Storyboards have been around quite a long time, always lurking behind the scenes, but it seems like in recent years the profession is getting more recognition, and that’s exciting. There’s all kinds of new resources popping up and so I want to also collect some links to those sites and artists that might additionally prove interesting to readers of this blog- after all, I don’t really use this site so much as to teach about storyboarding; it’s really a glorified demo reel to show off work that I’m proud of. Actually, it’s the only one I know of that deals with personal case studies of commercial storyboarding, but in time, there will be more. I’ll informally collect them in a list below, and the newest additions will be at the top, but newest is not necessarily greatest, that’s just the order of discovery. If you know of a link that I should add to this list- comments are open below! Note – I might as often post a link and discuss why it’s NOT a useful resource, even if it purports to be.
Sharon Forward – http://sharonforward.blogspot.com/ – That’s right, my mom’s website, yes, she was a professional storyboard artist for like 30 years or something- she’s retired right now but there are some fun animation storyboard animatics there, from her time at Disney, which was quite a long time… She probably won’t post new things but that’s understandable. Having parents who were storyboard artists gives me the right to go blah blah blah and neener neener because of course I know what I’m talking about, because my parents were storyboard artists. But in all seriousness, I’m very proud of my parents and I owe everything to their hard work ethic and talents, but no, they never got me any jobs or industry contacts- remember, I work in advertising, not television or feature animations. It’s entirely different. I made my own way and I’m proud of that too.
StoryboardArtists.com – http://www.storyboardartists.com I’m understandably hesitant to endorse what I suspect might be the educational arm of Famous Frames, the site’s sole advertiser and competitor of the agency I work for, but aside from my blog, which you already know about, there are so few other websites that discuss storyboarding for commercial advertising as well as tv shows and features, and perspectives into the daily grind of artists like me. It’s a young site, so who knows if it will have much of a future, but for now I like the direction that it’s going in and if you like my blog, you might like their articles- but if you are looking to hire storyboard artists, go to Frameworks-LA.com and contract with them instead. Ha! But honestly, I like the layout, content, and the direction (an actual industry blog) so give it a look- it’s the closest thing to my site I’ve been able to find. I can’t do all the work 🙂
StoryboardArt.Org – http://storyboardart.org/ I’ve followed the progress of this site since it launched and it’s gone through some evolutions- first it appeared as a discussion/job posting board and then a website offering free (and pay) tutorials. I can’t be sure but I don’t think it’s getting much traction in either of those categories. I keep clicking on the links trying to find some actual drawings of impressive storyboards (because frankly, I like to learn from others and I’m curious what insights they might have) and what I keep finding are paywalls and really scribbly drawing samples. They have started blogging about visual storytelling case studies, providing insights into problem solving and decision making in the field of storyboarding, which is a step in the right direction. They also post info about upcoming educational events and conferences that you might be interested in. I suppose that in many corners of the storyboarding field, all that matters for the artist is to quickly gesture loose lines and keep continuity. If that’s about your interest level, then check it out. But in competitive commercial storyboarding for advertising (my field), your artwork must be rapidly executed to a stunningly beautiful finish and crystal clear readability, and I just don’t see any samples of that here, so just understand that what you learn at this site might only take you so far. It’s not representative of the entire field, but for that matter, neither is my site! HA!
Temple of the Seven Golden Camels – Everything Mark Kennedy knows about storyboarding – http://sevencamels.blogspot.com/ Words of Wisdom from a pro. This is a great site, great writing, gets really into the craft and the storytelling, great histories, and tons of content. A director I work with turned me onto this site, and I enjoy catching up on updates every once in awhile. I wish I was as diligent with updating! Then again, I’m extremely busy. My major gripe with this site is I can barely find any of the guy’s storyboards anywhere on it. He writes in depth about the profession and everything he writes is absolutely great, but I would love to see more samples of his professional work. He’s got some great links and resources as well, so bookmark this one for sure.
Illustration Art by David Apatoff – http://illustrationart.blogspot.com/ This is my personal favorite site, and it’s not even about storyboarding, it’s just really well written and interesting musings and histories about the illustration industry, past and present. Well worth a look and another site with GREAT links and resources.
Animation Treasures – https://one1more2time3.wordpress.com/ This site is a little cryptic – I have a hard time pinning down exactly who’s site it is, and what they do professionally- and you have to hunt around but you can find some very interesting samples of animation background paintings and other great design inspiration. I love this kind of stuff but your mileage may vary- worth a peek.
Pappy’s Golden Age Comics Blogzine – https://pappysgoldenage.blogspot.com/ It might seem like I’m overly attracted to these old-school comics sites, but Comics and Storyboards are closer kin than most realize, so don’t knock it. A fun site to wander around in, great hi-res scans of comics you’ve never heard of.
Art Tutorials – http://art-tutorials.tumblr.com/ A repository of good and bad tutorials for the digital age, plus good links and resources. And some bad. Proceed with caution…
Tell Forward – http://tellforward.blogspot.com/ He told me all right! Ha! Just Kidding- this one’s a bit cerebral but some good insights here on storytelling…
I’ll post more later! This will be a “living” post and may grow quite large with time. And, I would love to hear if you know of other websites like mine, or found resources that other readers of this blog might like to check out, so comment below and let me know!
-Max
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