Bob Winquist, Design Student

[guest]Design instructor: Tom Pope. Assignment: "Basketball hoop with attitude". Student: Bob Winquist. click to enlarge


Tom Pope was a year or two behind my class at Calarts, and it was great to see him at the get together for Bob Winquist in January. He'd brought with him an amazing rarity with a great story attached that he shared with all of us in his remarks to the crowd. I asked him if he'd share the artwork and its backstory here, and he kindly agreed. With the help of fellow classmate Zac Moncrief the very large framed piece was scanned so it could appear here. Tom's story follows below:

"I was fortunate enough to be a design student of Bob Winquist's for two-and-a-half years. So many people have shared so much about the pleasures and recieved wisdom gained from Bob that there is little new which I can offer. That said, Bob did give me something that not all his students can claim.

One day in Bob's class, winter of '90, I was offering my usual sea of valuable insight. At the end of class, Bob asked me if I wanted to teach the next week. I said sure, but... if I gave an assignment, would he do it?

Of course he would. So I thought of something random, as he oftened appeared to do. "A basketball hoop with attitude." I couldn't wait until the next week!
A week later, projects were pinned on the wall of the class room. It being second semester, there were less people in class and less projects since most people were knee-deep in their films by then. But Bob's assignment was right there among the others as promised. It was beautiful, but I hope I talked about someone else's first. I did my best to talk about and critique each assignment constructively and focus on their distinct merits as Bob always, always, always did.

After class, I asked Bob if I could keep his assignment, and he said of course. He signed it "Bob Winquist, 2/27/90" with a flourish on the back. I had it framed, and it has hung on the wall no matter where I've lived ever since. (I also have a handful of the other assignments in my parents' attic in Georgia.)

When I heard that there was going to be a remembrance for Bob I knew that I had to bring the piece. When I heard that we would be allowed to speak, I knew I had to talk about it. The response it got made me realize how lucky I was to possess an example of Bob's generosity in concrete form. The best part of all was the interest that Bob's own family showed in it. If I hadn't been aware of just how special Bob's own handiwork was, I was then.
Jenny has been generous enough to share this forum and to allow me to share this "wonderful", wonderful piece with a wider audience."

My pleasure, Tom. Thank you.

Bob Winquist at Chouinard Art Institute c. 1950

Yesterday's gathering to celebrate Bob Winquist was a wonderful event--a great time had by all. Every story and memory related by his family, friends and former students made Bob alive and present again.

I was especially proud of everyone from Calarts--all of you do Bob so much honor and I agreed with every word of all you had to say. I had very little to do with bringing it together so I don't speak with any special authority, but personally I wanted to express how thankful I am that everyone came down--or up. I'm sure we all agree it was a party Bob would have loved.
This is a snippet of very old 16mm footage that I'd meant to show but events took on their own momentum and only a few people saw it later in the Palace. It's the youngest Bob yet--a full decade or so before the photograph that accompanies my earlier post. I'm pretty sure these outtakes (from among Bob's huge stash of stuff boxed away in his last home) were part of an instructional video on Bob's particular speciality, paper sculpture when he was teaching at Chouinard. A few examples of his large-scale work can be briefly seen behind him.

The crowd that was there to remember Bob was big, and it was easy to get happily lost among friends you haven't seen in about 18 or 19 years.
Thanks again, all.

A Bob Winquist Party-Calarts, Saturday January 31 at 4pm

Calling all interested parties:

A CELEBRATION OF THE LIFE OF BOB WINQUIST

TOMORROW: Saturday, January 31st at 4pm in the Main Gallery at Calarts


Bob circa 1960
Bob Winquist led a life that extended far beyond his tenure at Calarts as instructor, mentor and head of the Character Animation department, but for so many of my colleagues that was where we met him and how we remember him. If you read the comments left on my original post it's plain that even though most of us hadn't seen him for well over a decade he's been fresh in our minds all along--a fact that I think we'd all have liked to relate to him if we'd had the chance to get together again.

