A scene from an original animation created by visual junior Alex Turner.
A scene from an original animation created by visual junior Alex Turner.

Artist Spotlight: Alex Turner

The visual department has produced many unusual facets of art throughout the past couple of years. From 3-D printing to taxidermy, students have been exposed to a wide array of trades to possibly pursue in their future. Recently, student’s interest in the complicated craft of animation have fueled many clubs, guest speaker lectures, and even lessons in digital art classes. Visual junior Alex Turner is one of the most active students interested in 3-D animation, as he dedicates much of his time in and outside of the classroom to his art.

“Shows like ‘Flapjack’, and movies like ‘Treasure Planet’ were big inspirations in starting it,” Turner said.  “3-D captured my attention the most because it had everything I wanted; I could sculpt everything and make it realistic ”

Turner has been involved in animation since he was in middle school. Originally, he taught himself how to work in animation programs such as Blender, but upon coming to Dreyfoos he has discovered a culture that embraces every area of art, even if it may be unconventional for a high school student.

A scene from an original animation created by visual junior Alex Turner.
A scene from an original animation created by visual junior Alex Turner.

“Dreyfoos has helped me a lot, by taking figure drawing classes I learned how to draw realistic poses and proportions,” Turner said. “I learned how to use different techniques to improve from [digital teacher] Mrs. Glosmanova, she’s a nerd for animation, so she has no problem seeing and critiquing my work.”

Along with the help of his teachers, Turner is co-president of Dreyfoos’ animation club. This gives him and other students a chance to share ideas about art and show off their individual work with one another outside of the classroom.

“From being co-president of animation club, I get to spread and teach others about what 3D animation is and why I love it so much,” Turner said. “I have tutored two kids so far, though [one] decided to stick to 2-D [animation], I still really enjoy it.”

Turner hopes to pursue animation into his college years, and even as a career. The techniques he has learned so far have taught him many useful skills such as working in a team of people, and patience to make a complete piece.

“Animation is a long process, making a scene can take up to a week to make, after that, rendering usually takes weeks,” Turner said. “[Communications senior Chayse Banks, visual junior Lucio Hernandez and I] started a production channel on YouTube called ‘Allusious Studios’ for film and animation, it’s really cool to be able to upload all of our stuff on there and share it with the world. Ideally, I’d love to work for a studio like Pixar or Disney because of inspirations like [Disney animator] Glenn Kene who drew ‘The Little Mermaid’ and ‘Treasure Planet,’ his story really inspired me and taught me a lot about animating and progressing.”

Leave a Comment
Donate to THE MUSE
$450
$10000
Contributed
Our Goal

Your donation will support the student journalists of Dreyfoos School of the Arts. Your contribution will allow us to purchase equipment and cover our annual website hosting costs.

More to Discover
About the Contributor
Lexi Marcellino, Head Copy Editor
Communications senior Lexi Marcellino is a third-year staffer and the Head Copy Editor on The Muse. She has a passion for news writing and grammar, and has dedicated most of her free time and late nights to journalism. In addition to being involved in The Muse, Marcellino also has a passion for creative writing and working with Teens Against Domestic Abuse, a club she co-founded with other students. Outside of school, one can find her taking advantage of Panera’s free wifi and cradling a cup of coffee. Marcellino has spent the last two summers learning more about publishing and journalism. In 2015, she interned in the graphics department of the Palm Beach County Sheriff's office, and the following year she became an alumna of the Washington Journalism and Media Conference, where she worked with student journalists from around the world, as well as esteemed figures such as National Geographic Editor-In-Chief Susan Goldberg and Photojournalist Carol Guzy. She is also the recipient of a Scholastic Art and Writing award, as well as two Palm Beach Post awards. In the future, Marcellino hopes to pursue investigative and political journalism, and move to Washington D.C. to work on a large publication.
Donate to THE MUSE
$450
$10000
Contributed
Our Goal

Comments (0)

Posting under a pseudonym is not permitted. Online comments that are found in violation of the editorial policy will be removed as quickly as possible.
All THE MUSE Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *