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| He's ALIIVVVE!! |
Aug 31, 2011
Animation Has Commenced
It has taken me a little while to get going, but now I'm on a roll and animating like a boss. For a full break down on our progress refer to the Draco movie site tab above. In addition to working on the film, we've had to juggle other assignments and tasks for other subjects. I can see how it easy it would be to keep pushing the film to the bottom of the pile as its due date seems far in the future (although now on paper it is alarmingly near). This weekend will see me animating the rest of my scenes and then continuing to work on essays and a portrait project due for illustration in October. At the moment its simply a matter of more Pepsi Max and taking each assessment as manageable bite sized pieces. Well, that's the plan lol.
Aug 26, 2011
Better.....but still not what i envisioned :(
Better......but more like a panto stage than a 3D environment......will keep working on it....this is a combo of jpeg background and png components at the front......Im not too worried about the outside shots cos they are already giving an illusion of depth....its in the cave where i want them to appear to move amongst the rocks....thats the important bit. These trials are clunky but i'll keep working on em.....
Arghhhh >:(
Importing psd files from photoshop into toon boom and the image disappears....any1 know y :(
Aug 25, 2011
Rapunzel
This is the second illustration for my design subject wherein we had to illustrate a character from a classic children's tale, in this case the Brothers Grimm, Rapunzel. In the space below the illustration is where the following text will be placed:
Rapunzel had magnificent long hair, fine as spun gold, and when she heard the voice of the enchantress she unfastened her braided tresses, wound them round one of the hooks of the window above, and then her hair fell twenty ells down, and the enchantress climbed up by it.
In this illustration I really wanted to capture the sense of longing that the teenage Rapunzel must have felt being locked in the tower. The character’s stance and the way in which she has been digitally painted has been largely inspired by pre-raphaelite artists such as Waterhouse. I wanted Rapunzel to appear elegant and wistful in her loneliness. The moon has been included as the moon is often associated with femininity in particular during adolescence.
I made a concerted effort to avoid any semblance to Disney’s Tangled, which is why I adopted a more painterly approach to this illustration and a focus on details that help ‘tell the story.’ It appears as though every strand of her ‘golden’ hair has been drawn and up to 5 different colours have been used to give the hair a sense of density. Entwined in her hair are rampion flowers / herbs that are intrinsically connected to the Brothers Grimm tale of Rapunzel. Both styles of flowers in her hair are rampions and the largest blue flower is a Rampion called Rapunzel. Another direct connection to the Brothers Grimm text is the inclusion of the hook that Rapunzel uses to lift the enchantress into the tower. In this illustration I have included two single strands of hair and a broken rampion flower that seem to have been caught in the hook. This detail allows a connection between the hook and the character and furthermore adds to a sense of movement in the atmosphere perhaps eluding to the height of the tower.
The clothing the character is wearing is again a reference to the pre-raphaelite artists, with detailed wing sleeves and gold thread brocade similar to that of a noblewoman of the Middle Ages. Given that the story is European in origin it was important that her clothing emulated a period in European history often associated with fairy tales such as Rapunzel. The gold thread brocade also helps to connect the illustration through colour theme. Her skirt was heavily influenced by the stained glass windows of European cathedrals. I felt that this inclusion aided in giving the scene a more grounded sensibility, moving it away from the whimsical pink drenched cartoon version of the tale. I wanted this piece to be connected to the idea of an illuminated manuscript helping to convey the seriousness of the tale given the violent and somewhat morbid second half of the narrative. For this reason I felt that this Brothers Grimm version of the story would be aimed at young adults aged 15- 18.
Done in photoshop on wacom.
Rapunzel had magnificent long hair, fine as spun gold, and when she heard the voice of the enchantress she unfastened her braided tresses, wound them round one of the hooks of the window above, and then her hair fell twenty ells down, and the enchantress climbed up by it.
In this illustration I really wanted to capture the sense of longing that the teenage Rapunzel must have felt being locked in the tower. The character’s stance and the way in which she has been digitally painted has been largely inspired by pre-raphaelite artists such as Waterhouse. I wanted Rapunzel to appear elegant and wistful in her loneliness. The moon has been included as the moon is often associated with femininity in particular during adolescence.
I made a concerted effort to avoid any semblance to Disney’s Tangled, which is why I adopted a more painterly approach to this illustration and a focus on details that help ‘tell the story.’ It appears as though every strand of her ‘golden’ hair has been drawn and up to 5 different colours have been used to give the hair a sense of density. Entwined in her hair are rampion flowers / herbs that are intrinsically connected to the Brothers Grimm tale of Rapunzel. Both styles of flowers in her hair are rampions and the largest blue flower is a Rampion called Rapunzel. Another direct connection to the Brothers Grimm text is the inclusion of the hook that Rapunzel uses to lift the enchantress into the tower. In this illustration I have included two single strands of hair and a broken rampion flower that seem to have been caught in the hook. This detail allows a connection between the hook and the character and furthermore adds to a sense of movement in the atmosphere perhaps eluding to the height of the tower.
