Look carefully.... You see it?
No? Look again...
Isn't that brilliant :)
Thursday, 27 May 2010
Wow
Okay, I just this made me smile with designer joy.
Look carefully.... You see it?
No? Look again...
Isn't that brilliant :)
Look carefully.... You see it?
No? Look again...
Isn't that brilliant :)
Tuesday, 25 May 2010
Fan Picnic
I really need to keep track of where I find these things. If someone wants recognisition for any of these let me know and I'll stick your name on it.
The fact that 3/4 of are fanart for some thing or another is totally coincidental. I just happened to like them for various reasons
First, some Hellboy fanart by Patricio Betteo (see last post but one for my thoughts on him) I love the use of colour on this, and the silhouette. Just check out the bulk of his body and stone hand against his tiiiiny little legs, and tell me that's not brilliant.
A Harry Potter illustration by this anonymous person
I'm assuming it's the scene from book 3 where Harry summons the Patronus. It's a very simple drawing, limited colour, and I like how it's not actually showing the action scene, but the quiet moment of builup immediately before it, leaving the actual drama to follow to the viewer's imagination.
As for this... I have no excuse, I just like how retro it is. I would never draw this way but it's interesting to see nevertheless.
And finally, something not fanart! I don't know who did this, but the 360-degree idea of it is very clever, and makes perfect sense. I printed it out to stick on my wall and spent a some minutes just turning it round and round a few times to make sure I took it all in.
The fact that 3/4 of are fanart for some thing or another is totally coincidental. I just happened to like them for various reasons
First, some Hellboy fanart by Patricio Betteo (see last post but one for my thoughts on him) I love the use of colour on this, and the silhouette. Just check out the bulk of his body and stone hand against his tiiiiny little legs, and tell me that's not brilliant.
A Harry Potter illustration by this anonymous person
I'm assuming it's the scene from book 3 where Harry summons the Patronus. It's a very simple drawing, limited colour, and I like how it's not actually showing the action scene, but the quiet moment of builup immediately before it, leaving the actual drama to follow to the viewer's imagination.
As for this... I have no excuse, I just like how retro it is. I would never draw this way but it's interesting to see nevertheless.
And finally, something not fanart! I don't know who did this, but the 360-degree idea of it is very clever, and makes perfect sense. I printed it out to stick on my wall and spent a some minutes just turning it round and round a few times to make sure I took it all in.
Smiling...
...at the work of Patricio Betteo. Question: Can he do no wrong? Answer: No, he cannot... or, wait I think that's a double negative, so... yes he can!
Anyway...
I bought his artbook 'Mirador' and it encapsulates one of the things I really enjoy about his work, his crazy lines. The book is purely black and white (and in my case came with a free lollypop!) but he's great at thinking in terms of shapes and not being afraid to stretch and bend things. Girls have huge semicircular legs and everything is built on some occasionally seriously odd shapes and proportions but it all holds together. Really interesting to look at.
The other thing is his use of colour, which is probably easier to show you than to tell you about.
He has a blog and some stuff scattered over the internet, but probably the best place to go is Patricio's deviantArt account
Anyway...
I bought his artbook 'Mirador' and it encapsulates one of the things I really enjoy about his work, his crazy lines. The book is purely black and white (and in my case came with a free lollypop!) but he's great at thinking in terms of shapes and not being afraid to stretch and bend things. Girls have huge semicircular legs and everything is built on some occasionally seriously odd shapes and proportions but it all holds together. Really interesting to look at.
The other thing is his use of colour, which is probably easier to show you than to tell you about.
He has a blog and some stuff scattered over the internet, but probably the best place to go is Patricio's deviantArt account
Handy genius
Been over at this site lately Art and Story They host podcasts, videos and article relating to techniques, tools and and bits and bobs. A lot of it is focussed around comics but knowledge is universal and there's some useful stuff in there.
This weeks 'Oh how I wish I could draw like that award' goes to Drew Struzan. I saw a review/tribute to his movie posters over on ThatGuyWithTheGlasses.com and he's done some pretty epic stuff. Not just in terms of the movies he's been hired to produce posters for (Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Back to the Future, Harry Potter, Hellboy, Blade Runner etc etc), but just the quality of it all.
He's got a great sense of cinematic layout and drama, and everytime he paints a key character not only does it physically look like them, it stands like them and conveys something of their personality, which is really what every good character drawing should do (says I, who am nowhere near understanding half of it!)
His painted posters are often far more interesting than many current posters made using photographs and computer manipulation, because he knows how to put them together.
Go oggle at him
here
This weeks 'Oh how I wish I could draw like that award' goes to Drew Struzan. I saw a review/tribute to his movie posters over on ThatGuyWithTheGlasses.com and he's done some pretty epic stuff. Not just in terms of the movies he's been hired to produce posters for (Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Back to the Future, Harry Potter, Hellboy, Blade Runner etc etc), but just the quality of it all.
He's got a great sense of cinematic layout and drama, and everytime he paints a key character not only does it physically look like them, it stands like them and conveys something of their personality, which is really what every good character drawing should do (says I, who am nowhere near understanding half of it!)
His painted posters are often far more interesting than many current posters made using photographs and computer manipulation, because he knows how to put them together.
Go oggle at him
here
Tuesday, 20 April 2010
Magic Stick!
Did these for a friends handout. They are for Levistick, a piece of juggling paraphenalia, which he is selling and wanted to give out some information with to help get people started. It's basically a stick that hangs vertically, and if you do it right it looks as if it's magically floating in midair and you can do spins and kind of dance with it.
Ok so you're unconvinced, I can see that, but it looks better than it sounds.
His specifications were 'bright and colourful', and I had about a day to knock something out, so I did these.
I can't help but feel the backgrounds are a bit of a cop-out but I was in a hurry and it's better than nothing. The guy on the right looks a bit of a ponce too; there was a more masculine looking boy as well but it didn't come out quite right so I won't post it. He just looks.... odd :)
Ok so you're unconvinced, I can see that, but it looks better than it sounds.
His specifications were 'bright and colourful', and I had about a day to knock something out, so I did these.
I can't help but feel the backgrounds are a bit of a cop-out but I was in a hurry and it's better than nothing. The guy on the right looks a bit of a ponce too; there was a more masculine looking boy as well but it didn't come out quite right so I won't post it. He just looks.... odd :)
Dragons Google Holiday
First, a little review... or more of a gush if I'm honest. I really loved this film. REALLY.
