Room Color Test
Up late? Creative juices replace sleep! Here’s the color test I promised. I wanted to get the blue style and effect of the first setting.
Click for a larger image
I’m fairly satisfied with this having been out of the painting/coloring loop for awhile and it feels DAMN GOOD to be showing some effective lighting. I want to really rely on the computer monitor as my light source while having a slightly lower light from the outside, making the room seem even darker when night is brighter.
More soon. Crunch time at work! Need my rest 
Liberty
TO LIBERTY! My second location, the meetup of friends, is at Ellis Island, where The colors shift from the sad, lonely blues to the fresh, HAPPY blue of the sky and colorful grass, water, city skyline.
The Arrival, many people coming off the boat, they clear, as Nick comes off, looking around for his friend after viewing his pamphlet, like the NYC hermit he is.
A happy, excited, awkward arrival to Ellis Island.
He finds his friend, whose new to NYC, but looks and acts much more comfortable and welcoming, like they’ve been traveling their whole life, exploring and enjoying everything this world has to offer, without hesitation or regrets. This is represented by the stance, the colors, the solidarity.
Silliness occurs!
We just wanted to do silly things, like have the statue of liberty hold a coke or being able to simultaneously jump in the frame. This was quite a feat. It took many tries since it was on a timer. Honestly, the best part is BECAUSE it was like that. This was some redic fun and I can only imagine the amount of people who saw us trying to do this over and over again.
They leave the island, only to have a sad event. I will keep this silent for now, as I wish not to ruin anything. I only wish to convey the up and downs, colors, layouts of such moments.
Thanks Dr. Phelan
But I’ll take that break later. 
So it’s been awhile and i’m not happy about that. So i’m taking inspiration from my good friend Christine and gung hoing forward. I don’t have alot of time these nights (It’s crunch time at work for the next few nights) but I figure if I keep the ball moving even a little bit, it’s better than nothing.
GALE WILLIAMS! She is what it’s all about when it comes to getting cleaner sketches done. She took my second main character and drew her up with good proportions and nice colors.
Beautiful Turnarounds. Thanks Gale
As far as setting, I decided to focus on the room tonight, the one “Nick” will be resided in the beginning and the end. This is his creative location, the place he can be/do anything he wants. It’s where his ideas breathe, take life, and run.
But for some reason, he hasn’t felt that in awhile. His room actually feels like a prison, something that is confining rather than releasing.
The walls are covered in photos of his previous outside engagements, memories, and joys.
He puts them up to remind him, but “life got in the way” and he’s without these creative feelings anymore.
Life became routine. It no longer had freedom.
But then, he gets the chance for exploration, much like Carl Fredricksen, getting back that feeling he once had (or in Carl’s case, never quite got to experience).
A couple extra photos for reference deal with the window in the room. I want it to be blue, raining, NYC/Brooklyn apt style. Tiny, on top of each other, and claustrophobic. This is a tiny detail, but it’ll go a long way in setting up the first scene. So many people in one place and yet you can still feel alone. It’s quite an unbelievable feat in my opinion.
This is where I leave off for the night. As far as colors, painting style, and how I could like it to feel, a couple more references from the best.
I love the mood of these tones and I will be heavily using it to contrast the later colors, which take place outside and near the statue of liberty. BRIGHT! HAPPY! Like having a mouth full skittles and realizing they’re ALL BLUE SKITTLES! (The best!)
Some video of the statue of liberty along with the ferry I’ll be using for my short. I’d ignore the audio, unless you’d like a tour.
Color Test #3
Just continuing progress of character development and ideas. Going to get this library of work built up so modelers can start doing their work. I look forward to seeing this stuff come to life!
Time for the room sketches to give it some life.
Color test #2
Decided to do a quick color test and keep ANY kind of momentum on this project. Tomorrow, I do a quick color test on the main character, then a quick room sketch to get the setting down and dirty. I hope to have a turnaround of the main character sketched to the best of my ability by this weekend so I can pass it along to some talented modelers to have their way with.
This feels good! I had so much passion for this when I came up with the story and I want to keep it alive and fresh. A little a day goes a long way.
Art is by Gale Williams, Color test by me.
Gale without the Fail!
Great shoot with Gale Williams! We had to adlib a bit considering my original plans. I’m glad we did! We got some silly and beautiful shots!
