animation collector.
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Storyboard
A large board on which are pinned sketches telling a story in comic-strip fashion. The storyboard serves as a preliminary guide for those working on the film.
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Storyboard Drawing
A sketch made for the storyboard, which conveys the original plot and action.
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