I'm Really Starting to Love Environments!

The title pretty much says it all. I've been working on environmental design for a project I'm collaborating on with some friends, and today I sort of let my mind start drifting...

I've been looking at a number of old Warner Brothers cartoons lately, and really admiring the level of understanding their layout department had in shape design and color theory. When my mind started drifting today, I thought about all the crazy stylized trees you can see from time to time in the WB layouts. I figured I'd take a whack at a few, to see if I could start to understand the method behind them.

I'm not sure that I've gained a lot of knowledge, but I've gained some. I didn't approach the canvas thinking I was going to end up with a full painting, so unfortunately the overall design suffered from neglect. I might take another whack at it tomorrow, this time putting some focus on composition.



Honestly, I don't know what's up with the spirit stag. It's like Lisa Frank walked by and spit on my canvas.

Animatin': Just a Little Bit More

My work-flow took a baseball bat to the kneecaps, thanks to recent sinus-related illness, but I'm getting back on track now that the meds are kickin' in. Here's an update on a couple of my animations:

Good Bloke


version with frame numbers: http://www.amysaundersonline.com/animation/good_bloke_frames.mov

I'm Invincible


version with frame numbers: http://www.amysaundersonline.com/animation/invincible01_frames.mov

Animatin': Yep, There's More

Just another update on the animations I've been working on. Wee!


http://www.amysaundersonline.com/animation/giraffe_run_unblocked.mov


http://www.amysaundersonline.com/animation/good_bloke_block5.mov


http://www.amysaundersonline.com/animation/invincible_block_03.mov

More Animatin'

Here are a couple of new pieces of animation I've been working on.

A Good Bloke

I chose this quote from "Hot Fuzz" because it gave me the opportunity to show two characters interacting, and an emotional change for both. It is currently in the blocking stage.



An MOV version of the video above can be seen here

A higher-quality version (without the weird clipping in the face) can be seen here . Unfortunately, this one doesn't have the frame numbers... I've been looking for a way to add frame numbers onto renders produced by 3DS Max, but haven't seen a solution yet. A Playblast! A Playblast! My kingdom for a Playblast!

Invincible

A rather famous quote from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

The bigger fellah is pretty well blocked out aside from the face and hands. The little guy... Well, his blocking is painfully basic at this point, with certain points (such as when he should be falling from the big guy's hand) not worked on, yet. I have some thumbnailed plans for the little guy to flail his fists about in a frustrated manner as he's jumping, but I wanted to get the timing down for the jump before attempting to squeeze the fist-flailing action in there. I also want to make sure the little guy convincingly counter-balances the movement of the big guy's hand, so that's something I'll be focusing on today.

Uuuh... And try to ignore the sound clip repeating in the video. That's one of 3DS Max's "wonderful" little traits. Once I have a final render, I'll composite the sound clip and an audio-less version of the video in Premiere or After Effects.


An MOV version of the video above can be seen here

A higher-quality version can be seen here

In addition, Randy and Kevin have given me some feedback on the animations from the previous post; I'll be refining those to completion during the next couple of days, along with these recent ones.

... Not sure what the deal is with my tastes being more on the subtle side recently; that is SO not me. I might take a whack at doing something really quick in 2D to see if I can yank myself back into fun, cartoony stuff.

Animatin'

Woo! So, I've been animatin' stuffs when I can this past week. As a result, I know much more about giraffes and their extremely goofy way of moving around. Such awkward animals, I'll tell ya.

For critiquing purposes, I've added a link to a .MOV file below each video. For the giraffe walk/run cycles, you can view them as a loop in Quicktime by going to View -> Loop (or hitting Ctrl+L).

Here are the blocking stages of a walk and run cycle I did for a giraffe. The tail remains without animation for the moment; I'll wait until the body movement is solid before trying to animate the tail's reaction to it.


http://amysaundersonline.com/animation/giraffe_walk_blocking.mov



http://amysaundersonline.com/animation/giraffe_run_blocking.mov

And here's an updated version of the "Out for a Drink" animation:


http://amysaundersonline.com/animation/ofad_second_block.mov

... I love how awful the silhouette is on the frame Blogger's automatic-movie-preview-frame-picker selected. Egh.

It's Business Time!

Alright, so I'll be spending at least the next two weeks getting my animatin' on. However, I need to make some choices on what to animate before I get to it! Fortunately, I already had some projects in the works...

