Academics- Beginning Animation

This is the sack pantomime project for my animation class. It turned out OK but I learned the most from this project about animation. There's an obvious volume change. I think it's because I was producing the animation as two seperate parts. Actually, now that I think about it, I did it in probably several different parts. I would 70 percent of it was straight foreward animation and then built upon. It kept me loose in drawing, fast, and spontaneous which is good but it also created flaws like a lack of a plan and that stupid volume change. So, I am going to practice animation more during my break and immerse myself in the scene too.

One more. Here's a video of Dustin Hoffman. The last question of the episode really motivated me when I first saw it almost two years ago. Just really inspirational, especially because I still wasn't completely sure with I was going to do with my life. Check out the whole episode as well.

Figure and Drapery Studies

Tonal Figure Drawings, Graphite and White Chalk, (2)8.5"x11"

Figure Drawing, Graphite on Paper, 10"x10"

Drapery Study, Graphite on Paper, 10"x10"

Here's an animation by a Cal Arts student.

Academics- Intermediate Project pt2/ Kazuto Nakazawa

Dark Forest LRRH, Acrylic on Illustration Board, 9"x12"

Dark Forest Color Comps, Acrylic on Illustration Board, (6)2"x3"

I managed to finish one of my environments for the illustration project. I developed greatly and picked up all types of habits from Bunny, my instructor for the class, and gained some technique as well from constantly looking at N.C. Wyeth and Ivan Shishkin. Placing their masterpieces in front of me while I paint was one of the best habits I picked up. I know there are flaws and mistakes everywhere but I couldn't solve them in the painting. The next few rounds of environment design should be better. The class was also about process and I tried to follow it, especially using the black and white rendering as a guide and using the color comp we had chosen. Achieving a piece by going through the development process was the most important lesson to me.

Also, over the course of the semester, I delve more into the animation and film realm. One day I was flipping through one of my old sketchbooks and stubled upon an artist and director, Kazuto Nakazawa. He's worked on a few animation projects such as Samurai Champloo, Animatrix, and Kill Bill to name a few. I've been a big fan of his work, since I saw Samurai Champloo, and thought I'd share some of his work here... enjoy! (sorry for the lack of subtitles)

Telos Blackbook

Gesso, India Ink, White Out, Pen, Sharpie, and Sticker, 11"x17"

Pen, Sharpie, and Sticker, 11"x17"
Graphite, Pen and Sharpie, 11"x8.5"

It's been awhile since I actually did one of these... Telos asked me to do a piece in his blackbook. I put some pages out of book so people can see his work. It was really fun to do and a nice way to vent and do personal work for a change. It's always an honor for someone to ask you to put something in their sketchbook and a high degree of respect for anybody to enjoy your work more than you would so I was pretty stoked that he asked me to do a piece. Flipping through a graffiti artist's blackbook was inspring because I saw a different type of an artistic process. I thought one of the most unique features in a writer's blackbook is how other artist's are welcomed in it, so I also saw other artist's that he met.