Animator Visit: Jonathon Rosen 

The 1st and 2nd grade has been very lucky! Today we welcomed our 2nd guest, animator Jonathan Rosen. 

Jonathan Rosen is from San Francisco, and moved to New York City after graduating from Bard College. He is an actor, musician, and animator. Jonathan worked for animator Bill Plympton, helping him color in his animations. Jonathan is currently working on the film "Lake City", where he is an actor playing an animator! 

First Jonathan taught us a bit about animation, explaining how he puts together hundreds of drawings to make his pictures look like they're moving. 

Then, we watched one of his first animations, "Animeditation."

Animeditation from Jonathan Rosen on Vimeo.



Jonathan explained how he made the drawings and sounds for this animation - he recorded each one himself! There are also more than 1,200 drawings in this 3-minute animation. 

Next, we were able to watch Jonathan's other animation, "Golden Ears". This film was entered in to many contests, both in the US and abroad. Jonathan said that it was even seen by people in Australia! 



Golden Ears from Jonathan Rosen on Vimeo.


After seeing both of Jonathan's wonderful animations, we went back in to our classroom for our art project. 

Jonathan explained what a "blind contour drawing" is, an artistic exercise that he uses to warm himself up for drawing. 

In a blind contour drawing, the artist picks something to draw and stares only what he or she is drawing, not at the paper! The other rule is that the artist can not lift up his or her pencil from the paper while he or she is drawing. 

After learning the rules, the 1st and 2nd graders tried their hand at some blind contour drawings. 

Though it was tricky, the students rose to the challenge. 

Last but not least, we got to make our own mini-animations! Each student received a blank flip book with 10 pages.

It was difficult to capture all the flip books, but they were truly amazing. 

Thank you for coming Jonathan!