LIBRA BEAR

Happy New Year

2012-01-08T14:34:00.000-08:00

Ok, I'm a bit late. A bit busy. Had a good start to the year. In Germany at the moment working at Studio Soi on The Amazing World of Gumball. I'm here a couple more weeks. Just happy to be away for a bit. Anyway this is a quick post, with drawings done with the brushes app on I phone....

And Again....
Wes

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE

2011-12-24T20:00:00.001-08:00

Another Hulk Post.....

2011-12-10T14:46:00.000-08:00

Ok another Hulk post, but this is the last for a while. I did promise a process vid, wasnt sure if I should, I mean, its just a walk cycle and I struggle accepting the oversight on his sliding feet. I did make an adjustment but the difference is marginal. It feels like his feet are sliding rather than steping. Maybe I should retitle it to "Hulk SLIDE"
Going back in to try and fix it (again) wont make me like it anymore I think. I also feel like I should have implied more weight to the head and upper torso by adding some overlap, clean up is abit messy, volume issues..... the list goes on.

Anyway there are a few reasons for doing this. I know how much it helps me to see other peoples processessssss, so maybe someone starting out can benifit from this. Also people who are a lot more experiecned than me can perhaps point out my flaws or offer me better ways of thinking.
I'm also mentoring at my old uni, this is my 2nd year doing it and I think having examples where I can break down my process will help my mentee, SiuLing undersatnd things better. Trying to explain animation with just words is difficult, I mean its a visual medium, so for me less talking, more showing. Something I wish I did with my last mentee Mr Karl Lawson.

With this video, I thought I would do the perfect breakdown going through every part of my process. Didn realise how difficult that would be, explaining it properly would probably mean the video would need to be 5mintues rather than one. I think i may try to record my next piece of animation as Im doing it. Or something.

I'll be updating this post maybe tomorrow, explaining each part as "I" understand it because I'm still learning and not entirely comfortable with "my animation process" Below is a pic showing the same frame from each process

And Again....
Wes

New Reel

2011-11-27T04:50:00.001-08:00

And Again....
Wes

HULK step

2011-11-19T08:39:00.000-08:00

So, I was a bit disappointed with my last post, and am still fighting the urge to take it down, especially the 2nd pic, dont know what the hell I was thinking. The only reason it's still up is because I it prompted me to animate to make up for it. Also, didnt want to appear hyprocritcal as Im always going on at a certain someone for always taking down their posts :)

I kind of just jumped into this without thinking about it. I find that when I think too much about doing something, I slowly talk myself out of it without realising it. I did one thumbnail (below) and went straight into it. I think I might think about a little more next time, just not too much.

Man, I realise how much Ive learnt, but also realise how much I have to learn which is daunting and exciting at the same time.

The one thing I kept reinforcing while doing this is "HAVE FUN" Im not entirely happy with the result, which I'm glad about because it means Ive grown, but I did have fun. I've been looking at my old work from my teens and asking myself why I spent hours drawing and redrawing. It definitely wasnt for work or a career. I had fun and enjoyed doing it. There was no consequence or anything big riding on it. Lately I've find I put myself under too much pressure to perform and end up doing very little. Thats bad, time to chilax and enjoy.

Anyway, I'll update with a process vid soon.

And Again....
Wes

Frankies Hulk

2011-11-10T08:21:00.000-08:00

These have been sitting on my computer for a while now, waiting to be posted. Was going for a ghibli feel, not sure I succeeded. I really do need to get back to the basics, dont know why but drawing has been realy difficult lately.

And Again....
Wes

So Far....

2011-10-18T08:27:00.000-07:00

Its been a while since I've posted. I havent done much drawing in my sparetime lately. I havent really been inspired to. I think when drawing or animating starts feeling like work, which it has over the last couple of years, I feel less inclined to do it. I also realised this feeling could actually go on for the rest of my life unless I find a way to make it fun again. Maybe a good way to start is to actually blog.

So whats been happening since my last post.

I've been working on and off at Nexus which has been fantastic.

Heres a commercial I animated on for Google Chrome. I animated the 3 talking characters from about 39 secs

It was fun to animate in such a limited way. Learnt a lot more about flash as well whichh is always cool.

Other credits

Directors: Smith and Foulkes

Animators: Stuart Doig
Bali Engel
Conor Ryan

Character Design: Mike Shorten

Also Recieved 2 awards for a little film I directed with Tim Mc Court called Drawing Inspiration at the Canterbury Anifest 2011 . I think thats the first time I've won anything. I was really shocked because the competition was fierce. Congrats to all who got shortlisted.

Last but not least, I've also been up at the NFTS for a month helping unnescessarily inteligent and talented Jonathan Topf on his film. In turn he has taught me....pause for effect....Maya. Thats right ladies and gentleman. I've crossed over to the darkside and become a 3D animator (sort of). I have to say at the moment, 3D is ridiculously hard. I have a new found respect for all the 3D guys out there, especially my peers at LAS14.

Thats it for now. Next post will have some drawings (they might be a bit old though).

And Again....
Wes

PS: I know I owe you Frankie.....

E4 Man Officially Short listed for E4's 'E Stings 2011' competition.

2011-08-09T13:19:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's as the title says. Our E4 man video has been officially shortlisted. 25 of 716 videos were selected and we were one of them. What does this mean, our sting will be broadcast on TV over the next year. We'll find out in september if we actually win but what ever happens, I'm happy.

Tim and myself would like to thank everyone who voted, watched, or forwarded our video and kept our ratings high. This has made it all worth it.

And Again....
Wes

PS: You can still cast more Yays here... if you want :)

EEEE4 MAAAAAANN!!!!!!

2011-07-07T10:45:00.000-07:00

Ok, I know its been a while since my last post. Looking back cant recall exactly what I've been doing.

I just want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has and continues to support our film Drawing Inspiration. We've had an overwhelming response and I'm grateful to everyone who posted it on blogs, facebook twitter or even just watched it.

Myself, directing partner and friend Timothy Mc Court, Singer, Song writer Rina May and Draughtsman Supreme Kristian Antonelli, have just finished another short piece (10sec to be exact). Check it out below

E4 Man from Tim McCourt on Vimeo.

