Watch Four Disney Artists Paint One Tree

“The artist always has something to say. He doesn’t paint men, landscapes, or furniture, but an idea.”- The Art Spirit by Ryerson Margery A. and Henri Robert.

As parts of Walt Disney’s creations come out of the vault, some kind souls have taken it upon themselves to upload some old goodies on YouTube for our enjoyment. Four Artists Paint One Tree is an interesting documentary that surfaces ideas about art, style, and collaboration. In some ways, you can see the art studio of Walt Disney as a Open Source artistic culture where a plethora of artists come together to create each scene.

Individually, they are limited to their particular knowledge and interests, but together, anything is possible. Perhaps these ideas can be translated to the current digital culture of today. Maybe you’ll get inspired to make something new.

It all starts with an idea. A sketch that you may think will turn out well. Perhaps it starts on a sheet of paper, or maybe it starts in SketchUp. Either way, this is the beginning of something new and potentially exciting.

But it can’t be taken further until you start to bring the idea to life. The idea begins to come to life through colors and movement. Each addition brings the idea closer to becoming living, breathing flesh.

But nothing exists in a vacuum, and you may realize the idea needs a home. What else surrounds this idea? What are the implications of this manifestation? And this may be the point at which other people come into play, in crowd sourcing, open source culture and beyond. You’ve brought your idea to life in one scene, but giving it to the world can help it come to life in the universe.

Perhaps another’s style and vision can help you make your world better, in the same way that illustrators will help each other keep the continuity of the film’s world.

But at other times, the creation may exist solely to make our hearts sing and lift our spirits. Many times, seeing someone else’s spirit on the page or in an object may inspire us. Look at how each of the artists has painted the same Oak tree.

There are so many ways to see and capture the world, for a brief moment. The manifestations of thoughts are plentiful in society; each representing a world within worlds. How do you want to represent your world?