While we can't do that, we can get together and remember Bob, kibitz with his family, and pay the man some well-deserved tribute.

Martha Baxton of the Character Animation dept. is taking RSVPs: mbaxton@calarts.edu

But it really isn't essential that you do that, and there's no token of admission required-just show up. Guacamole on Bob. Informal of course.
It should be great fun. I know Bob's nieces and family are looking forward to seeing this other side of their uncle's life, one that meant a lot to him.
Incidentally, I've heard from some fellow alumni that they've received no official word or details of this happening at all, although I was told the Alumni office was going to send out invites...so please pass this info along to anyone you think would like to attend.

(If you don't know who Bob Winquist was, please read my post of last September here.
Also, read the Los Angeles Times' obituary that was published a week after his death.)

ETA Thanks to Cartoon Brew for their post about this event-much appreciated

Save the Date for Bob Winquist

         

          A Celebration of the Life of Robert A. Winquist

Saturday, January 31 2009

at CalArts

more info to follow*

*invitations will be sent via the CalArts Alumni office, but an invitation is not necessary; all are welcome and your presence at the guacamole bowl will be wonderful.

"Uncle Winky Hot Dogs"

Thanks to the prescience of Chris Ure (who saved a copy that he was actually able to find), a little film made at CalArts to be shown as a treat at the Producer's Show, circa 1988. Ultra rare!

Made on the side(meaning done with virtually no money, time or materials but much affection) by my talented classmates Chris Ure, Pete Docter, Mark Kennedy, Ashley Brannon, Van Cook, Tim Myers and Paul Rudish-all 1st years.

As must be plain to readers of this blog by now, we all loved Bob "Uncle Winky" Winquist, and here's but one more fun example of it. A trip down memory lane. Eat 'em with jelly!

Winquist '74

Here's a rarity: Bob Winquist shows off a little of his home and office design in 1974-and there's Bob himself, aged 49, in his then-living room. From Good Housekeeping's House Beautiful, Spring 1974.

Keep that date in mind: 1974. Bob's is the most appealing and well-designed space that's showcased in this high-end magazine by far. The other interiors featured would likely make you laugh, cry, or just cringe; the seventies were not generally an attractive time, to be charitable about it.
But Bob then as later had his own highly individual taste and loved mixing old and new in an eclectic fashion, which makes a lot of his choices timely even now. But who knows what he'd say looking at this spread in 2008? By the way, the article identifies the art hanging over the fireplace as done by his life partner Robert Hammer. When I originally got this of course I had no idea who he was. He must have been a very interesting man to be Bob's partner for 50 years.

As to that and all things Bob, this opening line of the accompanying text is so apt:

Designer Robert Winquist calls his private life his "most treasured possession".

Indeed!

Click the lower image to see it in a larger size.

More on Winquist-pictures from the past

Ready for his closeup: Bob standing in the doorway of what was then our 2nd year students' room-now The Palace, in 1989

Steve Anderson, who started at Cal Arts in 1988, found these wonderful photos he'd taken. His generosity in allowing me to post them here is much appreciated. These are just priceless.

 

Here's Bob with his major domo/computer guru/all-around department glue Dale McBeath and Disney veteran/animation teacher Dave Michener, all snapped by Steve's camera while preparing the 1989 Producer's Show. Thank goodness he got this picture as these three were cogitating in the hallway...talk about serendipity. Bob: different day,different striped shirt. Dale: ebullient! And I can't get over how young Dave Michener looks to me...now. He was a great guy.

Thanks again, Steve.

The Los Angeles Times On Bob Winquist

Published on 9/17/08:.


Bob Winquist dies at 85; influential animation teacher at CalArts
By Valerie J. Nelson
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

September 17, 2008

Bob Winquist, a former director of the character animation program at California Institute of the Arts who greatly influenced a number of animators now working in Hollywood, has died. He was 85.

