MARTINSVILLE, Va. (Nov. 21, 2025) — Around 25 guests attended a free talk by artist Donald Towns on Nov. 20 at Piedmont Arts.
Towns discussed his long career in the animation business, including his time doing background animation for Disney, where he was involved in the making of such iconic films as “The Great Mouse Detective,” “The Little Mermaid,” “Beauty and the Beast" and “Aladdin.”
When asked which project he was most proud of, Towns replied, “I think I’m most proud of ‘The Great Mouse Detective.’ I had a lot of fun painting the backgrounds for that.”
Towns served as the manager of the background department and an art director on "The Little Mermaid." He explained how scenes are built in traditional animation films and shared an image of himself working on a storyboard for the film, featuring around 20 images.
"This is just one sequence in the film," he said. "We used these cells to set the color for the film. If I remember correctly, 'The Little Mermaid' had about 10 sequences."
Town said the colors in the film changed with the mood of the characters.
“It starts out blue, then changes to orange when things heat up with the Crustacean Band. Then it goes to gray because [the character] is depressed.”
After a change in leadership at Disney, Towns decided to join his friend and former Disney director, Richard Rich, at his new animation studio called Rich-Crest Animation. There, he worked on projects such as “The Swan Princess” and a series of animated Bible stories.
Now that Towns has retired from animation, he has devoted himself to fine art painting. His work is currently on display at Piedmont Arts in the exhibit Depicting the Moment.
“His career in animation really shows in his current work,” said Director of Exhibitions and Marketing Bernadette Moore. “Each painting is like a scene from a film. They have a true magical quality.”
Towns' work has been well-received by the community since he and his wife, Karen, moved to the area from Tehachapi, California. The couple now resides in Stuart, where Towns is involved in Bull Mountain Arts. Locally, he is a member of Lynwood Artists. His painting “Fount of Life” won Best in Show in “Expressions 2025,” the annual open-entry exhibit presented by Lynwood Artists and Piedmont Arts.
“Any Best in Show winner who is a member of Piedmont Arts is eligible for an exhibit in the Box Mezzanine Gallery,” said Moore. “We are so glad that Donald entered his work. It led to this amazing exhibit that we are so pleased to share with the community.”
“Depicting the Moment” will be on view at Piedmont Arts through Jan. 10. The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Admission is free.
To learn more about Towns and his work, visit his website at donaldtownsart.com.
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