If you like it vote Yay at http://www.e4.com/video/BOZtBVbX6LSjKSL3iu3o/play.e4

Here is some design work for it...

In other news, I'd like to direct your attention to a beautifully realised short film.....

Directed by a group of stupidly talented artists at the Gobelins Animation Program, this film blew me away, art direction, pacing, animation, restraint, acting, really ticks all boxes.

I'm especially interested in this film due to the fact that good friend Paul Lacolly was one of the directors and animators on this Film. Congrats again guys on a fantastic film. looking forward to your next masterpiece.

You can check the rest of the shorts at http://www.youtube.com/user/gobelins

Ok, now back to work....

And Again....
Wes

PS: Frankie, I promise you, next post I do is yours :)

Drawing Inspiration Posts

2011-03-02T09:14:00.001-08:00

youtube link

Thanks to everyone for their continued support. It means a lot. Here are all the blogs/ sites we've been featured on so far.......

vimeo staff picks
vimeo.tumblr.com
catsuka.com
linesandcolours.com
drawn.ca
lineboil.com
visualselecta.tumblr.com
brainpickings.org
maltafilmicon.org Features an interview with Tim and myself.
cghub.com by Rawls
Animation With A Moustache
Flooby Nooby
A Zealous Enterprise
Retrohelix.com
itsartmag.com
See No Evil
bloodyloud
My Curious Brain
Loyal K.N.G
The Reel (I think you have to subscribe to site to see it )
Dope Chef TV
Its Hey Now
Weird Ben
Le Journal Graphic
www.kafepauza.mk
A Story Tell features an interview with Tim, Steve and myself
Share Some Candy

I'll be updating this as I go on, there are a few to go through. On behalf of Tim and Myself, thanks again to everyone who has watched posted or even just spoke about our film. It gives us a lot of encouragement and we look forward to doing another.

And Again...
Wes

Drawing Inspiration

2011-02-25T02:09:00.001-08:00

Drawing Inspiration from Wesley Louis on Vimeo.

Finally, its complete.

Dont like vimeo? Here's a link to the youtube version

I just like to take the opportunity to thank everyone that supported us in the making of this. Its probably the hardest thing I've ever done, and I'm just happy we got through it. check out the credit list below:

Directed By

Tim McCourt
messytimbo.blogspot.com

and Wesley Louis
librabear.blogspot.com/

Story by Steve Stamp

Written By Tim McCourt and Steve Stamp

Animators - Wesley Louis, Tim McCourt, Laurent Rossi, Robert Robinson Paul Lacolley, Nick Lennox, Micheal Plummer, Geoff King, Kristian Antonelli, Chris Halls

Backgrounds and Layouts - Paul Bloomfield

Compositing - Paul Bloomfield

Music - Alex Mattinson

Sound Designs by Matt Davies & Mark Apicella

Produced by Dexter Dash

Executive Producer Henry Scholfield

Thanks to Partizan Lab, Isabella Parish, Tori Davis & Maarten Rijs

And Again....
Wes

UPDATE: Anyone who knows me how much I love Catsuka. Whatever happens now, I'm happy, Thanks again Tsuka

Drawing Inspiration Making Of

2011-02-09T14:07:00.000-08:00

Wesley Louis Drawing Inspiration Making Of from Libra Bear Vids on Vimeo.

This is what my life was about last year, To see more visit www.drawinginspirationproduction.blogspot.com

Im not sure why but the sound doesnt synch properly. Any suggestions?

And Again...
Wes

More Random... (and yes more Superman)

2011-01-20T18:23:00.000-08:00

I was watching a clip from Wheels on meals the other day, was a blast from the past. Ive also been watching a lot of Studio Ghibli.... I'm having one of those, "I wonder what it would be like if (insert director/musician/artist here) made (insert film/song/painting here)......

And Again....
Wes

Happy New Year

2011-01-10T12:52:00.000-08:00

One of those extremely random, out of nowhere posts...... I think I want to start drawing again :)

And Again....
Wes

For you Kristian......

2010-05-11T04:44:00.000-07:00

Sanyo....

Been super busy, dont know when the next post will be, but for anyone who still stops by and leaves comments, its appreciated

And Again....
Wes

The Illusionist.....

2010-02-19T10:29:00.000-08:00

Its been a while I know...but there is a good reason I'll post on the weekend but here is an interview with Sylvain Chomet and some clips from a film I spent almost 2 years of my life on... (inbetween, key clean up and some assistant animator) "very exciting time"

And Again....
Wes

found via catsuka.com

UPDATE: I removed the interview from my page, not that I didnt like it or anything, For some reason,it plays automatically and it was driving me nuts. It was almost like the theme tune for my blog, and thats just not on. If you want to watch the interview, you can find it at http://www.arte.tv/fr/toutes-les-videos/3072704.html#0

Instead, I've replaced it with the Trailer

for now........

2010-01-13T08:39:00.000-08:00

Just trying to keep a steady pace..... ;)

And Again....

Happy 2010

2010-01-06T12:43:00.000-08:00

Happy 2010 everyone, Its been a while since my last post, and normally, this is where I’d be apologizing, but to be honest I, haven’t really been in the blogging mood, and have decided to stop beating myself up when I'm not (in a blogging mood)

Thought I’d start the year with a new avatar Speaking of which, has anyone seen Avatar? Its Awesome, A must see.

I’ll have more to say…maybe…in the Next post till then, good to be back, lets resume the game!!!

And Again….

Wes

PS: Thanks to all who stopped by in my absence, the comments and support is always appreciated. I’ll catch up with you guys in a bit.

I'm Home...

2009-09-03T12:55:00.000-07:00

Ok, So now Im back in London, just spent the day unpacking my stuff and moving back into my old room, still have a lot to do, preparing a showreel/portfolio, looking for work etc etc and for the last few weeks I was really busy at Ink (which I really miss) So this is just a quick post to apologise for my lack of responses to emails, facebook, comments etc. Hopefully I'll be a bit more settled over the weekend, and I'll do a proper post.......

And Again....
Wes

Broughty Ferry

2009-05-31T12:29:00.000-07:00

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.

And Again....
Wes

PS: Is it better to have one style of drawing which is distinctivley your own or be able to draw in multiple styles which show a little of yourself?

