Pirates and Pastries

Considering I never actually put my completed film here, I figured I'd take a few minutes to do so for anyone who may stumble upon this blog...better late than never!

4th Year Film

My neglected blog hasn't any posts of my thesis film I've been creating this final 2013/2014 school year. Well, here's a poster for it!

The image below is also from my film, set in a playroom. I wanted kid-like drawings but decided not to try and recreate, from scratch, the manner in which a child would draw. So when I went home for Christmas break I looked through the array of notebooks and papers my mom kept throughout my younger years, and selected a few drawings of mine to throw in Photoshop and trace to get the final images I used for my film. This string of pictures isn't at all a focal point in my film, but I like that it's there and is essentially a piece of my past!

Portrait

I haven't drawn a single portrait in nearly a year and a half, and yet it's quite possibly my favorite thing to do when it comes to art, even taking anything animation related into consideration. This was fun to do, although it could be far better, but considering the lull between my last portrait and this one, I can't complain. I really should try and make a habit of doing more, drawing one portrait every 1.5 years isn't enough, especially if I want to actualy improve and not just remain around the same level.

I drew this from a photo by a photographer I stumbled upon through facebook (website: http://lolitka.35photo.ru/). She has some really endearing photography, and this kid was too cute not to draw! :)

Group Film Background Paintings

I figured I'd post some background paintings done for my group film this past school year for the sake of a blog post. Also, the misspelling of the word "friends" (as seen on the sign in the last picture) is intentional because...well, for no particularly necessary storytelling reason other than the fact that our film is wonderfully ridiculous so we figured we'd throw that misspelling into the mix.

Bedroom Design

One of our final assignments at end of the year was dedicated to generating ideas and artwork for our thesis films. These were some location designs I did for the story I developed a bit, although I've yet to determine if I will stick with that idea or do something different.

Ducklings

I was put in a Facebook group where there is a list of themes that you can choose to draw from and then once you complete a piece you post it and add a new theme to the list, so I figured I'd take part in it! This is something I did for the theme Rainy Day - the final piece, along with the initial thumbnail sketch and a more refined sketch.

Now for a long and random spiel that I'm more so just writing for myself, I guess, so feel free to read or ignore! Animation and storyboarding - these are two aspects that throughout my education I have had to spend plenty of time on (for obvious reasons, given that I'm enrolled in an animation program). They are also the two things in particular that I have found I dislike the most. I can't say I truly enjoy storyboarding, and more often than not, the same can be said for (classically) animating.

When it comes to art, I love spending time on whatever it is I am working on, putting hours upon hours of work into one illustrative piece. Storyboarding is all about getting your ideas and intent down quickly and clearly, and the same for animation, particularly in its earlier stages. I've always known I liked spending time on my art, but I guess I just never quite put two and two together in regards to why I can't find much joy in areas where speed and simply "getting the idea down" is of the essence.

I believe this preference of mine is also why I am not an avid sketcher. I enjoy sketching when inspiration strikes, but for the most part, I do not sketch to the extent that I see fellow classmates of mine doing. I do not care to have sketchbooks upon sketchbooks chock full of loosely scribbled ideas or people. Nevertheless, I absolutely realize that the ability to put your ideas down quickly and in a way that reads is invaluable, and sketching is great for improving such skills. Of course I will always sketch prior to jumping right into what will be an illustrative piece, but sketching just for the sake of sketching isn't something I find myself doing very often.

None of this is to say that I think going into an animation program as opposed to an illustration one was a wrong choice. I may not enjoy all aspects of each of my classes, but the various skills I've learned throughout all of the courses I've had are useful and can all be utilized in one way or another. Furthermore, these tendencies of mine do have a place in the animation industry, for instance, I could definitely see myself as a background painter. Even outside of the industry, being something of a children's book illustrator definitely piques my interest. 

Also, I should emphasise that the kind of animation I've referenced throughout this writing is that which entails drawing frame by frame. That is a process where, whenever I need to do it, my mind set often ends up being in a mode of just wanting to get it done and over with. For me, this does not apply to CG animation. With growing certainty I can say that I thoroughly enjoy the process of computer animation from start to finish (and thus that is also something I can see myself being a part of when it comes to the animation industry). Despite the fact that when it comes right down to it, the same amount of time and effort can be put into either method of animation, I enjoy the time spent on a CG piece...probably because my mindset is not focused on drawing things out (battling with my desire to be illustrative), it is focused on bringing the character I see before me to life.

Aside from the background paintings I have done, I really haven't been able to hone my illustrative side as much as I would like in my years at school, because so much time and energy goes into assignments not so geared towards what it is I enjoy doing, in addition to simply attending all of my classes, which in and of itself takes up a good chunk of time (not complaining, just stating the fact). Since next year is solely focused on creating a film of my own, in addition to a couple of breadth courses, meaning very few hours of actually being in classes, I'm sure I will be able to put time aside for doing some more illustrative pieces. That may be easier said than done, perhaps, but I manage my time well, so I'm sure I could make that happen if I so choose...or I'll just put all of my time and energy into my film, which wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing...but breaks are good, so, majority of time can be dedicated to my film, and that extra bit can be dedicated to completely unrelated pieces of art.

Nevertheless, seeing so many beautiful classically animated short and feature films definitely makes me want to give a fair shot at making a lovely 2d film of my own. Perhaps there is some way I could find thorough enjoyment in the entire process of creating one, but for now I am not focused on that. For my thesis film next year, I currently plan on doing a CG film, although plans can always change!