What's Ado

Ah, lovely! I just got a new animation production book by Jean Ann Wright called Animation Writing and Development : From Script Development to Pitch. This would be a great book for classroom use. Gives some in-depth and insider information to animation development; not so much drawing but rather the writing and production and pre-development of an animation project. I particularly like the end of chapter exercises. A nice addition to my animation library.

I've been really focused on my various projects, so I've not been posting on my blog as frequently. What have I been working on...

Well, as usual there's always "The Job" which lately means in addition to my toy design work I'm developing a catalog of the company's artwork, from early concept sketches to final factory art, in order for us to be able to search through all submitted art by artist, category, year, used/not used, etc.. Plus, I'm creating a "New Artist" binder to give to interns and new hires as a resource which includes a FAQ and various production processes that can help them understand how their artwork would be applied and what information they need to develop a particular product. Something I would have loved to have when I first started working at my job, particularly since half the time I wasn't even sure what questions to ask. Everyone's really excited about that, too; and they've all been giving me suggestions about what to include in both projects. Fun!

As far as my personal projects go, I've been giving my website a complete over-haul; getting rid of old stuff and adding new work as well as a new design and layout for the whole site. The last version was more in line with what the Art Institute wanted me to have for graduation. Now, I'd like it to focus more on my interest in character design and animation development as I continue to apply at various studios for my first creative opportunity.

Then there are the things that go bump in the night...

Well, I first read about some random scary creature on another blogger's site which amused me to no end. Even funnier when I ended up with a monster of my own on the apartment stairwell one evening. At first I thought it was dead (guess that's what possum's are supposed to do, ha!), but then it turned its head to check me out. I'm thinking the possum was after one of my neighbors' garbage bags as they like to set those out by their doors almost every evening. Just like the characters in the upcoming "Over the Hedge", the possum was checking the human leftovers for dinner. That critter was pretty big - those bars in the pictures are spaced about 4-5 inches apart, so just the body itself was practically two feet long.

I decided to take the other stairway down instead.

I've also been working on some caricature art I'm doing of family and friends to give as Christmas presents. Most everyone that saw my quick caricature of myself, really liked it and wondered if I'd do one of them...so that seems like a good Christmas gift this year. :)

Speaking of Christmas...it's that time to assemble my Christmas cards. I figure I've created enough art over the past year (some used, some not) to have plenty of options to make a few cards to send out to friends and family. Yay! No parties this coming weekend, so I'll have a couple nights and part of the weekend to get every thing out by Monday, Dec 12 (or sooner).

Progress is slow on the animation short, but I think I've finally capture the look of the title character. Not the traditional garden gnome as created by Rien Poortvliet in his various Gnome illustrations, but something different. The other characters have been practically finalized, but I'd still like to create some model sheets and facial expressions in addition to the standard character turns. And I'm also still finishing up the storyboards, something I've been having alot of fun developing.

And, of course, there's my mysterious graphic novel... That's been really a joy. Can't wait to see how that turns out. :)

Then there's modeling...as in 3D art, not lingerie. Although, that can certainly be a pleasure on some occasions. ha! I'm just not getting the development time that I really need in order to progress further. Not enough time in the day, but I really want to improve my knowledge of Lightwave and Maya modeling techniques and that can only happen with practice. Must find a way... And, no, that does not mean going back to school.

I'll figure it all out. Eventually.