Thursday, December 31, 2009

And some Facilier

Inspired by Princess and the Frog!

Gouache

Brendan


and the Secret of Kells!

I love this movie

(gouache)

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

9


is out on DVD!

Monday, December 28, 2009

We are the Same


I love District 9.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Painting A Day

Over at my other blog i have been challenging myself to do a painting a day over my winter break. Here are the first 3.




Thursday, December 17, 2009

Mini Acrylic paintings

I don't post enough art on this blog! So here are some little acrylic paintings i did for fun. I really like doing these.


Squidboy and his parents.

Yeah, Ray is still my favorite character from princess and the frog

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

When did the first semester end?

All my time seems to be getting away from me when it comes to updating this particular blog. Sorry about that!

I will be heading home for the holidays on Friday and, after finishing my color and design review this morning, I only have 1 assignment left. Which is my one shot scene of me as a six year old. Its..getting there...but it WILL be done!

Other than that,

I saw Princess and the Frog.


Critical review: For a return to animation it was a success. There were some parts where the animation looked a bit awkward and times when it was obvious some cgi cheats weren't used very well. But overall the character animation was pretty darn good. And, although it would have been nice to see a little more of the Villian and the "fairy Godmother", the story still seemed pretty solid to me.

Not-so-critical review: OMG. I love this movie. The is probably the only Disney soundtrack that I can listen to the ENTIRE thing. I loved the characters. Tiana is great, Naveen, Charlotte and Louis are hilarious. Everything about Facilier is AMAZING as with Mama Odie and Juju. and Ray was my favorite character. I love this movie.

I got to see the film at Walt Disney Animation studios as well, which was an unbelievably magical experience. When I get a chance, I will have to write more on the subject.

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Look away!

Well, don't really. Just thought I'd warn you all that while I have been neglecting this blog (sorry about that!) i have been updating my Portfolio Blog, so y'all should check that out!

Not to say I'm not updating this anymore. I'm just very slow, and school is very hectic. I will HOPEFULLY be updating here again sooon.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

So much going on...

So sorry for the lack of legit updates, I've been having trouble with Blogger.

But SO much has been going on, I'll try to cover most of it.


First of all, James Gurney visited a couple weeks ago. He is the writer and artist of Dinotopia and the book "Imaginative Realism" (which I bought and he signed my copy!). For anyone not familiar with his work, he is an AMAZING painter and sculptor and anything else you can think of! His lecture was fantastic and very informative, not to mention he is overall a really swell guy. He stayed pretty late after the lecture to take extra questions and sign books. I've been reading his book and reviewing my noted from his lecture and they always really inspire me. You should all check out his blog --> gurneyjourney.blogspot.com

Next, on Friday we had our most recent guest lecturers, Shane Acker (Director of "9") and Joe Ksander (Animation Director of "9"). Wow. This one was a duzy (is that how you spell that?). And it was such for a number of resasons.
Obviously, I liked "9" well enough, but more than liking the film itself I have been really excited about having something new a different in animated film. So, I already had high appreciation for Acker before hand (which, unfortunately, I think might have shown a bit too much when I spoke to him afterwards). Though, the lecture these two gave about the making of the "9" feature film, blew my mind and showed the audience (especially those who said they had major problems with the film) that none of us had any idea how laboring this film was. Seriously, it seems like these guys and their crew had to go through the fire and the flames to get this thing out.

Now, I REALLY don't feel comfortable sharing everything that Acker and Ksander said, for various reasons, but I will say that this movie is amazingly well crafted for the budget it was on(and that now I know why I love the art style of this film so much). The entire lecture was about solving problems and doing it effectively. I think it inspired a lot of us and I have even more respect now for Acker and his crew and the film itself. I was also very happy to hear a group of guys behind us say "OMG. We HAVE to see this movie" after Acker and Ksander showed the step by step process behind the Seamstress and the Seamstress clip that is all over the internet. Actually, I have heard rumors that a large group of animators went to see the film afterwards. Awesome.

Not to make the entire lecture sound so doom and gloom though, the speakers definitly seemed to be enjoying giving the lecture and there were some incredibly humurous moments ("Then we put our money on making that table as sexy as possible"). For those who know what I'm talking about, I feel like I want a copy of that 5 animation test to cheer me up while I work on my own film.

If it's still out in your area. Go see 9.


Next.... DISNEYLAND.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

I need to update.


I'm in CGI class and the teacher is late.


Here's a picture of hellboy!


Saturday, October 3, 2009

More CALARTS and Cube fun





Yeah, its still awesome here.

The work load is really starting to get busy, but I thought I'd actually give y'all a quick rundown of what my classes are like.

Basic Perspective- This class is a great way to start the week, its pretty chill and laid back, but it also is teaching us stuff that we really need to know. Overall, just a really good class, that I like doing the homework for!

Color and Design- This class is a beast. No other way to say it. The homework from this class is yet to be rivaled and I imagine it will only be met by the Animation homework. It's not to say that I don't like this class, because I do! It's definitely 60% of my homework time during the week though.

