Make It / Break It / Fill It Up
Click for the animated version:
Sunday, December 29, 2013
Thursday, August 15, 2013
The Captain of My Soul
After many long hours and several heart attacks, it is finally done.
Meet Capt. Elliot Bragg, the hero of / inspiration for Project Skybound.
This painting is fairly important to me. It feels like the first major step after years and years of just dreaming about making art. I'm slowly waking up to the hope that - perhaps, possibly, maybe - there's still enough room in this world to create, and I could spend my life doing it.
Meet Capt. Elliot Bragg, the hero of / inspiration for Project Skybound.
This painting is fairly important to me. It feels like the first major step after years and years of just dreaming about making art. I'm slowly waking up to the hope that - perhaps, possibly, maybe - there's still enough room in this world to create, and I could spend my life doing it.
'...I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.'
- Invictus by William Ernest Henley
Thursday, August 8, 2013
Film Study - #1
Film freeze framing was recommended to me as another main way to improve. Here are my first attempts at in-depth studies.
The original images are all from Hayao Miyazaki's 'Spirited Away'.
I decided to focus mainly on value composition and look for the major design elements. This was relatively simple. It's like a word search puzzle. You have a list of what you're looking for, and it's not difficult to find them if you have some time.
The hard part was trying to understand the point of the composition - the abstract ideas that made it work, and how the design elements interacted to produce a certain reaction. Or continuing with the metaphor, how to make a sentence out of those words you find.
Again I tried to make my own based off what I thought was right. This time Jose told me to abstract even more, keeping the same composition, but changing subject, theme, and figures. Not going to lie, this made my brain hurt like a motherfucker.
For this one, I thought the major idea was how to add unease to a calm setting . The scene is when Chihiro senses something weird about the town. The imbalance of the dark shadow shapes on the right and the empty openness of the street gives you an eerie vibe. My version was a fortress wall facing some kind of oncoming darkness - a growing forest perhaps.
This one was mainly the variety in the shapes and placement of light sources, giving the whole thing sense of busyness and life. My take was a man looking up at the skyscrapers of the city around him, with windows and flying cars providing variety.
This last one was the use of framing, with all elements pinpointing the exact place you're supposed to look. My take was of a priest approaching the inner sanctum of a temple, where a relic or person awaits him.
I really don't know if I'm doing this right and if I'm learning what I'm supposed to be learning. Regardless, I'll keep chipping away at it.
The original images are all from Hayao Miyazaki's 'Spirited Away'.
I decided to focus mainly on value composition and look for the major design elements. This was relatively simple. It's like a word search puzzle. You have a list of what you're looking for, and it's not difficult to find them if you have some time.
The hard part was trying to understand the point of the composition - the abstract ideas that made it work, and how the design elements interacted to produce a certain reaction. Or continuing with the metaphor, how to make a sentence out of those words you find.
Again I tried to make my own based off what I thought was right. This time Jose told me to abstract even more, keeping the same composition, but changing subject, theme, and figures. Not going to lie, this made my brain hurt like a motherfucker.
For this one, I thought the major idea was how to add unease to a calm setting . The scene is when Chihiro senses something weird about the town. The imbalance of the dark shadow shapes on the right and the empty openness of the street gives you an eerie vibe. My version was a fortress wall facing some kind of oncoming darkness - a growing forest perhaps.
This one was mainly the variety in the shapes and placement of light sources, giving the whole thing sense of busyness and life. My take was a man looking up at the skyscrapers of the city around him, with windows and flying cars providing variety.
This last one was the use of framing, with all elements pinpointing the exact place you're supposed to look. My take was of a priest approaching the inner sanctum of a temple, where a relic or person awaits him.I really don't know if I'm doing this right and if I'm learning what I'm supposed to be learning. Regardless, I'll keep chipping away at it.
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
Master Study - #1
My first attempt at a master study.
The original Image is Frank Frazetta's Silver Warrior.
For each study, I broke it down into individual components.
Gesture + Perspective
Design + Composition
Value Study
Reverse Construction
And then a personal attempt based on the major elements of the original. Some kind of undead rider of beasts on a moonlit night.
I must confess that I have no bloody idea what I'm doing yet. Studying master artists is one of the pillars of mastery however.
