Rise Of The Guardians Concept Art Book

[Candi Ruman]

Riseof the Guardians is a 2012 animated film by DreamWorks. Teenage Jack Frost, the Spirit of Winter, discovers that he has recently been proclaimed as a Guardian, one of several spirits who protect childhood. Jack, along with Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, and others, must defeat Pitch Black, otherwise known as the Boogeyman, in order to keep children safe. There is plenty of interesting concept art for this film, and here are ten pieces that are particularly awesome.

This series of panels of art for Jack Frost (Chris Pine) is quite wintry in the color palette. The Spirit of Winter comes across bored children in the snow and mischievously creates ice for them to skate on. The panels were drawn by Woon Young Jung, a visual development artist at DreamWorks.

Here, Jack is with Baby Tooth as they study each other quite closely. Baby Tooth is a little fuzzy, possibly deliberately due to being young, but Jack is perfectly clear, all sharp angles and tight lines. The lighting is gorgeous, as it's after night has fallen, rendering everything in a starry evening glow.

Interestingly, the art gives off the vibe of being a positive side of the night and even of the villain, Pitch Black (Jude Law). Therefore, this piece gives many themes of the film: open curiosity, fun, the necessity of youth, and the beauty of the dark.

This series of character sketches by Fey Rayen truly show off the luminescence of the Tooth Fairy (Isla Fisher). Her wings are extremely colorful, as is her head. This art also gets the chance to show the Tooth Fairy's wings while they are in flight, which is difficult in the film due to how quickly her wings move.

This concept art of the Tooth Fairy is from DreamWorks artists Ryan O'Roughlin, Nate Wragg, and Takao Noguchi, as well as others. The artists experimented with different expressions on her face, as well as how her skin should be drawn: with color or without?

They also drew a black-and-white model with which to work from. Though it looks strange without her vibrancy, it also helped the artists immensely in figuring out the Tooth Fairy's figure and body language. Her wings, noticeably, aren't filled in at all, which must have come later in the process.

The cover of the official art book for Rise of the Guardians is beautiful. Jack Frost stands at the forefront, clearly the main character, while the other guardians wait behind him. The mix of color is something that could only be attained through drawing, and less so through precise animation.

Santa Claus overlooks the rest of the Guardians as a protector, while the Tooth Fairy looks ready to tell someone their future. The Easter Bunny just looks lovely, with his ears trailing back toward Santa and the Tooth Fairy. The Sandman, meanwhile, looks like a drawn version of his eventual self in the film.

This piece of concept art, by Arthur Fong, features a more Russian-looking Santa Claus. He is holding a small and fuzzy Easter Bunny, clearly powerless, while the Sandman and the Tooth Fairy look on. Jack, meanwhile, is peering at Bunny, trying to figure out what happened. The style is dark and dreamlike, clearly drawing, not animation. There is light around Bunny, indicating his recent loss and eventual resurrection.

The back cover of the official art book for Rise of the Guardians features Pitch Black on a white background, surrounded by his own creations. This concept art continues the trend of stylistic drawing, which is just beautiful. Pitch is looking off into the distance, which currently looks like a blank future.

However, a blank page might just mean something that hasn't been filled in yet. Therefore, though this piece may seem only half-completed, it's only half-happened, with a future that hasn't been written yet. The rest of the scene has yet to be drawn.

This series of sketches from the official art book for the Easter Bunny (Hugh Jackman) cover both general look and facial expressions. It's clear that the character was extensively worked on in order to make him tough-looking as opposed to simply cute.

The full character model makes it clear they succeeded. The character's ears are nearly always up, unsurprising when flat eats might imply sadness or despair. The weapons that the Easter Bunny carries also help the persona of a fighter. This series of sketches draw interesting insight into the Easter Bunny's character, especially how he's different here as to how he's traditionally viewed.

Also from the official concept art book, these panels of the Sandman are comforting. He's the first Guardian, of Dreams, and his entire being is meant to be comforting. The soft yellow-orange color, as well as the softness and roundness of his body, all help lead the character to that idea.

The large drawing on the left is similar to the other art styles discussed above: loose and dreamlike. A few of the middle panels seem to give the Sandman a mischievous streak, which fits since he's standing next to Jack Frost in one of them.

These versions of Santa Claus (Alec Baldwin), from the official art book, are much more Russian-like than he ends up being in the finished product. His coat is more vibrantly red, and the gold buttons imply a sense of royalty. The fur hat is also very emblematic of Russia. His physique is emphasized more on its own in the drawings, which again gives the impression of a Russian fighting bear. These sketches are clearly concept drawings, and don't bear as much relation to the finished animated work as do a few others of the pieces discussed here.

thanks! i know what you mean, it was very much a predictable and typical kids movie with a very familiar theme and plot. i really dont think that there was a plot twist that surprised me. but i really liked the concept and the new ideas brought to the characters (if you couldnt tell), im absolutely planning on giving the books a look-see. also the animation was gorgeous and i was a big fan of a lot of the voice actors and their performances.

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