The clothing the character is wearing is again a reference to the pre-raphaelite artists, with detailed wing sleeves and gold thread brocade similar to that of a noblewoman of the Middle Ages. Given that the story is European in origin it was important that her clothing emulated a period in European history often associated with fairy tales such as Rapunzel. The gold thread brocade also helps to connect the illustration through colour theme. Her skirt was heavily influenced by the stained glass windows of European cathedrals. I felt that this inclusion aided in giving the scene a more grounded sensibility, moving it away from the whimsical pink drenched cartoon version of the tale. I wanted this piece to be connected to the idea of an illuminated manuscript helping to convey the seriousness of the tale given the violent and somewhat morbid second half of the narrative. For this reason I felt that this Brothers Grimm version of the story would be aimed at young adults aged 15- 18.
Done in photoshop on wacom.
Aug 23, 2011
A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning
The following illustration is part of an assignment for Illustration at uni. We had to illustrate a character, in this case Count Olaf from a children's story- Lemony Snicketts A Series of Unfortunate Events. This is the illustration only, I still have to work on layout for the page as if it were a part of a picture book. The following extract will accompany the visuals:
"What?" Count Olaf asked. "No roast beef?"
"You didn't tell us you wanted roast beef," Klaus said.
Count Olaf slid toward the children so that he looked even taller than he was. His eyes grew even brighter, and his one eyebrow raised in anger. "In agreeing to adopt you," he said, "I have become your father, and as your father I am not someone to be trifled with. I demand that you serve roast beef to myself and my guests."
"We don't have any!" Violet cried. "We made puttanesca sauce!"
"No! No! No!" Sunny shouted.
Count Olaf looked down at Sunny, who had spoken so suddenly.
The idea was to use descriptions from the book to guide your character design, there's a movie as well- but I've not seen it and from what I have read of the books, this would be my first and last encounter with the series. Created in photoshop on wacom.
Rationale:
I have never read the books, Lemony Snicketts: A Series of Unfortunate Events, therefore my first task was to become familiar with the writing style and target audience of the novels before commencing any type of sketches. I was an English teacher for 10 years prior undertaking my current degree and do remember that this series of novels was most popular with both boys and girls in grades 6-8 (approx aged 11- 13). With this knowledge I knew that any illustration had to contain an element of the ‘ick’ factor to bring to life a character that is written to be cold and repulsive in the eyes of the orphans in the novel. It is this vision of Olaf that is most aligned with the sympathies and ages of the readers themselves.
The layout of the illustration was inspired by the accompanying text wherein Olaf seems to tower over the children, I wanted him to seem almost spectre like rising up and over them in an intimidating manner- this also helps to display his role in the narrative. He is reaching out towards Sunny (as stipulated in the associated text) but his attention has been briefly focused towards Violet as his beady bright eyes rest on her for a moment. There is something almost dismissive in the way that his body continues on its original path towards the crying baby, yet pauses for a moment to hear the other children protest (as per the text).
The colour palette in this piece is decidedly cool, blue greys and shades of green add to the sense of coldness in the character of Olaf. Black outline in keeping with a cartoon style enables the character to be drawn in a scary spectre manner without forgetting the sensibilities of the target audience aged 11-13 years old. The description in the novel identifies Olaf as wearing a grey coat complete with stains. Upon further research I came up with the idea that he was clearly a flamboyant individual (evidenced by his passion for the theatre) but that everything he owned was old, broken or in disrepair. This is why I have included gold-threaded brocade around the sleeves of the coat, as it gives me the opportunity to show a faded jaded character- the brocade is faded and threads are coming off it as if it had been worn every day. The stains are badges of ‘dishonour’, they reveal the lie of his character in that he craves to be wealthy and to embody his desired social class- yet everything about his appearance is cloaked in unkempt eccentricity (unshaven, dirty, no socks).
The orphans have been deliberately illustrated in a reversed negative style to echo the way in which Olaf sees them, as orphans- not as individual children with personalities and identities. Their colourless appearance helps to convey to the reader how Olaf interacted with the orphans and additionally conveys the orphans role in the narrative at this early part of the first novel wherein they are predominantly reactionary to Olaf to set up the over- riding conflict for the series.
Photoshop and Wacom were used as these are most pertinent to my animation skill set.
"What?" Count Olaf asked. "No roast beef?"
"You didn't tell us you wanted roast beef," Klaus said.