Winquist died Sept. 10 of complications related to old age at an assisted-living facility in Simi Valley, said his niece, Joyce Snyder.

He was the kind of inspirational teacher that movies are made about, said his former students, who went on to make films that reflected lessons learned in his Valencia classroom between 1983 and 1991.

Ralph Eggleston, who won an Academy Award in 2001 for his animated short "For the Birds," credits Winquist with pushing students to think more broadly about what they could accomplish.

"When Bob came in, animators primarily left the school and became animators. Suddenly, they started becoming art directors and storyboard artists. He made us think of ourselves as filmmakers, not just animators," Eggleston told The Times.

The dapper Winquist might stroll into class, announce the lesson by saying "develop the character of the letter 'A' " and then walk out, leaving the young animators to puzzle out the assignment.

Pete Docter, a former student who wrote the story for the film "WALL-E" (2008) and directed "Monsters Inc." (2001), considers Winquist "a seminal person in my development as an artist and a person."

"He had a gentle and inviting way -- you felt intrigued. It was like he was saying, 'You go discover it yourself,' and it made things stick," Docter said.

A world-class raconteur, Winquist often captivated his classes with hard-to-verify recollections that often placed him Zelig-like at memorable moments in Hollywood history. Witnessing the burning of "The Gone With the Wind" set, designing a suit for Elvis Presley, "baby-sitting" Marilyn Monroe on the set of "Some Like It Hot" -- these were all first-person stories that could be woven into a lecture.

"In the end, it didn't really matter if he were there because his amazing stories made me think . . . I can go out and do anything," Docter said.

Winquist often eschewed credit for his work because he valued his privacy, his family said.

Trained as a designer, he studied at Cambridge University and ran a design firm with Robert Hammer, an artist who was also his life partner. They spent about 50 years together, living in Manhattan Beach and Valencia, before Hammer died about four years ago. Winquist has no immediate survivors.

According to a 1971 Times article, Winquist designed "everything from movie sets to diapers."

His family has photographs of him working on Main Street and plans he drew of Disneyland's main thoroughfare.

Winquist was known for his intricate paper sculptures and exhibited in France, Britain and the U.S., The Times reported in 1960.

As an interior designer, his work was featured in The Times in the 1950s and 1960s, and his celebrity clients included Gene Hackman.

Robert Amos Winquist was born Aug. 15, 1923, in Kansas City, Kan., one of six children of Adolph and Margaret Winquist. His father was a mortician.

Raised mainly in California, Winquist served in the Army Air Forces as a ball-turret gunner during World War II.

He also relied on his artistic talent to paint the noses of B-17 bombers, his family said.

He taught for 15 years at the Chouinard Art Institute, which merged with the Los Angeles Music Conservatory to become CalArts in 1961.

At CalArts, he taught color and design before heading the character animation program from 1989 to 1991.

Students "flocked to him like gremlins," said John Bache, an associate provost at CalArts.

"His low-key approach to teaching, plus the personal contact, made him a great teacher," he said.

The dark sunglasses he invariably wore only added to his mystique as he held court on must-see films or tossed off references to classical art.

Jenny Lerew, a former student and story artist at Disney, wrote in an e-mail: "He made us all believe every good thing could happen to us -- if we put ourselves 'in harm's way' first. . . . "

He was a "cheerleader for their futures," Eggleston said, one who came to campus in his butter-yellow Mercedes-Benz with the license plate frame that read: "I'd rather be flying."

Robert A. Winquist, "Bob" 1923-2008

Wearing a typically bemused expression. This is the only picture I have of Bob that I took myself, circa 1990. Proof he didn't always wear the shades!

I've just had the news that Bob Winquist, mentor to many, many artists and friend to all, a gentleman, teacher and brilliantly talented artist, has died.

I don't know why this is such a shock, given his age. Perhaps it's because if anyone could figure out the secret to immortality, it'd be Bob(or he'd know someone who could).

