I received numerous suggestions I look at the work of William Kentridge and his animations. He is obviously an intelligent, deeply thoughtful capable and eloquent artist. There is an enormous amount of Kentridge related material readily accessible on the the internet but in this short clip, from San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, he clearly explains his process in a way that makes it seem accessible. I was deeply impressed by what I found and encouraged to ‘have a go’ myself.
http://www.sfmoma.org/explore/multimedia/videos/356
