The inner workings of...

Sneak peek

2011-11-29T09:45:00.001-08:00

Have a cheeky look at some Tales of the Spiffing: Vol.2 bits I've been working on...

If you missed out on the MoBro Morph and happen to be in London...

2011-11-21T09:45:00.001-08:00

Why not go support MoBro James and his team, "The Seatbelts" when they hold a Movember Pub quiz/raffle/auction? You may even come away with a Movember Purple and Brown! (As sculpted by Rich Webber...creator of Purple and Brown)

They'll be available as part of (what I'm sure will be) a great night, so if you happen to be in London and looking for a MOnumentous time here are (some) details.

On the EVENING of MOVEMBER 23RD - THE BEDFORD, BALHAM (Northern line)

The Dead Squirrels

2011-11-08T03:50:00.000-08:00

While I think it's painfully obvious that I'm doing Movember, I am just one of a team known as "The Dead Squirrels". Catch up with the the other AardMo's over on the team blog.

Movember

2011-11-02T10:25:00.000-07:00

For those not in the know, now is the month when you grow your mo. That's correct ladies and gents...it's Movember. I'm not going to lie. I'd like your sponsorship. And as proof that I am developing my top lip, I'll be posting my ugly mug on here daily so you can follow the growth. My hope is that once you have seen that I am actually growing a mo and not just saying I am, you might be convinced to throw a couple quid to the cause.

Day 8

And here is something like an advent calendar to chart the progress...except with less chocolate and no christmas at the end of it. It lasts 30 days instead of 24 though! Bonus!

And in case you don't feel like giving to me personally, how about you support Aardman? There are 30 of us going through Movember - check out the team and donate (to me or the whole) at our MOVEMBER TEAM PAGE or the AARDMAN TEAM BLOG.

And if none of that takes your fancy, we also made a Morph with a massive Mo, just for the Movember charity. We donated him to them last week and auctioned him on eBay! He fetched £370!!

The Animation Art Auction

2011-10-31T04:49:00.000-07:00

So now it's common knowledge that Aardman is having an auction of artwork to help raise funds for The Children's Hospital here in Bristol. And, rather bizarrely, they asked me if I'd like to donate a piece of work (which I did. Three signed original ink and wash panels from my Tales of the Spiffing comic, "Tommy", all framed to look as they appear in the book). I say rather bizarrely because when you look at the line up of other artists involved...well, they're all legends of the animation world. Of course there is Nick Park who has donated an original W&G painting, and then Pete Lord who has drawn a Morph. I suppose it's a given that those two would be involved. It wouldn't Aardman without them. But then the list extends. Ray Harryhausen (LEGEND); Dick Williams (Who Framed Roger Rabbit?); John Lasseter (Head honcho at Pixar); Pete Docter (Pixar's Monsters Inc. and Up!); Steve Box; Art Leonardi; Brian Cosgrove; Terry Brain; Rich Webber; Tomm Moore; Golly...

It's very odd to see my own name on that list...an incredible honour but still very odd.

For anyone who wants to know a bit more about the auction and what's available, here is a link to the CATALOGUE, or you could go to the GRAND APPEAL site.

I ran out of ink is not a valid argument...

2011-09-13T06:53:00.000-07:00

A few sketches from the book. Bit of everywhere really...most sat at a drinking establishment of some kind.

Been busy recently, hence lack of attention to ye olde blog!

How did we do that?

2011-07-12T10:08:00.000-07:00

So those lovely people over at Skwigly Online Magazine (an animation orientated news site...bit like the brew) interviewed us a while back about the "Tales of the Spiffing". I just got an email to tell me it's online! So stop reading this and go and read that instead!

This happens FAR too often.

2011-06-30T08:26:00.000-07:00

In the last 3 months I have seen this happen 3 times. It's also happened to me once...so that would be 4 times total -

I live just off Whiteladies road.

It's a busy road. One of the most heavily used in Bristol.

Every morning I wait at the same junction...

...trying to get on.

I inch my way out, to see around the trees and parked cars.

Once in a while you get a driver who gives way...

...otherwise I'd be there forever.

Too bad not all drivers think the same.

Hopefully there'll be a break in the traffic.

Eventually...

And then it happened.

I was hit by a cyclist.

He'd done some fair damage to both my front and rear drivers side doors.

Not to mention the rear window. They'll need replacing.

I had planned on asking if he had insurance...

But I couldn't get a word in edgeways.

Cyclists don't have insurance anyway...

Looks like this is coming out of my pocket.

Before I start people should know this. I'm a cyclist. I'm also a motor biker and I drive a car. This isn't "having a go" at those who cycle. It's more trying to figure out what makes the rules different for them. Are they road users of pavement users? Personally, I see myself as a road user when I'm on a bicycle and there is a £60 fine for cycling on a pavement, so we'll go with CYCLISTS ARE ROAD USERS. If this is the case why does this type of accident happen so often? I think it comes down to what we look for when we're on the road. When we drive a car we're pretty much conditioned (through driving lessons and tests) to recognise things about other vehicles...such as brake lights. When I'm driving my car and I see brake lights, I apply my brakes. When I'm riding my motorbike and I see brake lights, I apply my brakes. When a cyclist sees brake lights they just seem to ignore them and skit down the side. There doesn't seem to be any comprehension as to why the brake lights on the car ahead of you have come on. Which is where the problem arises. When this happened to me the cyclist happened to be flying down the middle of the road (not the pavement side where drivers look for them...and we do look for them because hitting someone isn't something I go out with the intention of doing) and must've passed about four stationary cars, all with their brake lights on before he collided into the side of me...where I had been stationary for at least fifteen seconds. When I witnessed this a couple of days ago, I had my brakes on; the car in front had his brakes on and the car was clearly visible in the middle of our lane where it had been waiting for about ten seconds. A cyclist came at speed, passed my car on the pavement side (no helmet I might add...which a whole other issue) and then past the car in front before applying his brakes far to late, locking his wheels and sliding into the bonnet of the turning vehicle. He went over the bonnet and landed on the opposite side of the road in front of oncoming traffic. The accident could've got a lot worse at this point, but thankfully it didn't. Anyway, he then proceeded to get up and start screaming his head off at the (quite frankly, terrified) woman behind the wheel of the hit car. He was 'effing and blinding about women drivers and how cars are always pulling out on cyclists etc. I wanted to get out of the car and smack some sense into the guy. In his head she'd pulled out on him. If that was the case why wasn't there a four car pile up? If he'd opened his eyes he might realise that he had passed several cars with the brakes on. It eventually took some pedestrians who had seen the whole thing to talk the guy down. And then he hopped back on his bike, carried on down the road and probably into another car which had "pulled out" on him.

So who is at fault? In both these situations, I would place the fault firmly in the court of the cyclist. Going too fast when other vehicles are giving a clear warning of a need to slow down. Who is the one who gets punished? In both situation the cyclists were able to get back on their bike and cycle off. No damage. The drivers, on the other hand, have to pay out to get their vehicles fixed. And two new doors and a window ain't cheap. And you are shaken. And you've just had someone try to make you feel small and guilty about doing nothing wrong.