How to Train your Dragon
I went along to watch this one with 2 younger siblings, really hoping for something good -oh please let it be something good. The title was a bit childish and ..hokey is the word I think, but nevertheless I wanted to see it (Chris Sanders of Lilo & Stitch co-directing was encouraging) and it blew me out of the water, it really did. When the credits rolled I and had a huge grin plastered all over my face that stayed there for a good ten minutes after. Maybe I'm just easy to please, but then again maybe not.
For those who don't know (shame on you), the film centres around young Viking-in-training, Hiccup. He's not particularly strong, brave or beefy, all the things that his village values most and all the things that would help him make his mark in the long feud his village has with the dragons that routinely plague it. Inventive rather than violent, Hiccup manages to snag a dragon with a rope-loaded catapult of his own design but when it comes to killing the injured beast he just can't bring himself to do it. The more he observes 'Toothless', the more he realises that his new pet is more than just a vicious creature, but his friendship with the dragon clashes with his attempts to fit in with the rest of his village. Eventually of course, bigger events overtake them all and Hiccup and Toothless both have to battle in order to secure the future of both the village and the dragons.
Long story short, I was impressed. There were so many ways this story could have gone cliché but somehow it managed to shuffle round all of them and produce a film that was pretty epic for it's small scale setting, funny, sweet, dramatic and also genuinely moving. Also the soundtrack is a bit fantastic.
Story clichés were mostly avoided. Of course all the conventions were there; the misfit, the overbearing father, the comedic peer group, the feisty love interest, but none of them are overdone to the point where they become cheesy. A few celebrity voices do appear but that's not the point, which is a great note for Dreamworks and something they've struggled with in the past, where famous voice actors have been the pull rather than a strong story. Characters have dark sides, Toothless in particular is prone to being a brooding sulking beast, and I liked the fact that this film was happy to be ugly. The dragons, while being unique and brilliantly rendered, are by no means pretty. Even Toothless (whose resemblance to Sanders' previous creation, Stitch, has not gone unnoticed) is not the most graceful of animals. He's somewhere between a cat, a dog and an axolotl (google it) and his idea of cute is to sick up a fish. There's also a little twist on the ending that most other “kids films” would not have the guts to even try (Praise be to Sanders, I'm pretty sure that was his doing) that I genuinely did not see coming, but it not only saves HTTYD from a sickly-sweet ending, it also cements the friendship between the boy and the dragon in the last few moments of the film. And it's good like that. It's a strong ending, a better one for it's imprefection.
Although there are a lot of comic elements, this is not primarily a comedy film, which again makes a nice change from Dreamworks' previous offerings of Shrek et al. and Kung Fu Panda. While both a lot of fun, comedy did seem to be forming the staple of Dreamworks' animated films of late. This film is based on a relationship, and a very believable one at that. So it's a familiar pattern, but there's also a quirky edge to it which is really refreshing.
But the thing that really sold it to me was the character animation, or acting, or whatever you want to call it. It was really ...real. The characterisation of each of them was really “well seen”, as my tutors would say. Hiccup in particular is very noticeable for this; he doesn't do anything generic in terms of movement. The scene where he has to eat Toothless's fish is wonderful, just for the little gagging motion he makes after he swallows. I remember looking at it and thinking 'I do that! I make that face!' but it's not the caricatured expression you might expect from something more cartoonish, it's a real face, a real expression, and somehow it's funnier that way. Since Toothless is most definitely a wild animal and doesn't speak once (thank goodness) a lot of the dialogue in the film is done via gestures and body language, and they've really done a good job. Near the end of the film Hiccup discovers something very sad and although nobody speaks, his emotions are completely clear. Of course there are a few gags, but in the more emotionally touching moments of the film this observation and realism carries them through very well.
A note on the 3D-ness: I watched it in 3D, but within five minutes I had totally forgotten that this was the case. It's used subtley and well, there weren't any gimmicks or annoying shots where they try to poke you in the face with something. I've seen a couple of films in 3D now and I think the clincher for them all is going to be whether or not you care. I don't care that it was in 3D, and I wouldn't have cared if it was 2D either, I was too tied up in the story to notice. That said they do use it to their advantage. The flight scenes in particular were excellent -better than Avatar's in my opinion- there was a great sense of movement , speed and depth and some of the shots were wonderful, I really felt part of the ride rather than just observing, and with the first person camera mainly on the extremely dexterous Toothless, there are some pretty awesome feats to look at. He seems to be the dragon equivalent of a peregrine falcon, one of the worlds fastest and most acrobatic birds, so following him around is a lot of fun.
Think... Think of Up. It was a good, honest film that was genuine with it's emotions and just a little bit on the fantastic side. Slightly sad in parts, but all the more joyous for that. But now, rather than some light-spirited geriatric hi-jinks and talking dogs, throw in a few fire breathing lizards, some really big swords, and Actual Mortal Peril. Yeah it's your classic unlikely-friendship/coming-of-age story, but there's something just a little bit special about this one. A little bit of originality, and a thoroughly satisfying story.
I'm going to watch it again this weekend. :D
Now a change of pace. Here's some pictures by C. Billedeux, who I've been watching lately.
I have a week left of my holiday, and have I done much work? Not really no, but I think I needed the space to settle my head. I refuse to have a repeat of Semester 1 at this point in the game, so to not think about work for a week or two was a good way to recover. But I have my plan, and I have... about 5 weeks.
5 weeks.
When I realised that I nearly had a bit of a meltdown, it seems such a short amount of time, but I have to believe I can produce some good work in that time. No more small projects, but big, extensive, imaginative final pieces. That is the goal.
How to Train your Dragon
I went along to watch this one with 2 younger siblings, really hoping for something good -oh please let it be something good. The title was a bit childish and ..hokey is the word I think, but nevertheless I wanted to see it (Chris Sanders of Lilo & Stitch co-directing was encouraging) and it blew me out of the water, it really did. When the credits rolled I and had a huge grin plastered all over my face that stayed there for a good ten minutes after. Maybe I'm just easy to please, but then again maybe not.