Digital Production- A fun and interesting class. Our teacher is pretty darn cool and he's teaching us how to put our films together, which is great. Homework load in there is minimal right now, yay!

CGI- The only class I'm not stoked to go to right now. Learning MAYA is boooorrring. But I think it will get better.

History of Character Animation- My only Critical studies class, and I like it a lot. The work is slowly moving up in that class, in a way that reminds me of IB history, for any of my classmates who get what I'm saying. I actually have a midterm in there this week.

Story- This class is AWESOME. The teacher is really cool and I love the assignments. I just wish I knew how to get to a scanner in this school so i could actually send my assignments in!

Figure Drawing- is figure drawing. One of my favorite days of the week!

Traditinal Animation- OMG. This class is awesome, mostly because of our amazing teacher. I learn a ton every single week. I have to animate myself as a fish this week!! Fun stuff!



Besides that I've been working in my cube a lot more! There is always some kind of shenanigans going on up there. Mostly because of Tiffany. lol

Also, the other day i was getting frustrated using the lunchbox so I went back to the dorm to "vent draw" and at first I made this for Brittany.


and then I made this. It's a chalk pastel picture of the Seamstress from 9 and probably the scariest thing I've ever drawn. but I got my frustration out! lol

I will be putting pictures from my assignments and stuff at my portfolio blog sometime soon. I promise!

Friday, September 25, 2009

I <3 CALARTS

Seriously, this school is all kinds of awesome.

I'm not really sure what to talk about first!

Well, I guess if any of you are interested in seeing some of the stuff i've been working on, I've begun posting assignments and figure drawings at my portfolio site --> sckportfolio.blogspot.com

Next up, I started moving into my cube today (finally!) Katelyn and I painted the green walls yellow and situated the animation desks. I'm snug in the back corner and it's very cozy!

I actually was the first to put anything on our walls. It's a poster version of an older, but still very cool, Spiderman cover.

My wall is soon to be adorned with concept art from the movie "9", from the Art of 9 book I just got. There is some really beautiful stuff in there.

and THEN, we had one of the most AWESOME lectures tonight from Mark Andrews.

(Please ignore how fat I look in this picture)

His lecture, which was actually just him drawing storyboards for three hours, was SO entertaining and incredibly helpful. This guy has worked all over the business, from Live Action to Animation. Not to mention he is one of Brad Bird's right hand men, apparently, so he had a lot of tales from Ratatouille, Incredible, and The Iron Giant.

He taught us a lot about how to use effective angles and perspective to let the audience connect with the film. He spent the lecture story boarding a story that his daughter told him, turning it from academic to EPIC and explaining to us the best way to achieve that.

The most entertain portion of the night, for me, was when he singled me out. The first time was when i was whispering something to Brittany about how much he cussed, which was hilarious on its own, and he noticed and pointed us out and then looked at me and said, "oh, and I like 2112 too." lol he had heard me talking about it before the lecture started.

The second time was the best. As the night went on, I started sketching him working. He was just sitting there drawing and doing his lecture when all of a sudden he stopped and looked at me and said "ARE YOU SKETCHING ME?!?!?!"

I almost crapped my pants. But I had him sign the sketch I made of him yelling at me afterwards.

All and all, the lecture was great! I can't wait for the next one!

Later on, when I have more time, I think that I will post about my classes!

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Schedule and 9

First of all, my mom wanted me to post my schedule for y'all to see.

Classes enrolled in
ClassTitleInstructorUnitsScheduleRoom
FC100A01BEGINNING TRADITIONAL ANIMATION (A-KNguyen, Mike2.00Th 7pm to 10pmPALACE
FC101A01BEGINNING CGI ANIMATIONAquino, John2.00T 7pm to 10pmA109
FC105A01INTRO TO DIGITAL PRODUCTIONMetzger, Ethan1.00T 1pm to 4pmA108
FC110A01BEGINNING LIFE DRAWING (A-K)Brown, Steven2.00Th 9am to 4pmA221O
FC115A01BASIC PERSPECTIVE (A-K)Hansen, Dan2.00M 1pm to 4pmPALACE
FC140-01COLOR AND DESIGN I (A-K)Hobaica, Leo2.00T 9am to 12 NoonPALACE
FC155A02BEGINNING STORY DEVELOPMENTLee, Chong2.00W 7pm to 10pmA221G
FC377HISTORY OF CHARACTER ANIMATIONFurniss, Maureen3.00W 9am to 12 NoonBIJOU


Total Units16.00


I was going to take my Humanities class this semester, but the one I wanted was basically limited to upper classmen. Since have so many transfer credits, the academic adviser said not to sweat it. So, I have a pretty simple schedule. I also have work study in the Nurse's Station a couple hours on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

NOW.

I FINALLY got to see 9 last night. I was incredibly excited and kind of nervous at the same time because the what I had heard so far had been a mixed bag.


Simply put, I really liked it. It wasn't perfect, but it was still good. And I appreciate the good it will (hopefully) do for the animation industry.

Not so simply put, it was interesting to see the reaction's of the rest of my group. Brittany thinks that some of us may not have liked it as much because of how much a ticket cost, but we had two resounding "mehs" and two "liked its" and me.