I supposes what I'm arguing for is for cyclists to use a bit of common sense and read what is going on around them. If a car has brake lights on (the big red ones on the back) then it's a safe bet that its slowing for a reason, so look out.

End

And for those who want to know, yes, this is how my boards at work look...in fact it's probably a bit neater.

Summer in the city

2011-06-19T16:03:00.000-07:00

I'm part of a communal blog with a load of old college friends. Nothing much, just a bit of fun where a new topic is posted every fortnight and you're supposed to draw something relating to said topic. Supposed to being the operative word. I usually trawl through the sketchbooks to see if I have something relevant and then I post that. I know...I know...don't shout at me for being lazy.

Anyway, this fortnight the topic is summer, so seeing as I'd just been on a summer holiday I figured I'd post a picture of a surfer from Venice beach...which I found in my sketchbook...so I did just that. And then I felt bad because I'd done the same thing I always do and avoided taking part properly. So I sat down at my desk which had a copy of "Lifestyle Illustration of the 60's" lying on it (great book, highly recommend it...it's by Rian Hughes) so I decided to try a little homage to some old school illustration. (I recommend clicking to make it bigger...I don't usually, but this time I do)

I also tried to apply something which was told to me when I was over in the US...try to get some kind of story into the image. Originally, I had the girl lying back on the recliner, glasses on and not really doing anything apart from getting rid of those tan lines. There was a story there but the relationship between the two felt cold...like an unhappy marriage. This couple is rich enough to own a private roof top pool, but money can't fix everything. That isn't the type of thing you see in the old 60's stuff. For the most part it has some great positive engagement between the characters. So (in a nod to Playboy) I made them both naked (c'mon...if I had a roof top pool I would DEFINITELY skinny dip) and had her look over the top of her glasses and check out the guys tush...made me laugh and instantly puts a different (positive) take on what is going on between these two. Horny little minx.

So that is my own explanation. There is a big sway towards Chris Ware's New Yorker covers (the isometric ones he did for thanks giving a while back) which is why I put the spoof title cover on it.

In other news, scientists have discovered how to turn human excrement into beef substitute! Can we find another form of fuel besides petrol? No. Can we take our own poo and turn it into burgers? Yes. I'm never eating a McDonald's again.

Twitter-er?...Tweeter?

2011-06-15T06:54:00.000-07:00

I just joined Twitter. And it asked me a few questions...who do I want follow etc. Well I'm not particularly religious so (obviously) the first thing I thought of was not Jesus. And after getting "not Jesus" stuck in my head, the second thing I thought of was What Would Jesus Tweet?

Furthermore, I don't really know how Twitter works. I found some friends by following link from their blogs, but when I tried typing peoples names in Twitter, the search came up blank...it took 20 minutes to find my own sister.

Furthermore to the furthermore, I'd like to tweet this, but am still trying to figure that out.

Come...Follow me! I will guide you away from the light.

(If you search for my name you won't get anywhere...someone else has my name. You must search ShleeBoddy...or @ShleeBoddy...or #ShleeBoddy...does %ShleeBoddy do anything?)

Long Overdue Holiday: Part Deux

2011-06-14T09:02:00.000-07:00

So after a full week in LA, I rented a car and headed out onto California Highway 1, a.k.a the Pacific Coast Highway. It is the All-American-Road stretching from the beaches of Los Angeles to the Golden Gate and beyond.

Click to embiggen

For the whole length of the drive I took a picture every fifteen minutes(ish). I wanted to put them together kind of like a colour script. The LA early morning light would've become a San Francisco dusk. The more acute among you may have notice the words "wanted to" and "would've". Unfortunately a land slide foiled my attempt about an hour past Hearst Castle...which meant I had to back track and ended up being very late into the Bay Area...although coming in through Oakland I got to see San Francisco and the iconic spire of the Trans-America Tower set against a backdrop of the dusk sky. Next time I'll do the whole road...on a crotch rocket.

Pacific Coast Highlights

San Francisco

After one epic drive from LA to SFO, the first thing I decided to do (after a night out) was make another epic drive! The aim was to get to Bodie, an old mining town in the Sierra's. Accompanied by Mr. Jones, we set off to go and explore this old ghost town. Unfortunately I was again foiled in my plans by mother nature. You just don't expect 8 foot snow drifts by the side of you car in early May...apparently you should.

Global warming?

Not being able to make it to Bodie, we opted to tour around Yosemite instead, taking in all the vast scenery...whilst dragging a steak along behind the car. I wanted to see a bear!

Falling water...no falling bears.

Still no bears...oh wait...no...my mistake. That's not a bear.

Back in SFO I toured around the sights (interspersed with evening drinks and early morning bacon sarnies), did some sketching...

There is something strange attached to my face in this photo...but not a bear

...and took in the city. Personally I got on with it better than LA...for a start you don't need a car to get around.

Alcatraz was a great day out. I grabbed an early morning ferry and stayed the whole day, wandering around all the different areas of the island. There is a lot more to it than just the prison.

And being in Animation, I couldn't not visit...

"I wasn't peeing on the ball...honest. Please don't crush me"

...really big household objects world!

American Odessey in a nutshell!

I-5 sunrise...no bears.

Long Overdue Holiday

2011-06-13T15:13:00.000-07:00

Back at the end of April I took a holiday. For two reasons mainly-

1. It had been over a year since my last holiday and...
2. ...the Royal Wedding was on.

The latter earned us Brit's an extra bank holiday (public holiday to the rest of the world) which when combined with Good Friday, Easter Monday and May Day, equaled eleven paid days off for the price of three. Bit of a no brainer really. Go on holiday.

So where did I go?

The west coast of the US of A. I landed and was immediately shocked by the friendliness of the passport control officer. Observe:

New York JFK, 2009

And now compare:

Los Angeles LAX, 2011

Anyways, after that I was greeted by KP, who (along with the family) played host for the week I spent in LA. Kris is, without a doubt, one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet. Him and his family showed me the sights of LA...

La Brea Tar Pits

The Roosevelt Hotel, Hollywood

LACMA Lamp posts

...took me to a couple of hockey games...

LA Kings...GAME 7!

And even managed to fit in a desert trip to Red Rock Canyon!

Desert Bloom

Joshua Tree

Now as fun as my holiday snaps are, I'm guessing most people are probably here to see some drawing...so it's a good job we went out sketching too...


LACMA Lady

Venice Beach: Skaters and bums...

Santa Monica Beach: Boobs and bums...

Disneyland: No bums...lots of kids though.

Inside the Getty: Gustav Klimt bums...

Outside the Getty: Sculptured bums...

After touring around LA for a week I hit the Pacific Coast Highway and headed north toward the Bay Area!

Next post: The PCH and San Francisco.

The London Film and Comic Con 2011

2011-06-13T10:12:00.000-07:00

On the 9th/10th of July I shall be behind a desk (accompanied by the lovely Emilie Timmermans) selling "Tales of the Spiffing" and doing drawings...because I am a drawerer.

See you there!