For those who don't know (shame on you), the film centres around young Viking-in-training, Hiccup. He's not particularly strong, brave or beefy, all the things that his village values most and all the things that would help him make his mark in the long feud his village has with the dragons that routinely plague it. Inventive rather than violent, Hiccup manages to snag a dragon with a rope-loaded catapult of his own design but when it comes to killing the injured beast he just can't bring himself to do it. The more he observes 'Toothless', the more he realises that his new pet is more than just a vicious creature, but his friendship with the dragon clashes with his attempts to fit in with the rest of his village. Eventually of course, bigger events overtake them all and Hiccup and Toothless both have to battle in order to secure the future of both the village and the dragons.
Long story short, I was impressed. There were so many ways this story could have gone cliché but somehow it managed to shuffle round all of them and produce a film that was pretty epic for it's small scale setting, funny, sweet, dramatic and also genuinely moving. Also the soundtrack is a bit fantastic.
Story clichés were mostly avoided. Of course all the conventions were there; the misfit, the overbearing father, the comedic peer group, the feisty love interest, but none of them are overdone to the point where they become cheesy. A few celebrity voices do appear but that's not the point, which is a great note for Dreamworks and something they've struggled with in the past, where famous voice actors have been the pull rather than a strong story. Characters have dark sides, Toothless in particular is prone to being a brooding sulking beast, and I liked the fact that this film was happy to be ugly. The dragons, while being unique and brilliantly rendered, are by no means pretty. Even Toothless (whose resemblance to Sanders' previous creation, Stitch, has not gone unnoticed) is not the most graceful of animals. He's somewhere between a cat, a dog and an axolotl (google it) and his idea of cute is to sick up a fish. There's also a little twist on the ending that most other “kids films” would not have the guts to even try (Praise be to Sanders, I'm pretty sure that was his doing) that I genuinely did not see coming, but it not only saves HTTYD from a sickly-sweet ending, it also cements the friendship between the boy and the dragon in the last few moments of the film. And it's good like that. It's a strong ending, a better one for it's imprefection.
Although there are a lot of comic elements, this is not primarily a comedy film, which again makes a nice change from Dreamworks' previous offerings of Shrek et al. and Kung Fu Panda. While both a lot of fun, comedy did seem to be forming the staple of Dreamworks' animated films of late. This film is based on a relationship, and a very believable one at that. So it's a familiar pattern, but there's also a quirky edge to it which is really refreshing.
But the thing that really sold it to me was the character animation, or acting, or whatever you want to call it. It was really ...real. The characterisation of each of them was really “well seen”, as my tutors would say. Hiccup in particular is very noticeable for this; he doesn't do anything generic in terms of movement. The scene where he has to eat Toothless's fish is wonderful, just for the little gagging motion he makes after he swallows. I remember looking at it and thinking 'I do that! I make that face!' but it's not the caricatured expression you might expect from something more cartoonish, it's a real face, a real expression, and somehow it's funnier that way. Since Toothless is most definitely a wild animal and doesn't speak once (thank goodness) a lot of the dialogue in the film is done via gestures and body language, and they've really done a good job. Near the end of the film Hiccup discovers something very sad and although nobody speaks, his emotions are completely clear. Of course there are a few gags, but in the more emotionally touching moments of the film this observation and realism carries them through very well.
A note on the 3D-ness: I watched it in 3D, but within five minutes I had totally forgotten that this was the case. It's used subtley and well, there weren't any gimmicks or annoying shots where they try to poke you in the face with something. I've seen a couple of films in 3D now and I think the clincher for them all is going to be whether or not you care. I don't care that it was in 3D, and I wouldn't have cared if it was 2D either, I was too tied up in the story to notice. That said they do use it to their advantage. The flight scenes in particular were excellent -better than Avatar's in my opinion- there was a great sense of movement , speed and depth and some of the shots were wonderful, I really felt part of the ride rather than just observing, and with the first person camera mainly on the extremely dexterous Toothless, there are some pretty awesome feats to look at. He seems to be the dragon equivalent of a peregrine falcon, one of the worlds fastest and most acrobatic birds, so following him around is a lot of fun.
Think... Think of Up. It was a good, honest film that was genuine with it's emotions and just a little bit on the fantastic side. Slightly sad in parts, but all the more joyous for that. But now, rather than some light-spirited geriatric hi-jinks and talking dogs, throw in a few fire breathing lizards, some really big swords, and Actual Mortal Peril. Yeah it's your classic unlikely-friendship/coming-of-age story, but there's something just a little bit special about this one. A little bit of originality, and a thoroughly satisfying story.
I'm going to watch it again this weekend. :D
Now a change of pace. Here's some pictures by C. Billedeux, who I've been watching lately.
I have a week left of my holiday, and have I done much work? Not really no, but I think I needed the space to settle my head. I refuse to have a repeat of Semester 1 at this point in the game, so to not think about work for a week or two was a good way to recover. But I have my plan, and I have... about 5 weeks.
5 weeks.
When I realised that I nearly had a bit of a meltdown, it seems such a short amount of time, but I have to believe I can produce some good work in that time. No more small projects, but big, extensive, imaginative final pieces. That is the goal.
Sunday, 28 March 2010
Good Advice Juggling Camera
Lovecraft is Missing by Larry Latham. A very well put together webcomic (still in progress but a good number of pages). Loads of suspense and some great character development. But if you go to the blog section there is also some very helpful advice on things that ought to be common sense, but always seem to get forgotten -storytelling, colour theory, useful things like that.
Turns out HE cant draw straight lines EITHER! And he really cant, he has a shaky hand. I checked through the whole thing and, unlike Thompson who does them anyway despite hating them, not a building in there is entirely straight! It's just using your quirks as part of your style.
I'm feeling a bit uninspired. We've just finished for Easter, and the week before a holiday is always mental. There are a hundred things you need to do and it seems like none of them are work related. Plus I managed to get my days muddled and miss my tutorial. Well done Michelle. So now I'm just pooped, and would like to a) have a break whilst b) still get lots of work done. Hmmmm...
Been sitting up late doing some little character drawings based around Chocfest which was a week or two ago, and is a kind of amalgamation of two of my favourite things, chocolate and juggling. It was a good day, although I spent most of it bemoaning my lack of a decent camera. Still I managed these, which aren't tooooo awful.
It's a beautiful place, the sun was out and the atmosphere amongst a group of common-minded people all enjoying the same weird hobby is always lovely. I just wish my camera wasn't so prone to blur, even simple shots seem to much for it, it has no focus at all, and it either makes everything very grey or very very yellow-like in those three above. None of the people shots I took on it were really worthy, these two shots of Selby Abbey were the only ones without any significant blur, but that's only because nothing is moving!... but then I nicked my friends super-awesome Nikon camera with the telespcoping focus and fared rather better, although he's not put half the pictures I took up on Facebook so I cant post them here.
