Anyone can animate!
Description: This workshop will focus on simple techniques for bringing your ideas and observations to life with hand-drawn animation, no matter your artistic skill level and background. You will learn how to make simple, but impactful animations using our Gonzo Viz process using paper, simple art supplies and a free app on your phone. You'll be animating in no time!
Materials Needed: None, optional supply kits will be available for purchase.
Ages 12+ are welcome.
Amitai (ahh-mee-tie) Plasse, aka Ami – is a visual and motion artist born and raised in New York CIty. A 1995 graduate of Parsons School of Design with a BFA in Illustration, he landed in Austin in 2011.
A lifetime urban dweller, his creative influences have drawn heavily from his surroundings - from the numerous subcultures of music and art to the physical landscape of the city and its inhabitants. Always the prolific sketcher, he is rarely without a sketchbook (or now iPad) – chronicling characters, scenarios and impressions as he navigates his world. A lover of motion and interactivity, he is always pursuing alternate ways to bring his work to life.
In New York, he spent years capturing the infinite array of interesting characters and interactions that he encountered on his daily commute on the subway. In 2012, Nauset Press published AmiUnderground, Drawings from the NYC Subways: 2007-2011 - a selection of subway drawings from a body of nearly 2000.
In Austin, Ami found inspiration particularly in the energy of the music scene, capturing the artists and fans he encountered at clubs and festivals through his own unique lens. His rapid approach to drawing subjects in perpetual motion led to developing a new approach to animation, compositing quick, expressive drawings, often cut to wild captured audio, into short, animated clips.
In 2017, Ami left his Creative Director position to start Gonzo Viz, a studio focusing on live art, animation, illustration, group art projects and creative workshops. Recently, in addition to his freelance projects, he spent 9 months as animator on the recently released Richard Linklater-directed animated feature, Apollo 10 ½. He currently lives in South Austin with his 3 sons.