*

2011-06-02T10:51:00.000-07:00

Hello blog. I've been ignoring you...at least the you that people see. Your draft box is full of words that need editing. But that does little to satisfy the masses. I don't know what to say to rectify this rift I've caused with you blog...I was on holiday sounds like a cheap excuse BUT it's true...I've been away. Here's a picture as proof!

Venice Beach

And I probably shouldn't tell you this (it's like a dirty little secret) but I toyed with the idea of moving over to Tumblr. They have an app, you know. But now I've come back. Will you accept me back blog?

Sincereley,

~A

SPECIAL EDITION

2011-03-16T09:12:00.000-07:00

Also to help Japan, the comic anthology by Aardman Artists will be available with a limited bookplate in the front. There are only a small number of these available and they are at a suggested donation price. All proceeds will go to the relief effort. Update later with a link.

*UPDATE*

http://bit.ly/guVBfh

HLP JPN

2011-03-15T11:10:00.000-07:00

After seeing the atrocities and the aftermath, Gav Strange got the ball rolling and a few of us here at Aardman are trying to put a postcard pack together to raise a small amount for Japan...nothing too expensive, but something to help.

Figure Drawing - 10.03.2011

2011-03-11T02:10:00.000-08:00

Just realised I havent posted any figure drawing for a while. Quick one from last night.

Faber-Castell Polychromos - 10 Minutes

Prairie Life

2011-03-03T09:36:00.000-08:00

So in my 'Happy New Year' post, one of my resolutions was to learn/use colour. I suppose this would fall into that bracket. I did a quick block colour thing of the American prairie lands...not a clue where that came from or why. Oh the woes of ones subconsciousness. Maybe, in a past life, I had a little house there...

Then I decided to screw with it in photoshop and ended up with these:

"Little Barn on the Prairie"

"Little Barn on the Prairie...at night"

"Little Barn on the Prairie...under threat of invasion"

"Little Barn on the Prairie...by Saul Bass"

As a side note...Adobe Kuler is the shit...it is the single most amazing thing I have ever seen for making colourings. That is what I learned.

Apple Store Shenanigans

2011-02-09T14:40:00.000-08:00

So my optical not-so-superdrive on my macbook started playing up and not reading DVD's; then not accepting them when you popped them in the drive; then refusing to release them when eject was pressed...general tom foolery which is fun once but then just down right annoying.

Actually it wasn't fun the first time come to think of it.

Anyway, it ended up with me making a visit to the local Apple store to get a diagnosis. The following is a true story.

For those interested, Aardman uber designer Gav Strange can be found here. And yes...I do know Gav.

Happy New Year

2011-01-05T08:39:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year everyone! Hopefully 2011 will be better than 2010...not that 2010 was bad...I'd hold it up there as a fairly good year (although the summer was not as good as 2009), but it's be nice for each year to get better as life goes on.

Anyways, after I finally got out of Heathrow and made my way home for Christmas the break got better. I needed one. Got a decent haul for Christmas. New headphones; a nice set of silver chopsticks; books etc. and an SRS - Special Red Sketchbook. Actually, it was an early present but I didn't use it until after Christmas. I decided to fill it (or at least the beginning of it) with sketches of Hong Kong. So let's go on a little tour shall we? -

(Dai Pai Dong - Shek O Beach)

Our journey begins at a little Dai Pai Dong in Shek O which is the the very far side of Hong Kong Island...all the roads just end when you get to a little village with a beach and some great food stops. Oh...and also some of the most exclusive estates in the country.

(Bank of China)

From there we go to Central. This is the frontside of the Island. This district (and Wan Chai) form the skyline for your stereotypical HK postcard. Central is where most of the banks are housed including the Hong Kong Shanghai Banking Corporation (or HSBC as it's colloquially known) and the iconic Bank of China building. However there is more to Central than banks...

(The tea rooms - China Tee Club)

...such as the tea rooms at the China Tee Club. Located above the Shanghai Tang on Pedder Street this place has served the residents with tea for decades and has the feel of the 1920's when you walk in. And when I say 'resident', the club is locals only, so unless you have a friend who lives in HK who can guest you in, don't bank on getting in...by the way, I'm a local.

(Wan Chai skyline)

After a quick cuppa it's down to the Central Ferry Pier to head back to the peninsula side...

(The Old NAAFI)

...which is a lot greener than everyone expects Hong Kong to be. *Random Fact*; Hong Kong is 80% country park...bet you didn't know that! I live out in the area known as Shek Kong. Pre-1997 this is where the Royal Air Force and the Gurkha regiment were based. After the handover the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army took over the running of the base and air field. They took the NAAFI (Navy, Army, Air Force Institute) and put a red star on it. It no longer sells 'The Beano'.

(RAF Shek Kong)

Once you pass the old NAAFI you have to find a road hidden behind a bus stop, which will take you along a catchment and over a bridge. From the bridge you can look down into the valley where the air strip is.

(Lui Kung Tin)

If you carry on over the bridge and head into the jungle, after about a quarter mile you'll end up in Lui Kung Tin, the small village where I live!

(The Neigbours)

These are the gates to my neighbours house. Yes, even in winter Hong Kong is lush and green...in fact Christmas day was 20 degrees Centigrade. Just about warm enough...

(Poolside)

...for a swim! This is the pool in my back garden.

(Garden Plants)

And also some potted plants...which aren't so lush and green. Someone must've forgotten to water them.

So there you go...a whistle stop tour across the whole of Hong Kong.

My New Years Resolutions are - to blog more regularly; to do more drawings of locations/situations; to learn/use colour!

Onward to 2011!

Monutmental...

2010-12-21T12:30:00.000-08:00

...catastrophe. That's about the only way you can describe what happened at Heathrow due to the snow that fell in London on Saturday. Half a foot in half an hour I believe.

The Heathrow departure lounge boards...pleasant reading for some. Not so much for most.

I'm actually blogging this in the departure lounge (edits in the arrivals hall) as I was one of the lucky ones who made it out of the UK given the horrendous weather conditions and complete dysfunction of Heathrow airport, which resembles more of a refugee camp. We were held outside in makeshift marquees (the outside temp maxed at 0 degrees centigrade) and only allowed into the airport once our ticket was confirmed and the flight scheduled. Not everyone was so lucky. A lot of people are still stranded there and will be over the holiday period. The lady above is one of the unlucky mass. One of the people who was corralling us announced that our flight was a go, but only for confirmed, so if you were waiting on a wait list (a lot of people who had flights canceled were) then you'd have to wait until the 24th. The 24th of December. She got this news and just went and sat down, put her head on her bag and shut her eyes. She'd obviously done the math. A bit of education for those of you who only travel short haul around the US or Europe. Long haul towards the East loses you hours. When I leave here on the 21st I'll get to HKG on the 22nd about 5pm. 12 hours in the air is 20 hours on the ground (not literally time travel...but, y'know). She was aiming to get to NZ so tack on a couple of hours transit in HK and an extra 10.5 hours flight time plus the extra 4 timezones east. That brings a total flight time to about 24-25 hours (inc. transit) and 12 timezones east and that would put her in Auckland at about 9am...26th of December.

