Since I haven't really had anything to post for a little while, I thought I'd share some animated shorts that I recently stumbled across on my travels around the internet, made by the French animator Michael Dudok De Wit. The first is a film which I believe was nominated for an Oscar called Le Moine et le Poisson (The Monk and the Fish). It's about a monk's obsession with trying to catch a little fish, which eventually drives him mad.
The second is called Tom Sweep and is about a street cleaner getting frustrated with the public's inability to use a bin.
The third and final film is called Father & Daughter and is about a little girl who is left alone at the side of a lake by her father and returns there every day until she is an old woman, hoping that he may return. It is a much more heartfelt film than the other two and won its creator an Oscar.
Of all of these, my favourite is The Monk and the Fish due to its syncronisation to music. Beautifully done!
Sunday, 17 December 2006
Friday, 8 December 2006
Turning Heads
To break up the figure drawings a bit, I thought I'd add another flash animation. I was just playing around drawing shapes in Flash and my digital doodling turned into a bit of an animation. Excuse the inaccuracies in the placements of the eyes - this was a very quick creation!
If I can figure out how to put the swf files on here, I'll use them instead of gif files. I have been unsure how much Flash stuff to include on here because I had intended this blog to be just about learning traditional animation. I'm only trying to learn Flash out of necessity as it might be a way into the business.
If I can figure out how to put the swf files on here, I'll use them instead of gif files. I have been unsure how much Flash stuff to include on here because I had intended this blog to be just about learning traditional animation. I'm only trying to learn Flash out of necessity as it might be a way into the business.
Thursday, 7 December 2006
A Long Drawn Out Process
I made it to the life drawing session this week! Since drawing from Uncle Buck left me feeling pretty good, I decided I wanted to spend the evening doing more quick gesture drawings. Unfortunately, the first session of every month is "long poses". Only two poses were performed by the model, each lasting over an hour.
As you can see, I decided to try drawing the pose over and over as quickly as I could. As you can also see, I was still struggling with faces! Obviously I finished doing these long before the end of the pose, so I sat there starting to get quite bored as I didn't feel like drawing her yet again. As I sat there, my eyes started to wander around the room, watching what other people were doing. I was watching one guy in particular, sitting on the floor painting with ink and a chinese brush. He was really concentrating on every single detail of his picture. Before long, I found myself drawing him.
My first attempt didn't really capture his pose, so I tried again, this time drawing him more bent over. The proportions are a bit off but I learned from the Walt Stanchfield notes that proportion wasn't as important as capturing the moment in gesture drawings. I aslo attempted drawing a girl at the other side of the room who was painting on an easel. I suddenly realised that I was enjoying myself so much more drawing the other arists than I was drawing the model! When the next pose finally started, I made just one attempt at it, actually feeling bored by the fact that it was just an emotionless organisation of body parts. I was eager to continue drawing everyone else, whose positions were all full of emotion.
First, I drew a girl squatting with her feet resting on something, holding her sketch book in one hand. I then went back to drawing the guy with the ink. He was measuring parts of the model between his finger and thumb. I felt that I was much more successful in capturing his concentration in this drawing. Next I drew a man hunched over a box of paints. Finally, I drew a man standing at the back of the room, painting in a very relaxed fashion with his hand in his pocket. I was quite pleased with the (accidental) composition of the page in my sketch book. I felt that it showed the large variety of different approaches people take to creating art, varying from the intense to the nonchalant.
As you can see, I decided to try drawing the pose over and over as quickly as I could. As you can also see, I was still struggling with faces! Obviously I finished doing these long before the end of the pose, so I sat there starting to get quite bored as I didn't feel like drawing her yet again. As I sat there, my eyes started to wander around the room, watching what other people were doing. I was watching one guy in particular, sitting on the floor painting with ink and a chinese brush. He was really concentrating on every single detail of his picture. Before long, I found myself drawing him.
My first attempt didn't really capture his pose, so I tried again, this time drawing him more bent over. The proportions are a bit off but I learned from the Walt Stanchfield notes that proportion wasn't as important as capturing the moment in gesture drawings. I aslo attempted drawing a girl at the other side of the room who was painting on an easel. I suddenly realised that I was enjoying myself so much more drawing the other arists than I was drawing the model! When the next pose finally started, I made just one attempt at it, actually feeling bored by the fact that it was just an emotionless organisation of body parts. I was eager to continue drawing everyone else, whose positions were all full of emotion.