I know they say a bad workman blames his toold but not in this case. It was an awesome camera and I got some great shots, mostly of people I know who might object to me showing them here. But yeah, I meet a lot of interesting looking people, so I figured I should draw some of them. If they come out ok I'll put them up.
Turns out HE cant draw straight lines EITHER! And he really cant, he has a shaky hand. I checked through the whole thing and, unlike Thompson who does them anyway despite hating them, not a building in there is entirely straight! It's just using your quirks as part of your style.
I'm feeling a bit uninspired. We've just finished for Easter, and the week before a holiday is always mental. There are a hundred things you need to do and it seems like none of them are work related. Plus I managed to get my days muddled and miss my tutorial. Well done Michelle. So now I'm just pooped, and would like to a) have a break whilst b) still get lots of work done. Hmmmm...
Been sitting up late doing some little character drawings based around Chocfest which was a week or two ago, and is a kind of amalgamation of two of my favourite things, chocolate and juggling. It was a good day, although I spent most of it bemoaning my lack of a decent camera. Still I managed these, which aren't tooooo awful.
It's a beautiful place, the sun was out and the atmosphere amongst a group of common-minded people all enjoying the same weird hobby is always lovely. I just wish my camera wasn't so prone to blur, even simple shots seem to much for it, it has no focus at all, and it either makes everything very grey or very very yellow-like in those three above. None of the people shots I took on it were really worthy, these two shots of Selby Abbey were the only ones without any significant blur, but that's only because nothing is moving!... but then I nicked my friends super-awesome Nikon camera with the telespcoping focus and fared rather better, although he's not put half the pictures I took up on Facebook so I cant post them here.
I know they say a bad workman blames his toold but not in this case. It was an awesome camera and I got some great shots, mostly of people I know who might object to me showing them here. But yeah, I meet a lot of interesting looking people, so I figured I should draw some of them. If they come out ok I'll put them up.
Anonymously footwear
I seriously need to start writing people's names down when I find images I like. Normally I just save them on the fly and sort them out later, but then I never know who to credit.
Also, some BEAUTIFUL sneakers:
Princess Leia SneakersThese are the Princess Leia Sneakers, apparently designed around that slave costume she wears, you know when she's in Jabba's Palac in RotJ. The rest of the outfit is more or less a bronze bikini, but are these shoes not GORGEOUS.
Welcome to the Jungle
...and now I have that song in my head.
From 'Gungle', by someone who only gives his(/her) initials, which are W.J.C.
Simple, angular, scribbly drawings, cel-coloured by computer with textures... so more or less how I am trying to let myself draw. There's a Flickr page full of these called 100 days in the Gungle and I daresay there's a book about too.
Other random finds include:
Dr Who Comic cover art
More Scuba Diving (I had a phase on my Tumblr with scuba diving. I don't know why, there was just loads of great scuba-themed art at once) I like all the layers to it, the depth it has.
and something from A Softer World which I like a lot, in that quietly but contentedly aware/sardonic and bitterly funny kind of way.
From 'Gungle', by someone who only gives his(/her) initials, which are W.J.C.
Simple, angular, scribbly drawings, cel-coloured by computer with textures... so more or less how I am trying to let myself draw. There's a Flickr page full of these called 100 days in the Gungle and I daresay there's a book about too.
Other random finds include:
Dr Who Comic cover art
More Scuba Diving (I had a phase on my Tumblr with scuba diving. I don't know why, there was just loads of great scuba-themed art at once) I like all the layers to it, the depth it has.
and something from A Softer World which I like a lot, in that quietly but contentedly aware/sardonic and bitterly funny kind of way.
Tuesday, 16 March 2010
A fellow straight-line hater
Turns out even Craig Thompson hates drawing buildings.
Doot Doot Garden Blog
Although he still does them, perspective and everything. I guess this means I have no excuse.
I have never been taught how to do decent perspective in my whole educational life. I guess this is one more thing I need to go find out how to do. Research!
Doot Doot Garden Blog
Although he still does them, perspective and everything. I guess this means I have no excuse.
I have never been taught how to do decent perspective in my whole educational life. I guess this is one more thing I need to go find out how to do. Research!
Jemma said...
I remember what it was. It was that I need to try drawing bigger -that is, images with more bits in them, more people, more objects, whatever.
Possibly I forgot that bit because it unnerves me somewhat.
She's right though. I can't explain exactly what it is about the idea of big images that still makes me nervous but I think maybe this is my last hurdle. I was doing big things, well big Thing, in semester 1, and it failed. I guess there's still some bad emotions attached to that thing (I've not watched it since, I know I wasn't happy with it) and it wasn't the fault of the project for *being* big, but it certainly didn't make anything any easier for me on top of everything else.
Even with those connotations aside, a big thing requires an investment of time so there's more pressure for it to work, and I still have that little niggle that says 'Yeah you can draw 1 original character, yeah you can draw 2, but can you draw 3? 3's pushing it a bit, your proportions are getting sloppy and one of them isn't as good. 4? We're running out of poses on 4, and this has all taken a while, are you sure this idea is going to hold water? 5... and so on. The idea of doing 20 people in one drawing does scare me a bit, but this is the level my class are on, so I need to push up. Fred (I think it was Fred... no it wasn't, who was it? Stephen! It was Stephen) Stephen did this one project that was a map of about a dozen major landmarks in London. That kind of thing, on that scale, doesn't give me a full scale freak-out any more but it does still make me feel quite insecure. But then I see Paul Duffield go do this:
and I wish I had the guts to do something with that many people, and I proper background. I'm getting there. I'm a lot closer than I was before, but it's a risk. It's not certain, it's not 'safe', and I need to stop being safe.
Maybe it's all in the planning. Do a neater plan than I usually like to do, so I know exactly what is going where (a way of working I like less since I had repeating myself, but maybe it's a necessary evil) and then break it down into sections. Do one bit at a time, and build it up in small and maneagable chunks.
That's doable. It'll take longer but I can do that.
Aaaaand breathe.....
And proceed.