Merry Christmas.

Trenches...

2010-11-23T04:19:00.000-08:00

...must've been a nightmare.

Anyway, I thought I'd post the two different styles up so people can see the difference. One is the clean vector style and the second is ink on paper with a sepia wash and then a bit of Photoshop manipulation...but not much. If you read the post about 'Tommy' on Tales of the Spiffing (Story extraordinnaire JP Vine has also posted his up...I've seen it and it's amazing!) then you'll know that the two styles represent the 'Real' and the 'Memories'...I hope it's something that works when its read. Anyway, here is a point in the story where the real becomes the memory...something happening at that moment becomes something that happened in the past.

Tommy

2010-11-15T08:49:00.000-08:00

...and here is what'll be appearing next to my name in "Tales of the Spiffing"...Oh the British Tommy.

Tales...

2010-11-12T10:22:00.000-08:00

...of the SPIFFING!

(cover by LUIS COOK)

I kind of hinted at it a while back that some of us here at work had got together to make a book...well it's almost here. Above is the cover by Luis, who is some kind of character phenomenon. I think you'll agree...AMAZING!

Anyways, head over to the blog we've set up for it to see who's involved...it's 19 epic talents and then me lowering the bar...20 of us in total!

So...who wants one?

And the Winner is...

2010-10-25T10:54:00.000-07:00

'Shaun the Sheep' nominated for an Emmy award and a BAFTA!!

The world funnest show to work on! Fingers crossed, eh?

Flick Flip Flick

2010-10-19T06:25:00.000-07:00

I got exhibited...whoop!

A few months ago the organisers asked if any of the artists at Aardman would like to have a go at making a flip book so that they could start a campaign to get flipbooks and animation into local schools. Led by our illustrious leader (Mr. Lord) each of us came up with a short 30 frame animation, which was then made up into a book which you can thumb through and it comes to life! They also printed out the frames and exhibited them at the University West England (UWE) as the first part of the project launch about a week ago. The second part of the exhibit takes place in a one years time when the work of the school children will be exhibited. It'll be great to see what they come up with!! From what I hear it's all going quite well and the show is off to Denmark where the Danish hope to do the sam thing in their schools.It was a fun project to work on and I got to break out 'Old Blue Sanford' and do some animating again...it's been a while.

Anyway you can see all the artists flipbooks online here.

School and flip books....kind of goes together, right?...I mean what else are you supposed to do in the corner of your maths book?

Gesture Drawing...

2010-08-13T07:05:00.000-07:00

...at work.

A few weeks ago (five to be precise) the great Rej Bourdages and I took it upon ourselves to bring the ancient art of 'Nudie' drawing to the populace of our work place. We came down off the mount and bestowed pencils and paper among those who were willing to give up one lunch time each week searching for the elusive goal of a greater understanding of life...

...drawing.

And lo, they answered. With force, they cried, "Thank you for this pencil and also for this paper. I shall go forth and draw like never before. From this day on I shall..."

and then they didn't turn up the next week. But it's okay because it's a drop in, drop out scheme. The rules are fairly simple. Poses are 60-90 seconds with two or three 5 minuters thrown in at the end for good measure.

Week 1 - (Parker Fountain/FC Polychromos)

Week 2 - (Pitt Pen, Brush nib/FC Polychromos)

Week 3 - (Parker Fountain/FC Polychromos)

Week 4 - (Parker Fountain/FC Polychromos)

Week 5 - (Parker Fountain/Charcoal)

I don't use charcoal that often...reason being that after I use it, I resemble someone whose 'been down pit' all day. The 5 minuter above is actually all three 5 minute poses and you can see shadows of the other under the final image. After each pose, I just erased it with the side of my hand and started the next pose. Easier than turning the page. No reason to be precious with it. It was probably crap...or it could've been a masterpiece. We'll never know! (...and be 'we', I mean you lot, because I know they were all rubbish).

Bankside mob hit

2010-08-09T09:22:00.000-07:00

He had it coming...

Life Drawing 01 & 08.07.10

2010-07-12T08:07:00.000-07:00

(4 Mins)

(3 mins)

(5 mins)

(7 mins)

(5 mins)

(1-10mins)

We had our last figure session of term last Thursday...but it's okay because we start lunch time sessions here at work tomorrow!

Life Drawing 24.06.10

2010-06-25T09:51:00.000-07:00

(5 mins)

(10 mins)

(15 mins)

Warm Up (2-5 mins)

Life Drawing 10.06.10

2010-06-11T03:40:00.000-07:00

Back to figure drawing after a two week break...one week because half term = no session, one week because I was working late.

(4 mins)

(7 mins)

(10 mins)

(warm up 2-5mins)

Cat's out the bag!

2010-06-10T17:29:00.000-07:00

Well JP has put it on his blog so I guess the word is out...we're making a comic anthology. And by we I mean a few guys from work. You can have a few idea sketches from developing ideas...I'm down to two, but which one gets printed is for you to find out!

Also, I was introduced to 'Rat race" (the 1967 version) this evening. We had a pie and board game night at the pub. I wanted the society wedding to move up to the higher class but sadly ended up with a ming vase, mink fur and some other high society status symbol...plus $50,000. Oh well.

It getting to that time of year again...

2010-05-24T09:31:00.000-07:00

...when the sun is up at 5 and doesn't set until 8. I think they call it Summer...

This was the first 'summer-y' weekend this year and I thought I'd make the most of it by going out and doing a bit of sketching in the sun. Not of people or places, just ideas for...stuff. I haven't done that for a while. Anyway, I encountered this on my way out of the house in the morning...

Ah...the view from my flat in the morning. Blue sky, no clouds to be seen, birds tweeting and, coincidentally, someone stood at the end of path on a Blackberry or iPhone, probably also tweeting. What a great day...

And down on the actual street a couple (one of whom does not yet know the benefits of 'sunscreen'...or protein shakes) and his girlfriend /mistress /sister (delete as appropriate) walking hand in hand. Hand in hand in an elongated stretch kind of way...and they're walking at, like, 2 miles an hour...balls.

It was at this point I realised I was stuck behind two bimbling love birds.

And I wasn't the only one. This slow moving convoy of lust was holding up the entire pavement with their doe-eyed stares.

The image is, in fact, inaccurate. I did not wave my arms in the air, screaming "walk faster"!...that would have just made me look like a crazy, bearded, fluffy haired weirdo. Instead I just ambled along behind them among the throngs of others until we got to the end of the railing and could take our chances with the road traffic to get around. I mean we're British...it's only polite. And we do like to queue.

It's not like the time was wasted either...I mean the girl had a great arse...

Life Drawing 20.05.10

2010-05-21T03:02:00.000-07:00

Another week, another set of drawings...

(10 min)

(12 min)

(2-5 min)

2010-05-20T02:47:00.000-07:00

At the weekend I brought a new sketchbook...a nice A4 one from a company whose name is the the outer layer of a rodent that dwells mainly underground. I don't usually work at A4 size. It's either A3 for figure drawing or notebook size for sketching.