More to come.
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
OVAD #30
All Hands! All hands to sail and line!
Thunderous might against our cabin roars
Swift rage yearns to unravel all we've wrought
No sooner than we saw the shores of home
Hold steadfast your ground against the beast
Let it break our backs but not our hearts
When the storm has ceased its empty threat
New winds will come to bid us journey on
Sunday, August 4, 2013
Disaster Strikes!
This morning a painting that I had been working on was damaged during a save. I had invested significant hours and effort into it at this point.
Naturally - I was a bit heated.
Being the neurotic person that I am, little things have a tendency to go FULL TILT into the shit zone. So for the next 12 hours I proceeded to tear apart the internet looking for a fix. This proved fruitless and lead to what we like to call a 'Mini Brain Melt', in which existential questions are raised and thoughts of the end are entertained.
Calm has thankfully arrived, and I recall a story that Bobby Chiu talks about in his book The Perfect Bait. When just starting out in the business he lost not just one painting, but all of his portfolio to a hard drive crash.
Then what did he do?
HE MADE ANOTHER ONE
What. A. Boss. If he can do that, then I can get over one damn painting. This time it'll be even better.
Come to think, it's probably a good thing to get this little stumbling block out of the way. Not much was lost and it taught me a great lesson: ALWAYS BACK UP YOUR FILES! Double, triple, quadruple save them if you have to! Put them on CD's, then put those CD's on VHS Tapes! Back up your shit!
But more importantly:
Things are going to come out of left field no matter what. It's up to you to take a step back and realize that it isn't the end of the world. You can recover, get up, and do it again. Don't let one little bump bring your whole world down. You're made of tougher stuff than that.
Saturday, August 3, 2013
Project SkyBound
So since the only way to learn is by doing the damn deed, I thought I'd tie all the areas of animation into a personal project to keep it fun. Doing individual exercises is great, but if you can link them up into something that makes it meaningful to you then all the better.
I present Project SkyBound: A story about sky-ships, pirates, and adventure!
The premise is after a great war, peace comes to the world. Technological breakthroughs during wartime have birthed airships and a new age begins. An ex-military man sets of to the skies to explore the new world.
It will be a mix between anthropomorphic characters and fantasy, two of my favorite things. It hearkens back to my childhood memories of reading Brian Jacques' Redwall series.
God I loved those books.
Character Designs
Starting with just the generic story roles; Villain, Love Interest, Hero, and Comedic Relief.
The Villian, known only as 'The Bull' for now, was a product of the losing side of the war. Born into rough times, he eventually becomes a feared pirate. Brash, violent, ruthless.
The Love Interest started off as a sheltered young noblewoman who wants adventure, and sneaks aboard the Hero's ship. After playing around with the character however, I decided to make her much younger and change the love interest from a regular match-up to a father-daughter relationship. The story could be that she teaches this ex-military man something about the value of real relationships or something along those lines.
Here the rough turnarounds. Just playing around with the shapes and figuring out the personalities.
To follow are the Hero and the Comedic Relief.
Perhaps when those are done, some supporting cast will join the ranks.
I present Project SkyBound: A story about sky-ships, pirates, and adventure!
The premise is after a great war, peace comes to the world. Technological breakthroughs during wartime have birthed airships and a new age begins. An ex-military man sets of to the skies to explore the new world.
It will be a mix between anthropomorphic characters and fantasy, two of my favorite things. It hearkens back to my childhood memories of reading Brian Jacques' Redwall series.
God I loved those books.
Character Designs
Starting with just the generic story roles; Villain, Love Interest, Hero, and Comedic Relief.
The Villian, known only as 'The Bull' for now, was a product of the losing side of the war. Born into rough times, he eventually becomes a feared pirate. Brash, violent, ruthless.
The Love Interest started off as a sheltered young noblewoman who wants adventure, and sneaks aboard the Hero's ship. After playing around with the character however, I decided to make her much younger and change the love interest from a regular match-up to a father-daughter relationship. The story could be that she teaches this ex-military man something about the value of real relationships or something along those lines.
Here the rough turnarounds. Just playing around with the shapes and figuring out the personalities.
To follow are the Hero and the Comedic Relief.
Perhaps when those are done, some supporting cast will join the ranks.
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