Out for a Drink?
This was a project with a rather unusual set-up... I wanted to see if I could portray something without dialogue that normally would have dialogue. So, basically, I gave myself a script, but didn't record the dialogue.

Once I had the line decided on, I drew up these thumbs to help guide my performance:


I then set up the first (very) rough blocking. And I seriously mean rough... The hands aren't positioned and the eyebrows are only elevated and angled - not shaped. Heh!

And then I got an intense three-month freelance gig. D'oh! But, now I have a chance to finish it! Woo!

The Many Ways to Say "I Love You"
I can't remember how this idea came to me anymore... but it developed like this:

I started thinking about the different ways the confession of "I love you" comes out in movies - especially in romance movies (eh.) Sure, a lot of times the confession isn't so direct, but the phrase "I love you" gets said with a very broad set of emotions.

With that in mind, I wrote down nine common scenarios that occur in romance films where a main character finally makes that painfully revealing confession. I put the scenarios in groups of three, wherein each places emphasis on a different word: "I," "love," or "you."

I did some quick, nasty sketches of the first six... Looking on them now, I think they'll certainly need an overhaul.

I'll need to grab some friends (male and female) that have decent voice acting ability and have them do a series of recordings for each scenario. I can then pick which recordings I like best and animate to them. For the sake of time, I would probably pick my favorite three.

Cycles
I have a personal project of sorts where I'm creating some custom content for a Neverwinter Nights server a few Intarwebs acquaintances are running. For now, I'm going to focus on the following:

A land animal (quadruped)
A bird
An aquatic animal (fish or porpoise)

I'll make basic cycles for each, including: walk/fly/swim, attack, hit, and death.

And that's more or less what I've got planned for the moment. Any suggestions on things I should add, things I should drop, or things I should change will be appreciated.

They're Concept Doodles More Than They Are Concept Sketches, Really...

Here are some concept sketches I did yesterday for an animated short a group of friends and I are working on. We're really determined to create this sucker, so hopefully it'll be out for all to see within the year (unlike the projects I've been working on by myself, har har har).

Overtures: the Graphic Novel

So, among the numerous personal projects that I fantasize about completing one day, I have a graphic novel in the works.
It is a joint project between a friend of mine, Tom, and myself. Tom is a writer, and has created a wonderful little fantasy setting dubbed "Altair." He wrote a spiffy story that takes place in the Altair setting, and I liked it so much that I wanted to make a graphic novel of it.
The project has created an interestingly symbiotic working relationship between Tom and I. While Tom has taken up the title of "Writer" and I've taken up the title of "Artist," we've got the tips of our fingers in one another's pies, so to speak. Tom created the setting, plot, and characters, while I brought to life the story's protagonist, Flynn, whose existence forced the events of the story to change slightly. At the same time, Tom's descriptions of places, things and people is the driving force behind my designs, and he continues to give me feedback as we develop the visuals for the graphic novel. Collaboration is awesome!
Anyway, the comic is part fantasy, part historical fiction, part political adventure.

The story follows our hero, Flynn, who unwittingly walks into the palace of Éndora just as a heinous series of events is about to take place! Distrusted by many of his fellow politicians due to his country of origin, can Flynn gain the allies necessary to untangle the already well-established web of deceit that is about to encapture them all? You can find out, but only in...

OVERTURES: THE GRAPHIC NOVEL

... Okay, I've had my fun now - back to business.
Below are descriptions and development sketches for a number of the characters in the story. Not all of them are huge players in the plot, but nonetheless add to the setting.
Flynn
Flynn comes to the palace of Éndora in hopes of patching up the poor relations between his race (the Changelings) and... Well, pretty much all of the human race. Generally well-meaning and friendly, he does have a bad habit of coming off as a clown from time to time.

Sveringen
An extremely charismatic man from the Island States, Sveringen is one of those fellows who puts up an excellent front, but still leaves you feeling a little on-edge. Was the last thing he said a complement or an insult; a simple stating of the facts, or a hint of things to come? Only he can tell.

Drummond
Sveringen's secretary of sorts. He's small, shy, and afraid that everyone is out to make his life miserable - the matyr-like star of his own drama. Having previously lived and worked in a monestary, Drummond finds secular life unpleasant at best.

Originally intended as a caricature drawn just for laughs, this drawing of Drummond eventually became the basis for Overture's character design.

Ophelia
A sly gypsy woman and Sveringen's "maidservant"... That's about all anyone knows of her, really.