For u Tim :)

2009-05-27T14:44:00.001-07:00

Thanks for everyone for your continued support, my blog has been in a coma and I have no excuses...

And Again....
Wes

........

2009-03-08T16:11:00.000-07:00

It’s been a while since my last post. Hope everyone is good. Thanks to all who commented on the last post. Before I go on, just want to give a shout out to Michael Plummer who I’ve worked with for over a year now. He finally has a blog so check him out. I’ve also updated my links.

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 2^nd 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

"Snake...? snake...? SNNNAAAAAKKKEEEE!!!!!!

2009-01-18T12:37:00.000-08:00

Happy New year everyone, hope everyone had a good Christmas.. I was home for Christmas and my cousin was kind enough to lend us his PS3 so I finally got to play and complete Metal Gear Solid 4. Its a long time since had the chance to get into a game and its amazing!! Thanks Junior. ...oh...and I had a really good christmas as well. It was nice to spend time with my girlfriend, family and cool seeing my nephew, goddaughter and niece. They're all just over a year old but growing incredibly fast.

I’m really pumped for the New Year and scared at the same time. 3 months left on the illusionist and the pressure’s on. Definately interesting times ahead.

Also saw Slumdog Millionaire and the Wrestler over the last few weeks, both fantastic films definately recommend them.

I saw this a while ago via Catsuka but recently a site was launched in a higher resolution (also found via Catsuka) so check it out

Thanks to all who have commented or visited my blog thus far. I was pretty lousy last year at keeping up to date , I hope to remedy that this year.

And Again....

Wes

PS: Check the latest addition to the ink team.....Birgit Maier

Belated Christmas Greetings

2008-12-28T09:24:00.000-08:00

I know it's a bit late but I had some problems with the internet. Hope everyone had a great Christmas and is recharged for the New Year.

The Last Dragon

2008-12-07T13:43:00.000-08:00

An Attempt to keep up posting. I've been a bit off on my game lately. Cant seem to draw anything I like. Hopefully I'll get over it soon.

And Again....
Wes

Quick Post

2008-11-23T09:01:00.000-08:00

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

And Again....
Wes

PS thanks to all who commented last time. Catch up with u in the week.

Digi-Paint Practice

2008-09-20T17:51:00.001-07:00

Posting again???? What’s going on? Well for the last week I’ve been ill with flu/Took Thursday and Friday off work. I’ve been too ill to do anything. Even watching DVDs was too much work. I woke up this morning feeling a lot better. I cleaned my space, did some washing, cooked and relaxed. Felt strong enough to colour up one of my work doodles based upon some advice given to me once again, by Kenny. I definitely have a now found respect for you painters out there. The girl in the green is my second attempt (lion o being the first). I have painted before, but in college, and it was pretty much a cel shading technique.

Anyway, with the green girl I sent it to Kenny for some advice and he emailed me back with notes and painted one of them (left pic with brown backing). Even though it’s just the head (and I’m guessing it took him about 10mins), already it looks a lot better than mine (DAMN YOU MR ANDERSON!!) He also gave me a link to a site with lots of helpful hints. I’m just trying to learn one thing at a time. I just have to be really observant. Not that I wasn’t before, but now I’m just adding to the things I’m currently observing. I think my mind is ready for it now. The approach I took with the girl in the red was to paint the values with black on a separate layer in Photoshop (top layer), multiply the line art (middle layer) and add hues (bottom layer). Once that was done, I merged the layers and continued on one layer. I’m quite please with my progress. I don’t like the picture much, but I like what I took from it. There are many approaches I want to try so I think it will take some time for me to find myself in this. Years in fact, but that’s what makes it exciting right? This is new territory for me so crits are welcome.

Thanks to all who commented or visited on my last post.

And Again....

Wes

PS: Does anyone know how to set up painter so that it responds to varying pen pressures? Default settings make it difficult, and I really would prefer to use painter to er.....paint! (Duh)

PPS: New link added, friend and colleague THE MIGHTY REZA!!!! :)

Hi My Name Is....

2008-09-07T14:43:00.000-07:00

....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.

Sehyun (to be updated)

Terry Wu

Tori Davis

Xin

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

Random Sketches

2008-06-08T15:01:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone. Thanks for the comments and feed back for the last post. I feel soooo bad for not blogging (posting, commenting etc) more often. I have been really busy though working on that “thing” that I don’t want to talk about. Got a lot of work done, but still have a long way to go so my Blog is suffering at the moment. I’m going to London this week. I haven’t been home in about 5 months so it’ll be good to catch up with family, friends and to have a nice recharge. I’m also really looking forward to seeing the new talent coming from CSM London Animation Studio. They have their end of year show on the 20^th. Anyway, here are some “random sketches” from the last month.

And Again....

Wes

PS: Kristian, Timbo, have pads and pencils at the ready, Im a comin to DRAAAWWWW!!!!!

In Competition With....Myself?

2008-05-19T14:07:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone. Just want to thank everyone for their comments on the last post. Lately I’ve been receiving comments about improvements in my work. Many times on this blog I’ve often whined about how bad my work is, or I request constructive criticism ( I still do) but I actually really appreciate the fact you guys can see me growing. It’s really encouraging and gives me a real charge so thanks you for that. Really.

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.

What shall I post?

2008-05-07T16:05:00.000-07:00

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.

El Grande is coming to cleanse the world.....

2008-04-16T17:26:00.000-07:00

It’s been a while since I last posted, forgive me, started gym couple of weeks ago and I was really exhausted every time I finished work. The positive benefits of increased energy are starting to kick in now so I’m taking advantage. Before I go, please can you take the time to visit The El Grande Blog. A graphic Novel being created by fellow bloggers Elio Guevara and Joe Karg. Awesome concept work, beautiful style which is tangible and fresh. I really admire these guys for avoiding Photoshop and just keeping real and raw. They’ve been working on it for about a year and a half now and probably won’t be finished till early next year. I can’t wait good luck guys, (not that I think you need it) you have my full support and undivided attention. :)

Sample page from El Grande

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

Mr Kent, Mr Wayne and Mr Parker....

2008-03-30T14:46:00.001-07:00

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 1^st, 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 4^th 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.

Django

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

Not Quite Everything....