Anyways, the sketchbook is specifically for location observation...something I've never really been that big a fan of and, frankly have never been that good at so I kind of avoid it. Buildings just don't really do it for me.

That said it was actually quite relaxing. Unlike people, I found that houses don't actually move...ever. It's possible to start something, go and get a beer, come back and it'll be in exactly the same place (this may not be true in San Fransisco) for you to carry on!

The opening three pages -

"Hidden Houses", CLIFTON DOWNS, BRISTOL

"This is the BBC", WHITELADIES ROAD, BRISTOL

"The Llandoger Trow", KINGS STREET, BRISTOL

The last picture is of a pub I drink at every now and again called, "The Llandoger Trow". It's in a dispute with "The Hatcher" over which one of them is the oldest still standing pub in Bristol. Both of them date to before c.1500...so they're probably both older than the European discovery of the America's. In the Trow they have barrel lids commemorating Admiral Lord Nelson and the Battle of Trafalgar (1805) and it also happens to be the pub where Daniel DeFoe wrote "Robinson Crusoe" and Robert Louis Stevenson got the inspiration for the black spot in "Treasure Island"...little history lesson for you.

Life Drawing 13.05.10

2010-05-14T04:35:00.000-07:00

(10 mins)

Recently our scanner has had trouble picking up drawings...this one seems to have suffered and lost the feet completely!

(2-3 Mins)

I didn't know how long the pose was and switched from one to the other rather late on (as I found out when they moved) and this is what one of my drawings looks like at about the 2-3 minute stage. It's kind of a weird mental thing I seem to have where this is not a sketch I would have done if someone had said, 'This is a 2 minute pose'. If some one had said that, I would've tried to thrash something out because 2 minutes doesn't sound like alot of time and I feel like I have to produce a 'full' drawing. In this one, with the same amount of time the whole pose is there with the shapes blocked out quite lightly on the page and as a whole it seems a bit more considered than a normal 2-3 minute drawing. Of course, then I go back into it and that's when I tend to mess things up...

(20 mins)

...which is what happend in these. We were in a different room for the session last night so the poses in the second half were longer than the norm and instead of drawing one pose for 10 minutes and then changing, for some reason I got it into my head I had to try and use the full time available (anyone else remember their teachers saying that phrase over and over about GCSE/A-Level time) and ended up over working these. I actually prefer the accidental 2 minute drawing to these. Let that be a lesson in learn where to stop.

Train wrecks (or warm ups and some people refer to them) and caricatures.

Until next week...

Life Drawing 06.05.10

2010-05-10T07:13:00.000-07:00

Some stuff from the end of last term and the beginning of the new one -

Anyone for Badminton?

2010-05-10T06:44:00.000-07:00

Last weekend saw the horse trials take place at Badminton, which is usually a 20 minute drive. During the horses trials this 20 minutes magically extends itself in to 2 hours as (so I'm told) more people show up for this than show up for Glastonbury.

For those not in the know, Badminton is a 3 day eventing competition, where the creme de la creme of the equestrian world turn up...one of whom I learned to ride with and two others who taught me how to ride way back. It's a great 3 days, the highlight being the cross-country around the grounds of Badminton house...and according to these sketches, just about everyone who turns up looks the same. Hat...check. Barbour Jacket (with plaid jacket underneath...and plaid jumper under that...and checked shirt under that)...check. Pink wellies....check!

I also made the discovery that 'drawing horses ain't easy'. I actually made that discovey a while ago, so I'm going to update that phrase to include '...at the best of times, and is downright impossible when thay have a person on their back and are charging around at who-knows-what speed and then jumping over things'

Sun is out

2010-04-21T07:20:00.000-07:00

The sun is out in the UK. After one of the coldest winters for years we can sit outside and eat lunch again!

Road Trippin'

2010-04-20T09:46:00.000-07:00

As some of you may have guessed from the last post, I've recently been on the continent and was one of the hundreds of thousands of stranded Brits. The ferry terminal was about the closest thing to being 'The Dunkirk evacuations: Part Deux' but with civilians instead of soldiers. Anyway...we ended up road tripping from Geneva to Calais and waiting it out for a ferry. Fun way to end a holiday, although rather expensive, and the 'effing insurance companies aren't paying out due to 'act of God'...which rather ironically, they told me on a Sunday, the Sabbath day...so what are they doing at work if they believe in God??Isn't that some kind of sin? Well I'm pretty sure they're going to hell anyway...

Some of our fellow travellers from around Europe...everyone kind of turned up at the ports and then stood around with no idea how to actually get across the channel. Lots of very tired, frustrated, bemused, anxious and betwixed people.

Les Alpes

2010-04-15T11:17:00.000-07:00

This is a photo my bro took this morning as we stood on top of Europe. The guy on the far left in the yellow jacket...that's me!!

The law of sod...

2010-03-22T10:49:00.000-07:00

I got stuck in a queue at the post office today. It took up my whole lunch break and more. I didn't even need to get the parcel paid for as it already had postage. I waited because the slot on the post box isn't big enough. When I reached the counter I looked at the woman across and said nothing. She understood.

Then the other six counters opened up.

Figure Drawing - 18.03

2010-03-22T03:18:00.000-07:00

Figure drawing from the last 2 weeks...and the rest of the illustrator thing is on it's way...

Guide to using illustrator in-what-is-probably-a-very-long-roundabout-way-of-getting-the-result-you-want: Part One

2010-03-10T08:13:00.000-08:00

I think last post I said I was teaching myself how to use Illustrator...I have to say is is a great tool and I'm figuring out a workflow which works for me. I think that's pretty important. I was browsing around the web for tutorials and saw loads of different methods to achieve different looks and by plowing through them you get to pick and choose which bits you use and develop your own...still haven't quite figured out the clipping masks and gradients yet though.

Anyways, I got a few things done with it but don't want to post them now...not because I'm embarassed by them or anything like that, but because they're for a specific project which I will hopefully reveal in the next couple of weeks (read:months).

So instead you'll have to be happy with a 'Guide to using illustrator in-what-is-probably-a-very-long-roundabout-way-of-getting-the-result-you-want'. It's also the way I would draw a panel for a comic book.

Step one: Draw something...anything -

It may sound obvious, but I don't just dive straight into illustrator and start clicking away. First, draw something. For example a train station. Personally I work both analog (is that how we refer to pencil and paper now?) and digitally. I have no real preference although the tactileness of paper is nice compared to a cintiq...which I would describe as drawing on silk. The up side to a cintiq is ctrl-z. For this one I did some thumbnails - the scene is Valentina Preti getting off a train. I only did 3 (to my shame) but I already had an idea in my head for what I wanted. It's an establishing shot but I also wanted Ms Preti getting odd the train, so thumb 2 was out because it was too wide, and I prefered thumb 1 to thumb 3. 1 has more depth to where as 3 is flatter an lower...which means that the camera for foreground characters is about crotch level...I don't like draing at crotch level. Anyway if they look like scribbles to you, who cares...they're personal reference and I know what each one is.

