sketchin’ a friend.

Wed, 08 May 2013 01:39:49 -0400

sketchin’ a friend.

Film Bg 1- The Road not Taken

Mon, 06 May 2013 13:48:12 -0400

Film Bg 1- The Road not Taken

Film Bg 2- The Road not Taken

Mon, 06 May 2013 13:46:24 -0400

Film Bg 2- The Road not Taken

Film Bg 3- The Road not Taken

Mon, 06 May 2013 13:45:56 -0400

Film Bg 3- The Road not Taken

Film Bg 4- The Road not Taken

Mon, 06 May 2013 13:45:32 -0400

Film Bg 4- The Road not Taken

Film Bg 5- The Road not Taken

Mon, 06 May 2013 13:45:06 -0400

Film Bg 5- The Road not Taken

Film Bg 6- The Road not Taken

Mon, 06 May 2013 13:44:36 -0400

Film Bg 6- The Road not Taken

Hawk.

Wed, 01 May 2013 16:21:52 -0400

Hawk.

Working on a book idea for fun, this might be the first...

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 01:03:51 -0400

Working on a book idea for fun, this might be the first page~

still experimenting..

Regret.

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 19:12:29 -0400

Regret.

My first year film @ CalArts

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 20:32:09 -0400

My first year film @ CalArts

classic song, I didn’t know there was a longer version of...

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 22:43:25 -0400

classic song, I didn’t know there was a longer version of it :)

Film Background.

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 20:10:02 -0400

Film Background.

Man on Thorns.

Sun, 14 Apr 2013 23:58:33 -0400

Man on Thorns.

I dunno what to call this…

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 03:13:27 -0400

I dunno what to call this…

An idea I’m working with..

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 21:02:46 -0400

An idea I’m working with..

Port.

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 21:01:56 -0400

Port.

My thoughts on Animation...

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 20:43:00 -0400

The “Artist”,Animation and the Self

I’m going to start this by identifying the “Artist.” Everyone, when they came into this world was born to have an urge to create and explore. The five senses( if one is blessed enough to have them all) were on high alert, everything became vivid, colors were experienced rather than seen and things that seem insignificant were treasured. When a child first picks up a pencil or brush and that utensil comes in touch with any tangible surface, something immediately triggers. It’s the ability to recreate anything that it is that they have experienced, be it from the past or in the moment. Generally speaking though, children paint or draw in the moment. They make no mistakes, because they haven’t even been told how to perceive what it is they are trying to capture, all they know is that what lies in front of them, is something that they created, and they saw that it was good. Now we all have this desire, but that got suppressed as we grew older. We heard, “That’s not right, that’s not what it looked like, its head wasn’t that big, its legs weren’t that small, the sky is blue not green, draw it more like this, hold your pencil more like this, you’re not as good as them, take up something else, give up and stop trying.” Sounds familiar right? So why did most of the population listen to their peers at such an early age…it’s because we were still discovering ourselves as individuals. It’s as if we were a wild animal who was caught a year or so after we were born. We were placed in a cage and put on display in a circus. We were made out to entertain the audience without our consent. We were once wild and free but over time became tame. For example, an elephant if captured (be it whatever age) will succumb to its master, because its master is the one with the whip. If the elephant acts out of line then they will be whipped. Over time that elephant will know right from wrong, and its decisions will become its master’s decisions and a shroud of a false reality will overcome it. The elephant, whose presence is massive, whose tusks could impale, and whose feet could trample, will not even recognize its own strength when it is in the presence of its master. We are all like an elephant, we have so much potential to be more, we are bold and we are free creatures that can create our own paths through even the most dense jungle. Why is it that we have given in to what society or more rather the “whip” has trained us to act, the reason why is because we didn’t know better. We were abducted to young to know the difference and we accepted a life that wasn’t ours because we were still learning how to walk.

