Heading Forward

Just a few faces. I didn't realise until a couple of years ago how little I knew about drawing people. Copying is one thing but Construction is the key! I hadn't realise I didn't actually know how to properly construct a head. I know the proportions of the face, easy, but to draw a head from any angle, that takes practice. One of my favourite cartoonists/characturists is Mort Drucker. The awesome artist of the MAD magazine parodies. I think a person could learn alot by studying his linework. He never ceases to amaze and inspire me. Every panel he does is fantastic filled with rich detail.

Still Reading

The last week at work has been hectic, so I've had little or no time to try out any animation. I've only been left with time to read and listen on the journey home. This week I've been mostly listening to the Animation Podcast. This is an absolutely fantastic resource of interviews with Feature animators. They tell of their trials and tribulations, experiences and techniques in a crystal clear high quality audio download. I cannot recommend this series of interviews highly enough for anyone interested in Animation in any way.

I've also been having a look at Gene Deitch's website How to Succeed in Animation again an excellent chronicle from a World famous, Oscar winning animator.

It's amazing the serious amount of valuable information there is out there on the internet free of charge. All thanks to a fee very generous people who have spent a little time and effort to share the wealth of information. To all those who fall into that catagory; THANK YOU!

A little dog drawing

Links and Blogs

During these early stages of research into the world of animation I've come across some very inspiring and helpful sites and blogs. I will continue to post these links down the right of this page.
A few worth a visit (in no particular order):
The Animation Podcast
Animation Meat
Miauland
AntherWorld.com
Keith Lango.com
Gene Deitch.awn.com
All Kinds of Stuff
Inspiration Grab Bag

Retrospective 001

I've been realising more and more that I think I was born to do animation. I've always loved drawing and particularly loved Disney's animated features. At first I wanted to go into fine arts, but it was considered by many that it wasn't a lucrative enough career. My Dad warned me off graphic design because it was too competitive a market. I only wish that there had been a course in animation somewhere in Scotland or elsewhere that I could afford and I would have chased that route. It's taken me this long to follow the path back to where I originally wanted to go. But after all these years searching for a truly rewarding profession, I think I've found it. I'm ready to meet the challenge head on!

Doodles 01

Todays effort. Obviously not people watching, just trying to keep the momentum going, this enthusiasm could slump any day now, who knows. Just let the pen loose on the page. I love the feeling of a bic™ on paper. I reckon there are a log of people who don't realise the range of tone you can achieve with a pen.

Current Software

In my daily job as architectural visualiser I use 3ds Max. I'm pretty fortunate that this program has just about everything I need to create a CG animated short. There is quite a bit of information in the help files and tutorials. I've been using Max for about 6 years and I think I utilise about a tenth of it's capabilities on a daily basis. Trouble is there is so much to learn. There is character modelling, rigging; bones, wiring with controllers, skinning, texturing, and that's before you even get to move the character. Also there's various ways of animated. Use a biped (3dsMax inbuilt character, comes complete with basic walk cycles) or use your own model and like a puppet keyframe from pose to pose. I'll probably be looking at both methods of animation and since I'm not ready for the rigging, wiring, skinning aspect I'll stick to an already constructed model. I'm going to try IKJoe from Daniel Martinez Lara 's site PepeLand: http://www.daniel3d.com/

Younger Drawings

When I was a teenager I thought I was OK at drawing. Turns out I was probably just a half decent copier. It's funny how your perception of yourself changes. By taking up drawing again I'm effectively relearning how to draw; properly. Drawing from my mind has never been easy, so I'm hoping that my new look on life will improve that.

Above is an example of my drawing abilities of yore. The batman image shows my version versus the original magazine cover. I think I was 12 when I drew this. The other is a coloured pencil rendering.

Chicken Little

Saw this a couple of nights ago. Very interesting from a prospective animators point of view. It is amazing the difference between this movie Disneys first full length 3D CG feature compared to that of Pixar's. Things are even more intriguing now that Pixar and Disney have now merged. I'm very excited about what the future holds in terms of animation now that John Lasseter is CCO at Disney.

People watching

I'm currently undergoing a research phase, trying to glean as much information about the art and craft and career of animation as possible. The recurring advice is to draw as much as possible. I used to draw alot when I was younger at school, but since I've been in the working world, my drawing time has all but vanished. It's time to get back into it. So I'm presenting my first page of sketches since taking this path on the road to animation glory. This was done during 20mins of my lunchtime. Hoping to see a huge improvement as I keep practicing.

Recommended Reading

OK animation it is. Where do you start? I did a bit of research on the internet on animation in general and found repeated references to this book: Richard Williams: THE ANIMATOR'S SURVIVAL KIT. Of course with such high and varied praise I had to get it. It's packed with colourful drawings explaining the essentials of animation knowledge. I can see that this will most likely be the tarmac on my road to becoming an animator.

Introduction

This is a blog about a man on a journey. This man has decided to walk the path of the CG animator without the aid of a safetly net. Just the internet ahaha! If you want to do a course on animation it is not cheap so you have to find ways of doing it for yourself. With this blog I am hoping to chronicle my journey from a no-one to a some-one in the field of animation.

Wish me luck.