Also Jemma says play with inks and other media (I still dislike collage). I've not really painted anything since Alastair critiqued something of mine a bit strongly near the end of Part B, and it kind of blew my confidence with that too, but I did like painting things before -I was quite a scruffy painter, neat lines but rough areas of colour. I've not done that since either but that was a while ago. I think I was so worried about doing 'a good drawing' back then that I let it tighten me up too much. Maybe I should try that again too...
Maybe I should stop waffling about it and just do it!
Maybe I will.
...
Possibly I forgot that bit because it unnerves me somewhat.
She's right though. I can't explain exactly what it is about the idea of big images that still makes me nervous but I think maybe this is my last hurdle. I was doing big things, well big Thing, in semester 1, and it failed. I guess there's still some bad emotions attached to that thing (I've not watched it since, I know I wasn't happy with it) and it wasn't the fault of the project for *being* big, but it certainly didn't make anything any easier for me on top of everything else.
Even with those connotations aside, a big thing requires an investment of time so there's more pressure for it to work, and I still have that little niggle that says 'Yeah you can draw 1 original character, yeah you can draw 2, but can you draw 3? 3's pushing it a bit, your proportions are getting sloppy and one of them isn't as good. 4? We're running out of poses on 4, and this has all taken a while, are you sure this idea is going to hold water? 5... and so on. The idea of doing 20 people in one drawing does scare me a bit, but this is the level my class are on, so I need to push up. Fred (I think it was Fred... no it wasn't, who was it? Stephen! It was Stephen) Stephen did this one project that was a map of about a dozen major landmarks in London. That kind of thing, on that scale, doesn't give me a full scale freak-out any more but it does still make me feel quite insecure. But then I see Paul Duffield go do this:
and I wish I had the guts to do something with that many people, and I proper background. I'm getting there. I'm a lot closer than I was before, but it's a risk. It's not certain, it's not 'safe', and I need to stop being safe.
Maybe it's all in the planning. Do a neater plan than I usually like to do, so I know exactly what is going where (a way of working I like less since I had repeating myself, but maybe it's a necessary evil) and then break it down into sections. Do one bit at a time, and build it up in small and maneagable chunks.
That's doable. It'll take longer but I can do that.
Aaaaand breathe.....
And proceed.
Also Jemma says play with inks and other media (I still dislike collage). I've not really painted anything since Alastair critiqued something of mine a bit strongly near the end of Part B, and it kind of blew my confidence with that too, but I did like painting things before -I was quite a scruffy painter, neat lines but rough areas of colour. I've not done that since either but that was a while ago. I think I was so worried about doing 'a good drawing' back then that I let it tighten me up too much. Maybe I should try that again too...
Maybe I should stop waffling about it and just do it!
Maybe I will.
...
Monday, 15 March 2010
Renovate
After about 4 hours of teaching myself rudimentary blogspot-related html code so that I can locate the one line of code necessary to beat this template (the only one I can actually put up with as my template) into submission on an elemental level... "Aaah! That looks little better." Still haven't quite got a background figured out, but at least this place looks a bit less generic now. And a bit more like a beach. So yay for that.
I'm pretty sure I have the hexidecimal chart memorised by now. Quiz me. I dare you.
Note to self, learn Dreamweaver sometime in the near future.
I'm pretty sure I have the hexidecimal chart memorised by now. Quiz me. I dare you.
Note to self, learn Dreamweaver sometime in the near future.
Formative Library Future
Hmm, it occurs to me that I should post more of my work up here. Problem is I don't really like the way blogs display images. Also I like having this place mainly for writing and linking to things other people have done, since so much of my world is full of my own work right now. Maybe if I decorated this place a bit more, put some wallpaper up, moved in some furniture, I'd feel more like hanging some pictures.
Had Formative Tutorials today, which was a pretty pain free experience. Me and Jemma seem to agree on my work, which is good, and the thing we agree on is this:
- I have made a successful recovery from Semester 1, am producing a decent amount of work, and it is of a decent quality if a little safe. This period has mainly been about me building my confidence back up, proving to myself I can still draw and come up with good ideas. And it has been successful in that respect. HOWEVER...
- Having proven this, I mustn't rest on my laurels. Yes I have shown I can do better than I did in Semester 1, but really that wouldn't be hard to do since it was pretty awful :) Now I have product work that is 'okay', that is my new minimum benchmark. The work for the second half of this semester should build on that and even the worst bits I do from now on should be at least at the level. The rest should be better.
To make this happen I should:
-Stick to this pattern of having a slightly large project in the background, which I flit in and out of in order to do smaller projects, generally about a week long. This stops the big scary things getting too big and scary. For the little things Jemma suggests some adult editorial work, maybe from magazine articles. I think this sounds good- I did an editorial illustration for Label as a kind of test for myself, and it went okay so something with a bit more sophisticated and imaginative scope would be good and help me think about my audience. Short things are good, because if they go wrong it doesn't matter.
- Do an evalutation after Easter of what are my best bits of work. Work out what is good about them and use those things as guidelines for producing future work.
-... I think there was something else but I maybe have forgotten what it was. I guess I'll find out when she sends the form through but I wanted to get this down while it's still clear in my mind.
On a final note - I went to the Library the other day to return 3 books, and came out with 6! I always do this!! They aren't even related, or clever or anything. One of them is a semi-reasonable story about 6 friends having mid-life crises. Why can't I just pick up something decent, like a Hemmingway or a Lewis or something? My appetite for books is such that I'll eat pretty much anything! *sigh* I did grab 2 Haruki Murakami's though, so that kind of makes up for it I guess.
Also, finally found a video of the 2010 Winter Olympics sting. What a cool advert! (I realise that's not the best analysis in the world, but it is very cool!)
It's one of those things that I look at and wish I could do one day. Bits of it I'm not even sure how they did it, it looks like 3D shapes that have been cel-coloured to appear flat, Galactic Football style.
My housemate Laura is doing a project on space and keeps blowing my mind with all these amazing things. Last night we watched a dvd over dinner about all the amazing stuff there is in space, and just how tiny we really are. Makes you think a lot.
Had Formative Tutorials today, which was a pretty pain free experience. Me and Jemma seem to agree on my work, which is good, and the thing we agree on is this:
- I have made a successful recovery from Semester 1, am producing a decent amount of work, and it is of a decent quality if a little safe. This period has mainly been about me building my confidence back up, proving to myself I can still draw and come up with good ideas. And it has been successful in that respect. HOWEVER...