2008-03-12T15:39:00.000-07:00

I missed the sketchgroup this last weekend, so my plan to draw everything er...didnt go according to plan LOL. So here is some life drawing from last Thursday. Got a class tomorrow and sketchgroup on sunday so I'll do a healthier post then.....

And Again....
Wes

Now The Work Begins

2008-03-05T15:48:00.000-08:00

HI everyone, thanks for the comments on the last post, I know it was a bit much but I guess I’m just trying to make up for lost time. I know I said I’d be posting every 2 weeks but I’ve decided to try and up my game a bit and try update once a week.(try being the operative word). Every day I go into work inbetweening drawings and animation which is way beyond my level. I try to study the keys and break downs, to get a sense of what the animator is doing; I don’t know what I’m looking for. My one frustration is that I don’t get to talk to the animators to find out why or how they approach a scene as the animators are based in Django and not Ink. I supposed it’s good for the animators not to be bugged every minute. They’d probably need to take out a restraining order against me LOL. Anyway by 2009 (if God wills it) I hope I’ll be a stronger animator, draughtsman, the works. I know that won’t happen unless I start to do private study outside work hours. Hopefully, Ill look back on this post and previous posts feeling some sense of accomplishment. To look back on a younger me, and to see my growth. Even then I know I have many years of enjoyable but hard work.

I also recently discovered Animation Podcasts and I’m hooked (yes I know I’m late). I go into work and listen to them while I draw. It really helps keep my motivation up. I found it via Alan Cooks Blog which by the way, is a great Blog for info on whats new in animation. He’s also got some great work up there. Another good site for animation News is Catsuka. It’s French but if you're like me and can’t speak a word, you can translate it via Google. The news section is in he top right hand corner.

Following is some of the life drawing and observational sketches in the past week. Still struggling with the life sketches. I can’t seem to get the looseness and fluidity I get from my observational sketches. My focus on life drawing at the moment is understanding, but I still want to be able to get a good likeness. I want the model to look like the model. I’m also playing with tone, values and shading techniques in general. I always avoid it for my fear making mistakes or doing bad drawings. I remember last week I was talking to Timbo about cross hatching, and saying I wasn’t good at it thats why I don’t do it, then I thought, why not? The pic at the top is of the photocopier at work. I put it first because I always draw people; the goal now is to draw...EVERYTHING!! If it’s not too cold this weekend, I’m definitely going out to sketch some buildings and other stuff. Dundee has some great architecture. Contrasts of old and new everywhere you look.

Anyway enough talk, here are last week’s struggles....

And Again....

Wes

PS: sorry to everyone whos posts I haven’t really commented on or given feedback to lately. I’ve been a lousey Blogger, I’ll remedy that real soon.

If you want to see a good all rounder, click here. Was on this blog yesterday. Always blown away....

Guess who's back.....

2008-02-18T14:49:00.000-08:00

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...

2008-02-06T18:38:00.000-08:00

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

Feeling Colourful.....

2007-12-20T14:15:00.000-08:00

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....)

2007-12-08T14:21:00.000-08:00

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.......

2007-11-17T15:22:00.000-08:00

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

More Life Struggles

2007-11-06T06:38:00.000-08:00

Thanks for the feedback on the last post everyone. I'm really enjoying drawing from life. Some of the blogs I've seen lately is really inspiring me specially Stephane Kardos. I really have to push myself. I want to start taking real life classes as soon as I can afford it. Here's some from yesterday.

And Again....
Wes

Back to Life....

2007-10-30T15:23:00.000-07:00

Thanks everyone for your points of view on the last post. It’s really interesting to see how we all look at things. I think when we are criticized whether it is accurate or inaccurate we must take the time to find the truth in what’s being said. As long as we do that, the comment becomes irrelevant. The comment definitely sparked questions about who I am now, who I’m aiming to be, and how much am I doing to get there. I am in no way offended by Mr Annonomous, I’m thankful he got me thinking.

Anyway, it’s been a while since I posted anything inspired by life. (Tim your last post was food for thought) I’ve had some interesting conversations regarding life drawing and animation lately. It’s intriguing to see how we all go about reach our personal goals. The way I learnt to draw was through watching cartoons, and reading comics. Sometimes I would tape my favourite cartoons, and then watch it on video pausing at any image I like, and begin copying. Sometimes I would copy poses from comics, and as I got better, it became reference material, so if I couldn’t draw a hand for example, I would look at a comic or an animation with a similar pose and attach it to my own drawing. (Writing this I’m thinking duh, why didn’t I use my own hand??) I’ve come to realize I draw using elaborate symbols, shapes that are instantly recognisable. That’s why I find drawing from life hard. To draw what you see and not fill in the blanks by what you think you see is difficult. When I try to observe and draw what is there it feels like I’ve never drawn before, I forget what I know and as a result lose spontaneity. I never like the results but take each new drawing as a stepping stone. I’m battling to find myself or should I say my better self. On the one hand I want to draw what feels natural, to characterize, and take the essence of a pose and draw that. On the other, I want to improve and to have a more realistic approach, to actually try to draw what I see rather than what I think I see and have that become natural. The above drawings represent part of that struggle. Some were drawn from my memory, most were drawn from life. With a few I tried to challenge myself and have a realistic approach. With others I was being myself and just doing what came natural. Let me know what you think.

And Again….

Wes

PS: Following are some blogs with really cool life studies. Some take a realistic approach, some characterise and capture essence, some do both, all are beautiful and very inspiring….(this is for you Maarten)

Kristian Antonelli

Timothy “Timbo” McCourt (interesting read on his latest post entitled Inspiration from life)

James “The Iron scythe”Robertson

Willy “Willipino” Harber

Tim Moen

Antoine Antin (amazing animations aswell)

Bastien Vives (might have been drawn for memory)

If you guys know of any other great blogs let me know.

UPDATE: I forgot Alan Cook, He also has lots of info on whats new in animation.

UPDATE 2: This Guys life studies is Amazing, check it Stephane Kardos

FINAL UPDATE: Its about 5am. Couldn't sleep. Seen some amazing work lately. Had the urge to draw..anything. Did this sketch of my living room (from life) in about 5mins then coloured it in about 7mins. As you can see from the photo, proportions and all that Jazz are way off, didn't care it felt Good, going to sleep now (by the way Tim thanks for the Andre Barnwell link, forgot all about him, I don't know how)

Anonymous said...