First, I drew a girl squatting with her feet resting on something, holding her sketch book in one hand. I then went back to drawing the guy with the ink. He was measuring parts of the model between his finger and thumb. I felt that I was much more successful in capturing his concentration in this drawing. Next I drew a man hunched over a box of paints. Finally, I drew a man standing at the back of the room, painting in a very relaxed fashion with his hand in his pocket. I was quite pleased with the (accidental) composition of the page in my sketch book. I felt that it showed the large variety of different approaches people take to creating art, varying from the intense to the nonchalant.
Tuesday, 5 December 2006
Gest-ur Luck!
Apologies for the appalling title...I'm struggling to create word plays with the word "gesture"! In case you don't get it..."Just Your Luck"...tenuous, I know!
Oh dear, I have been neglecting this blog recently! Unfortunately I didn't go to the life drawing session last Wednesday as I was feeling ill, so I didn't have anything to post on here.
I just finished reading the 'book' of Walt Stanchfield gesture drawing notes that I was harping on about a few posts ago. There is some really useful and inspiring stuff in there. I highly recommend that anyone interested in full animation should read it. Since I haven't been practicing my drawing much over the last week, I decided tonight to dust off my sketch book and try some gestures. Since I was just sat at home, I decided to try drawing from actors on TV. I know it's no substitute for a real model but it's better than nothing. I put on a DVD of Uncle Buck and paused it, trying to get the gesture down in the shortest time possible. I didn't feel confident enough to just leave it playing while I drew. I managed to produce the following drawings, each taking under two minutes.
The first is a scene of Uncle Buck shaking hands with the kids' parents as they leave. Buck is forthcoming and warm with his handshake, whereas the mother is trying to back away awkwardly. I tried to capture this in my quick sketch.
As you can see, the drawing is somewhat simple. In my next drawing, I felt a bit more confident after having warmed up a bit. The next one was of Macaulay Culkin running around the side of the house after returning home from school.
I'm not sure how well I captured the gesture in any of my drawings. I find it hard to look objectively at my own drawings. It's so much easier to look at other people's and notice whether they are successful drawings or not. Next was John Candy (Buck) dancing in the kitchen as he makes breakfast for the kids. He's pouring sauce into a frying pan whilst singing.
Finally, I drew a scene where a guy in a bowling alley is trying to chat up the older daughter.
I was hoping to try to get a sense of him leering and her feeling disgusted into my drawing, but from the moment my pen touched paper, I immediately took a dislike for what I was drawing. I tried to keep drawing in the hope that I could salvage it but it was not to be!
The middle two pictures, I'm quite pleased with, although I don't know if they are the result of good drawing or just luck. As I said, I think my own judgement on these drawings is clouded due to the fact that they are mine, and so I would very much appreciate anyone else's opinions. Thanks!
Oh dear, I have been neglecting this blog recently! Unfortunately I didn't go to the life drawing session last Wednesday as I was feeling ill, so I didn't have anything to post on here.
I just finished reading the 'book' of Walt Stanchfield gesture drawing notes that I was harping on about a few posts ago. There is some really useful and inspiring stuff in there. I highly recommend that anyone interested in full animation should read it. Since I haven't been practicing my drawing much over the last week, I decided tonight to dust off my sketch book and try some gestures. Since I was just sat at home, I decided to try drawing from actors on TV. I know it's no substitute for a real model but it's better than nothing. I put on a DVD of Uncle Buck and paused it, trying to get the gesture down in the shortest time possible. I didn't feel confident enough to just leave it playing while I drew. I managed to produce the following drawings, each taking under two minutes.
The first is a scene of Uncle Buck shaking hands with the kids' parents as they leave. Buck is forthcoming and warm with his handshake, whereas the mother is trying to back away awkwardly. I tried to capture this in my quick sketch.
As you can see, the drawing is somewhat simple. In my next drawing, I felt a bit more confident after having warmed up a bit. The next one was of Macaulay Culkin running around the side of the house after returning home from school.
I'm not sure how well I captured the gesture in any of my drawings. I find it hard to look objectively at my own drawings. It's so much easier to look at other people's and notice whether they are successful drawings or not. Next was John Candy (Buck) dancing in the kitchen as he makes breakfast for the kids. He's pouring sauce into a frying pan whilst singing.
Finally, I drew a scene where a guy in a bowling alley is trying to chat up the older daughter.
I was hoping to try to get a sense of him leering and her feeling disgusted into my drawing, but from the moment my pen touched paper, I immediately took a dislike for what I was drawing. I tried to keep drawing in the hope that I could salvage it but it was not to be!The middle two pictures, I'm quite pleased with, although I don't know if they are the result of good drawing or just luck. As I said, I think my own judgement on these drawings is clouded due to the fact that they are mine, and so I would very much appreciate anyone else's opinions. Thanks!
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