Charcoal Animation

Straight ahead animation - roughly 2hrs from conception to completion.

For those who don't know, straight ahead animation is when you just draw a series of frames without planning exactly what happens next. Traditional animation usually is done by drawing two significant or important frames, then filling the time inbetween with carefully timed drawings (logically, these are called inbetweens!)

I did this on one A2 sheet of paper taped to the wall, and as I drew each frame, I rubbed out the previous one, giving that lovely smokey trail. I do like the frames I drew, but as a whole, I really could've done with more overall to smooth things out a little.

Showreel

My updated showreel - after some tinkering about today, here we have Showreel 2.0!

If you've got any emotions towards it, please, leave me a comment - it's always nice to know someone's out there!

Before and After

Sketch - 20mins
Colour version - 2hrs

I'm trying to re-hone my tablet skills that I lost during the last year , so here's a before and after on a quick sketch. I like the way the skin turned out, but the tail is needing alot more work on the texture.

In the middle of nowhere...

...there is no internet!
Well, not exactly no internet, but it's so slow that 99% of pages time out trying to load. So my plan of updating once a week has been scuppered, but I'm still going, and I'll update more, less often.

Since leaving uni, I've not done alot of work I'm proud of. So, until I get back up to speed, here's a few of the choicer pieces.

I'm not sure what I was going for with the shading here - during life drawing classes, I was always told that my shading never quite got deep often. Saying that, I'm really liking the corkscrew curls, they came out rather nice.



I drew this after seeing a contest on DeviantArt about designing a boss for a game based on 6 different elements. I never submitted sketch, but it works well as an exercise in drawing something that I haven't drawn in a very, very long time.


And last of all - a sub-clause in my blog manifesto, self portraiture. I haven't attempted one since my first year at uni, so I'm going to create one every month (at the least) so I've got a constant to measure myself against.
And yes, that is a Le Creuset soup pot.

Back to basics...

Having just gotten out of university, and feeling somewhat lost in what I'm doing, I've gone back to what I know - my first 'real' attempt at drawing was at an evening class at a local college, doing life drawing.
I've drastically improved since then, and so I've been going through my older work to bolster myself to getting back to anatomical studies and the like.
So, presented for your viewing pleasure, is some 20 minute pencil sketches.

Character Design for 'I Chop You'

I drew and animated these 3 characters for a promotional video for an upcoming short film, 'I Chop You', based in Edinburgh. The premise is excellent, and you can read all about the project and donate to their cause here.

There was a few last minute glitches with audio, so the timing is off what I'd originally planned, but it feels so good to have done this - especially so fast out of uni!

This is also my first blog post here, and I fully intend to update at the very least, once a week with something new, if not interesting!