We are an Irish Animation company, that specialises in original storytelling and a stop-motion aesthetic
We’ve updated our print shop with some space themed prints!
You can pick them up here: http://shop.paperpanther.ie/product-tag/dogs-in-space/
These are part of an ongoing series that Eimhin’s been working on the past few years, so stay tuned for more!
Delighted to announce that Rory A. Stewart’s new film WIld Horses, will be premiering at Cannes this year. PP’s Eimhin provided the illustrations for the poster.
Be sure to check out the rest of Rory’s work here: http://rorystewartfilms.co.uk
Here’s some process from the illustration:
We just spent the day sorting and archiving all the traditional work from An tEarrach Thiar, Eimhin’s contribution to the upcoming Cúl an Tí project, helmed by Ross Murray & Nicole Storck at the Cartoon Saloon!
We currently have A4 & A3 scene illustrations from the film available to purchase from our online shop: LINK
An tEarrach Thiar was originally written by Máirtín Ó Direáin, with musical interpretation by Lisa Hannigan, Kíla & Fionnuala Ní Chosáin.
We look forward to announcing the screening times!
We have a selection of original work for sale in our shop
A watercolour and ink painting of St Brigid.
50% of all proceeds go to Abortion Rights Campaign
€60 210×297 mm
http://shop.paperpanther.ie/product/touchedbyfireoriginal/
A watercolour and ink painting of a Raccoon Washing potatoes
€45 150x150mm
http://shop.paperpanther.ie/product/wash-bear/
A watercolour and ink painting of a Raccoon eating a sandwich
€25 150x150mm
http://shop.paperpanther.ie/product/trash-panda/
Along with the recent An tEarrach Thiar scene illustrations, we’ve also released some additional prints for sale on the Paper Panther Shop:
New batch of #lifedrawing classes A4 Sounds ready for booking!
Course begins Monday 10th April:
€50 for the six week course: http://www.a4soundsshop.org/product/life-drawing-course-6-weeks
or €10 for individual classes: http://www.a4soundsshop.org/product/life-dawing-class
Only 13 spots remaining, so be sure to book soon to avoid disappointment!
We will be working on observational drawing skills, using gesture drawing, blind drawing, wrong handed drawing, silhouette drawing, as well as sculpture, to improve observational skill and handling of the media.
Be sure to check out the facebook group here, to view work by some of the participants: https://www.facebook.com/groups/a4lifedrawing/
Here is a little bit more from Eimhin’s upcoming project An tEarrach Thiar, featuring a fisherman character who appears towards the end of the film.
This fisherman featured in the 1932 documentary Aran of the Saints, courtesy of the IFI Film Archive, was the basis of the below design:
A little bit of research for this scene’s location:
Here’s the layout sketch with annotations. This layout sketch went through a few iterations before getting the right level of ‘shape’ in the strata of limestone rocks on the beach.
Below is an earlier, more generic looking beach:
And here is the completed background by Robin Hoshino and Eimhin
We’re delighted to release the trailer for ‘Caterpillar Dreams,’ a new picture book by Clive McFarland and HarperCollins Children’s Books, featuring music by the excellent Chris McLoughlin, with animation produced by us!
The book will be available in shops soon and is available to pre-order right now: clivemcfarland.com/caterpillardreams
We previously collaborated with Clive on the trailer for another lovely book of his entitled A Bed for Bear, which you can view here: LINK
Special thanks to David Linker, Rachel Zeger & Deirdre Foran!
Also, here are the very important GIFs of the scenes too, enjoy!
Here’s our festive little card for this year!
The characters were based off some sketches from last year:
I redesigned them a little, cutting the raccoon for the sake of simplicity, and laid them out. Below you can see the animation and colour process for the Fake Chrismasman:
Ubiquitous GiF loops
We were very generously asked to contribute to an anthology of Irish language songs, produced in collaboration with Sónta Films, the Cartoon Saloon and Kíla.
Here’s a little taste of Eimhin’s contribution: An tEarrach Thiar
Based on a poem by Máirtín Ó Direáin, with an original arrangement by Kíla and lush vocals provided by Lisa Hannigan, the film takes place in that golden hour, as the sun sets on a spring day on the island of Inis Mór.
You can view a previous post, featuring photos taken on a research trip to Inis Mór here: LINK
Here’s how I went about putting together one of the early shots:
Initial storyboards, roughly laying out the pertinent elements and actions involved in the scene
Layout drawing, locking down the details, and adding in the foreground element to help with framing
Timelapse of the background being painted
Final painting. The addition of some cliffs in the BG, helped to delineate the brightly lit ‘steps’ from the sky
And here it is comped in with the characters (character animation by Katie Sherlock)
Within each scene the BG painting was separated into different layers, with some clone-stamping to cover any overlap. This allows some repositioning, and addition of cloud movement in the sky, or wave movement on the water. In addition to these digital edits, some other BGs required more lighting in comp, but as this one is one of the introductory shots it wasn’t as extreme in terms of photoshop work to reign in or emphasise the painted elements.
Here are some photos of our brilliant animation crew at work:
Our singer, Lisa Hannigan, with crew members Katie & Ciara
Thanks for reading, I look forward to sharing more of this project with you in the coming months!
- E.
The sun setting over the Aran Islands, as viewed from Fanore, Co. Clare.