2007-10-15T05:25:00.001-07:00

I got a comment on my blog the other day. It was for my first lip synch animation;

Anonymous said...

I appreciate this guy has good art skills but everyone post positive comments. this guy still has a lot to learn and his animation skills are mediocre. So make him aware of this please or he will never improve. he is far from those students from france.

Thank u

It upset me, because of how accurate he/she was. I spent the whole day thinking about it. I’m not saying I don’t appreciate positive comments, I do, I like to know when I’m doing good, but I also need to know when I’m doing not so good. It is important to my growth. In turn I will do the same to all other bloggers, to try and be honest and to help you all grow as well.

As for Mr/Mrs Anonymous, Thank you, I hope you stop by again, I printed your comment, and it’s up on my wall as a health reminder

On a lighter note, here is a pic of Supermans daddy. Still think Superman 1 is the best superhero movie of all time.

And Again….

Wes

Kal-El....

2007-10-06T15:32:00.000-07:00

Was watching Legion Of Superheroes, felt like drawing the Man of Steel

And Again....

For Fun

2007-09-18T21:18:00.000-07:00

While I was watching Devils Advocate. I can't wait to start animating something different....

And Again....
Wes

As Promised.....

2007-09-17T14:23:00.000-07:00

.... I’m gonna try and post every 2 weeks. Nothing big this time, just a couple of warm up sketches. I’ll try and post more from my project later

And Again….
Wes

My Deepest Apologies....

2007-09-03T17:35:00.000-07:00

HI everyone, it’s been a long time since I’ve posted, so much for my one a week promise. I think I’ll try and do two posts a month for now. Thanks to everyone for the positive feedback on my showreel. I appreciate it deeply. Before I go on, I just want to take this opportunity (seriously) to apologize to my friends, family, LAS class mates and tutors, National Gallery Administrators, bloggers and anyone who has shown interest or helped me for the past year, for not finishing my final project in time for the gallery screening. I really feel like I’ve let a lot of people down
including myself. After my trip to Marrakech (a wonderful trip which was made special by my lady, I definitely owe her a big apology) I fell into a slump and managed to pick myself up out of it 3 weeks later. I have no excuses; I got in my own way. So I promise no matter what, I’ll continue to work on the final, gallery or no gallery, till it’s done. I have given up the right to quit. Once again people….I’m sorry. I won’t let you or myself down again.

Following are some of the things I’ve been up to for the last few weeks, some seen, some unseen.

Test Composite from Libra Bear Vids and Vimeo.

Character Design.
I wish I could have pushed some of the design a bit more, made the characters a bit more larger than life. I feel they’re a bit bland. I also think the cupid character doesn’t feel like he belongs to the same world. I like my take on Father Time the original God of Death. My first design of him was very Zeus-ish with wings. It’s only after I did some more research on him, I decided to make him a little darker. The stick of his scythe is based on the shape of the staff Moses holds in Prince of Egypt. The blade and the white bandage is a tip of the hat (or rip off, you decide LOL) to Bleach. The show is about death Gods so I thought hey, why not use that with my death god. Father time definitely went through a long design process and set the tone for the rest of the characters. I’ll post the variations later. One thing I hate with him is the model of his wings. They look very flat and dead so after I did the model I drew some thumbnails of how I want his wings to look and feel. The model won’t be so rigid. Venus I find, is really hard to keep on model. I still really struggle to draw her. I tried to look at actresses with square faces, Selma Hayek, Angelina Jolie, Minnie Driver to name a few. Her eyebrows are far too thick. I only noticed it when I cleaned her up. In the film, I’ll make them thinner. I wasn’t sure what colour to do her hair, at first it was to be blonde, but I thought that was too typical. My class mate Nick Hanks told me I should make it Ginger and showed quite a few paintings of Venus with ginger hair. The most significant being The Birth of Venus by Botticelli.
Cupid is based on a statue I saw in the V&A museum. I’ll post it next time. Being the god of erotic love, I wanted him to be a bit spoilt, and almost evil. It’s strange, every time I’ve shown the animatic, people always comment on cupid. He doesn’t even do anything. A bit like Boba Fett in Star Wars. He’s so popular but he only has 10mins of footage in the first trilogy (come on, to be an animator you have to be a bit of a geek)

Backgrounds.
This is something I’m really gonna compromise on. I’m designing them as I go along. I wanted the backgrounds to have a painterly feel to it, a bit like Studio Ghibli, but I can’t paint like that, and If I could, it would take far too much time. This film will definitely skip clean up stage. I wanted to really push the backgrounds. I went around London and took loads of pictures, anything that looked Grecian. Then take elements of the photos and fuse it into my picture. My understanding of perspective is very poor ( I learnt how to draw watching cartoons and reading comics, I’ve skipped a lot of the basics so I’m trying to atone for my sins now) The environment will be quite misty and clouds will be moving at different speeds along with mist. The colour versions are just tests.

Video
This is just a test to see what the final composite might look like. The clouds will be different and cupid will have hair. Might blur the image a bit more to soften it.

Generally the Art direction is all over the place, but I’m learning a lot, which is the main thing I guess

And that’s it for now. I’ll try and post more in two weeks.

And Again….
Wes

PS Just started a new blog, Just for showreels librabearshowreels.blogspot.com.

For now....

2007-07-07T19:03:00.000-07:00

In about 4 hours, I'm going to be on a plane to Marrakech for some R&r, but I wanted to do this quick post before I go. To just Thank all who helped me at LAS past and present, and to wish you guys the best. Hope you all keep blogging (yes I've been a bad boy, but I'll make up for it, promise) keep in contact, and keep animating. When I get back I'll holla at yall and just share my thoughts on the past year of my life. In the mean time, here is my Showreel (jazzed up lined tests and sketches LOL). Let me know your thoughts.

And Again....
Wes

Showreel 2007 from Libra Bear Vids and Vimeo.