His niece and great-nephew sent this message to share wth you:

Dear Jenny;

By way of introduction, my name is Joyce Snyder, the niece of Robert A. Winquist, and it is with a heavy and saddened heart that I am writing to you. Our family wishes to inform you of the passing of Robert this afternoon, September 10, 2008. He passed away peacefully today as his body simply said, “Bob it is time to go home.”

Uncle Bob so often spoke of the multitudes of people that were part of his life, the fellow artists, imaginers, designers, students, etc. There were no classifications or hierarchies when it came to Bob’s acquaintances, just friends. From Chouinard’s to CalArts, Disney to Pixar; even a quick search on the Internet reveals the many artists that give claim to the influence that Bob had upon their artistic development.

Although Uncle Bob has left us this day, he will always be with us as his love of the arts, willingness, and dedication to teach, has embedded a piece of “Bob” into each and every one of his students. It is these same students who are now creating and passing along the ingenious insight and creativity that Uncle Bob so loved and dedicated his life to.

At this time the family wishes to thank you for being an important part of Robert’s life experience.


They're hoping to compile a list of those who should know, and obtain contact details for them, I'd imagine a memorial will be planned but have no idea what shape it would take. If anyone would like their information passed along to his family, please send if to me here: jlerew@earthlink.net.

And please, share any memories or thoughts on Bob here if you like. I know there are a lot of people who'd enjoy reading them.

Bob's influence was prodigious and spread ahead of him into the world, and his roots ran deep. It's impossible for me to do him justice on the fly having just heard this news.

He'll be so missed. How lucky we all were to have been able to know him a little, enjoy his company and glean his hard won and always joyfully shared wisdom.

Fare well, Bob.

Portrait by Tom McGrath

EDITED TO ADD: The Los Angeles Times ran an article on Bob in the paper on Wednesday, September 17th (it's also online).

A Calarts Rumination

the cover of the Calarts brochure for the animation program; I've been told Disney would routinely send this to anyone asking how to get a job at the studio; I've also been told that the uncredited cover drawing is by Nancy Beiman, one of the earliest students


The main hallway of the character animation department, tidied up, cleared out and ready to start the fall semester of 1989

It's fall again; school is back in session. Although I haven't been back for years, lately several events have me thinking about CalArts: the Martha Baxton auction(Martha has been been den mother and stalwart backbone of the character animation program since before my time, when she also did duty in the film school proper); meeting up with some former classmates for a lively lunch; and my friend and colleague Dave Pimentel starting his first foray into teaching(story) there.

the interior spread of student work from the Calarts 70s-era brochure

At the time I went there, 1987-1990, there was nothing else in the country that offered what CalArts did: a course specifically geared for the art of character, "Disney" animation. Canada had Sheridan, as it still does, NYU had exactly one animation class until John Canemaker began his tenure there...UCLA had a well-known set of classes, even something known as a department, run back then by Dan McLaughlin, I believe. I'd occasionally haunt that area when visiting UCLA's Melnitz theatre for the open screenings of rare films they did and still do. The room held about a dozen animation desks and the usual ephemera of student work(stacks of animation paper, peg hole-puncher, a woody smell of pencil shavings), but its overall atmosphere was more akin to that of Jules Engel's excellent and unique Motion Graphics room at Calarts than it was to the buzzing, coffee-fueled ambiance of the two floors that encompassed the Character Animation department begun by Jack Hannah and Bob McCrea, at Disney's behest, in the mid-1970s. I went on a guided tour of the Calarts campus while in high school, returning afterwards on my own to prowl the rooms without the steely eye of whatever provost gave us a 20 second glimpse of real live animation students at work. This was a time when Hannah, Bill Moore(legendary design teacher of Chouinard), T. Hee and others of the original staff ran the program, and my memory is of gingerly and (I hoped) invisibly walking around the student rooms, accompanied by someone's record player set to 78 rpm, playing a helium-infused rendition of "I Wanna Be Like You" from the "Jungle Book" soundtrack...it was heaven No one took notice of me or busted me(it was a Saturday). I chatted with Bill Berg, who was working on a film about a young kid playing jazz; he was friendly and encouraging when I told him I wanted more than anything to someday get into the school, and be an animator. Bill was obviously older than the mostly 19-23 year olds scattered around the area, and I remember being impressed that someone would commit to CalArts to be an animator after having lived an already full life(he'd talked of his own son, and his music career). Bill went on to Disney's and a long animation career, and I've never heard anyone say a negative thing about the guy, which doesn't surprise me).

