Ok, so for the last 3 or 4 weeks, I've resumed my observational drawing studies. Normally on a sunday we draw outside for a bit (if its warm) then end up in borders, however for the last few days the weather has been amazing in Dundee, so Kenny decided it'd be good to get out of Dundee and draw in a place called Broughty Ferry, which is about 20mins away by bus. It was such a nice day I ended doing only 2 drawings. Kenny and Mick did none. Instead they played football on the beach......and yes I joined them for a bit. I'll try and make up for my lack of drawing during the week.
Thought I’d do a little progress report on my project...
I decided while I’m In Scotland for a year, I’d try and finish my (or start depending on your point of view) my student film for the following reasons:
To learn something.
To keep the creative muscles working (Though I’ve learnt a hell of a lot at Ink, there’s not much room for creativity in inbetweening).
To finish something (ahem)
(Click here, here and here for related links)
Character Design.
Seeing as I didn’t get too far the last time, I thought I’d give some of the characters a slight redesign. I supposed I could talk about each one but generally, I thought their shapes were similar in some ways or rather their postures didn’t really say much about who they are or how they move. I also wanted to push the designs a bit further but even now I still feel like I held back. Previously, I never reached a final design for Aeneus but when my nephew was born, I wanted to base it on him. Ok, my nephew is black Caribbean an Aeneus is Caucasian with blonde hair, but people who’ve seen my nephew will (or should) see where I got my inspiration.
The model sheets and redesigns were done relatively quickly, and usually when I’m designing something, I worry far too much about drawings. In this instance getting the design done was my main goal so right now, I’m really cringing looking at these, and the fact they were done almost a year ago doesn’t help. I did slightly more drawings of Father Time because he was to be the most animated, and also because friend and colleague Robert Robinson agreed to do a sculpture of Father time for me so I had to give him more information.
It’s actually was the first time I mentally pictured the characters in 3 dimensions and I mean really pictured it. I know that might sound weird to some but it’s true. Since then, if I find it difficult to draw a pose, sometimes I might sketch it from another angle to help me understand it better.
As u can see, beautifully done. I think he captured him better than I can draw him.
Bob then surprised me with another sculpture; a bust of Venus (fits in the palm of my hand)
Seeing it in 3 dimensions showed me that the earrings wouldn’t really work. Bob said I should just cheat it :)
Can’t thank you enough for that Bob. (The 2nd sculpture I mean)
Animatic and storyboard.
(Apologies for the unbalanced sound)
Untitled from Libra Bear Vids on Vimeo.
Redoing my Animatic (click here for old version) might seem like a waste of time but I had a couple of reasons for doing so.
1)I was able to time my shots better and have it closer to what the final thing would look like.
2) I changed the aspect ratio making it 16:9 instead of 4:3.
3) I could use the panels as a rough layout knowing how many levels etc I’d have to use in after effects
4)Practice with brushes in Photoshop
5)Helped me figure things in after effects early on so that I could predict the types of problems I’d have in compositing.
Having the title in the middle where the camera pans up was an idea given to me by Michael Plummer.
Now before anyone says anything, in context of the story and how long the film is Michael and I know it doesn’t work but it was fun to do. Seeing as I had no intentions of entering my film into any festivals, I thought breaking a few rules here and there is fine as this was purely an exercise for me to grow and learn. Besides it stopped people asking me “why does it pan up to the sky at that point?”
Another major change was the lack of music at the beginning. This was of a happy accident when I was putting in the temporary wind sounds. I wanted the first part to be more of a mystery and sometimes music can tell you what to think without you realizing it. Keeping it quiet (in my mind) gave nothing away about father times intentions.
Looking at the animatic now, there are things I would have done differently in terms of timing and shots e.g. Father time approaching the platform clearly doesn’t work.
I still think the Animatic it needs more drawings and less of the rendered backgrounds.
Music
I'm having some problems uploading the music. If anyone can help let me know
Maurizio Malaganini, a student from the royal college of music, composed a score for my film (this was while I was at Central St Martin’s). I really loved his music but the Father Time theme at the beginning felt very warrior-ish and as I said before, I wanted a question. Back then we spoke about him changing it and he agreed but I’ve yet to contact him. I think this piece took him about 2 days, and there wasn’t much conversation between us during that time.
Maurizio did an amazing Job and I just wanted to thank him for his work. Check out his website.
