30
Jan/09
1

Ready set go

Week one of the new semester is behind me and it already looks to be better than all the previous. I ended up dropping down to three classes. Four, along with working, was just too much. I didn’t have enough time to put into my projects and it showed.

Every so often I start to rethink whether or not I’m on the right track at school. When I’m at home, I’m much more likely to draw than anything. Looking back at my 3d origins, I was always into modelling and texturing. So where does animation come in? My thinking was that I had the least experience with animation and based on my research, it was not something I’d easily learn on my own. I also have a desire to bring my characters to life and animation seemed like the way to go.

After my Thursday animation class, Character Development, it was reaffirmed I’m where I want to be. I am so incredibly excited by the projects I’m starting and what I’ll be learning. I am so inspired by my instructors and the experience and knowledge they’re passing along.

I have a decent amount of homework for the first week. I’ll be doing two lipsync animations, one in my 3d class and one in my traditional 2d animation class. I’m very interested to what the similarities and differences will be in both mediums. I have to choose my dialogue for both classes, I’ll be gathering a handful of possible options to bring. I also have to start designing characters for my dialogue and film projects for 2d animation. I already have some of those done for the film, as I’m continuing my Stitched Together project from last semester, but I’d like to flesh out the character some more (and I still need to design the dog).

I have to do four “flour sack” drawings for my clothed figure drawing class. I have to show realistic compression and stretch of the sack. The samples our teacher showed us looked really cool. This project is going to be very helpful for my film, as the main character Elwyn is a sack himself.

28
Jan/09
1

Sketchbook, random page

I’m still working out the way I want to post these sketchbook “pages”. Do I want to number them? (page #01) or do I want to use the format I have in the subject? Perhaps the latter, then I don’t have to keep track of what “page” I’m on.

09_01_28_sketchbook

28
Jan/09
0

Sufficient post

Going back, to school that is.

Yesterday was the start of my fourth semester at the Academy of Art in San Francisco. My first class, advanced animation 3, started at 8:30, which meant I had to get up at 6:00a.m., ouch! It actually wasn’t too bad, I got to see a pretty sunrise.

On the BART I saw an ad for Burger King’s new Whopper called the “Angry Whopper”. Bizarre.

I had a good time at my first class, my teacher Michael Berenstein seems very knowleagable. He worked at PIXAR for a number of years (I’m not sure if he’s still working there or not). He worked on Toy Story 2, Bugs Life, Finding Nemo and Monsters Inc. It’s kinda exciting having teachers who’ve worked at some of the big studios.

My second class of the day was clothed figure drawing. We did a number of two sets of 5 mins drawings, same pose, one nude, then clothed. It was a neat excercise and I was rather happy with how my drawings turned out. I hadn’t done any figure drawings over the winter break and that usually spells disaster when I start a new drawing class. Typically I feel like I’m learning to draw all over again and though it felt a little rough, I still felt there was something there.

The next day…

I feel rested up, but mediciney. I’m taking stuff for my cough and I’m feeling it today. maiki brought me along to Sufficient Grounds, a sandwhich shop in Berkeley. I’m glad I came along, now I can draw and hang out rather than just sleep ^_^

26
Jan/09
0

Sketchbook, a factory

I like documenting my work whether it’s finished or not, however some of the sketches I do seem unfinished enough that I was hesitating posting them. I decided I’d create a sketchbook tag to cover those pieces.

Here is one such. I’m getting much more comfortable working on the tablet pc, it’s feeling good.

09_01_26_factorysketch

25
Jan/09
1

Amongst the living

I’ve had a nasty cold this past week and it’s finally losing it’s grip on me. Yay, I am once again amongst the living! About damn time too, having no energy sucks! This has been my last week of vacation as well (before school starts up again) and spending it sick was lame.

I got a new laptop last week, a tablet pc to be specific. I wanted it as a mobile drawing platform and it is performing excellently. I’ll have a follow up post with more specifics.

So yes, school is about to start. I’m excited, but I feel like my break went by way too fast. I didn’t get done nearly as many projects as I had hoped (didn’t touch any animation the entire time, oops!) though I did draw quite a bit, for which I’m happy.

It’s a bit cool today, but I’m sitting in bed with a cup of coffee and sketching on my tablet pc. Warmth, I has it.

09_01_25_dogsketch

10
Jan/09
0

A different sort of thumbnail

I recently ordered an artbook from ConceptArt.org and it came with two tutorial downloads. One such, by Andrew Jones was focused on thumbnail design. It was really inspiring. I gave it a try this evening and while it is a more abstract creation method, I feel mine are more abstract than they ought to be. I do that a lot though, jump into a more advanced technique before spending the time on the fundamentals. I’m not caring much at this point, I’m having fun ^_^

09_01_10_thumbnails

9
Jan/09
0

The red scarf

Inspired by the art of Inio Asano. Hmm…I felt like I had more to say than that a moment ago, but my mind has gone blank. Well, check out his manga solanin, I highly recommend it.

09_01_09_thescarf

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7
Jan/09
3

A sad house

I’ve been considering getting a tablet pc. I’m torn. I haven’t made a decision one way or the other yet, but I realized that regardless, I need to be drawing! If I don’t draw, then it would be absolutely worthless to me.

I started this sketch last night, at first it was just a simple doodle of a house as I was testing out my brush settings. I had left it open when I went to bed and today when I saw it, I thought I’d paint it. It was a fun little drawing, I look forward to doing more of these.

09_01_06_sadhouse

1
Jan/09
0

Sketch in painter

Did some sketching when I got home this evening. I’ve got some work to do tomorrow, then onto some drawings for a comic.

09_01_01_sketch