So after deciding on thumb one, I blow it up and go over it to get layout and put quick characters in, then go over that (this is one I'll take into illustrator) and also quickly put some tones on and apply blurs etc. This is about the time i would think about what size and shape the panel is on the page. I wouldn't call it a bad habit but I always tend to think of sequences in screen format. Can't for the life of me figure out why that would be. This is a bit different to designing for a comic page where you have to think about speech bubbles and text squares etc. It took me a long time to figure out panel layout and there aren't any hard and fast rules for it. Generally I do the following -
Comic book pages are usually drawn on 11" x 17" (or tabloid size if you look under the american paper sizes in photoshop) with a bleed set at 10" x 15" and a panel border at 9" x 13.5". The panel border is what the panels butt up against. You can put them in the gutter area but you risk it being cut off when the printer cuts the pages. I tend to split the page vertically and horizontally into whole, halfs, thirds, quarters and fifths and mix and match the panels to fit. So if we're looking at the diagram the first page (left) is split into third vertically. The top panel is a whole, the middle third is split half and the bottom panel is thirds. Same idea with the second page but fifths. The third page is a bit different - this is what I meant by mix and match. The whole page is split fifths with the to panel being 2/5 vertically and whole page width. The second panel is 2/5 vertically and half the page with panels 3 and 4 being half the with and only 1/5 vertical. and the botton panel spans the page and is 1/5 high. Thats generally how I go about setting out pages. It's not hard and fast but it works and you can always do elaborate panel layouts, like circle cut aways, if you want.

I think the panel is going to be about 1/4 tall and 3/4 wide giving me a small 1/4 by 1/4 square left over to put a close up in if this was an actual comic. And now I'm going to leave you hanging there as this is still underway...I actually have to do the illustrator bit before I can write about how I did the illustrator bit. I just have to remember to do screen grabs.

Oh look...

2010-03-05T06:24:00.001-08:00

...it's more figure drawing.

Deco

2010-03-03T10:09:00.001-08:00

So as well as attempting to learn After effects (tutorial still in progress) I figured why not try another member of that great Adobe family, Illustrator. After about an hour and a half of struggling with the pen tool I finally figured out how it works...I think. Well at least to a basic level. I can see why so many people swear by it. It's a very powerful tool and I'm only just scratching the surface. It has been added to 'the list' of things to get better at...a list which only ever seems to get longer!

2010-02-05T05:13:00.000-08:00

JP

2009-12-04T07:20:00.000-08:00

Vine. - Thoroughly entertaining. Fellow story bloke who sits under the stairs.

Blogging?

2009-11-17T09:59:00.000-08:00

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

2009-10-20T04:48:00.000-07:00

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.

1.

2.

3.

10.

11.

& m'eh....

A Florentine Death

2009-10-02T08:29:00.000-07:00

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...

2009-10-02T04:07:00.000-07:00

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 -
1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

18.09.09

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

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.

2.

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.

5.

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.

8.

9.

10.

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

NHL...

2009-10-01T04:34:00.001-07:00

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

Summertime

2009-09-04T04:49:00.000-07:00

...is over.

F1

2009-09-02T07:37:00.000-07:00

...crash

Gattaca

2009-08-24T07:07:00.000-07:00

..has nice colours.

Random Old Story Panel

2009-08-05T08:47:00.000-07:00

Harbourside Festival '09

2009-08-03T08:40:00.001-07:00

SW19

2009-07-06T09:00:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-26T02:22:00.000-07:00

1.

My first session figure drawing in 1 whole year!...and its unfinished.
2.

3.

4.

5.

Towards the end I was getting frustrated so I got out the old brush and india ink...a good choice, good choice indeed.

6.

7.

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!

8.

9.

10.

Wimbledon doods 25.06 - V.Williams

2009-06-25T06:37:00.001-07:00

Wimbledon doods 24.06 - RF

2009-06-24T08:43:00.000-07:00

Wimbledon doods 24.06 - Sharapova

2009-06-24T07:36:00.001-07:00

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

Wimbledon begins

2009-06-22T10:32:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-06T11:06:00.000-07:00

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

Scorcher

2009-06-04T05:04:00.000-07:00

Blinding weather (for the UK at least!)

Pub

2009-05-29T06:28:00.000-07:00

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

Good Morning

2009-05-28T01:57:00.000-07:00

Look out, here comes the....

2009-05-26T10:07:00.000-07:00

second-post-of-the-day...oh I'm mean, "Spider-maaaan".

Bank Holiday Weekend

2009-05-26T02:45:00.000-07:00

Blisteringly hot...for the UK. Hope everyone had fun!

(Some sketches from the square outside my house)

FIRST POST OF 2009!!!

2009-05-19T08:15:00.000-07:00

...and maybe the last at the rate I blog!

Anyways...moving up in the world. Now I'm working on feature here at Aardman...Pirates to be precise. Wicked cool.

2008-11-25T06:25:00.000-08:00

In the style of...

2008-09-26T01:50:00.000-07:00

PENNY ARCADE!!

It's sod's law...

2008-09-23T09:37:00.000-07:00

...that as soon as you relocate, you get a job in the place that you just left! (Although I still work in Bristol too...The Aardman Adventure continues but it's got a Passion bolt on.)

Shouldn't complain though...work is work and I was in City last week when 5000 people got laid off. And there is nothing wrong with heading up to London to work every now and again. It's quite refreshing...although I wouldn't say that about the air.

Anyway, a couple in the park right outside my new residence in Bristol and cintiq doodles from work warm up this morning.

Animating in Photoshop...finally

2008-09-02T14:16:00.000-07:00

Right…so this is going to be my attempt at a tutorial on the animation function in Adobe Photoshop CS3…pretty nifty piece of kit when you combine it with a Cintiq.

First things first…open Photoshop (and it has to be CS3 extended version, otherwise none of this will work), create a new document (whatever size you want…I use various depending on what I’m doing, usually 1280x800 and 150dpi) and make sure the animation palette is open and in TIMELINE mode.

In this mode each layer is frame and you specify how long it appears for…1s, 2s, long hold etc. You can also have a layout as a layer which is the length of the timeline…kinda handy…or even a model sheet layer for reference. You can change the length of you shot by going into the document settings and just changing the frame length...you can also do other bits and pieces with this pop up menu...explore!

Anyway, everytime you create a new layer you are essentially grabbing another piece of 12-field and sticking it to the old peg bar…in laymen’s terms it’s another piece of paper. The thing with this is you have to treat it like paper to begin with. One layer, one drawing. Onto an favourite excercise...a right of passage for near enough every animator if you will…the good old bouncing ball.

So now it’s just like animating at a table, every new layer being a new piece of paper. So go on, get your dopesheet out and start animating…hopefully you don’t need me to tell you how to do that!

Once you have done the keys then you can put them in place on the timeline and begin the breakdowns and inbetweens. This is around the point that I start putting all the rough frames into the same group…it makes it easier later on.

And after you have your roughs done (and are happy with them) collapse the group to make it a bit easier on the eyes. Now comes something which is a bit more confusing, if you plan to get beyond the rough stage. You can create a VIDEO LAYER.

