Don Bluth Videos on YouTube

I’m a huge Don Bluth fan. For those of you who don’t know, he’s an animator and the director behind several hit animated movies including “An American Tail,” “All Dogs Go To Heaven,” “The Secret of NIMH,” “Anastasia,” and the classic arcade game, “Dragon’s Lair.”

Now he’s got a YouTube account where he’s uploaded several videos of him drawing characters from his movies. Better still, he narrates as he goes.

Here’s an example of one of his videos. In it, Bluth draws Dirk and the dragon Singe from “Dragon’s Lair.” He shows you how he sets up the sketch, and as he goes through the drawing, he talks about using action in your composition, adding character details and more.

And in this video tutorial, Bluth draws a scene from the classic video game, “Space Ace.” Bluth describes the thinking process behind the character design of Kimberly and the Video Guard.

Look how fluidly he sketches in Kimberly’s limbs. I know he’s drawn her a million times and doesn’t need construction lines, but look at how much curve and movement he puts into the line of her leg. That is drawing gold!

You can view all of Don Bluth’s YouTube videos by visiting http://www.youtube.com/user/DonBluthProductions.

Now I’m off to devour all his videos.

Interested in learning about more of Don Bluth’s art and techniques? Check out his book, Don Bluth’s Art Of Storyboard. I’ve got it, and even though I’m not an animator, I found it an interesting read. Much of what he discusses in animation, translates into illustration as well.