- Having proven this, I mustn't rest on my laurels. Yes I have shown I can do better than I did in Semester 1, but really that wouldn't be hard to do since it was pretty awful :) Now I have product work that is 'okay', that is my new minimum benchmark. The work for the second half of this semester should build on that and even the worst bits I do from now on should be at least at the level. The rest should be better.
To make this happen I should:
-Stick to this pattern of having a slightly large project in the background, which I flit in and out of in order to do smaller projects, generally about a week long. This stops the big scary things getting too big and scary. For the little things Jemma suggests some adult editorial work, maybe from magazine articles. I think this sounds good- I did an editorial illustration for Label as a kind of test for myself, and it went okay so something with a bit more sophisticated and imaginative scope would be good and help me think about my audience. Short things are good, because if they go wrong it doesn't matter.
- Do an evalutation after Easter of what are my best bits of work. Work out what is good about them and use those things as guidelines for producing future work.
-... I think there was something else but I maybe have forgotten what it was. I guess I'll find out when she sends the form through but I wanted to get this down while it's still clear in my mind.
On a final note - I went to the Library the other day to return 3 books, and came out with 6! I always do this!! They aren't even related, or clever or anything. One of them is a semi-reasonable story about 6 friends having mid-life crises. Why can't I just pick up something decent, like a Hemmingway or a Lewis or something? My appetite for books is such that I'll eat pretty much anything! *sigh* I did grab 2 Haruki Murakami's though, so that kind of makes up for it I guess.
Also, finally found a video of the 2010 Winter Olympics sting. What a cool advert! (I realise that's not the best analysis in the world, but it is very cool!)
It's one of those things that I look at and wish I could do one day. Bits of it I'm not even sure how they did it, it looks like 3D shapes that have been cel-coloured to appear flat, Galactic Football style.
My housemate Laura is doing a project on space and keeps blowing my mind with all these amazing things. Last night we watched a dvd over dinner about all the amazing stuff there is in space, and just how tiny we really are. Makes you think a lot.
Tuesday, 2 March 2010
Webcomics
By which I mean mostly non-published work done by individuals in their own evenings after work. I am currently lurking around several of them.
Freakangels- by Paul Duffield. http://www.freakangels.com/?p=23 Set in some future where London is flooding, breaking it up into small communities, a group of psychics that share what they refer to as 'the package' are attempting to make a home for themselves amongst the ruins and wreckage (which they probably caused.) It's a good story, simple layout to read and although Paul's faces do bug me on occasion the range of characters is refreshing enough that I'm still following it. Updates every Friday.
Hanna is not a boy's name- by Tessa Stone. http://hanna.aftertorque.com/?p=4 LOVE this. The way it's set out, the format of the pages, the drawings, it's all interesting down to the little details and textures. The creator works in landscape pages rather than portrait, and everything is nicely thought out. The story is not so unusual -supernatural detective attempts to save the world from evil while making a buck -not that they have any success with that- but the characters really hold it up. The nerdish, over-enthusiastic Hanna (wielding his literally Magic Marker) is a joy to watch, backed up by some equally excellent characters like seedy physician Doc Worth and '...', the mild-mannered zombie who narrates the comic. This is just... it's just FUN. Updates whenever.
The less than epic adventures of TJ and Amal- by E.K. Weaver. http://tjandamal.com/
The art got me onto this one, the drawings really are fantastic. Simply done but really well observed in terms of character traits.
In just one day Amal manages to break off his arranged marriage, come out to his traditional Indian parents, get disowned, and then get very very drunk... He comes round next morning to find TJ, “a lanky, dreadlocked vagrant, frying eggs and singing Paul Simon in his kitchen”. He discovers that while drunk he agreed to give said pasty vagrant a lift to Providence, a mutual destination, and they set off. I suspect some kind of romance will emerge later on but for now it's a classic roadtrip story with some very funny observations about life and stuff. I like it :) Updates every Tuesday.
Dead don't hurry- by “Inkless” http://inkless.deviantart.com/art/Full-DDH-154711112
Okay, so this is one short comic rather than an ongoing one, but I think it's lovely. The story is sombre and charming.
The Dreamwalker Chronicles- by Daryl Toh http://dreamwalkerchronicles.smackjeeves.com/comics/505404/box-full-of-tales-volume-one-cover/
Based around Native American myth, this tells the story of teenager Kyle, and his travels with a young boy who reminds him of someone he knows, except that he has a box for a head.
Broken Saints- http://www.brokensaints.com/
I found this about 5 years ago. Although my good memories of it may just be nostalgia, I was very impressed by the scale if nothing else. I'm pretty sure the whole story adds up to 24 hours of flash video, done mostly with sound-tracked still images, very little movement at all. Four people from different corners of the world are slowly drawn together by a signal, a repeating sign that travels across the globe. When I watched it there was no audible dialogue, only background music. Since then voices have been added, and actually I think that this is the only thing that lets it down. I preferred it before.
Spera- http://spera-comic.com/ray2.html
This is a great idea. Different artists get given chunks of the story and do a few pages of it in comic form. The variations in style and pacing can be quite dramatic and also the story seems to be unfurling quite slowly it's a nice process to watch.
Freakangels- by Paul Duffield. http://www.freakangels.com/?p=23 Set in some future where London is flooding, breaking it up into small communities, a group of psychics that share what they refer to as 'the package' are attempting to make a home for themselves amongst the ruins and wreckage (which they probably caused.) It's a good story, simple layout to read and although Paul's faces do bug me on occasion the range of characters is refreshing enough that I'm still following it. Updates every Friday.
Hanna is not a boy's name- by Tessa Stone. http://hanna.aftertorque.com/?p=4 LOVE this. The way it's set out, the format of the pages, the drawings, it's all interesting down to the little details and textures. The creator works in landscape pages rather than portrait, and everything is nicely thought out. The story is not so unusual -supernatural detective attempts to save the world from evil while making a buck -not that they have any success with that- but the characters really hold it up. The nerdish, over-enthusiastic Hanna (wielding his literally Magic Marker) is a joy to watch, backed up by some equally excellent characters like seedy physician Doc Worth and '...', the mild-mannered zombie who narrates the comic. This is just... it's just FUN. Updates whenever.
The less than epic adventures of TJ and Amal- by E.K. Weaver. http://tjandamal.com/
The art got me onto this one, the drawings really are fantastic. Simply done but really well observed in terms of character traits.