PS: does anyone know why my video is supersized????!!!
PPS: Excuse the quality I'll replace it when I come back

Promotional Images

2007-05-22T02:16:00.000-07:00

Wassup people. Quick post, quite stressed. Last friday we were asked to submit some promotional images for our end of year show invites. I definately aim to finish my project to this standard but I know I'll probably only reach, rough animation stage by the end of the course (meaning keys with some inbetweens, we have just under 4 weeks till the assessment). Still, my journey in animation won't end at St Martins so I'll continue working on it once my studies are done, (with some help of course). I'll post model sheets and character designs later in the week.

And Again....
Wes

The Animatic

2007-05-16T03:15:00.000-07:00

Hey people. I was up till about 4 in the morning re-editing my animatic, or rather finishing it. We had a screening at the national gallery back in April. I was so worried because mine wasn't finished but it was still well received which I’m pleased about.. At that screening were some professional animators, lectures, the gallery administrators and students from the Royal College of Music who were commissioned to write music for our films (yes, this year The London Animation School pulled out all the stops). We got to listen to samples of their music and I was so amazed at the level of their work. Some of them showed interest writing for my film, 2 in particular Ed Farmer and Maurizio Malagnini (check out they’re sites, these guys are professionals) It was such a hard choice to make as they are both extremely talented, and I know little about music. For me Ed seemed to be very diverse but Maurizios stuff seemed to fit my film better (the music on the film at the moment is from the Gladiator soundtrack. Its called progeny. It won't be in the final film). Either way, I hope to keep in contact with both of them, who know what could happen. Then again I could write the music myself, I’m really good at playing chopsticks :)

Anyway hope you enjoy the animatic. I don’t think there are enough drawings in this, and I’m going to work on the establishing shot of Venus’ sky platform but I think it gets the idea across. Let me know what you think.

And Again....
Wes

PS: Thanx to everyone for the comments on the last post. I'm overwhelmed by the positive feedback and your belief in me. I'll try not to let you down.

The Decree Animatic from Libra Bear Vids on Vimeo

Final Project

2007-05-06T10:05:00.000-07:00

I know, it’s a bit late in the day, but I’m gonna start doing posts for my final project. We’re working with The National Gallery. The brief was simply; to choose a painting owned by The National Gallery, and do a one minute animation inspired by that painting in some way. I chose Tiepolos; An Allegory with Time and Venus. I’ve stuck quite close to the story so I can concentrate on character design and animation, but even that’s taking to long. My time management sucks. We got about 6 weeks left and I haven’t even started animating. I can’t believe the course is almost over. I still have so much to get out of my system. Hopefully, I’ll find a job that we help facilitate my personal studies. Anyway, here some designs and a bit of my story board. I’ll post my animatic later.

And Again….
Wes

Ps: I think I like Father time with the glowing eyes. He looks scary. That’s what I want, and the images from the story board is just a selection so it won’t make much sense. I’ll post the full version with the animatic.

2d, 3d Collaboration

2007-04-22T13:19:00.001-07:00

2D,3D collaboration on Vimeo
Wassup people. Started my final term last week. To ease us into what will be 2 months of stress we were given this assignment. To team up with one of the 3d students and do a short animation based on a piece of dialogue which was provided by our lecturer; Parents making a statement about their kids with the child in the background contradicting or reinforcing the statement. Eg: The parent could say something like, he’s really quiet and the child could be making a racket behind them. The idea was inspired by Nick Parks Creature Comforts.
After picking our partners, dialogue and tasks out of a hat (envelope) we got down to it. My partner was Emma (I forgot her last name, will edit it in later). She animated the parent, I did the child. The dialogue was: “We’re all a slave to her allergies.” (I personally think it sound more like, “We’re all a slave to allergies”) Our idea was to have a child itching and sneezing due to an allergic reaction to the cat she’s holding. Obviously, the cat’s no good for her, but she’s a brat, you know how some kids can be.  Steve Roberts (our lecturer) advised us to use flash as it would be easier to composite. Traditional methods would have taken to much time. I was a bit reluctant to use flash as I prefer the freedom and expressiveness of pencil and paper but our lectures are always saying, there is more flash work out there than traditional animation, so I got off my high horse  and decided to give it a go. In short, I learnt so much this week, took a while getting use to flash, I was doing everything really slowly, but I’m pleased with the results. It’s a very simple animation using lots cycles, symbols and other flash jargon, but I think flash caters for this style of movement (that’s not strictly true, I’ve seen some amazing flash work that looks like hand drawn animation). There is more I wanted to do to it like when she turns her head back after the sneeze, there’s no follow through or smear. I also wanted the snot to hit the dads shoe and drip slightly. In addition, I would have liked to have added more shadows to make her feel like she’s part of the space. The 3d element also needs to be fully rendered. And the colour changed so that that the 2d fits with the 3d better. We tried cell shading it but it didn’t come out right. If I was working by myself, I would have tried to push it to increase my understanding, but I wouldn’t have met the deadline and when I’m working with someone, I feel like I don’t want to let them down so my main concern was getting it finished. Hopefully I’ll have time to tweak it later.

And Again….
Wes
Ps I’m gonna start posting roughs for my finals, watch this space….please 

Dash

2007-04-13T14:13:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of the my course I did an older Dash in flash (no "rhyme" intended) run cycle. I did the above sketch the other week because I heard Pixar are making a Toy Story 3, TOY STORY 3??!!!! WHY?? I'd prefer and Incredibles 2. Everyones older, Violet engaged, Jack Jack learning his powers, Dash at Uni, Frozone with his first daughter or son (Ok, that might sound corny but I'm no writer). I think you could do more with the Incredibles than another Toy Story, then again, Pixar haven't messed up yet right. Lets see how it goes. Didn't wanna post old animation but what the hell. Check below.

And Again....
Wes

Ps: As usual, there's a lot I'd change about this. I'm gonna do another run in flash using symbols, same amount of frames, different character.

The Dash on Vimeo

Bruce Lee's Advice to Animators

2007-04-03T16:32:00.000-07:00

Bruce Lee, Speaks On Animation.... on Vimeo

Wassup people. Haven't blogged properly in a while. Really sorry, just had so much going on. Come April 16th, I begin my final term in St Martins. Got a lot to do. I'm off for 2 more weeks so I'm working on some things from last term as well as some experiments so, I’ll post it as soon as. In the mean time here is my second lip synch task. I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand I feel really happy with it because of how much I learnt. On the other, I feel disappointed because it’s not the animation or result I see in my head. I did this in about 6 days (conception to realisation) but I know if I had more time, it could have been better. It would take me longer than a professional to do it, weeks longer, due to lack of experience, but this animation has convinced me that I could be a decent animator. Why not right? I’m really frustrated at the moment because I have so many unanswered questions, questions that can only be answered by me. My own journey of constant practice and trial & error. But my course will be over come June and I’m worried that I won’t have the creative freedom I have now in a working environment. I feel like I’m under achieving. I guess my final film will be the make or break.

