Printed art-of books can be beautiful objects to own, but they are an inefficient format for collecting the massive amounts of artwork generated for most animation projects. A new Danish company, Craft, aims to solve that problem by making all the artwork from animated projects available on the subscription site ItsOnCraft.com, an “ever-evolving interactive art-of book” as the company puts it.
Craft, which launched on May 1, gives users unprecedented access to art and conceptual materials from animated features, series, and games. Among the items included (or to be included) is concept art, storyboards, scripts, character designs, animatics, animation pencil tests, background paintings, and more. The initial content on the platform includes material from Cartoon Saloon’s Song of the Sea and The Secret of Kells, as well as the TV series Ernest & Celestine: The Collection and the online series The Reward: Tales of Alethrion.
The digital archive seems best suited to professional artists and animation students who can use it to study and compare different versions of scenes, look at source files to deconstruct scenes, and find reference for their own projects.
