Ava Thursday: Ava adds her touch again

Click on image to see the faces up close. You'll need to scroll right -- it's 1500 pixels wide!

Remember when Ava came by my work and added her touch to one of the poses on a model sheet I had taped up on my desk? Well, during that same visit, my dear daughter had done the same to many more items around my office.

What you see here is a copy of page 445 in Frank Thomas & Ollie Johnston's bible to animation, Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life. It is a series of sketches showing how much emotion you can get just out of the eyes -- how they can squash and stretch with the same forces as real eyes, as well as showing how much expression you can get from opening or closing the lids ever so slightly. I photocopied this set and had it taped up at the top of my animation desk, right next to Frank's words. Something for inspiration.

Ava went in with a pencil and added mouths to each and every one of these sets of eyes. Not one mouth is the same. And she must've taken her time with it, as every mouth looks like they really belong to their respective eyes. I love this. It amazes me how much more emotion she was able to add. I love how she would make an "o"-shaped mouth for the eyes that are very wide and surprised. And how all the sad eyes have down-turned mouths -- but each one different.

She must've had fun doing this. I keep it taped up on my desk because she, like Frank & Ollie, are a constant source of inspiration for me.