Now would be a good time to discuss the “Artist”. The word was given to us as we grew up and drew more an more. People around us said, “You are a good artist! That’s really unique!” We accepted the complements without even knowing what it meant, we just assumed that thats what it was called(whatever it was we were creating) and continued on our paths of self discovery. To me, the word “Artist” is just a word. I prefer, an Enthusiast,Sculptor,Visionary more so than the binding word “Artist.” Theres so much more to that word than just the surface qualities of it. Being an “Artist” is about how one sees things and how their brain filters what it has seen and applies that along with whatever it is the “Artist” is feeling. Everyone sees things differently and that is why it is useless to try and copy anyone else’s art. That work of art you admire is the product of someone’s feelings and to try and emulate the surface of it is just a waste of time. Actually there is a purpose of copying art and that is that it will aid you in developing your vocabulary, but to copy for the sake of copying is just a dead end. So how is it that we acquire the skill set to be as good as the one’s we admire, without copying and creating unoriginal. The only advice I can give is to live. However, not in the same way we do now, but with a different set of eyes. “So what next, what do I look for then? My skills aren’t that great, and I have a hard enough time drawing what is before me! How can I get on a deeper level if I can’t even get past the first phase which is learning how to draw and develop my own style. I want to be good now, and I want the notoriety that comes along with it.” Well first off you gotta ask yourself who are you trying to impress. Secondly ask, do they really care and thirdly, ask what is it that I’m even trying to say? That’s where the real growth will take place.

When you ask yourself this question you can really be able to put yourself, the artwork that you produce, and the world you live in into perspective. You have to be able to look down the path you’re traveling and see whether or not you’re happy with it. And that is the biggest thing I want to stress. Happiness! I strongly want you to ask yourself, what makes you happy as an individual, what type of artwork do you want to see made that makes you jump for joy, and if you are not seeing it out there, then be the one to stand up and make what it is you want to see a reality! Too many times I see people stray from what makes them happy and suppress themselves for what other people like and dislike. The question is what do YOU want to see? As an observation right now I feel that the industry isn’t pushing stories as much as they should be and things are relying on a formula, and to be honest, that’s not going to change. Change, is in the power of the individual and once you start to ask why things are the way they are then your mind will broaden and you will look outside your comfort zone for inspiration and growth. In order to grow you need to try, and what keeps us from trying is fear. Fear of job loss, fear of rejection, fear of pain, fear of misunderstanding, fear of bad decisions and all the other fears. Fear, fear fear! Fear is the whip! Fear will keep you down and bind you. It is crippling, it is a burden and it is stagnant! Fear is poison to a blossoming flower and it will cease to grow. We are like a flower and we can only grow if we take a chance and take risks. Fear should be our ally, not a jail cell. When fear starts to knock on your door, let it in but don’t let it wreck your house. You own it and you pay the bills. Tell fear to have a seat and have a discussion with it. Ask fear, “What are you afraid of?” It will respond, “ I’m afraid to be myself.” Then you will ask, “Why?” Then you will be able to identify what it is that bothers your persona. To be yourself is not easy for some, but it really is an easy thing to do. It’s all about accepting who you are as truth and going on with life from there. Once you can truthfully accept yourself as a person who makes mistakes and who is imperfect, then that truth will directly translate into your artwork. Your work will immediately change and so will your intuition. You won’t be as concerned about how a certain line is laid down but you will focus on why rather than the how. A line will become more than a noun it will transform into a verb. Nouns are stagnant, verbs are formless, they are forces. Forces that need to be drawn, or communicated. We as people should never be associated as nouns but, actions and decisions;verbs! Verbs are feelings, they are emotions and they are the soul that breathes life into things that are a “person,place or thing.” A tree will not appear as a tree, your mind is now open and you don’t care as much for the details and you will see it as a whole. Branches won’t be branches, but more like branches that reach, grabbing the air as the wind blows through through their fingers. The air escapes and they will wave in acceptance to that which they cannot obtain. So essentially when you are true to yourself than your art will be a reflection of that truth. That’s only the beginning though, next is how is one able to apply that truth to a character that exists in a world that’s believable.