I really hope I’ll get to work with him again one day.
Animation
This is Part where I always seem to trip up on. Working on the illusionist I feel I’ve learnt a lot about animation. Taking that knowledge, I planned to do the whole thing hand drawn and seeing as I hadn’t animated in over a year I thought I’d take the least complicated shots first. I started by doing a test on my laptop at work over my lunch break. It took me about 40 minutes maybe be less. Probably took that long because I had to get to grips with flash.
Untitled from Libra Bear Vids on Vimeo.
It’s very rough but last time I tried something like this, it took me about 2 days. So that gave me a real boost of confidence. I even remember talking to Timothy McCourt on the phone with excitement. Now I was confident and ready to approach my first scene, but on paper this time. It took me about a month to do just the keys and that was on my first pass. (Taking into consideration I had to keep testing at work, and I could only do an hour or 2 a day). I drew roughly 80 key drawings. I then started thinking about scanning inbetween etc. Just thinking about these things started to drain me. Sorry I don’t have the rough test here.
I remember while we were at CSM, Tim suggested I do my project flash. Bob also suggested the same recently and judging by the Amount of time my previous attempt took me thought I might as well do it in flash save time. So I did a clean up test of one frame in flash, with some noise and blur effects in Photoshop, and I was happy with the results.
So I set up flash in a way close to how I work at ink I even put peg holes in So I had a guide to animated off pegs in order to keep volumes consistent. Then began animating.
Untitled from Libra Bear Vids on Vimeo.
This took about 3 weeks. Bearing in mind I was working an hour here, an hour there. There are still lots to do. Breathing, spacing issues, follow through, timing, etc
So why am I talking about this now? I’ve decided to stop working on my film.
I don’t want to be working on this for another year or 2 because that’s how long it will probably take especially with the manpower and time limits I have. I really wanted to see this animated, because I like the painting it’s based on and I also wanted to fulfil the promise I made on my blog a while ago.
A lot of how I went about telling the story was due to the limited time we had to do it in the first place. 3 months to be exact. So I compromised on it from day one which is probably why I’ve been so conflicted in my decision making. (Limited animation, animating on 3s, colours etc)
Knowing what I know now, I probably would have just concentrated on Keys breakdowns and done the whole thing in black n white. So, why don’t I just do that now?
This project is killing me creatively. It’s on was on my mind constantly, giving time to nothing else hence the lack of other things like posting. I would go back to it again providing I could work on it full time and with the help of 1 or 2 others.
If I’ve learnt one thing about myself is that I’ll never take on a project like this or rather approach a project like this by myself again.
I planned to write more of a conclusion and speak about the numerous things that lead up to this decision, but I’ve spent far too much time preparing this post (if you really want to know, I’ll update). I’ve already put off posting for about a month wondering if it’s a good idea or me to expose myself like this, but I needed some kind of closure and to let people know what’s going on.
I’m really sorry for wasting the time of those that were looking forward to seeing this. I’m especially sorry to anyone who helped me or gave me any advice, but I can’t do this now... I will do a short one day when the time is right; I may even go back to this short, if the circumstances are right, but the opportunity to make this film was 2 years ago. Time to move on.
And Again...
Wes
I've come to realise the reason I have not updated my Blog regularly is not because I'm busy but because of bad time management....Thats it. More posts soon
Thanks to all who commented or visited on my last post.
....Wesley Louis, I’m currently living in Scotland and working as an inbetweener. Thought I’d re-introduce myself as it’s has been so long since I’ve blogged.
It’s been so long I can’t even recall all the things I’ve been doing. I’m currently working on my project hoping to have all the animation done in the next couple of months. I don’t want to show anything till have a good portion finished. I’ve not done much drawing outside my project, these drawings are a few months old. I coloured in the Thundercat last night. It’s slightly different to my normal stuff. I really want to start applying colour in a different way. As you see, I’ve a lot to learn and the fact that it’s a bad drawing doesn’t help either. Either way Just want to thank Mr Anderson for the tutorials and advice really helps. I’m coming for more lessons Kenny!!
It’s been a lifelong dream to have one of my characters sculpted and it was realised a few weeks ago. I want to thank Robert Robinson another colleague and friend@ Ink. I really want to post photos as it looks amazing but not till I get more of my project done. In the meantime check out his website.
I’ve also added new links, something I’ve been meaning to do for a while, sorry guys.