This piece is just like all the animation I’ve done, I see nothing but areas I want to improve. Acting, arcs, design, drawings the list is long, and the explanation is longer so I won’t go into it, but if you wanna know what I think, let me know. And let me know what you think and how I can improve it.

And Again….

Wes

Following is some of the development work i did.

Naked Animation

Seeing some Prince of Egypt Model sheets supplied by Paul Stone (resident animator and another teacher) gave me the idea of animating the form first. My anatomy isn't great, but it did give me some understanding of whats going on underneath. Next time, I won't do it so detailed.

Bruce Lee, Speaks On Animation....phase 02 on Vimeo

Sketches

Martial Artists Always have powerful hands so i thought it'd be a good idea to do some hand studies. I don't think I did them to well in the animation, but I'll keep at it. The first set were done from memory, the second from life.

The Master..Bruce Lee...
Jump
While I'm here, might as well tell you of the show I went to see last wednesday. Jump, Peacock Theatre in Holborn. If you like martial arts, comedy and animation, yes animation, go see this. I was so inspired, i'm gonna attempt an animated walk from the show, pics below.

Ok, I'm done now. :)

Master & Student, Rough Inbetweens....

2007-03-24T18:21:00.000-07:00

Master & Student on Vimeo

Before I say anything, This is not finished, I repeat, it is not finished. My course ends in 3 months and I still have so much I want to try out so I've decided to put this aside till I get a few things off my chest. I've only inbetweened the parts I felt I could learn something from. My main reason for doing this was to better understand the importance of inbetweens and arcs. How do you go from one key to another? The students movement is more of a straight line going from one pose to the next. The master goes from one pose and curves down to the following stance. Also the spacing and the timing effects the force of the movement. Really, i just tried to put a feeling of "difference" across. From what my class mates have said I seemed to have pulled it off. I learnt so much from doing this. Also the way I've inbetween it showed me a lot. Normally my inbetweens are more finished. I guess I can see what my boy Tim (messy timbo) was saying about focusing on movement rather than character design. It's definately the fastest I've inbetweened anything. It also means I can pick whats wrong witht he animation quickly then make the nescessary changes. If I'd laboured on the inbetweens and made mistakes, I think i would have been reluctant to change it. Another thing that made me decide to Inbetween this way was Glen Keanes lecture. (check out The Art Of Glen Keane Blog). He did a straight ahead animation with really simple drawings which had lots of energy and movement. Incredible. I definately want to try that out. In terms of this animationI also wanted to do follow through on the masters beard and the rest of his clothes. In addition I would have extended the follow through on his sleeves just so you could get a sense of a powerful force going through his body. I could go on and on about the things I'd love to add to this and the things I'd love to change to that but I have so much to look foward to. I guess thats the beauty of animation. Got some more animation to post. I've been busy so I apologise for slacking on the posts but I've got a month off uni so I have time to experiment. Watch this space!

And Again....
Wes

Warm Up

2007-03-13T16:38:00.000-07:00

Quick warm up sketch. Doing some work for my assessment on friday, been ill, lots goin on, blah blah bare with me, I'll have a lot to say on my next post....

And Again...
Wes

Lip Synch.

2007-02-19T17:56:00.000-08:00

This is my first piece of lip synch and probably my fastest piece of animation so far. Did it in a day. I don't think its great, but I can't help feeling that it wouldn't have been better if I spent a week on it. This showed me that sometimes when you take away, choice, time and all the stuff we "artists" think about, we can come up with some interesting results. More animation is coming....

And Again....
Wes

Lip_synch on Vimeo

Your not so friendly neighbour hood Spider-Man....

2007-02-14T08:35:00.000-08:00

Wassup people. Sorry I haven't blogged in a while (for those of you that care :) been busy. Lot of exciting, changes are happening in my life so I'm kind of adjusting. There's a lot I wanna post, and a lot I wanna say, bare with me, it will come. In the meantime, here is a quick-ish rendering of Spider-Man. I'm looking forward to the new movie, black costume and all, kind of wish they kept the original design though. I don't really learn much from drawing like this, but I do have a lot of fun doing it. Hope you like
And Again....
Wes

The Master guides, the student follows....

2007-01-29T15:53:00.000-08:00

As promised, the short animation which was inspired by the previous post....ok, it's not complete yet, only the thumbs and Key positions for now. I'm a bit frustrated at the moment because we only had a week to do this. The first sketch I did pumped me up so much, I really wanted to do this well, But I find it hard to move characters around when I don't "know" them. I kind of had to do a model sheet as I go along, tracing from keys positions, but that only helps a little. My friend Tim thinks its more beneficial to concentrate on the animation as this isn't a character design course. He says to keep my shapes real simple, but I know what I'm like, drawing stick figures all week will kill me. I know I can draw stick figures, but turning heads and bodys, thats the challenge (for me anyway) Guess I have to find a balance.

And Again....
Wes

Master & Student on Vimeo

Master & student keys on Vimeo

Master & Student....

2007-01-22T14:02:00.001-08:00

I haven’t done much character/ finished/ highly stylised pieces of late because I really want to concentrate on becoming a better draughtsman, and most of my work prior to now is 99.99999% comic/ character design and 0.001% life/ observational drawing (most of which is over the last 3 months). I’ve been told however that my blog is…er…ahem…a bit boring LOL. So I think I’ll start posting a healthy balance of life drawing and character work. This latest piece is for our animation task this week, character interaction. I find it helps my motivation to set the feeling of the animation with one drawing. The final animation won’t look like this, I only have a week, but it’s important to get to know the characters and believe in them. That’s what Glen Keane says anyway :)

Tried to give it a painterly feel in photoshop but colour, paints etc is not my strong point. After the course I definately want to start learning how to paint.

If I like the final animation, I might post it.

And Again....