Basically this does away with having the need for separate layer/separate frame, and you could actually use is to animate straight ahead if you wanted. Create one and then have a blast doing clean up frame by frame and keeping it all on one layer! If you have 2s or a hold then you can duplicate a frame easy as.

Once you are all finished, go to File>Export>Render Video. That should bring up a dialogue allowing you to export as an image sequence (so you can put it into after effect or whatever) or just do a straight QuickTime file.

Hope that helps someone out there. I know it’s only a start point, but it’s a pretty basic technique and works fine for me and keeps it close to the way I worked with paper.

Good night!

So the olympics came and went...

2008-09-02T10:35:00.000-07:00

So since the last time I blogged the awesome-ness that is the olympics has come and gone. Now I know some people will think this is sad, but I got my name down as a volunteer for the 2012 games...don't care what I do, as long as its something. Gotta find out which company is going to do the BBCs stings so I can get involved in that...but thats 4 years away.

Anyway, life has just gone on really. Moved out of London, moving to Bristol which is pretty exciting/hectic. The people at the residential letting agencies asked me for an address the other day and that left me stumped...isn't it their job to find me one?...I guess I'm technically addressless for the week.

Work goes on too...boards get done, revised, done again, revised, fixed, worked over and finally (if one is lucky) locked. Its pretty cool here...a very organic process and sometimes the editor will interpret something in a completely different way to the one you intended and it turns out really cool...like seeing the story evolve and ultimately get stronger.

Anyway...I leave you with a picture from the games (I have more but am still working on them...I have soooo many started-but not-completed projects) and one of Dave from this afternoon. Lovely.

Goodnight...I'm going home to play video games.

PS: There are giant sheep in our office

Ashley's Aardman Adventure: Continues...

2008-08-04T11:08:00.001-07:00

So I been keeping it back as I didn't want to jinx it, but I'm back at Aardman...only this time I'm a fully fledged story artist and not a trainee.

I'm not gonna lie...it rocks socks...and sheep go baa from the side of their mouth.

That was Intense

2008-07-08T04:15:00.000-07:00

To quote Simon Barnes, the Times sports correspondant -

"At this ineffable level of sport, it’s time to pack away the superlatives and just give thanks for bloody sport; for these daft games we watch that produce such extraordinary things and bring us such extraordinary people."

Ashley's Aardman Adventure:...finished 2 weeks ago

2008-06-27T08:59:00.000-07:00

Dave and Jess at the end of the first week!

Lunch times...that's right...we got a lake!

My little work zone...surprisingly tidy for me.

So 2 weeks ago we all said our good-byes to Aardman...but only for a short time hopefully! It was one of the most awesome experiences and if anyone who I know in the UK animation community is reading this then I would urge them to give some serious thought to dropping everything and applying.

It was definitely worth it and I'm gonna do my best to keep in touch with all my fellow crustees...apparently we have upgraded to crusto-maniacs. I hope they're all having a relaxing time and looking forward to whatever they've got planned next.

As for me I don't really know where I'm off to next. I have no immediate work lined up and have been relaxing for the last 2 weeks...unwinding from the 8 weeks of relentless (the drink, not the work) and getting back into some animating...I finally figured out how to do hand drawn animation in photoshop! and it ain't half bad either if you treat it like paper and don't expect a computer to have anything to do with the outcome. Maybe I'll stick a post up so everyone can learn cos Adobe sure as hell don't cover it with they're tutorials or help files...they seem to think animation is about doing one drawing and then have the computer tween it. Technically it is animation, but where is the fun in having the computer do the work? Granted, Fosters Home is all Flash, but I'm gonna guess that those guys put a serious amount of work into making the computer do stuff right, which is why it looks so good.

and now my laptop battery is dead... I will edit with pictures later

Take care all,

Shlee out

Nuke the Fridge

2008-06-10T02:54:00.001-07:00

Ashleys Aardman Adventure: 1 week left!!

2008-06-09T08:57:00.000-07:00

Final pitches are over...bitch'n...lets get drunk.

And for anyone who doesn't know...this site is awesome - www.ultimateirongiant.com

Ashley's Aardman adventure: The final hurdle.

2008-06-05T11:31:00.000-07:00

Jeez....into the 7th week already. Where did it all go? And I got lazy and didn't blog...surprisingly.

The last 7 weeks really has been a blur. Frank, Christian, Bruce, Steve, Some improv bloke whose name escapes me, and many others have all blasted so much story info at us, it really has been one of those periods where if you stop for a second then you'll miss something. And to think its all over next Friday. I think I'll have to write a eulogy.

Oh...and tomorrow I get to meet Richard Williams before he sets off to Annecy. I almost got to share a cab with him a few days ago but it was not to be. Alas...

AlleyKatz are going to Glastonbury

2008-05-23T03:34:00.001-07:00

Tha Alley Katz are going to Glastonbury...but I don't know if I am? Anyway, now I got a deadline to hit to get the comic printed up...eugh...more deadlines.

Clip o' the day!

2008-05-20T02:15:00.000-07:00

Today we were treated to some Busby Berkeley...

Both from "Footlight Parade". The second one is pretty surreal. It's pretty long but alot of the stuff in it is iconic of the era nowadays. And considering this is from 1933, its almost verging on porn...scantily clad women by a waterfall...racy!!

Ashley's Aardman Adventure: Clip o' the Day

2008-05-16T10:07:00.000-07:00

Starting the other day, we get a clip from a film...EVERYDAY!!! A couple of days ago it was, 'Singing in the Rain' and today we had...well I can't remember what it was called but they used the line, "Badges?!?We don't have badges...we don't NEED to SHOW you NO STINKIN BADGES!". I'm guessing that anyone who knows Frank will know this...he says it everyday.

Sunset over Helmand

2008-05-16T01:56:00.000-07:00

Starting to use watercolours again...it's been a number of years since I used colour. It shows.

Ashley's Aardman Adventure: So what evolutionary studies have you been doing?

2008-05-15T07:46:00.000-07:00

um...uh...eh...mostly looking into time travel in the womb. (Jess and Jay, Improv class. 13/05/2008)

Thursday...just pitched my ruffs for my second sequence. This was a speed test so we had to get a pass done quick (six days inc. a weekend...I didn't work the weekend) for approval before cleaned them up, added/minus/rework panels, etc. It went alright for everyone and we all pretty much got told to clean up for final pitch, which, to be honest, I found a bit unnerving. Rarely do you pitch and the director says, "Great! Throw a B drawing in here and there and go to clean up". Leaves you wondering if they really liked it. Anyway, final pitch next Wednesday and then it's onto the final sequences...after that we'll have first pass boarded/got some onto reels, a whole feature!! In only 8 weeks!! Whay else happened this week?? We had improv class on Tuesday which was soooo much fun. At one point (with much hilarity) we were all marching around the story room shouting, "I am a very important story artist...look at me as I march around". The guys in model making must of thought we were nuts, or just very, very, very pretentious. How time flies when you are having fun...I can't believe its all gone so fast. And just FYI, the story dept. really is as cool as it looks on the special features of DVDs (at least it is here at Aardman).