To see the highlights, check out http://www.nicklogic.com/blog/?page_id=164
And one of my favorites:
The modeling is going well on Project Liberty. The next post will show my progress. So much going on!
Motivation breeds motivation
Isn’t it hard to find that pesky motivation? Sometimes it’s hiding under a carpet, maybe hanging out in an art gallery without you… heck, sometimes I go looking for it under my pillow (and promptly fall asleep).
Motivation is pretty easy to find. It’s hand in hand, walking down the street, with inspiration. Don’t tread too far from inspiration and motivation will never be further than an effort’s length away.
The beauty? Motivation breeds motivation. Others around you will want to do it too.
Now all they need to find is that pesky inspiration…
UPDATED – July 2011
Added some new drawings to Artistry as well as updated my reel and resume. Tiny things, but I like to have it all current.
Here’s a picture of my screen when I work sometimes, since this post is so short and lame.
OH! And here’s my new business card
What is passion without action?
Recently, the things I read in the Animator’s Survival Kit were, if not only supported, extended in my understanding. Animators understand the basic principles. If not, here’s the list:
- Squash and Stretch
- Anticipation
- Composition(also known as Staging)
- Overlap (And continued momentum)
- Easing in and out
- Arcs
- Secondary Action
- Timing
- Exaggeration
- Appeal
- Pose to Pose, straight ahead/combination
There’s a twelfth principle from the Masters Frank and Ollie, but such is related to 2-D animation (solid drawing). This holds no weight in 3-D, but I strike it important to state that even if we’re not drawing characters, the character should be true to it’s material as well as its form and proportions.
I bring this up because in college, I don’t recall learning all of the principles. Whether it’s my fault or the teacher’s is not as important as explaining how I learned.
Through solid observation.
How do you think the greats learned them? They watched everything. Like a sponge, they saw others as they moved. They watched real-life activities. I learned anticipation from people getting out of chairs, starting a walk. I understood overlapping and overshooting from someone running and stopping. Exaggerations were learned from cartoons or charlie chaplin. It all just made sense. Timing? Something fast gives stress/tension while something slow is either cautious or confident… but fast can also be confident. It’s all based on the situation.
But a character’s believability. Ah. There’s the rub.
Appeal? What is that? Secondary action? That’s like hair moving after a person running, right? Apparently I was all wrong! These two terms alone are the most essential for creating character life above the basics. What would you do while conversing with a friend? Cup your hands together? Scratch your neck? Surely the hands and actions of a character can give different vibes during a dialogue. Say a character is sewing while talking. It shows either disinterest or a person who needs to multitask, needs to keep busy. If that action is stopped, it would show more of a thought, a sudden process of hearing something they feel the need to focus on now. It diverts attention from boredom/busying to “wait… they said what? I should listen so I can reply.” This is something i’m only recently realizing in animation. And it opens MASSIVE doors to giving a character life.
Secondary action also gives a character appeal. Something good to look at. Something people want to see, enjoy. Who wants to see a character who moves all jagged-like, doesn’t flow smoothly, and gives off a constant motion without holds or life? No one. You’d lose interest in mere seconds. Zip zip zip zip? No focus and your character doesn’t engage an audience anymore. It dies, right before you on screen.
APPEAL IS CRUCIAL TO ENJOYMENT.
Next time you watch an animated film, you’ll now realize why you either like or hate something. It either flows… or it doesn’t.
Now you’ll see why.
Passion renewed
Richard Williams wrote a really great book, maybe you animators have heard of it? The Animator’s Survival Kit.
Ok, maybe you’ve seen the movie he directed:
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YouTube Direktsuper video
The Animator’s Survival Kit.
What a proper name! This book is something an animator should read or browse every once and awhile to remember why animation is a passion and not just a job. What an enjoyable and refreshing look at not only the principles of animation, but why they are the way they are. Remember, we all have a “Thing” when it comes to amazing animation. We just need to find it and practice, practice, PRACTICE!
For those oddly unfamiliar with this staplecrop of animation know-how, Animator’s Survival Kit
Another book, that I do not have but hear is also essential for animation understandings, is The Illusion of Life. Frank and Ollie? You can’t go wrong with that kind of knowledge: The Illusion of Life
Friday, I’m going to a Pixar Seminar class to learn about acting for animators, something I’ve struggled with in the past. The rest are just a revisit to the principles of animation. It never hurts to learn from the greats! Am I right?
I will share my discoveries after the talks tomorrow!
Cheers!