About the book

A History of the book…

DreamWorks’ first personal art publication, Moonshine, was conceived as an opportunity to highlight the breath of artistic development talent at the studio.  The Artistic Development department championed the project and partnered with Production Designer, Christophe Lautrette and Art Director, Pierre-Olivier Vincent to co-edit the book.  The studio’s educational partnership with Scott Robertson, chair of Entertainment Design at Art Center and owner of Design Studio Press let to a natural selection of Scott’s company to publish the compilation of works.  The team wanted the book to be accessible to students and treated like a annual publication.  The plan is to publish additional volumes.

“A stolen ear of corn has a better taste than one that is bought!”

That’s an old saying in the countryside where I grew up. And it’s true, isn’t it? The ear of corn you buy tastes of a bought ear of corn, there’s no denying it. The stolen one, on the other hand, tastes of running, adrenalin, off-limits!!

The works of art in MOONSHINE taste of the stolen corn of my childhood…

The paintings, drawings, and doodles of this book are personal works from the visual development artists at Dreamworks.

These works were born after dark, when shadows win over light, after long days on productions like SHREK, MADAGASCAR, KUNG FU PANDA, and HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON.

That’s when pencils bustle, under the yellowish light of a desk lamp… next to the mug of cold coffee used now to clean brushes!

These artistic ninjas unveil their works of art hidden from the public eye up to now, forbidden in broad daylight; stashed so long under their folded elbow, that even the moon is not allowed a peak!

MOONSHINE is this 120 page book you can steal from your friends to savor under a tree.

– Christophe Lautrette

“Working in animation, I find myself in the company of artists every day.  I have become accustomed to traveling hallways bedecked with an ever changing array of drawings and paintings – character designs, backgrounds and development art from our films.  A gallery of artists working toward a common goal, blending their individual talents together on a huge scale.

But concentrations of talent this large are rare.  No one starts their artistic life in such a huge community.  Even if the people who work here were born in crowded urban centers, they were likely isolated as artists.  Because artistry occurs unpredictably, blossoming randomly within a population as surprises of nature.

I once asked a group I worked with to bring in works they created as children, so that I could display these early artistic explorations in a gallery show.  To my surprise, at the age of only three or four, future painters were already working with brushes and color, while animators and character designers had gravitated to pencils and paper.  Their art was already discovered, and they were well on their way to define and expand it.   So every artist here developed his or her style according to his or her own gifts, in isolation.  In peace and quiet.  Developing their art without distraction.  Skills formed at a time when everyone drew and painted for the joy of it, while they were in clear contact with the deepest part of themselves, blissfully unaware they might someday rely on these gifts to make a living.  Unique styles that have only strengthened with time.

During the day these artists carefully coordinate their skills in cooperative effort, weaving their individual colors together to create huge tapestries.  But they still retain the purity of a voice each individual discovered long ago.  Strong clear voices singing together in a choir.

But even if you sing in a choir you never stop singing in the shower.  That’s still the time when the best singing happens.  Times when you don’t need to blend with anyone else.  When you stay in touch with whatever started you singing in the first place.

So that is what this book is about.  Voices from a choir singing on their own.

-Chris Sanders