Here is an article about Rosemount who painted the explosion scene in the Cinnamon Girl video. http://www.mnsun.com/arch...yID=146738

Rosemount artists paints explosion for Prince video

By Erica Christoffer
Sun Newspapers
(Created 10/28/2004 10:01:23 AM)


A swirl of yellow, orange and red flashes across the screen and in a matter of seconds Erin Goedtel’s watercolor animation for the new “Cinnamon Girl” Prince music video has come and gone. But her artwork is not soon forgotten.

Art can be defined as a compilation of forms to portray an idea or emotion. But along the way, that compilation can also create some controversy.

Goedtel of Rosemount painted the explosion scene in “Cinnamon Girl,” a video that follows the path of a young Muslim-American girl who becomes isolated following Sept. 11, 2001. The message of the video is not so much about death and destruction as it is about cultural isolation and stereotypes surrounding Muslims.

The character in the video becomes overwhelmed with the identity roles and imagines herself as an airport suicide bomber. By using watercolor, the explosion is softened, with a cartoon feel.

“Using watercolor for animation, I’ve never seen it done. You can’t control it, it dries differently than how you put it on,” Goedtel said.

Goedtel, a freelance artist, received the opportunity to work on the video through a fellow artist, Kii Arens. She worked with Phil Harder and Rick Fuller of Harder and Fuller Films of Minneapolis in creating the animation.

“They were just really interested in getting back to the basics and organics of art and infusing it into their videos,” Goedtel said.

It wasn’t until after she started working on the explosion that she realized what the story line of the video was. She painted four explosions, the last of which was used in the video.

Prince is an artist Goedtel said she long admired and it was an honor to work on the video. Unfortunately, she was not able to meet the local legend.

“I remember dancing around to ‘Diamonds and Pearls’ as a kid,” she said. “I’ve always watched what he’s done.”

While eating dinner with her family, the news came on TV and the explosion clip of the “Cinnamon Girl” video was shown. That was the first time Goedtel saw the work.

“And there it was, the one image of the whole entire video they showed was the animation I did,” Goedtel said.

Goedtel attended the University of Wisconsin-Stout and graduated in 2003 with a bachelor’s degree in fine arts.

“I’ve just been so passionate about art all through my life,” she said. Goedtel would often paint all night long during college, exploring different forms and ideas.

Goedtel is currently working on a mural at Shamrock Animal Hospital in Rosemount. In the past, she has worked as the caricature artist at the Dakota County Fair. She also teaches an art class at the Minnesota School of Business Globe College of Business two days a week in St. Cloud.

“From before I could even speak I was doing little doodles all the time,” Goedtel said. Evidence of her early artistic expression can be found in the crayon drawings inside the cupboards at her parent’s home.

She credits her parents for her early career successes because of their encouragement regarding her artistic talent.

Goedtel’s next endeavor is an Election Day exhibit, also with Kii Arens, in Los Angeles titled “Happy War” at La La Land gallery.

“I was not interested in doing political art whatsoever,” Goedtel said. “I’ve always been more into seeing and observing. I’m just more into conveying beauty and finding little things in life that people overlook, like the ordinary and extraordinary.”

For the Nov. 2 show, Goedtel created a painting with two doves positioned in opposite directions, carrying M-16s in their feet. The doves and guns create a skull and cross bones as a secondary image.

Goedtel said her work asks the questions of how peace can be brought about.

“This is really the first time I’ve ever had to do political art and I’m kind of getting into it,” she said. “It’s empowering because it has a message.”

The idea behind “Happy War” was to show art dealing with peace and the satirical side of war.

“Visual presentation is always so strong,” Goedtel said. “With the Prince video that’s coming out, I had no idea that it would be such a huge controversy, or that the word ‘controversy’ would even be used.”

Goedtel said she plans to sell a few of the “Cinnamon Girl” video stills. Interested collectors should contact Goedtel at egoedtel@hotmail.com.

Totally off-topic, but the Cleveland, Ohio area also has a weekly paper called the Sun Newspapers, that comes out on Thursdays. There are different papers for different cities in the area. My job at the Sun Newspapers was the first job I got straight out of high school.

bananacologne said:

[b]Love the painting with the boy in the field! Where can I find more of his work?

sebastianlove said:

Cool - well, there's another one currently hanging up in my profile if u wanna go and save it - but be quick, as my 'wallhangings' change almost daily now!

The pic u mentioned is one of many from the work he did on the 'Freaks of the Heartland' graphic novels.

Check 'em out, they're great - really dark, atmospheric stuff.
(Handy Hint: Ebay always has 'em...)


But u can find more info on Greg via these links: (click the pix)


(Currently offline, but keep checkin' back - it's cool!)


...have a root around google too.

Great illustrations!
well, I used to deal with watercolour animation in the past only for one freelance work (of course not as good as Cinnamon video, but the result was nice because a good team was involved, working 12 hours/day). It´s so hard to control the ´stains´that the result is often artistic and beautiful if well done....
I miss those times...

[b] This artiste is very talented IMO. The watercolour animation work is cool but another VERY talented artiste does PRINCE like NO OTHER. In fact....Does all HIS work like no other I've seen except 4 my parents who were also very talented artistes like him. Mom was offered jobs in many advertising firms 2 draw. Anywho... His work is very REALISTIC and r mainly stills, but i'm sure he can do just about ANYTHING. That man is RICCO THE ARTIST. Prince... theres a man 4 ur next cd cover, or any type advertising. THE BEST! RICCO! See ya soon babe. [b]