Count Olaf slid toward the children so that he looked even taller than he was. His eyes grew even brighter, and his one eyebrow raised in anger. "In agreeing to adopt you," he said, "I have become your father, and as your father I am not someone to be trifled with. I demand that you serve roast beef to myself and my guests."
"We don't have any!" Violet cried. "We made puttanesca sauce!"
"No! No! No!" Sunny shouted.
Count Olaf looked down at Sunny, who had spoken so suddenly.
Rationale:
I have never read the books, Lemony Snicketts: A Series of Unfortunate Events, therefore my first task was to become familiar with the writing style and target audience of the novels before commencing any type of sketches. I was an English teacher for 10 years prior undertaking my current degree and do remember that this series of novels was most popular with both boys and girls in grades 6-8 (approx aged 11- 13). With this knowledge I knew that any illustration had to contain an element of the ‘ick’ factor to bring to life a character that is written to be cold and repulsive in the eyes of the orphans in the novel. It is this vision of Olaf that is most aligned with the sympathies and ages of the readers themselves.
The layout of the illustration was inspired by the accompanying text wherein Olaf seems to tower over the children, I wanted him to seem almost spectre like rising up and over them in an intimidating manner- this also helps to display his role in the narrative. He is reaching out towards Sunny (as stipulated in the associated text) but his attention has been briefly focused towards Violet as his beady bright eyes rest on her for a moment. There is something almost dismissive in the way that his body continues on its original path towards the crying baby, yet pauses for a moment to hear the other children protest (as per the text).
The colour palette in this piece is decidedly cool, blue greys and shades of green add to the sense of coldness in the character of Olaf. Black outline in keeping with a cartoon style enables the character to be drawn in a scary spectre manner without forgetting the sensibilities of the target audience aged 11-13 years old. The description in the novel identifies Olaf as wearing a grey coat complete with stains. Upon further research I came up with the idea that he was clearly a flamboyant individual (evidenced by his passion for the theatre) but that everything he owned was old, broken or in disrepair. This is why I have included gold-threaded brocade around the sleeves of the coat, as it gives me the opportunity to show a faded jaded character- the brocade is faded and threads are coming off it as if it had been worn every day. The stains are badges of ‘dishonour’, they reveal the lie of his character in that he craves to be wealthy and to embody his desired social class- yet everything about his appearance is cloaked in unkempt eccentricity (unshaven, dirty, no socks).
The orphans have been deliberately illustrated in a reversed negative style to echo the way in which Olaf sees them, as orphans- not as individual children with personalities and identities. Their colourless appearance helps to convey to the reader how Olaf interacted with the orphans and additionally conveys the orphans role in the narrative at this early part of the first novel wherein they are predominantly reactionary to Olaf to set up the over- riding conflict for the series.
Photoshop and Wacom were used as these are most pertinent to my animation skill set.
Aug 17, 2011
Illustration Weekly: Fashion
This week we had to take a photograph from Vogue and turn it into an illustration suitable for a haute couture fashion magazine. Here is my interpretation- I love drawing fabric so I knew I wanted something with lots of folds, I was originally after a spectacular oscar style gown, but I love the structured sculpted quality of this jacket. Drawn in photoshop on wacom.
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| Harper's Bazaar Sept 2011 Hermes jacket and pants |
Aug 13, 2011
Aug 11, 2011
Aug 9, 2011
Early Thesis Ideas
Practitioner's Statement:
Key issues such as the strength of such communities, the validity of their manufactured existence in a manufactured world and the ramifications of their existence in terms of both game play and the ‘real world.’ An integral aspect of this study of the evolution of the community within MMORPGs is the unavoidable designation of the ‘other’ or those that fall outside the membership of the group. The general parameters of this research will be guided by my own experience within MMORPG as a Guild Master, but will also be widened to include a diverse cross sections of games plus an historical context that may provide insight into the communal nature of gaming.
As an artist and an animator I have always been fascinated by the sense of community amongst artists and also the creation of community within the artworks themselves. It is for this reason that I am interested in investigating the growth of community in the constantly evolving art-driven realm of the MMORPG. I am intrigued specifically by the presence of communities such as in game guilds and organisations that establish a sense of identity that visually designates the individual player as being a part of a particular community.
Key issues such as the strength of such communities, the validity of their manufactured existence in a manufactured world and the ramifications of their existence in terms of both game play and the ‘real world.’ An integral aspect of this study of the evolution of the community within MMORPGs is the unavoidable designation of the ‘other’ or those that fall outside the membership of the group. The general parameters of this research will be guided by my own experience within MMORPG as a Guild Master, but will also be widened to include a diverse cross sections of games plus an historical context that may provide insight into the communal nature of gaming.
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