On Creating Believability

Over the years, through the knowledge I have obtained and the experiences that I have gone through I have come to my conclusion on how a story should be told, that actually makes sense to the audience, while being abstract. First I have to identify what makes a character and how it should be viewed in relation to a film. For me, what helps me get into the mindset is to feel that the character I want to convey exists in my head. Now this might sound like you’ve heard this a thousand times but it goes way deeper than that. Its as if that character is living its life and you are just choosing to focus on what it is that character or human being/animal is going through at that particular time in its life. Appreciating a moment and relating that to character is the most important thing for me. In order to better explain, take for instance your close friend. They are going through something at this very moment and have to use their wits and all the life experience they have gathered to solve day to day, rather moment to moment experiences. A character that is drawn should feel those same things. Once you start to finalize a character’s emotions then you have to really think about their psychology. What do they think about, how does that relate to their posture, what is their purpose, have they even found it yet, are they still discovering themselves, are they sure of themselves, do they know what they want, or are they lost. All that I have mentioned needs to be taken into account but their past even more so needs to be taken under consideration. Thinking this way will shift how you perceive a character in the first place, they won’t be just a drawing or a “pretty design” but rather an individual entity that thinks, moves, and acts on its own, without the assistance of its creator, which is you. Also speaking of character design, I feel that thinking about shapes is a VERY backwards way of thinking. You have to ask, what even makes up that shape, or rather what makes up that person. Bad people, weren’t always good and innocent and vice versa, something happened to them. An experience, altered their design and made an impression on them and left its mark. When I speak of character design I literally mean, what is the design of their character, why do they do what they do, when they do it. These are questions that NEED to be asked! It’s so easy to half ass a design that is meaningless, and the only way I would let that get away was if the character I was designing actually was dumb, unintelligent and just ignorant, and I mean poorly ignorant. Design means specificity, and no two things are the same. Each has its own traits, no house is exactly the same, unless it is intentional. For example if I were to make up a character that is very superficial I would make everything on the outside flashy, and worldly. But not all fake people are just purely superficial. There is a reason why they are the way they are. They can appear to have a big presence when really on the inside, their structure is weak and not sturdy mentally. So how would that be conveyed, well when that character debriefs and is all alone then their true selves are seen for themselves in their reflection when they look at themselves in the mirror. It’s like looking at something false and they can’t accept what it is they see, but unfortunately don’t have the heart to change what it is that makes them that way. So they put back on their mask and parade around with everyone elses thoughts rather than seeing themselves for who they really are. What I just mentioned should be taken under account when designing something, not only just that but their past as well. You have to get under a persons skin to be able to understand, you have to identify what it is that makes someone tick.

There’s nothing I dislike more than a thoughtless design, a design with no integrity, is a person with no integrity. Now I know that may sound harsh, but even though someone might not be able to draw well can still have integrity and conviction in their work by being honest to themselves and to their work. It’s when I see someone trying to be someone their not and showing that work to potential hirers is what bugs me the most. When somebody is trying to be the “the next____” but are ignoring trying to be the best them, because when you are true to you then you will grow faster than someone who copies in order to find work. It’s about integrity!

On Integrity

The more integrity you have the more original your work is. This topic relates to problem solving. For instance hands are hard to draw, so why is it that most of the hands I see look like they’re in the style of someone else. I know drawing is hard but why do people use somebody else’s solution to solving problems. Art is a very personal thing, and the only way you can learn is by doing and creating. You learn by experience not so much somebody telling you what is right and what’s wrong. Outside of art, like Life for instance is when you can learn by both ways, but with your own art you have to struggle and learn my making mistakes, learning from them and trying again. That is why it is extremely frustrating when I see someone cheating at designing a character. Milt Kahl draws the way he does because he arrived at the symbols the way he did because he studied something carefully (hands for instance), took it in and using his inner filter and intuition made something that was original and appealing. So when people try and just use a ‘copy and paste’ method to their work than they will have just cheated themselves. They won’t grow and their work won’t be original. That’s why I want to suggest to study life, look to life for answers NOT other animation artists. The Nine Old Men,(who we put on a pedestal) didn’t have anything to look at in terms of animation, they were the first animators of there time to be doing what it was that they conveyed. So who did they look at for inspiration? Well they looked at Fine Artists! Like Edgar Degas, John Singer Sargent, Mary Cassatt, Claude Monet, Manet, Gustav Klimt, Michelangelo, Da Vinci, Caravaggio, etc. Also who did the last artist’s I mentioned have to look at for inspiration? Certainly wasn’t the cavemen. They had whatever it was that was right before them, it lied in the moment, and that is called Life. The sooner one recognizes this then the more diverse the artist will become instead of becoming a one trick pony.

Thanks for reading.

sketch 4

Fri, 29 Mar 2013 16:15:49 -0400

sketch 4

sketch 3

Fri, 29 Mar 2013 16:15:16 -0400

sketch 3

Black,White and Grey

sketchin’ a friend.

Film Bg 1- The Road not Taken

Film Bg 2- The Road not Taken

Film Bg 3- The Road not Taken

Film Bg 4- The Road not Taken

Film Bg 5- The Road not Taken

Film Bg 6- The Road not Taken

Hawk.

Working on a book idea for fun, this might be the first...

Regret.

My first year film @ CalArts

classic song, I didn’t know there was a longer version of...

Film Background.

Man on Thorns.

I dunno what to call this…

An idea I’m working with..

Port.

My thoughts on Animation...

sketch 4

sketch 3