I Painted Something!!

This little doodle happened for two reasons.

       Reason 1) Lately I've been aching to try painting, but I've proven many times in the past that it's not my thing.

       Reason 2) I've been trying to think up ideas for my first tattoo, and it has to be animation-related. I had thought of a few character's that would be ok. Stitch and Rafiki came to mind because they're interesting and I love the way they're animated, but that's not enough to justify permanent ink. Then this idea hit me. Necron99 from Ralph Bakshi's Wizards. He would be a great tattoo for so many reasons. Wizards is now on my top list of favorites, and Bakshi has become my all-time hero for his view on the world and his persistence to produce art and stories that are important to him, no matter what others say. So the tattoo would serve as a reminder to always ask, "what would Bakshi do?" Let's not forget that Necron99's a bad-ass, so that helps too.

 Anyway, I searched google for some images of him, and found this great pose. I love the simplicity in his design and color, and that sparked this urge to paint it. So I drew it, broke out some acrylics, and Ta-Daa! I can officially paint a flat level of red and yellow. Look out, Picasso.

More Robo

All finished inbetweening this little guy. Now I'm gonna clean it up and color it.

I'm having a lot of fun with this, because I'm trying to play with Squash&Stretch and goofy inbetweens. Lately I've been wanting to do work like John Kricfalusi. I've never done really loose, cartoony stuff before, and it's something I want to practice for a while.

My hero

I first saw this video a couple of months ago, and it's probably the most inspirational video I've ever seen. Nothing gets me more gung-ho and ready to animate than this speech by Ralph.

(honestly, I'm posting it here so it's easier to find next time I need to light a motivational fire under my butt.)

Wizards, Again

   Ok, I've gotta rant about Wizards again. I'm trying to figure out why I love this movie so much. I honestly watched it four times in a row yesterday. I've never done that before! There are so many things about Bakshi's films that I adore. I love that you can see  it was made by hand. I love the low-budget feel.
   Yes, all traditionally animated movies are hand-made, but there's something about Bakshi's films that remind you you're watching something made by a group of passionate people. There's a saying about animation along the lines of, "If the audience can catch what you did, you're not doing your job well enough." But for some reason that's what I crave. I'm so excited to see little imperfections, because then I feel connected with the artist.
    Another great thing about his movies is the stylistic disconnect between the backgrounds and the characters. You have simple, animatable characters set against intricate backgrounds that are delicately inked with pen, or painted in watercolor, or even filmed in live action. And for some reason it works, and makes me want more.

   Ralph Bakshi proved that you can make a good movie that has heart without spending millions of dollars. All you need is a handful of determined artists (seriously, there were 5-6 animators on this entire film!), and an honest, heart-felt story that you want to show to an audience. I want my own films to reflect his style and outlook.

Robo

I had a lot of fun today animating this little shot. It's all on two's, and so far only contains keys and breakdowns. I'm actually really happy with this one and can't wait to finish it tomorrow.

Cats

     After seeing this post on Andreas Deja's blog, I was (as usual) blown away by Adreas' lines. It got me wanting to draw some big cats as well. Nowhere near Mr. Deja, but I had a lot of fun, and plan on doing more.

Random Drawings?

Why not?

These random sketches really help take the ideas and images swimming around my mind and dump them onto paper. And it's always fun.

Animation Is Hard

     This medium is an intense combination of drawing skill, performance, and knowledge of  physical movement.
     The area I need to improve most is my drawing. Lately, I've been having a hard time with drawing. It's like my well of creativity is empty, and all that I can pull from it is the mud at the bottom. My drawings have been downright ugly and incoherent. Figure drawing classes help to fill up the well for a couple of days, but I'm soon back to the bottom.
     When it comes to performance, I feel talent inside me and can imagine a great performance, but my drawing ability hinders it from coming onto the page.
     The other difficult aspect is the physical motion, the actual animating. It's a crazy thing. To animate believably, you need an uncanny understanding of things moving through space in time that doesn't really exist until the drawings are compiled and played at a certain speed. It boggles my mind, but I feel like I'm getting better.
     A friend and I were talking about enthusiasm yesterday, and how important it is to have it in every piece of work you do. When I'm excited about what I'm doing, ideas and creativity flow like a river and I love everything I draw. But sometimes I just can't get excited, so I produce crappy drawings and in turn become even less enthusiastic about what to draw next. Then I go a week without touching a pencil. I watch lots of cartoons and wish I could be making them, but get frustrated at the thought of trying.
     Then one day I'm at work and a little idea pops into my head. I start to doodle, make a funny picture with a caption that my friends laugh at, and suddenly I'm craving my drawing desk. Ideas are bombarding me and I need to create again.
     My lesson in this is that you have to draw enthusiasm and creativity from other people. Sitting alone, bashing your head against a desk doesn't make better ideas happen. You need to absorb experiences and bounce ideas off of others.
     My drawing, performance, and animation talents will increase with time and practice, but I need to find a group of artists that keep me inspired and excited enough to keep pushing forward.

A Happy Squirrel

And why shouldn't he be? 

  An attempt at a double-bounce walk. I'm somewhat happy with it. Working on the tail right now (Overlap on a bushy tail and a double bounce is quite bewildering).