Guess who's back.....

First I want to apologise for not posting in a while, I should have given some sort of notice. When I found out I got the Job at Ink, I decided to take a break from drawing, animation, and art in general. Not because I’ve reached my goal, or because I have nothing more to learn, on the contrary I feel my journey is beginning, My studies and efforts so far were to bring me to this point in my life, to the beginning of what I hope will be an enjoyable career in animation. I know that I am fortunate to have this job and will not take a day for granted.

Before I go on, I just want to thank everyone who stopped by my Blog, whether to just browse leave comments etc. I want to thank the Blogging community; I feel I have grown because you share your work world. Thanks to The London Animation Studio (Central St Martins LAS) past present and future, you guys are great and I hope to countinue to grow with you. I want to thank my friends and family for their support and belief in me. My parents who continue to support me even though they may not understand my chosen career path, and my Lady, For putting me first so I can do this..... :)

So what have I been up to?

I arrived here on Roberts Burns night, (or the day after, not sure) and had my first Taste of Haggis with Mashed Potatoes, so my introduction to Scotland was one of tradition. I’m staying in a basement Flat which overlooks the river Tay So I am privy to some fine views in the morning; sun Rises and sunsets...yep! My room is pretty cool to, it's a bit plain at the moment but I hope to fill the wall with inspiring stuff.

One of my Flat mates, Kyla Tomlinson, also a work colleague, and a fine artist also works with me at Ink. I hope I learn a lot from her. The very next day which was Sunday went to the cinema to see Sweeny Todd, with Kyla and a couple of her friends, Sara and Vickey (also another work colleague, so my first weekend in Scotland was cool especially as I was to start work on the Monday, (more on that later)

I came to Scotland at a good time thanks to the DCA (Dundee Contemporary Arts) hosting the annual Projector Animation Festival. Ink supplied at least 4 tickets and time off for us to go which was cool. I got to meet a lot of animators from around Scotland, sat through many lectures, even got to see Persepolis which is amazing. One of the artists I met, Jenny Soep (which happens to be good mates with Kyla) was capturing the event with some beautiful drawings, click on the link to check out her blog.

I also got to meet the legendary Bill Plympton. He showed some of his Shorts (animated shorts...grow up, lol) and spoke about how to market yourself in Animation. He was also selling some rough frames from various films his made. I bought a rough from his new animated feature, Idiots and Angels. He also had a still from the animated video he did for Kanye West, I Heard Em Say, I wanted it but it cost £100, I settled for taking a photo with him instead. J

In short Projector was really informative entertaining, and inspiring, so it gave a lot of enthusiasm for work. The after party at the end of the week was cool. DJ Garry Whitton was DJ..ing animation on a projector. They supplied flip books paper, and taped huge sheets of paper to the walls so we could draw and dance pretty much anywhere. The idea was to hand our creations to the DJ so he could “mix them into his set.

The animation community here seems to be quite big, especially at the university, so to be in the thick of it feels great.

Throughout the week I’d gone to a few to Bars, restaurants, saw No country for Old men at the DCA so socially, I had a real busy week.

Also went to Edinborough with Ken Anderson and Sean Yu (both work colleagues) with the hope of drawing, instead we took loads of picture and just looked around shops, including Forbidden Planet. It was my first time there; hopefully it won’t be my last.....

As for Dundee, I didn’t think I’d like here, but I’m actually really enjoying it, the air is cleaner, it’s peaceful, everything is walking distance, and the people seem really friendly. I feel really relaxed here. The fact that work is about a 10 min walk away from where I live, is a refreshing change for me considering in London the journey to work is a 1hr15min commute via bus and train.

So what’s it like working at Ink.... so far I love it. It’s a really cool place to with people who are highly skilled at what they do so in a year’s time (if all goes well) some of those skills will rub off on me.

In the little time I’ve been here (3weeks now) I’ve learnt much about the inbetweening but most importantly, about myself. This is the hardest Job I have ever done in my life, (especially the clean up part) but the most rewarding. As the days go by it gets easier. It’s weird, last year I was studying animation, and this year I’m working in animation, but it still feels like I’m studying the difference, I’m specialising in Inbetweening. I sit there sometimes and think...hold on...I’m actually getting paid to do this????!!!! The strange thing I’m finding as an inbetweener is, you need to be able to draw, and understand animation principles but it feels like you do neither, yet you're improving in both. Any inbetweeners out there that feel the same way? Ink has also made a deal with Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design for us to do life drawing free 4 times a term on Thursday morning. The students there do a session on Thursday evenings also, so I drop in. I make sure to go every session, as I need life drawing badly, I’ve become very rusty, (it’s been almost a year).

My first session was quite difficult, for some reason I was really timid, trying to get everything right. The next session I decided to loosen up a bit, after Ken lent me a book called Force. I took a bigger pencil, one that was given to me almost 10 years ago as a gift, I feel like I have the right to use it now J (long story and this post is long enough already).

It restricted me in terms of detail and forced me to use broader strokes. In doing this, I found, for the first time, I was actually studying the form rather than trying to replicate it.

