Space fox

I like it when I really get into a project... the day before it's due. This is Space Fox. He's like a mexican space cowboy, and on critique everyone said I needed to add the sombrero because... why not.

Cool story: right after I took my shots this little guy got tipped over and his helmet shattered, his rocket pack fell off, half of his sombrero fell off, and he was already barely keeping it together because I put this sculpey thing back in the oven like a newb and he got soft again. Sheesh. It was good times, though. I especially liked building up the background.

One more final to go!

Lemurs

                                                                      LEMURSSSS.

Don Cajones

Somewhere in Florida, in an art school whose name I do not care to remember, a class of very sleepy freshmen were assigned a project in which they had to create a room for a famous character. My list of potential characters included Don Draper, Donald Duck, and Don Quixote. I went with the last one, and thought, wouldn't it be neat is he was actually INSIDE the windmill as he was battling it?! I thought that was a great idea until I actually had to draw it out, and then I died. I'm ok now, though.

 As with most of my paint-things, the optimal viewing distance is four to five feet away. Because I rely on optical blending to make up for messy brush work. 

PROCESS STUFFFFFF:

My grandpa actually drew a wind mill for me! I think he knows everything.

In my head I was like, WHY DON'T ANY OF THESE THUMBNAILS WOOOORRRRRK?!

This one time I tried to use photoshop to map out the vanishing points, and it made me cry. 

Then my friend was like, bro, just redraw your line-work and forget vanishing points, and I was like, a'ight.

Perfectionism

I always had this mistaken impression that perfectionists were actually perfect; I've since had a few shots of self awareness, and can no longer deny that I, too, am I perfectionist. The fact that I redrew each hand twice is pretty incriminating.

Sketch-pedition

So this one time my friends and I escaped from campus to ride bicycles and do some plein air painting. I  kept starting something and then painting over it. Then I glanced over to where I had propped my bike up against this tree and and my bike was SO RED. This is what I finally ended up with. 2 hours on site and one hour off site.

BIRDS, and a lemur.

So I'm not very good at prioritizing my time. I just finished drawing storyboards from the prison break scene in Toy Story 3 for a paper that's due in a fortnight, and still haven't started on my perspective assignment... which is due tomorrow. Good job, Adele.

Self-chastising aside, here's a bunch of sketches from our class trip to jungle gardens. I draw mostly the parrots, but really need to draw more lemurs.

Just a thought about good characters

I don't normally repost stuff, but Tavi Gavenson is absolutely brilliant. She's only 15 or 16 and started an online magazine that's supposedly geared toward teen girls but has wisdom that EVERYONE should share. I can't recommend it highly enough. rookiemag.com

Below is Tavi, doing a TED talk about what really makes a strong character, female or male, and about the contradictions we face while growing. Really smart and poignant.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6osiBvQ-RRg

One point that really stuck is that a good character (or any person, really) may not be immediately likable, but will eventually be relatable. That was kind of an epiphany, obvious as it is, but in the entertainment field this kind of nuance is often tossed aside in order to sell a product people will buy.

Stress sketches

The other day I didn't know what to do with my life and my friend was like, "Why don't you draw something?" and I was like, "Draw what?" and she was like, "I dunno, just doodle." "You mean for fun?" I said. "Don't be ridiculous. I'll just do homework."

But then the next day I was crying over TA (traditional animation) and all I wanted to do was draw angry faces.

 My character for my current animation assignment has been giving me some grief, to say the least.

Other pissed off faces. I think that mustachio'd baby thing in the middle's my favorite.

Unwanted guest

Before:

             
                                                           Finito.
                                                       

For some reason I gravitate towards stuffed toy subject matter when it comes to perspective assignments. In other news, I've been drawing more bunnies lately, and I'm not sure how I feel about it.

Figure painting study

Painting is so, so awesome. I can't get over it. This was an hour study, and then I had to jet and go to the animation labs. Might go back and fix up the legs.