Even though no one but Bill ever spoke to me or took any notice, I was ever conscious of trespassing through an inner sanctum I didn't belong to--one that loomed large in my imagination. It wasn't until about 6 years later that I myself got into the department. By then the staff was mostly very young and new, headed by Chouinard graduate and former Imagineering kid Bob Winquist. Bob had retired from running his own design firm, and sort of defaulted into taking over the character Animation department, having subbed for his old friend Bill Moore as design teacher(Bill had been terminally ill). Bob believed in having young, dynamic instructors, and we as a result got Mike Giaimo for character design, Joe Ranft for story, and Chris Buck for animation. They were all old friends who'd gone to CalArts at the same time about 7-8 years earlier, and between the three of them we lucky students had exposure to just about the entire panoply of cartoon design, idea and possibility. Which brings me to a common misconception about my alma mater that persists in some quarters to this day: the idea that there's some sort of "Calarts style", approach or "look". That wasn't the case when I was there, and I seriously doubt it's the case now. While many of the eager young faces in the first-year chairs are (understandably) in love with the legacy of the Disney studio that helped start the place, many, many others love--or prefer--everything from Hanna Barbera to George Pal to Nick Park to Warner Bros' most insane output, to UPA, to the NFB of Canada to...well, you get the drift. There are as many "Calarts styles" as there are people who've gone there--hundreds. It's just a school like any other school; teachers come and go, have a strong influence or not, students listen, absorb or rebel--it's the same everywhere.
Calarts is privileged because of its close proximity to and association with the Los Angeles animation scene, but it's really "special" because of the individuals who learned there, who come from almost every corner of the word, and who bring along all kinds of different ideas and yes, "styles".

I don't believe the character animation program ever stamped out anyone in any kind of mold. That's just my own opinion, but I can easily back it up with the example of many living, breathing animation artists working all over the world today--now joined by the graduates of over a dozen other terrific schools--Gobelins, Sheridan, Ringling, RISD, Art Center, many others--yet still, a school is in the end nothing more a set of rooms to learn in, filled with various people--the true quality of the school is up to them. My school will always have a special place in my heart because of the people I met and learned from while there--as much from my fellow students as from the teachers, which is how Bob wanted it to be, and how it always works out. Far from being in any way elitist, I found Calarts to be a place where we learned to look around, experience more than we might on our own, and pass it on.

ADDENDUM: I couldn't think of a way to work it into this post, but a piece on CalArts wouldn't be complete without a reference somewhere to A 113. So there it is.


the swanky accommodations of CalArts' animation department, circa Fall of 1989: you got an ex-Filmation animation desk and a chair. The formcore dividers, sheets and other bric-a-brac were up to you. This is my 2nd year space, the back wall of the overlooking mezzanine above the design room. I've got a video printout of Daffy Duck in Bob Clampett's "Book Revue", Ernie Kovacs, a drawing Chris Buck did to help me, and some xeroxes of Colonel Haithi on the back wall there, among other things.

tags technorati : calarts, animation, school, disney, warner bros, cartoon, animator, design

Golden info

If you haven't been by Mark Kennedy's blog lately, you're missing out on some truly great stuff:

Temple of the Seven Golden Camels: Design and Drawing

Must-read material. Stuff like this makes me lunge for a good pencil--or at least feel like lunging for one.

Bob Winquist would be very proud(and that's saying something).


a Ronald Searle sketchbook page Mark uses for discussion in his notes on drawing and design