BUSY

WOW, very busy week all around. I'm still chugging away at the animation, but have no time to post anything new. Please, check back next week and I'll have something then. Thanks for your patience.

Happy Birthday Sweety

I love ya

Tuesday

Do you ever feel it's incredibly hard to make time for the things you really want to do? That is how I've felt the last couple of weeks. The animated short has been coming along so slow, but the things that have kept me busy are things I can not neglect.

The work I was doing two weekends ago was for a not for profit, so I can't complain that I will not get paid, or that it took away a whole weekend of Kirby animation time. Last weekend, Allie and I went out of town to visit her family. Again, something I can't complain about (we had a great time), but again no time spent on Kirby. Oh well. Things have kicked off again so at least I am making progress.

I decided last night that April may be a bit overzealous, to finish production. One of my weaknesses is under estimating the time it takes for me to do my job. I've heard in the past that you should take your estimated time of completion and triple it. This saying holds true in animation, maybe more so than anywhere else. SO, my new deadline is June. I know some of my readers are probably already getting impatient and want to see some progress. After consideration, I decided to post some clips of the animation, soon.

Until then, another drawing from the sketch book.

And finally today, Allie gave me this great book for Valentine's Day called The Making of Mr. Fox. It a "behind-the-scenes look at the creation of [the movie Fantastic Mr. Fox]." According to amazon. Inside are beautiful photographs, great interviews, and concept sketches of the movie. I highly recommend it if you are a fan of animation or foxes.

Happy Tuesday All.
Thanks for reading.

Ode to Yogi

Seeing as how I'm creating a bear themed animation, how could I not have been inspired by the most famous animated bear, Yogi. I decided to add a subtle nod to Yogi in the animation. I can't tell you how, so you'll have to watch the short and see for yourself.

And speaking of inspiration, one of the most influential animators for me, Bill Plympton, has recently start a blog with fellow animator Patrick Smith. I moved to Portland, OR a few years back, and didn't even know he lived here. One of the first things I'd did here was attend a screening of his feature film Hair High. I always get awkward in social situations, and even though he was there and had a Q & A session after the showing, I never said anything, or even got up to shake his hand. A year or so later, I saw him at an animation festival. I sat next to him at a screening (I don't remember what it was) and again said nothing to him the whole time. I think it's silly to go up to someone you admire and gush all over them. Maybe one day, I'll meet him and get the courage to actually talk to him.

Finally today, I wanted to point out John K also has a blog, although his has been around for sometime. He too, has been a great inspiration in my work. There are many others, that have influenced me, but I should really get back to work now. I'll try and cover more obscure animators in the future.

It's a Bowie Day

"Oh no love! you're not alone
You're watching yourself but you're too unfair
You got your head all tangled up but if I could only
make you care
Oh no love! you're not alone"
-David Bowie
Rock 'N' Roll Suicide

Thanks Dave I needed that.

FREE_lance

emphasis FREE. Picked up a side job and the animation has been put on hold. I promise to start back up tomorrow. Until then, new sketch-pad.

Color Theory

Color is one of the most subjective elements in all of art, so I've read (not sure where though). It's hard to determine what makes a combination of colors work, but we all know when they don't work. I tend to pick two or three colors and stick with them for everything. Red and yellow were my colors for a long time, but recently I've gone more muted and soft with my color choices.

For the short I'm working on currently, I started with a pale blue for the background color. I've been using various forms of this color for sometime now. It's a very popular color choice currently, and is an easy go to color.



Next, I needed a color for outlines. Kirby, the bear, is outlined in dark tan. His nose is brown and his eyes and mouth get the same dark grey.



Then, I choose a colors for the fill. These are basically off shots of the line color. I like to use pantone colors whenever possible. So, once I've established a color I'll go into my color library and choose a color close to the original.



Finally, I add the shading and highlights. Again, these are just off shoots of the line color, or in some cases the line color itself.



The shading/highlights seems to be taking up the majority of the process time. In order to speed up production, I'm creating the line and fills for all scenes first. I plan to come back later and add the shading/highlights. This again goes back to the assembly line style of production I am so fond of.

Thanks again to everyone who's keeping up with the blog, and also to my newest (FOURTH) follower. Knowing somebody is out there interested in what I'm doing, keeps me posting, and creating. Cheers!