Blogging?

So I was out the other night with some guys, who blog like I one day aspire too (read more frequently and more informative) and we were chatting about what makes good blogging?

I find that the blogs I frequent the most aren't the ones where the blogger has posted really great art work, but the ones where I actually learn something. Not that there isn't something to learn from looking at and studying great art, but when someone takes the time to write about how they did it and the process the went through in coming to a final point. Hans Bacher is great for this, as is Matt Williames when it comes down to explaining animation, and Matt Jones for how he approaches life drawing and the amount of info he has dug up on Ronald Searle (to the point where he is actually out in the US giving a talk at the much blogged about CTN Animation Expo). There is so much work we all produce which we cannot show on our blogs and it does take alot out of you in a day and also leaves us not a huge amount of time to produce work for ourselves as well as other everyday tasks such as cook, do laundry...clean flat. I'm not trying to make excuses for anyone, but we all gotta live, y'know, or how do we get the life experiences to produce the art we do?

Anyway, I often find I set myself little tasks and the art comes from that and if it's good, why? And also if it's bad, why? So no matter what the result hopefully I've learned something. Recently my little task has been to teach myself a bit more about after effects. At work I sometimes get called upon to do the odd move with a camera to add some spice to a sequence. The above camera pan over a mountain was something I did to try and learn a bit about how the after effects camera works. I was watching the new BBC series "Life" - for those of you in the UK it's onthe iPlayer - and I saw this pan over a mountain and one of my first thoughts was, "Can I recreate that with after effects using the 3D camera", as opposed the usual trucking in and up with different layers. So that's the result. It's not the best but I learned alot by doing it, so in the next post (or maybe I'll break it down) I'll go through the steps of how I got to it!

Life Drawing 15.10.09 - Silhouette

Tried a change of tact and decided to go marker pen and silhouette. I found that I was moving around the life room a lot more looking for holes and angles because you can't use line to dictate the form. There has to be clarity in the negative spaces, for example, between the arm and body to show where that arm lies across the front of a model once it is hidden within the silhouette.


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& m'eh....

A Florentine Death

Just Started reading the book by Michele Giuttari...What a Great book! This character (Valentina Preti) steps off a train and pretty much says "Go f**k yourself" and that was all she's been in the book so far...will she be the femme fatale?

Life Drawing Dump...

Life Drawing has started up again!! Most of the old guard are back with a few fresh faces joining. It's amazing how rusty you can get over a few months even though I draw every day on the job. Anyways, It prompted me to scan the drawings from last term and get them up along with the beginning of this term...

End of last term -
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18.09.09

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02.10.09

1. - This is what happens when you turn up a bit late and the pose only has about 20 seconds to go...but you don't know that when you turn up.

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3. - It's not unusual that I end up drawing the same thing 3 or 4 times in a 5-10 minute pose, especially if the pose is a very dull one. Each time I try and play with the pose, forcing an angle or trying to add something to make the pose a little more dramatic than what is actually placed in front of you...

4. ...and in this one I was figuring where to place the models hand.

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6. - Sometimes it's fun to play around with the pose a bit too. Arch the back, raise or drop the shoulders, maybe tilt the head a bit...

7. ...and sometimes it's good to just get up and move around.

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...and finally some people sketches from around the class.

NHL...

...starts in 11 hours, 53 minutes and 11 seconds

Summertime

...is over.

F1

...crash

Gattaca

..has nice colours.

Ballroom

...dancing

Random Old Story Panel

Harbourside Festival '09

SW19

What a final!


Scoreboard: Score⋅board - Pronunciation [skawr-bawrd, skohr-bohrd]\ n.
1.-A large, usually rectangular board in a ballpark, sports arena, or the like, that shows the score of a contest and often other relevant facts and figures, as the count of games and sets in a tennis match.




Elation: e⋅la⋅tion - Pronunciation [i-ley-shuhn]\ n.
1.-A feeling or state of great joy or pride; exultant gladness; high spirits.
2.- Roger Federer


Dejection: De*jec"tion - Pronunciation [di-jek-shuhn]\ n. [L. dejectio a casting down: cf. F. d['e]jection.]
1. A casting down; depression. [Obs. or Archaic] --Hallywell.
2. The act of humbling or abasing one's self.
Adoration implies submission and dejection. --Bp. Pearson.
3. Lowness of spirits occasioned by grief or misfortune; mental depression; melancholy.
What besides, Of sorrow, and dejection, and despair, Our frailty can sustain, thy tidings bring. --Milton.
4. A low condition; weakness; inability. [R.]
A dejection of appetite. --Arbuthnot.
5. (Physiol.) (a) The discharge of excrement. (b) F[ae]ces; excrement. --Ray.
6. Andy Roddick

"Elite sport is played out in an arena as wonderful as it is cruel, and only the bravest need apply."

Life Drawing 25.06

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My first session figure drawing in 1 whole year!...and its unfinished.
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Towards the end I was getting frustrated so I got out the old brush and india ink...a good choice, good choice indeed.

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Possibly my favourite sketch of the night - I did the longer one first but as with the last pose I drew two (see 8/9 below) and as always the quicker looser one has all the life and vitality!

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Wimbledon doods 25.06 - V.Williams

Wimbledon doods 24.06 - RF

Wimbledon doods 24.06 - Sharapova

In case you didn't know Wimbledon is back. All drawn from TV (live).

Wimbledon begins

Some doodles that appear by the side of tumbnail panels, on the back of pieces of paper...and then some actual work (kind of)...Want to get to grips with Panavision? Go look at Sergio Leone.

Arm Wrestling Classic

Arm wrestling is dangerous...just ask Matt and his bleeding head.

Scorcher

Blinding weather (for the UK at least!)

Pub

Occasionally we go for lunchbreak at a pub...this is not that pub. (and yes my dip pen did go spolt...)