Wassup people. Thanks for all the feedback on the last post. I’ve been a bit weak on doing my part in terms of responding and commenting etc, sorry. Not really hitting my Blogging stride in Scotland. I’m really starting to get busy and I’m not really managing my time very well. I think I’ll save blogging till the weekend from now on, that way I’m not doing it after I finish work. At the time of writing this which is about 23:30 Apr 1st, I still haven’t cooked or eaten anything. Just been scanning pics, resizing blah blah blah. It's gonna be a late one......
The Heroes
The pic at the Top is a drawing my friend Omer who has been asking me to do it for like a year...maybe 2. Finally I’ve got round to it. Its been a while since I've done anything like so it took longer than expected. As you can see from the process pics, I did 2 versions. Ever draw something, pat yourself on the back, go to bed, wake up and look at the drawing and then hate it? It was really bothering me. I think my first attempt was too realistic. Maybe because I was referencing from the movie versions. I also hated the way I drew Spidey, So I decided to rethink it and do a more “animation friendly” version. I really struggled with Superman. I love the Fleisher, Bruce Tim and Alex Ross versions of Superman but I didn’t really want to approach it like that. I wanted a balance between Brandon Routh portrayal in Superman Returns, Christopher Reeves (very big shoes to fill) and a little of Tom Welling from Smallville. I was thinking about the personality and how to convert that to an image. I don’t think I was very successful. I can see him in my head, but can’t get it out. Maybe I should have done more character design sketches to begin with. My brother isn’t too fond of the way I draw the man of steel but I’ll get there, I hope.
Another thing I found difficult were the clouds. They were killing me. I’m not used to playing with tone and values etc. I usually opt for a more cel shaded look, but I’m getting a little bored of solving problems in the same way. Ken and I are gonna hook up and exchange techniques (actually he’ll be teaching me LOL) so I’m looking forward to seeing an improvement in my work, and varying the type of work I do on my blog. While we’re on the topic, Oliver, I appreciate your honesty on the last post. If anyone out there happens to stumble on my Blog and has any suggestions on how to improve my work, don’t hesitate to do so. I’ve seen some staggering improvement on other blogs because of constructive feedback, Once again, I have no problem people saying what they like, but don’t be afraid to say what you don’t. Whether you like it or not, the why is important (to me). Thanks to everyone who gives me the why’s positive or negative by the way. I only highlighted Oliver because he told me what he found unsuccessful.
Anyway, with the clouds, I searched You Tube for any tutorials and found this one. This is what I used to paint them.
Sketch Group Scotland.
I’ve been twice in the last month so in terms of observational drawing I’m not doing too well. I am trying to draw everything, and I did try to force it in one session, but by the next I just reverted back to old habits. Bare with me guys....I’ll get there....
Life Drawing
These are from my last 2 life drawing sessions, over 2 weeks old now. I’m really upset because the college won’t be holding anymore sessions till September as the 4th years are concentrating on their final projects. I actually felt like I was getting somewhere. Certain things were starting to click. I realised that I try to do too much in session so I end up having weird drawings (which is why Oliver’s comment was invaluable). So In these, I tried to focus on doing specific things don’t know if it shows. Anyway, Kyla (co worker and flat mate) knows some of the models so hopefully we won’t have to wait till September before I do more life drawing.
Last week wed (I think, it was a long time ago) I was privileged to be sent to Django Studios in Edinburgh (Illusionist HQ) to collect some stuff. The timing was great coz I woke up in a bad mood and wasn’t really up for inbetweening. While I can’t go into specifics about the studio, it was amazing. I was given the grand tour by Aya whom I met at the Projector Animation Festival. She studied Bournemouth with a few of my co workers, Chris Halls, Tori and Laurent, and is an Animator at Django. She also introduced me to Victor Ens which is one of the first bloggers I linked via my boy Kristian when I started this blog so that was surreal. He's a supervising animator there. Aya also introduced me to another blogger Bob Wolkers. He showed me his blog which has other Django blogger links. I still can’t believe the amount of opportunities, and learning experiences blogging as opened up for me. Nothing is better than knowing people that have the same interests and share your passion. I was very alone in this before LAS and Blogging. I Love it!!! At some point this week, yes, i've said it before but definately, I'll update my links list.
She also took the time to show me some of her work and gave me some insight into her process. Aya, I'm forever grateful.
I haven’t animated in a while, but I’m learning a lot. Hopefully I’ll start putting some animation up in a few months but I have a couple of things to do first....
So that's pretty much it for now....
Here are couple random doddle I did at work, probably won’t post for a couple weeks, but I will be updating my links so keep an eye out. Till then, keep drawing and keep inspiring.
And Again....
Wes
