Barcelona Featured Artist Charlotte Belland
Artist’s Reception – Tuesday, August 8th from 5 to 7pm
Charlotte Belland is an illustrator of animals. Her work explores the blending of anatomical accuracy and the beauty of animals with a little sparkle of mischief; the way an animal tilts its head, focuses its eyes, or how it leans into the pose.
“Side Eye” features the delightful resting “sassy face” of 13 different chickens and roosters. It also explores the amazing variety of combs (the fleshy crown on top of the chicken’s head) by exaggerating size while maintaining the profile shape. The gaze of each spicey bird is a playful homage to our own unintentional facial expressions.
Charlotte is the Chair of the Animation Department at the Columbus College of Art and Design. She is a Professor of Animation who teaches drawing for animation and color theory. In the spring semester, she gets to work with first-year students who are beginning their journey into animation. Charlotte is committed to the creative process and to helping artists grow each day.
On Fridays during Fall and Spring semesters, Charlotte hosts animal ambassadors (and their humans too!) for live drawing sessions. It is important to draw from moving subjects. It helps artists stay in-the-moment and it hones their ability to “see a pose” and capture that pose, quickly and efficiently with ink. It also encourages the next generation of animal illustrators. As a lifelong learner, Charlotte draws with her students investing in a culture of creativity and living the philosophy that honing any craft takes practice. Charlotte embodies her motto to “Abandon the Eraser. Commit to the line. And keep moving.”
Her daily drawing practice includes a routine post to Instagram. For 10 years, Charlotte has posted a daily animal drawing under the name bellandpixel.
cbelland@ccad.edu
