My Work in Progress

A sketchblog where I post a few of my scribbles from a variety of works-in-progress, usually from my rather random personal creativity outside of the daily grind. I occasionally, but not always, post the final artwork.

10/31/2005

Happy Halloween!

My Halloween greeting card sent to friends and family today, based on one of my many Halloween projects at work:

And....drumroll, please!

Yay, I finished my paper mache dragon mask in time for Halloween! I'll post some progress pictures later...from the aluminum foil, crumpled up magazine pages and masking tape to the grand finale. :)


10/22/2005

Getting in Disguise

I've been working on a new little project at home in the evenings the last couple of weeks or so: a paper mache' dragon mask for my Halloween costume. Here's my concept sketch I've been referencing:



I was trying to figure out the best way to actually create it without making it so heavy that I couldn't wear it for more than 5 minutes when I thought about using paper mache'. I haven't worked with paper mache' since I was in 2nd grade in 1972. LOL! I had to do some research to figure out the best way to make the paste and what other papers I could use that could be easily painted.

Does the current dragon look like my reference? Not exactly. But I'm having fun and I'm curious to see how it turns out. I've been taking pictures of the progress, from the initial simple wire form to the foil and scrunched up paper sculpture to the laying on of paper mache'. And what a mess that has been!! Glue and water all over the place. But still fun. :) I'll post the pictures next week once it's been painted and everything.

Oh, yes - I'm using peacock feathers on the back bit to mimic the dragon hairs in my sketch. Fun!

10/15/2005

It's Alive!!

Lovely find today: a new Character Designer Blog!

While there seems to be plenty of animators posting insights about becoming a character animator, showing some bits of their animation shots, and talking about their professional experiences (not a bad thing, believe me), there hasn't been much from the many visual development artists who help create and design the characters those animators bring to life. So, I was very excited to find this site and look forward to reading more interviews from these professional artists.

Yay!

From the Character Design Blogsite:

THINGS THAT YOU WILL SEE AND READ
* You will be able to read in depth and very detailed instructions on how the designer works.
* What medium they use and some tips on how to use that medium.
* You will find out what they have worked on and what they are working on now.
* You will see step by step drawings all the way to the finished design.
* Read what the artist was thinking while designing the characters.
* See unpublished art and portfolio pieces.
* Get links to the artists own website or blog.
* View up and coming (non-professional) character designers work.

Hmm. Not so sure I really want to see "non-professional" character designers' work. Can already get plenty of that on forums like
CGTalk and ConceptArt.org as well as a few other discussion and art forums. Will just have to see how that goes.

Still excited, though!