Wes

Been Busy....

2007-01-18T18:53:00.000-08:00

....hence the big post. I’ve had a really good start to the year and feeling pumped. Hope it stays like this. Thought I’d give a quick breakdown of what I’ve been up to over the past couple weeks. After this I’m gonna discipline myself and make sure I post at least once a week.

Life Drawing at Back Hill 10th and 17th Jan 2007...

Had 2 sessions so far this year. The 1st was a real struggle. Couldn't draw. it could have been because I hadn't done it for a while, could've been I expected so much after a long break. Maybe I wasn't feeling the model. Maybe a combination of everything I just mentioned, but I know I was really frustrated so I just started drawing people round the class. Thats when I started to relax.....

The second session I really tried to put things into play. We had a good model. Very feminine figure. I was told before the holidays that I overwork my figures sometimes. So this session I really tried to look harder and find the best marks to describe the form. Also went mad with shadows coz I'm usually afraid of them. I think it's my best life drawing session so far. Our Lecturer, Maryclare, warned me to be careful of making my "handwriting" too strong. As in there is nothing wrong with style but sometimes we can loose the importance of life drawing. Loosing form with creative marks. I think she thought I was offended but what kind of a student would I be if I couldn't take constructive criticism . (Just for the record Maryclare, I appreciate all the advice you give, never worry about offending me :)

New Out & About Book...

The paper in the other one sucked LOL. This one's a lot better. I was also told I need to study faces more so I've really tried to push that but I find it reeaaaaally hard. I've noticed I seem to draw better with the animation col-erase pencils than pen. Not that I want to blame my tools LOL but the blue pencil is so comfy to draw with.

Thundercat Revamp...

Seen a lot of blogs with Thundercats re-inventions. Sean "Cheeks" Galloway is by far the best. It's a big departure but if they made a cartoon of it, I think I'd love it. It's somewhere on his blog, check it out. Anywho I thought I'd try my hand at a Thundercat but I thought I'd cross the legend with Bleach (if you dont know what bleach is I can't help you, not sure I want to either LOL). Did a few sketches and came up with a pose only to find I hated it. The figure's very stiff and lacks personality. The swords a bit crap as well. My brother hates it. Said I should create a "Blog of Shame" and post it quick LOL. I definately will to take another stab at it when my work load calms down. I'll Make Lion-O cooler and more cocky. I'll probably do "Bankai" and "Shikai" variants (please watch Bleach).

1st Major Project

This is probably the first time we've got to do real character design on the course. Last term was more about getting the mechanics of animation down, you know bouncing balls, arcs, overshoots blah blah blah :) This term is about acting and bringing characters to life. Here's some school work :)

These are the images for my storyboard. It's not 100% yet. Still needs a layout and lots of film jargon (which I'm still getting to grips with). I'm thinking of taking an eastern approach to the layout, so you read it down instead of across. Just wanna be different I guess. At the moment it's across. Don't wanna say what my story's about just yet (prefer you to guess). Sound is definately a big factor in it. In fact, the thing that makes all the noise won't be seen in the final animation (that was a clue)

Books

My Christmas present arrived to day :) :) :) yes my smile is big. Happy happy joy, joy The other 2 books I ordered because I want to study outside my subject to "inform" my subject. I'll probably talk about that another time...

phew, ok gonna go now. Till the next post people, keep striving and keep helping each other to strive.

And Again....

Wes

A Few Train Faces....

2007-01-09T13:27:00.000-08:00

Not much to say. Someone told me I talk too much (they know who they are LOL). Back at uni now, ready to go.Was told I should study faces so here they are…

And again….

Wes

Why animators shouldn't study animation....

2007-01-07T03:52:00.000-08:00

No drawings this post. Just wanted to share my thoughts on a film called (pause for effect)…..”Big” It came on TV over the Christmas holidays, channel 5 me thinks. It’s amazing to watch something in your child hood, come back years later, watch it in adulthood and look at it in the same way and yet in a completely different way. I’m studying animation, so over the last couple months I’ve tried to look at things closely, understand movement, mannerisms etc. Watching that film gave me an appreciation for why Tom Hanks is such a good actor. You can see he really studied the mannerisms of children to pull off a very believable performance. I’m not talking about the obvious things like, playing with toys or chewing with your mouth open. Little things like, lying down on his stomach watching TV and his legs are up in the air swinging behind him. The part where he's in the toy store talking to his boss continuously swinging and playing with his bag. Even when he cried it was like a child, constantly fiddling with his fingers. The greatest animators of our time repeatedly say don’t try to do animation by studying only animation because you’ll only learn mechanically techniques. I thought I understood that, but for some reason watching that film really brought home what they mean. I’ve had a lot of epiphanies lately, and I hope they keep coming.

And again….
Wes

New Year, No Fear....

2007-01-03T09:51:00.001-08:00

Thats right people, 2007 is here, hope everyone had a good time welcoming in the new year and "learning" from the old. I definately learnt alot about myself over the last 2 weeks. I've seen a lot of blogs, with so many talented, hardworking and confident artists. Realising how high the levels are out there began to affect me big time. I just started looking at my work and loathing it. Became very concious and just didn't really feel like drawing. Don't wanna go into too much detail but the b-line is, (through much soul searching) I'm glad to be me, and I like the way I draw. Don't get me wrong, this ain't self indulgence. I have so much more to learn, and need to make vast improvements before I consider myself good but I'm realising or remembering that it's important to find the things in your drawings that you do like. It's important to have confidence but not arrogance. I think me starting this blog is probably the 2nd best thing I did last year (1st doing the animation course). I'm really excited and can't wait to see who I'll be in a year. Ok, enough talk, more drawings. LET 2007 BEGIN!!!!

And again....
Wes

PS Just wanna thank Tim McCourt (for making me aware of blogs) and (Kristian Antonelli for giving me the push to actually start it) Check their blogs out....
www.kristianantonelli.blogspot.com www.messytimbo.blogspot.com

Conflicting angles and perspective on the chair methinks.....

Drew this in the X ray room at Barking Hospital, I added the greys in photoshop, got the idea from Kristian. He seems to make it look so natural and spontaneous. Anywho, I think I got some of the shadows wrong. Next time I'll take notes so I can put the shadows down properly....