Also joined a sketch group out here, started by Ken, which also has a blog so I’ll be posting there also. We go every sunday about 1 oclock to a huge Borders just past the town centre. I'm finding it quite hard, I don't know if it's because I took such a long break or because I'm so used to drawing people on the train.....

So far, that’s my life so in the Scotland. I’ll be posting every 2 weeks from now on so no more huge long winded posts.....

And Again....

Wes

PS: Happy now Timbo :)

PSS: I'll be updating my links real soon, I have loads of links bookmarked, something like 200 so I'll add some real soon......

Happy New..ish Year...

Have a lot to say....will update in a few days, bare with me......

Feeling Colourful.....

Thanx everyone for the comments on the last post, sad and excited at the same time. To leave everyone for a year burns a bit, still having trouble dealing with that. Anyway, here’s a few sketches from life. I’ve been drawing hands a lot lately. I had to in-between some hands on my test and I struggled more than I wanted to so I need to really attack hands on another level. I’m also trying to do things like draw environments and put more people in a drawing. Just take a look at my blog, hardly any buildings or landscapes, been a bit of a one trick merchant. The first pic is of the canteen at work, I’m quite proud of it as it’s probably my best attempt to date. Drawing environments from life is something I really struggle with. I completely seize up. Lately I’ve been looking at the subjects that I'm challenged by and try to draw it in my mind. I find it really helps to discover the reasons I have difficulties with certain things. I noticed that certain blocks come up either when I have to sketch more than one person in a scene or have to deal with perspective etc, so “mind drawing” helps me to work out things without my being too worried about changing or scrapping a picture. (I’m not suggesting this is an original idea by the way, it must be in a book somewhere, I just haven’t read it yet) The last picture is example of a struggle. I learnt a lot from it that’s why I posted it. I started reading about perspective and it is shocking how little I know. Of late, I’m trying to apply those principles to my drawings and I noticed I started becoming rigid. I don’t know why but every time I tackle something new I hold the pen like I know nothing. They say you should “empty your cup” to learn something new, but I not only empty the cup, I throw it away. When I get stuck I have to filter through the trash and find my cup again and fill it with what I already know. I guess that’s me giving myself little credit. I think what I might start doing is make a point of posting my struggles to show, I don’t find this easy (I kind of started in the last post). I’ll probably post a Christmas pic next and also start work on the superhero thumb from the last post (Thanx for your patience Omer)…

And Again….

Wes

PS: a pic of the book I'm reading if your interested......

Another large one (got the news....)

Sorry for the lack of posts lately, Been really busy, So much has been happening lately, Recently became an My sis became a mother the other day, so I'm an uncle Yay. I'm also off to Scotland 2moro for an Interview at Ink Digital. I'll be doing a 2 day inbetweening test for Sylvain Chomet's new film. Special thanks to Ken Anderson for letting me know about it. I'm so nervous. Anyway, I'll just post my latest sketches and updtate when I get back. Wish me Luck

UPDATE: I wanted to talk about the direction of my work, trying to draw things other than people. I'm trying to expand my knowlege on perspective etc, I'll talk about that on the next post. As for the other business, I came back from Scotland yesterday morning. Did a 2 day test which looked easy but was much harder than it seemed In those 2 days I learnt a lot and I have a better appreciation for the hard work that goes into making a feature. Everyone at Ink was really supportive and helpful and was prepared to lend a hand when I was confused. I gave it my all people and.......I got an offer :) Come Mid Jan, I will be moving to Dundee, Scotland for 1 year to work on the Illusionist as an inbetweener. I'll have a two month trial period so I can get used to the style. I have a lot of work to do, but this is a dream come true for me so I will not take it lightly. I'll make sure I keep fighting for this and learn lots. On the downside I don't know if I can work on my short anymore which I'm not too happy about, I'll see how it goes. Just wanna thank everyone for their help and support so far, I'll do my very best not to let you down.

And Again....
Wes

BIIIIIIGGGG POST.......

Thanks for all the comments on the last post everyone. Really appreciate it. Just started a temp job stacking boxes and moving files...I need an animation Job quick. Just in case anyone’s wondering (all of LAS14 probably), I still want to work on my film, admittedly I haven’t touched it in a while, just been lazy. It’s important I finish it but don’t expect it before Christmas, next post will be some animation (I hope). I’m really enjoying drawing lately, especially from life, but for some reason hands are real struggle of late, maybe I need a break. I’m trying to experiment with the way I present my work. Most of these are from my A6 sketch book, drawn from life. The bigger pages are just random while watching Good Will Hunting and Braveheart (my favourite film of all time). I scanned some textured paper and placed it in the background to make them look more interesting. Sometimes I want to present the work raw, other times I want to work on my presentations skills. At first I didn’t really like colouring my life studies, but some of the colour combinations I’ve seen on people would have never entered my mind. So now I take note even If I don’t apply colour. Anyway, hope you like. By the way does anyone know how to use letratone on Photoshop? Let me know.

And Again….
Wes