In just one day Amal manages to break off his arranged marriage, come out to his traditional Indian parents, get disowned, and then get very very drunk... He comes round next morning to find TJ, “a lanky, dreadlocked vagrant, frying eggs and singing Paul Simon in his kitchen”. He discovers that while drunk he agreed to give said pasty vagrant a lift to Providence, a mutual destination, and they set off. I suspect some kind of romance will emerge later on but for now it's a classic roadtrip story with some very funny observations about life and stuff. I like it :) Updates every Tuesday.
Dead don't hurry- by “Inkless” http://inkless.deviantart.com/art/Full-DDH-154711112
Okay, so this is one short comic rather than an ongoing one, but I think it's lovely. The story is sombre and charming.
The Dreamwalker Chronicles- by Daryl Toh http://dreamwalkerchronicles.smackjeeves.com/comics/505404/box-full-of-tales-volume-one-cover/
Based around Native American myth, this tells the story of teenager Kyle, and his travels with a young boy who reminds him of someone he knows, except that he has a box for a head.
Broken Saints- http://www.brokensaints.com/
I found this about 5 years ago. Although my good memories of it may just be nostalgia, I was very impressed by the scale if nothing else. I'm pretty sure the whole story adds up to 24 hours of flash video, done mostly with sound-tracked still images, very little movement at all. Four people from different corners of the world are slowly drawn together by a signal, a repeating sign that travels across the globe. When I watched it there was no audible dialogue, only background music. Since then voices have been added, and actually I think that this is the only thing that lets it down. I preferred it before.
Spera- http://spera-comic.com/ray2.html
This is a great idea. Different artists get given chunks of the story and do a few pages of it in comic form. The variations in style and pacing can be quite dramatic and also the story seems to be unfurling quite slowly it's a nice process to watch.
Monday, 1 March 2010
Here we go again
It's going to be good this time. Everything's a lot better, I really want to do my best and get some good work out, and a lot more of it. I feel I have time to make up.
So far... well mostly I've been reading. I miss reading, so I've been doing a bit more of it.
Books
Life of Pi - Yann Martel - This was a title we could have picked for a project in Part B, but I didnt do it. I finally got to read it though, and it's great! I mean really, it is an excellent book and the imagery is really clear and vivid. It's one of those things where the narrators voice is so unique and individual that you really do see what they're describing.
The Diary of Anne Frank - Again something I've been meaning to read for a while now. It's strange to read the account of a teenage girl, her first crushes, her strops, how no one really understands her, how much she dislikes her mother, while all the time you're watching the dates at the top of each diary entry, feeling less and less pages in your right hand as you reach the end of the book, knowing what will happen to her once it ends. I wonder when it's going to stop, obviously she can't account the Annexe's discovery by the Nazi's, so will it just stop on a normal day? Will Anne be describing doing the washing up, or peeling some potatoes? Will she note what the weather is like outside? Very disconcerting in some ways, but a good thing to read in it's own way.
Why there almost certainly is a God - Keith Ward - A counter-arguement to one of Dawkins conjectures. Fascinating in all it's detail and mind-blowing science, but also pretty understandable. Ward basically sees belief in God as not only reasonable but rational and logical, and he goes about explaining why. Even though I've still not got round to finishing it, this book was a key part of me coming back onto the map at the end of last semester. It's nice to know that insanely clever people believe in God too, especially when a lot of other people seem to think you are daft for doing it, which can be very discouraging on a low day.
The Pressure's Off - Larry Crabb - Has totally challenged the way I see the world, and I'm only on chapter 2!
The Red Canary - Tim Birkhead - A gift from a friend. Who would have thought that the eugenics of canary breeding could be so interesting! No, I'm actually being serious.
The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffeneger - Re-reading it actually. I leant my sister my 3 year old copy when the film came out, and now I'm reading it again. Bizarrely I took it with me on our Part B trip to Chicago, not realising it was set there, and kept being surprised by references in the book to places I'd been that day! It's happening again now I'm watching Prison Break (which is fantastic by the way! Really gripping) which is mostly aet around Chicago for season one. I keep thinking things like "That looks like the waterfront by the Aquarium..." "I've been on that ride at Navy Pier!" and "That looks an awful lot like Wabash Ave."
Comics/Graphic Novels
Alice in Sunderland - Bryan Talbot - Heard good things about it, but honestly I was underwhelmed by it. Some parts were good, and it's a nice approach to your run-of-the-mill guidebook, but I found myself bored a lot of the time, it seemed very long and I resent that he used filtered photographs for the majority of the backgrounds. BAD Photoshop filter.
God Save the Queen - Mike Carey and John Bolton - Liked this one. Nice and weird, although the main character is a tad obnoxious. The art was good, although some of it was clearly filtered photos they were then retraced, worked into or recoloured managing to make me not mind. Quite a nice simple story, in which a teenage girl learns that taking drugs is bad for you, and her mother is secretly kick-ass.
Hellblazer: Empathy is the enemy - Denise Mina - After enjoying the film (seems an odd choice for me but it's not really about religion at all, like how Life of Brian and Dogma aren't really about religion, it's a basic logic-trap plot, and I like those) depsite/because of that oddly loveable wet blanket Keanu Reeves taking everything far to seriously as usual, I wanted to read a Hellblazer. I liked it. Didn't blow my mind with awesome, but it was well done, well drawn and intruguing enough to keep me sticking with it.
Blankets - Craig Thompson - Re-read, for the upteenth time. All hail birthday money from Grandparents that lets me buy these massive things. The story is sweet, thoughtful and melancholy, and something about the economy of line he uses I love. It's so simple, yet elegant which gives me hope for my own drawings. Plus it's good to know that someone else understands the trials of 'Christian camp'!
Skim - Mariko and Jillian Tamaki - (yes they are related). This graphic novel is a bit charming, and deals with the first romance of the half-Japanese overweight emo-wiccan-artist social outcast Kim, known as Skim. Understated, quirky, and great.
...
You know what, I'll save the rest for next time.
So far... well mostly I've been reading. I miss reading, so I've been doing a bit more of it.
Books
Life of Pi - Yann Martel - This was a title we could have picked for a project in Part B, but I didnt do it. I finally got to read it though, and it's great! I mean really, it is an excellent book and the imagery is really clear and vivid. It's one of those things where the narrators voice is so unique and individual that you really do see what they're describing.