And Indiana Jones: Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is out on the 22nd!!! I've got my ticket...do you have yours?

Ashley's Aardman Adventure: Friday is for...

2008-05-09T08:02:00.000-07:00

Oh my God!! Another post so soon after last one. How unheard of!
I discovered the scanner at work today...Revelation. I like Friday beacause:

Its the last day of the week, so I get to go home to London for the weekend

We get gesture drawing classes in the morning (fun)

5 o'clock is affectionately termed "BEER O'CLOCK"

Anyway, I read over the last post and realised I didn't really say much about what is happening. There are 10 of us (Me, Gabriel, Helen, James, Jess, Dave P, Dave B, Theresa, Jay and Oli) from around the UK who are being trained by the one and only Frank Gladstone (see image...i'll put some of the rest of us up next post). Apparently there is a lack of feature animation story artists over here so the whole point in this course is to knock us all into shape. The first week, we were all surprised by the fact that we have all got the brand new Wacom Cintiq 12 inch screens...very awesome piece of kit. Along side that we were lucky enough to have Christian Lignan (very talented French story artist) teaching us, so it was a hell of a start and alot of fun.

And now I am on my second sequence...and its a speed test to see how we cope with rush deadlines, so I need it all ruffed by next Tuesday for a pitch, before final first pass pitch the week after...INTENSE! But its all good.

Ashley's Aardman Adventure: I'm an Aardman Crustee

2008-05-08T06:18:00.000-07:00

Howdy!! It's been a while but I have actually been meaning to post stuff for a while...thing is I get home on Friday nights and have stuff to scan and post but the web has been down at home for the last 2 weeks...and I haven't been there because *drum roll* I am a story artist trainee at Aardman feature studios down in Bristol!! It's 8 weeks of training and then there is the opportunity of a possible job at the end!!

Naturally I can't post anything which I do at work, so you get a doodle instead. I've been here for two and a half weeks now and am about to pitch my final first pass on my first sequence...exciting and nerve racking too. hopefully it'll work out alright. We've been doing everything paperless on Wacom Cintiq's and it took about a week to get used to the method and working out a work flow which suited me. Organisation is the key, which means I am failing miserably. Haha. Right, anyway I gotta go for a pitch meeting but I'll post this as soon as I am done...hopefully they'll (director, etc.) like it!!

******

So just pitched!! whew...not as bad as I imagined it would be and there was a pretty good response and some decent feedback and a few changes to make. For now that board is being shelved and we get our new sequences today!!

Mar-uh-thun

2008-04-14T02:42:00.000-07:00

–noun

1.	a foot race over a course measuring 26 mi. 385 yd. (42 km 195 m).

2.	any long-distance race.

3.	any contest, event, or the like, of great, or greater than normal, length or duration or requiring exceptional endurance: a dance marathon; a sales marathon.

London Marathon day yesterday and I got prime placement on Tower Bridge to catch the action. I took my sketchbook but the heavens opened and sent forth mighty blobs of water. Plus I took my camera and I'm still learning this photography lark, lenses and all that...anyway, PICTURES!!

A supporter in Waterloo station. You aren't allowed to take pictures in Waterloo station. I was told off.

Waiting...

After the front runners from the mens and womens races went through, the other elite racers started to filter across and this is how pretty much every one of them reacted. They'd run under the bridge entrance and break into smiles. 20km down, 22 left to go...just keep smiling

4 miles to go...

Big Finish, Big Smile

Bomb-ba-dom-dom-doo

2008-04-08T04:44:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I decided to go people sketching. I figured I haven't seen the new St. Pancras station and there is a photography thing on there at the moment so why not?....because there was a bomb scare and we all got evacuated that's why. I'm not having alot of luck with train stations at the moment...bomb scare in St. Pancras yesterday, fire at Waterloo on Saturday. I think I'm gonna steer clear of them for a while.

First post of 2008...it's a bit late really

2008-03-16T10:55:00.000-07:00

Hello...just got told to update my blog which is fair enough really. I got a load of stuff scanned so that I can put up bits and pieces and not have to worry about having no pictures to post!! Below is some stuff from my sketchbook and some pictures of NYC...done quite a bit in the last few months whilst not blogging.

A quick project

2007-11-16T12:57:00.000-08:00

And by quick I mean really, really, ridiculously short turn-around time....like a couple of hours ridiculous...so it's Superman with a hood....and yes I know 'renwable' is not a word.

It's all 'bout the energy

Femme Fatale

2007-11-12T16:19:00.000-08:00

Biro doodles

2007-11-07T10:48:00.000-08:00

Why does everything always seem to take longer than you want it to?

Work doodles...

2007-10-24T10:32:00.000-07:00

Although I shouldn't really, but what else is there to do during a quick render?

Been mega busy these past couple of weeks, going up and down between London and Exeter, finding a place to live etc. but I've had a blast and am kinda riding a high at the moment, wondering how soon the inevitable end is gonna come...unfortunately for England it came one game to soon.

Anyways, moving up to the Capital in a couple of weeks and just doing jobs to keep the rent and food coming in, so its gonna be a bit of everything and anything. It's a bit of a risk but I'm sure I'll manage and, how else do you keep life interesting? So, I got a small flat-share thing and all is looking peachey on the horizon and fingers crossed will stay that way!

oh...and heres some doodles -

and some sketchs -

and, I'm still working on the "Alley Katz"...its coming along and I got some pages done. I closed on the style I want and am just 'dinking' everything before I colour it. I'd put more up but that would give it away...and its gonna be damn good, just you wait.

Mr Wilkinson

2007-09-21T11:42:00.000-07:00

Yikes...I haven't posted in about a month...although I can't say that is abnormal for me. But on the other hand I am (supposed) to be trying to post more soooo....

Well the excuse is that I started a new job at the beginning of September and I also took story boarding job so both my days and nights have been filled. Also bring into consideration that fact that the Rugby World Cup is on and you begin to understand that for the best part of a month I have been either animating/drawing, drunk or sleeping.

Anyway on the note of the RWC...

After not turning up to the game against the USA (not literally....it's called a figure of speech) and letting SA walk all over them, against a Samoan XV England finally looked and moved something in the general direction of what is recognised as a "team", but are still way off if they're ever going to hold onto the trophy. Basically, the All Blacks would still wipe the floor with them.

and for those interested in the art of and not the sport...

A sketch of Mr Wilkinson done whilst watching the game and then the conversion...see what I did there? If you know rugby, you'd get it.

Bond...James Bond

2007-08-26T15:21:00.000-07:00

"Bond...James Bond"

The little pic of the explosion and the running and the jumping and all-round action-ness...it was the most time consuming bit of the image. Anyway...DONE.

Introducing the AlleyKatz

2007-08-26T12:57:00.000-07:00

Late Happy Birthday

2007-08-24T07:02:00.000-07:00

A late drawing for a friend...he likes James Bond...and if he's reading this, its being coloured and is on its way as soon as it gets printed!