Bruno
Assigned to work for Sveringen by his uncle, Bruno acts as a body guard and "muscle." He is rather well-known for his excellence on the battlefield, but has a personality rather unfitting for a man of violence.

Logan
A long-time veteran of the political game, Logan acts as Ambassador for the people of Branduin. He has assigned his daughter, Lillian, as his secretary, so that she might gain the knoweldge and know-how to become Branduin's next Ambassador. He and Sveringen are at odds with each other, though they both put up a front to suggest otherwise.

Lillian
Daughter and secretary to Logan, the Ambassador of Branduin, Lillian is just a sharp young woman trying to find her way in the world. Though very loving and caring of her father, she probably sometimes wishes he'd worry about her a little less.

Bianca
A Baroness from Ardendora, Bianca has the interesting conflict of wishing to be the top social butterfly of the court while stimultaneously realizing how silly and preposterous it all is. Deceptively elegant, she's likely to get one past you if you don't keep an eye on her.

Alcavar
Duke of Ninendora. He has a cat-like aloofness, and has no qualms with using his perceived social status to get what he wants. Though supposedly courting Speranza, the most popular lady of the court, he seems questioningly disinterested in her - and all other women.

Theodric
Ambassador of Tundrad, a strongly theocratic country. Naturally, he is a very pious man, and will find the culture of Éndora's court to be quite a shocker. Though quick to point out the morals faults of the severe self-indulgence that is courtly life, he never comes off as unfriendly.

Here are some random odds and ends, and the beginnings of wardrobe design.

Two line-ups showing the change in style that happened after the Drummond caricature changed the direction of character design. The top shows the old, less exaggerated style; the bottom the new, more 'toony style.

An attempt to tell, through images alone, that Drummond, who is easily the shortest human member of the cast, has finally seen someone inside the palace that is shorter than himself. I'd like to insert this gag into the graphic novel, but the delivery needs work - I don't think it "reads."

Freelance - with an Emphasis on the "Free"

Yeah, so... I did some freelance for a guy wanting to create a television show based off a product he created.

Unfortunately, he ran off with the $1,300 he owed me after I created a great deal of artwork (noob mistake on my part - should have had a signed contract before doing anything.) However, there is a silver lining to this otherwise dark cloud: I never signed a Non-disclosure, Work for Hire, etc.

Hellooooo portfolio pieces!

He had some pre-existing artwork from another artist (whom he mysteriously lost contact with), and asked me to translate the currently "Nick Jr."-like art into something for a slightly older audience.

Here are some sketches and a color illustration of the main character:

I think he was also considering the idea of redesigning the main character's "body" or something like that, so I did some thumbnail sketches for ideas:

Extra Ketchup

Apparently, I need to schedule myself to post something at least once a week on this thing... Otherwise, I'll keep having months between posts. Argh.

Anyhoo, I went through the ol' computer, and found some things I can share from the months past.

First up, Olivia's Weekly Sketch Challenge. A buddy of mine from school ran a weekly sketch challenge on Deviant Art from November '08 to January '09. Each week, she would give us an "assignment," and we would have to create a sketch based on it.

Week 1: Draw yourself as a Steampunk character.

Week 2: Pick a song, listen to it, and draw what comes to mind. ("Cheatin' on the Church" by Graveyard BBQ)

Week 3: Draw a recent dream, or one you remember from the past.

Week 4: Draw a scene from a book. ("The Cyberiad" by Stanislaw Lem.)

Week 5: Draw an evil version of yourself. (Beware of Lady Lederhosen!)

Week 6: Design a monster using things around you as inspiration. (I was eating cheesecake at the time.)

Week 7: Design a character that represents an emotion. (I did three... It was too fun to stop at one.)

Week 8: Draw your pet as a human. (My old, jumpy, arthritic cat, Blanco.)

Week 9: Draw something in celebration of the up-coming Chinese New Year! Must contain an Ox, since this year will be a year of the ox. (I added Old Man Rat to represent the past year.)

Week 10: Draw yourself with your favorite cartoon character, doing an activity that the character normally does. (I don't have a favorite, so I picked one of my favorites at random: Ren from "Ren & Stimpy.")

It was really, really fun. I'm thinking it would be great to get a group of people together to do this ALL the time. Each week, everyone would submit an assignment, and then one would be pulled at random to do that week. It'd be awesome!