The Diary of Anne Frank - Again something I've been meaning to read for a while now. It's strange to read the account of a teenage girl, her first crushes, her strops, how no one really understands her, how much she dislikes her mother, while all the time you're watching the dates at the top of each diary entry, feeling less and less pages in your right hand as you reach the end of the book, knowing what will happen to her once it ends. I wonder when it's going to stop, obviously she can't account the Annexe's discovery by the Nazi's, so will it just stop on a normal day? Will Anne be describing doing the washing up, or peeling some potatoes? Will she note what the weather is like outside? Very disconcerting in some ways, but a good thing to read in it's own way.
Why there almost certainly is a God - Keith Ward - A counter-arguement to one of Dawkins conjectures. Fascinating in all it's detail and mind-blowing science, but also pretty understandable. Ward basically sees belief in God as not only reasonable but rational and logical, and he goes about explaining why. Even though I've still not got round to finishing it, this book was a key part of me coming back onto the map at the end of last semester. It's nice to know that insanely clever people believe in God too, especially when a lot of other people seem to think you are daft for doing it, which can be very discouraging on a low day.
The Pressure's Off - Larry Crabb - Has totally challenged the way I see the world, and I'm only on chapter 2!
The Red Canary - Tim Birkhead - A gift from a friend. Who would have thought that the eugenics of canary breeding could be so interesting! No, I'm actually being serious.
The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffeneger - Re-reading it actually. I leant my sister my 3 year old copy when the film came out, and now I'm reading it again. Bizarrely I took it with me on our Part B trip to Chicago, not realising it was set there, and kept being surprised by references in the book to places I'd been that day! It's happening again now I'm watching Prison Break (which is fantastic by the way! Really gripping) which is mostly aet around Chicago for season one. I keep thinking things like "That looks like the waterfront by the Aquarium..." "I've been on that ride at Navy Pier!" and "That looks an awful lot like Wabash Ave."
Comics/Graphic Novels
Alice in Sunderland - Bryan Talbot - Heard good things about it, but honestly I was underwhelmed by it. Some parts were good, and it's a nice approach to your run-of-the-mill guidebook, but I found myself bored a lot of the time, it seemed very long and I resent that he used filtered photographs for the majority of the backgrounds. BAD Photoshop filter.
God Save the Queen - Mike Carey and John Bolton - Liked this one. Nice and weird, although the main character is a tad obnoxious. The art was good, although some of it was clearly filtered photos they were then retraced, worked into or recoloured managing to make me not mind. Quite a nice simple story, in which a teenage girl learns that taking drugs is bad for you, and her mother is secretly kick-ass.
Hellblazer: Empathy is the enemy - Denise Mina - After enjoying the film (seems an odd choice for me but it's not really about religion at all, like how Life of Brian and Dogma aren't really about religion, it's a basic logic-trap plot, and I like those) depsite/because of that oddly loveable wet blanket Keanu Reeves taking everything far to seriously as usual, I wanted to read a Hellblazer. I liked it. Didn't blow my mind with awesome, but it was well done, well drawn and intruguing enough to keep me sticking with it.
Blankets - Craig Thompson - Re-read, for the upteenth time. All hail birthday money from Grandparents that lets me buy these massive things. The story is sweet, thoughtful and melancholy, and something about the economy of line he uses I love. It's so simple, yet elegant which gives me hope for my own drawings. Plus it's good to know that someone else understands the trials of 'Christian camp'!
Skim - Mariko and Jillian Tamaki - (yes they are related). This graphic novel is a bit charming, and deals with the first romance of the half-Japanese overweight emo-wiccan-artist social outcast Kim, known as Skim. Understated, quirky, and great.
...
You know what, I'll save the rest for next time.
Thursday, 14 January 2010
End of semester 1
My last post on here was back in November, when I was still managing to hold things together. About a week/week-and-a-half later I kind of fell off the reservation for a while -it's been a difficult.. year actually. I wasn't expecting everything to dissolve so dramatically but it did and I suppose there's not much I can do about it now but I don't want to think about that any more.
So, before the marks come in I want think about what I've done this semester. I've managed 2 projects... and, honestly?
1) Scottish book trust sting (Book that changed my life): It's done 50-ish seconds long in total, using the song 'Fireflies' by Owl City (which I found before the single appeared on Radio 1, I'd like to point out). Quicktime STILL wont play it in it's proper proportions, and it's... It's okay. Good, not great, could have done better -well maybe couldn't have under the circumstances but still feel like I SHOULD have done better, somehow. I don't know, it's alright, I don't hate it but... meh. I don't think it's up to scratch.
I enjoyed editing the soundtrack. I'm good at that anyway.
2) LUSAD Christmas card competition: I like this one. It's not amazingly clever, and it's not going in a gallery anytime soon, but I still think it's a nice image. Could have put more snow on it though, doesn't look wintery enough after the weather we've been having -but then how much snow do we usually get anyway? This year was a bit of a fluke.
Next semester?: I don't know. I feel at the moment that I don't really like anything I draw 'properly', only my stupid little scribbles, and that I failed at animation and I don't know what I want. I don't know what I'm good at, I know I have to be good at something. You know what, that's enough of this. I'm not going to be self-pitying on a blog.
The end.
So, before the marks come in I want think about what I've done this semester. I've managed 2 projects... and, honestly?
1) Scottish book trust sting (Book that changed my life): It's done 50-ish seconds long in total, using the song 'Fireflies' by Owl City (which I found before the single appeared on Radio 1, I'd like to point out). Quicktime STILL wont play it in it's proper proportions, and it's... It's okay. Good, not great, could have done better -well maybe couldn't have under the circumstances but still feel like I SHOULD have done better, somehow. I don't know, it's alright, I don't hate it but... meh. I don't think it's up to scratch.
I enjoyed editing the soundtrack. I'm good at that anyway.
2) LUSAD Christmas card competition: I like this one. It's not amazingly clever, and it's not going in a gallery anytime soon, but I still think it's a nice image. Could have put more snow on it though, doesn't look wintery enough after the weather we've been having -but then how much snow do we usually get anyway? This year was a bit of a fluke.
Next semester?: I don't know. I feel at the moment that I don't really like anything I draw 'properly', only my stupid little scribbles, and that I failed at animation and I don't know what I want. I don't know what I'm good at, I know I have to be good at something. You know what, that's enough of this. I'm not going to be self-pitying on a blog.
The end.
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