Thanks to all who’ve left comments or simply browsed. I’ll catch up with everyone soon.
I’m really in the mood to draw now so while I can’t say when I’ll be posting again , I’ll try not to make the wait so long...don’t hold your breath though.....
And Again....
Wes
And Again....
Wes
PS: Kristian, Timbo, have pads and pencils at the ready, Im a comin to DRAAAWWWW!!!!!
I haven’t been drawing much lately. Just been a bit stuck, especially with the life stuff. I realised a few days ago that I’m always trying to top my last post, to do something better. I think that’s why the gaps between posts are getting bigger and bigger. While I’m all about growing and getting better, I think I’m forgetting to enjoy what I do. It’s supposed to be fun (that’s what I meant about attitude Ken) so this post is probably some of my weaker life studies, but I’m not waiting till I have some better ones. I’m rusty but, I had fun drawing them and using ink washes. It was cool being in borders, with good company, a big cookie and a cup of Hot Chocolate. I’ll post again real soon now that I’m having fun...
And Again....
Wes
PS: I responded to everyones comments on the last post so er....check the comments.
Hi everyone. Many thanks for the comments and feedback for the last post. Much appreciated
I haven’t posted in a while, not because I didn't want to, but haven’t done anything I liked lately. Guess I’m being a bit too picky about what I show these days which is silly. Anyway, I've been quite busy doing some personal stuff which I won’t post anything about, and won’t talk about again till (if) I finish. As a result no more huge posts, but hopefully I'll post more often (yeah right).
The only exciting thing to have happened in terms of this art thing is a collaboration with the not so talented Kenneth “Nethken” Anderson...opps did I say not so talented?? LOL. Just kidding Ken, I have much respect for my colleague and friend. I’ve learnt a lot from him, not just in terms of technique but attitude. Anyway, this pic is a result of a 2min sketch by moi and then 2 days rendering by Ken. I honestly don’t feel I can take credit for this, but it was nice to see what could be done from one of my simple sketches. Basically, we were making fun of Ken and the amount of women he draws wielding swords. Chris Halls drew a pic (by the way chris, I decline your characters tempting offer, not my type lol), and I responded to his pic with a simple sketch to show him what a real woman with a sword looks like LOL.. Ken was inspired and the rest is history.
Now, it might be made into a 3D animatable model. I look back and think “All this from a 2 minute sketch???” We’ll see what happens. The rest are some random sketches.
And Again....
Wes
PS: I was generously rewarded by the minds behind El Grande for my promotion efforts last post. Click here. By the way guys I hope yo realise I didn’t do the shout out for rewards, I believe in what your doing and am excited by things to come. Keep going.
So what else have I been up to? Not much. I watched an interesting documentary last week. The Human Camera on Channel 5. It was about the extraordinary works and mind of Stephen Wiltshire. Hopefully the link to his site will explain more, but in short, he has the ability to look at detailed buildings for a short time draw or paint in an accurate but “artistic way” At the aged of three, he was diagnosed as autistic. His ability can be compared to a photographic memory but he does make creative choices in his work so regardless of his memory, in my mind he’s an artist. It got me thinking about memory and how we use our memories as artists. When I do observational drawing, I always try...”try” to draw what I see. I rarely go back and try to finish the drawing. If the subject moves from the pose, I stop. I’m wondering now, If I look at something and remember it, then draw it, is it still observational drawing? Does Stephen draw from observation? My process is (like many others I’m sure) , I look at the subject, then look down at the paper to make a mark. I believe it is at this point I’m using my memory to make that mark before I look up again. Stephen however seems to do the looking in one block, the remembering in another, and then the drawing. What I’m interested in is expanding that window for when my memory has to come into play especially for action poses. Now I don’t think I’ll ever be able to do what Stephen does, but if I can only retain an image for 2 seconds, surely I can expand it to 10 or 20. I was at a rugby match on Sunday and froze because I wasn’t sure how to go about capturing the poses. This thing of,” am I cheating” got in the way. Once again, I’ve imposed another ridiculous rule on myself, which hopefully will be remedied in future drawings. Did anyone else see the documentary. What are your thoughts?
Anyway last couple weeks have been doodles at work, and some observational drawings edited in Photoshop to make things look more interesting. Thanks everyone for the comments last post. I found it really informative. Honesty amongst us helps us grow.
And Again....
Wes
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