I know a lot of people have problems with the ending. I didn't mind it and I, unlike others, don't think that it just ends with death. I think that the ending gives hope for new life. You need to see it to understand exactly what I'm talking about. I also have to say, I was pleasantly surprised that the movie still went in places I didn't expect, despite the fact that I have seen the original short numerous times, and that it wasn't just a straight rehash.

My biggest complaint was that there just wasn't enough. I would have liked the movie to be a bit longer so we could see more of certain characters, especially 6. I thought he was incredibly interesting but his character wasn't explored enough. Well, I have to admit none of the characters were really "explored", which I'm actually kind of ok with. I read something where someone said that there wasn't really anymore to the characters than what the movie showed us, because we see their entire lives from the beginning, there is no backstory that we are missing. It still would have been nice to see more of 6 though. Oh, and 3 and 4 are the most adorable things ever.

The biggest thing was though, I followed the advertising and marketing for 9 like a hawk. Which meant that I often visited 9exeriment.com which explained the entire prologue of the story. I think that I got more out of the movie because I knew more about what was going on.

In conclusion. Even if the movie isn't perfect, it's still the perfect way to open up new doors in the animation industry. Just go see the movie and get your own opinion.

WOW. That's a lot, anyone who read all of that, give yourself a pat on the back.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Day 2!

Well, I am all moved in to my dorm! Brittany and I are simply as cozy as a bug. ... yeah that doesn't make sense.

But here's some pictures of our dorm!
This is my sweet-bippy pillow case from my vintage Transformers sheets! This is our view! (we get a TON of sunlight in the mornings)

This is my desk, or at least how it was yesterday.

We even got an awesome sauce corkboard!
A privelege that I abuse, often.

Besides that, I've been through one day of moving in and one day of actual orient..tating?

It's been some pretty intense stuff. I've met a LOT of the other animators and they are all sooo cool. I actually just got back from a gathering where a bunch of us just sat in the lobby of the dorms and drew each other while people from other departments observed in awe (ok well, not really more like. "cool. people are drawing").

And while that was happening, a group of musicians just started a random beat that turned into a musical extravaganza outside. I love it here.

I'm ready to start classes!

Sunday, September 6, 2009

T-1 day...

.. until move in at Calarts

Today, my mom, grandma, and I drove to Valencia, with all my clothes and a little bit of my dorm stuff (we are buying most of it while im moving in).

We stopped at Jamba Juice before we got going. One of the gifts of California that isn't available in Indy!

and then. We drove. and drove.

We stopped at another Cali exclusive gift, In-n-Out Burger! YUMMY.

And now we are in a hotel in Valencia. Chillin' out. I got to go to Church at the new Parish I will be attending (which is awesome by the way!) and I successfully created my pull list at my new Comic shop! :D


In a more art related note, after seeing a commercial for ANOTHER vampire related romance thing-amajig, I was getting really frustrated with the popularity of sexy vampire guys. I was thinking about how to do the vampire thing in a different way and I came up with these two.

The concept of these guys is that the Vampire Girl grew up in a super conservative family that taught her all about how vampires and werewolves are natural enemies. The Wolf Boy on the other hand, grew up in a much looser family, who never told him that he was supposed to hate vampires, so he doesn't know any better.

I didn't realize it until after I drew him, but the wolf boy's design is TOTALLY inspired by my buddy Miguel. Flannel and crazy hair and all. (I mean well Mickey!)


OMG. I MOVE IN TOMORROW. :D!!!

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Away We Go


I have a one way ticket to California and I'm using it tonight! I've been around so long, I feel like I slept in the day that everyone else went to college and I missed out! I'm happy to finally be leaving, but pretty stressed out as well.

I'm going to be using this blog, not only as my sketch/art blog, but also to let my Indiana brethren know what kinds of fun stuff I'll be up to!

Hey, you guys wanna see the DVDs and Comics I'm gonna have in Cali?



You should all read Scott Pilgrim. It's amazing. yes.





("Away We Go" is a great movie, btw)

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

George Winston Take 2

Second in the series. Set to the song "Woods"

I wanted to try something new and Brittany suggested paper cuts outs. So, I decided on this mix of cut outs and colored pencil. Not exactly what I wanted, but pretty darn close.

Friday, August 14, 2009

Rush's 2112

(nope, not the next in my George Winston Series)

For anyone who didn't know, I was the senior who took on the student studio at my school this year. I had decided to produce a stage show based on the concept album "2112" by the band Rush. It ended up going really well, and ever since then its been odd ambition to do an animation based on it someday (like.. when i actually know how to animate).

Without really getting into the story of the album, I was discussing this idea with my dad and we talked about having the main character (simply known as "the man") being the only thing with a clear design and everything else (the foreboding "priests of the temples of syrinx" especially) to be much more.. i dunno.. out of focus i guess.

Here's just some drawings ive done lately while thinking about it.(Note: Brittany, the one above reminds me of you! XD)


(The only character i have no idea what i would do with is the oracle....)And in case you are interested and for some reason are still reading, here are some pics from the show, done back in the fall.





(Next: another George Winston pic)