Modeling

So the other project we had to do in the first term was to produce work with the BILLY-BOB character, we had the choice of either doing an animated sequence featuring the character or produce a vehicle for him, I chose a vehicle, we had a maximum triangle limit of 15k so it's context would be to feature in a computer game, I not only modelled the vehicle but also lit it and created all the textures; so here it is: billy Bob's Apple Picker:



I recommend watching it HD.

BALLS

really should have updated this way sooner than i have done, It's been mad busy down here in Bournemouth we have just finished for the xmas break, and I must say the first 12 weeks have been so very intense, but in that time I've gone from barely being able to operate a PC to making 3D animations and models, it is insane how much you learn on this course, I'd recommend it to anyone who's wanting to get into 3D computer animation from an arts background.
so the first project we did was bouncing balls, which I passed (yay) so here they are:

what I did last summer

well, here it is, 3 months and 3000 drawings later. I've just moved to Bournemouth so I'll do a post about that soon, for now though enjoy:
http://vimeo.com/49665350

So this is happening.

please come along if you can make it :)

Long time no speak

Wow I can't believe it's been so long since I last updated this. Life really has gotten in the way. since my last post I have been teaching full time, I've finished now and I must admit I thoroughly enjoyed the experience, (if any of my students are reading this then I wish you all, all the best with where ever it is you will be heading next). I'm now only a couple of months away from heading off to Bournemouth to study my masters degree, in the mean time I have been working full time on an animation for Manx National Heritage, I'm working along side Steve Garry of whom I worked with on Chico & Rita (it got an Oscar nom, you know!) Its hard work but extremely enjoyable, we are doing the whole thing by hand, that means hand drawing every single frame. I'll post it on  here when it's done.  right I'd best get back to it. sorry for the lack of images lately, I will post more i the next post.

Mad times

sorry it has been so long since my last post, lots on at the moment, I'm teaching almost full time at the moment, so I don't have too much time. any free time I have is spent fight ing with the IOM dept of education about uni funding, I think I'm getting there, but its hard to tell. anyway better news would be that I will be taking part in an exhibition of drawing in June, more details coming soon. I'm also really looking forward to Bournemouth in September, I don't hate teaching anywhere near as much as I thought I would but still I must focus on the reason I'm doing it for. will post some actual art soon.... i promise.

Getting to grips with 3D

I know I don't start my course until September but there have been a few niggling doubts going through my poor addled brain of late, the biggest being uncertain of how well I'd be able to learn computer programs in a short space of time (I've always relied more on paint and pencils) the other being actually thinking in three dimensions, rather than trying to make something 2D look like it could exist in a 3D world. so on my day off this week I thought, right I'm going to get to grips with this, so I downloaded a free trial of one of the programs that I would be learning, mostly to see how complicated it is...yes it's very complicated but after a few false starts and a couple of very helpful youtube videos I finally got my head around the basics of meshes and the like and even managed to construct my own mesh ready to sculpt onto:

I decided to work on my zombie character as it seemed like a simple albeit stylised design that I'm very familiar with, now I know that the mesh I built has a few errors, I know the arms are too long, I simply wanted to take a figure through the process, to see how it works, so once I was reasonably satisfied with the mesh I began to sculpt:

I tried to keep it in the style of the original drawing and I think it worked to an extent, I enjoyed the sculpting immensely, I must admit feeling advantaged when sculpting the clothes, having spent practically all of last year painting creases into shirts on 2d paintings, I lean't quickly that regarding the sculpt and particularly the face, that less is definitely more. Once I was done with the sculpt I decided to have a go at adding some colour:

I purposely kept this very basic as not to confuse myself, given how complicated every other process was on this program, i was surprised out how straightforward this was. The exercise did exactly what I hoped it would do, it has alleviated some of my worries about the programs and I'm very much looking forward to September. for a first go I don't think it's too bad :)

Chico & Rita nominated for an Oscar

Quite out of the blue today I got an email from our producer on Chico and Rita informing me that it has been nominated for an Oscar. This is great news, if you recall I worked on that animation for a good long while (November 2008 until the end of February 2010, almost 16 months) It was a big and intense project filled with a great many ups and downs, but on the whole I'm pleased with my contribution to it. Its awhile since I've thought about that job and in hindsight I really miss our studio set up there. still onwards and upwards now at least I can go off to do my masters with a little confidence knowing that I worked on an Oscar nominated animation :)

Happy New Year!! The year gone, the year ahead.

I'm a bit late with this post I know but hey. 2011 was an extremely busy and largely positive year for me (which I needed as 2009 and 2010, where less than great) the WTTN project took up most of my time and energy and the success of the project surpassed my expectations, I look back on that project with nothing but pride. I had felt for the previous couple of years, a bit stranded, not sure where my work was or where it was going, the illustration industry is still finding its feet after the credit crunch which has forced me (in a good way) to look for other outlets for my work and though 2011 was definitely a year of fine art for me, I've been looking long and hard about the strengths and weaknesses of my work since I began professionally.

This analysis has led me to see where I want to be, what else I want to do and I have realised that more training is necessary in order to do this, which lead me to applying to study my masters degree (which I start in September). The blog is going to change direction a little, in that I''m going to be experimenting with my style and work within an animated context. I will as always try to be more up to date with posts, for know though here's to 2011, it was a good year for me.