Mary Blair (1911-1978) was one of Walt Disney’s favorite artists, joining The Walt Disney Company in 1940 where she created concept paintings for projects related to Fantasia (1940), Dumbo (1941), and The Lady and the Tramp (1955). Blair learned her craft at The Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles in the mid-1930s. She and her husband, Lee Blair, also a Disney employee, accompanied Disney and several of his artists on a South American tour in 1941. Upon their return, Blair created concept art that ended up being used for films inspired by the trip. Her imagination and use of bright colors was a perfect fit for Disney's fantasy films but left Disney in 1953 to concentrate on illustrating children’s books, most notably, a series of Little Golden Books. Walt Disney did convince Blair to work on Disney’s contribution to the 1964 World’s Fair in New York. Her concept art on this project would be her final major design work for Disney. The “It's a Small World” ride proved extremely popular and was later adapted for Disneyland and Disney World.
No comments:
Post a Comment