Drawing ...

Vacation has begun. As well as trying to recover from some burn out. Best way to do that? Figure drawing at Spring studio. Had a great two days, just drawing, no pressure, no deadlines. Felt really good.

The red marks are from Minerva. She runs the place and will give your work a once over if you ask nicely. This place, I think, is a real rarity.























red marks are one and two minutes, some fives and tens up top.

In another 20 years, I might be able to draw. Till then, I'm gonna focus on not being lazy in the details, like knees and such when I'm rushing, and proportion. Like tiny heads, and sloppy appendages.

And the sketchbook:

My Movie!

Here it was. Since I am trying to submit to film festivals at the moment, I am taking the film down. In a year, I'll put it back up. If you really want to see it, contact me, or your local film festival and request they screen it, as it really does look better on the big screen and with good sound.

ANIMATION!

here are some tests I've been doing after finishing my film. (I am contemplating a musical score, so once I settle on that, I"ll have something up on youtube as soon as I am really, totally, done ... fur cerial) Its really hard to get anything of worth done outside of work. I managed to get the film done, but thats cause I bout lost my mind doing it, and did lose the ol'lady. And only took 2-3 months longer then I thought. Hooray, image buffer errors!

Warm up and crash back into the world of character animatino in 3D. this was really rough for a few weeks. like not exercising for a year, then going to the gym with a buddy whos a total gym rat.



here are two versions of hand placement, and starts on the ending. Needs love on "ethical," and both of their eyes through out, specially the sitting guy as the stading one is talking. But made a little progress. The good feelings are allready fading as it is starting to elicit shudders from viewing. But thats a good thing. All past work should appear poor, except after 20-30 years, there can be 1-3 bits that you actually "got."

Sleep

WTF! welp, so much for enough sleep. I've actually made a point to get enough the past week. try and get a littl more ballance for the past 5 months crazyness and last months extra crazyness, and in turn, get nothing done, and spend all my time on trains.

Looks like the only way to be successful and productive is to be miserable and sleep deprived.

Never to bed and early to rise.

We'll see how this works out.

much to come

Yup. back to animation tests finally tonight. After a failed attempt at socializing. No seats by anybody I knew at dtv screening tonight, and since the project was before I got there, and I am cranky, I left and came home. I was not about to sit through 45 plus minutes of preschool direct to home theater educational entertainment, by myself. cleaning up blocking and changing over from stepped to splines.

Had a few people bail for an event this weekend, and I am more bummed that I want to be.

Picture is locked on the film.

decompressing for a few weeks, then taking another look at it, and probly giving this great composer I found, the go ahead. he is hooking me up. More money though. I like it better in my savings account ... hmm.

NY asian film festival coming up. going to catch two of the flicks.

Going to give a crack at clean up for my esteemed collegue Mr. Coats.

Start drawing lessons on Sunday again. YES!

Great friend coming in from the west coast tomorrow night.

And finally feeling productive again at work.

My coworker just finished up another script that cuts hand/finger/toe/ect... rigging down by about 9/10ths. Awsome. riggin is now pretty much just painting waits, and modeling, and designing the character, and geometry/design character after I've started rigging. "3d-modeler." I now know, its really "character creator," so maybe I can get a little more fun out of it now.

done some decent drawing the past few weeks, to tired and busy to get em up online. once i feel I've actually accomplished something worth taking a break from, I'll get that back up, and my film, in time.

expect one dialogue test a month. starting now. go!

Requested: "Ham"

While waiting for, and riding the train. (except for questionable added poo in photoshop)

Life Drawing

The ugly, the bad, and the slowly showing signs of improvement.










I'd like a bigger scanner.

Train Drawing

Houses and such ...

Got a working cut of the film into First Run. I won for "acheivement in animation." I got a great lazer printer piece of copy paper that says so. What does the title even mean? Regardless is felt good for a few minutes.

Only 4 shots left to finish drop shadow on, then some cast shadow on the shots that need it, give the credits a once over, and get the final sound from the sound man, and I can call it done.




I managed to get a dialogue test blocked out and partially splined, but I had to go back to the film, as I was geting too little done on either of them. So I'm going try Seeing what I can get done with the dialogue test tonight, as my goal is one a month, till ... I'm at pixar. Then two a month from there on out. And I have a great bit if dialogue I thumbed out a bit on the train a week of so back, but nothing worth posting.

Work, is draining. Been doing some VERY boring things lately. Which results in an odd sensation. There is much reason, and motivation, to keep working on my own stuff harder, and growing as fast as I can, so I can do things much more stimulating then preschool television, and be surrounded by a environment more condusive to growth. Yet this lack of stimulus is incredibly draining of any energy to put said motivation to use. Just feels better when I'm passing out at 1 am, knowing besides eat and clean up some dishes left over from the weekend before, that all I did was keep crusing on my projects.

So here are some quick sketches from photos while I was exporting image sequences from Flash, and a little doodle before I had to get off the train this morning.







And a hats off to Lou, who was recently offered a position at pixar after his internship their ends. You earned that one buddy. Talk about motivation, and inspiration.

Not enough time in the day, or green tea to fuel it.

yeah!

final push on the film.

Just need some poo and blood continuity additions, the latter half of a shadow pass, some experimental BG painting, finalize sound, and we are good.

Guess what I've been rigging, modeling, and animating the past 6 weeks.


thats right, birds.

More standin train drawing below. One of the good things about being unemployed and working at the lab was coming home at 11-2 am. Always had a seat on the train to doodle. And comeing from journal square, I got dibs on seats. Oh, life is tough :)

and some life drawrin' from recent.






And I'm permanent at work untill december with all of August off, two weeks of it payed! Just need to sign stuff, and deal with insurance and all that jazz.

sleepy sleep.

a buh...

Yeah ... tired boy. That’s not the problem. Self-imposed stress is. Nothing to be disabled by, but better off with out it.

Work: takes a lot of time and energy, and I don't feel secure there yet.
Film: takes a lot of time and energy, and don't have much, because of work, but it does feel good to work on it
Animation Tests: trying to muster up some of the afore mentioned time and energy.
Lifting: great release, as long as I am not drained from self imposed stress from worrying about the above three.

and some skulls for the biker buddy. I am not a biker, but my buddy is. I think helmet is the ultimate goal/ and or tatoo. Plus, I will always have a soft spot for subject matter such as "tits, teeth, and fire," as I like to call the adolescent trifecta that I arguably wasted my teenage years drawing.

Andrew Coats

Check 'im out. And continue to do so as he adds stuff to his page. I know I will.

Andrew Coats

Train Drawin' and Workin for the Man

Started the new gig at Curious today. Two week trial period to get up and running. Went well. We'll see how the working till 7, then working till midnight on the personal stuff goes in the long run.

Regardless. Here are some doodles since the last post from too much time on the Path train. And a wee bit o' figure drawing.

almost met a fellow blogger in real life

I was sitting next to this guy at drawing thursday night. Hard to miss his stuff.