A Blog of Artsy and Fartsy Things

Crafting in Reception

2009-06-02T12:44:00.001-07:00

Decoupaged some "suggestion boxes" for the Travel Channel offices. My sneaky plan to be crafty and creative at work. Suckahs!

KB

Japan!

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

In late March I flew across the country and over an ocean to visit Japan for the first time. I'd always been interested in the culture and artwork, so I had to see for myself where the beauty and bizarre came together in this island nation. Please enjoy my observations and activities through the six destinations of my trip!

Sendai

My first real taste of Japan outside the Narita airport and Tokyo shinkansen (bullet train) was the seventh designated city of Japan, Sendai. Sendai was a city completely rebuilt after being wiped out as a result of World War II. It was a great first impression of incredible urban planning and an appreciation for every space, no matter how small. Every tree that lined the street was strictly pruned into a specific design. I found temples and shrines snuggled underneath the shadows of office building and apartments, immediately preferring these calm oasis' of reflection over the hustle and bustle of the busy shopping district (because apparently the Japanese invented department stores).

Staying with my friend Tara, currently an Asst. Language Teacher (ALT) for the JET Programme, I got a glimpse into the life of foreigners or "gaijinn" living in Japan. When not crammed into an apartment the size of a closet (don't be sad, it's incredibly efficient), she took me out and about to shopping arcades, technology stores and booze halls. She opened my eyes to world of "purikura," capsule games, 7-story "manga" and video game shops, chuu hai and karaoke. Throughout the day I had remarked how everyone moved about the city in a slow lurch, zombies clunking their way to their quick lunch and back to the office until 8pm. When night fell we found ourselves in the drinking district and it was as if everyone was shocked to life. People were falling over each other everywhere, the old man with the siren peddled his steamed sweet potatoes to drunken customers.

With Tara by my side I had my very first bowl of "real" ramen, complete with fatty slices of pork, hand pressed garlic and the most delicious soft-boiled eggs I've ever stuffed into my mouth. We also sampled "zunda-mochi" and "gyutan," both specialties of the region. Zunda-mochi is pounded rice balls cakes slathered in pounded edamame soybeans. Incredible! Gyutan is beef tongue, sliced thickly and slightly marinated in soy sauce before being grilled. I devoured my share with a side of ox-tail soup (a bowl of fun until you have to pick the vertebrae out with your teeth). "Taiyaki" should also be eaten only when it is filled with goopy custard and after you just watched it be made.

My favorite experience of Sendai was learning to pray at my first shrine. As an "obaasan," or grandma, was walking down from the main sanctuary area, she stopped to stare as I fumbled through the wrong way to wash my hands in order to purify myself before praying or making wishes. After what I'm guessing was a pitiful attempt (when someone is shaking their head and smiling at you you assume so), without a word, she walked me through the entire process. First wash your left hand. Then your right. Scoop water into your hand and wash your mouth. Walk to the shrine and toss your money into the box. Ring the bell, bow twice and clap twice. And with that she said "Sayonara" and left.

After 3 days, with the initial shock of time-traveling and cultural opposites, I set out on my own for the largest heritage city of Kyoto.

Kyoto

Kyoto blew me away right out of the train station. Kyoto Tower greets you, a block down from the train station is a true, blue old a snot temple, public bath houses, and young girls dressed up in kimonos just happened to walk by and let me take a photo with them. A sweet "ojiisan" (grandpa) also saved my life when I was making getting lost into a sport. Eventually I arrived at my hostel, the Gojo Guest House. After dropping my things, setting up my futon the only way an American can (cushion-cushion-sheet-blanket-done) I set out for the Gion District and the Yasaka Shrine where a brilliant light festival and ikebana showing was being held and my camera batteries decided to revolt.

Unlike Sendai, Kyoto was filled to the brim with temples and shrines. Everywhere. My first day went very much like "Temple, Shrine, Temple, Temple, Shrine, Shrine, Shrine." Every single one prayed to a different god, had a different guardian animal and damnit, I stopped into each one I saw. After hiking from Gion to the Imperial Palace park to the Silver Pavilion, I made it back to Gion just in time to meet up with Couchsurfers. We danced, we "okonomiyaki"ed, we karaoked and stumbled into the night, chuu hai's in hand.

The next day I met a New Yorker named Tim. After chatting over some toast and honey we set out for the other half of Kyoto, the south and west. Our first mission was the Fushimi Inari shrine, essentially a mountainside covered in thousands of bright orange torii gates (some city folk may recall the Jean-Claude and Christo piece "The Gates" from Central Park). Celebrating our hike up a flippin' mountain, we grabbed a 150 yen beer (Kirin is the Coors Light of Japanese beer, blaugh!) from a vending machine and hopped the train to the west-side, the Togetsukyo Bridge and Bamboo Forest in Arashiyama. On this side of the city, exhausted to the point where sweet potato, green tea and brown tea ice cream could not cure your ills, we hopped a rickshaw back to the train rails and boogied back a sushi restaurant called Yamabiko in the heart of Gion.

Now my big lesson here in Kyoto was that the Japanese (especially sushi chefs who want to travel to America) absolutely love Americans from New York and Americans from "Obama-san's house." Obamamania hit hard in Japan (especially in the Japanese city of Obama!) and the questions were punctuated with free beers (Sapporo this time, thank God). Amongst the extra attention, my taste buds had the chance to savor "toro", the prized fatty tuna nigiri, salmon roe so delicate and fresh it melts in your mouth the only way salt flesh bubbles can, crunchy, crunchy abalone and sea urchin. Oh my God, the sea urchin. I have never known that these spiny critters could taste like anything but a briny sea booger! But Japan, oh Japan, you are welcome to prove me wrong with food anytime you want.

Osaka

Moving on, Osaka was a little lackluster seeing as my host was working all week and I had no one to party with across Osaka's extensive nightlife. I was here for about a day, and a majority of it was spent on the Dontonburi. One of my missions in Osaka was to show up that Bourdain punk and to munch some grilled crab. I sure did and damn it was delicious! Washed that down with a heaping helping of takoyaki and topped all the nonsense off with a green tea cake roll and sweets. But not soon after it was time for third lunch where the Osaka-style of "okonomiyaki," or pancake omelet, was sampled. After leaving my guide I resumed my solo traveling and biked around a good chunk of the city arriving just in time to see the Osaka Castle. While a reconstruction, it was an incredible sight to see.

Later in the evening my host took me to "the best bar in Osaka." Forgot the name of the place, but I thought up a better one; "Where the White People Hide." Apparently this was where the English teachers came to drown their sorrows (if they've been there for awhile) or plan all sorts of adventures (if they had arrived earlier that week). I got my chuu hai on regardless, but I can report that the ziggy-zaggy bicycle ride back home was one to remember. You just can't scratch Engrish catcalls from your memory.

Miyajima Island and Hiroshima

Deciding Osaka wasn't quite my scene I took a day trip to Miyajima Island and the Hiroshima Peace Park, all a fun ferry ride between each other (and FREE with my JRail pass). Imagine my surprise upon discovering all the fuzzy deer wandering everywhere surrounding the Itsukushima Shrine! We snuggled and then I ran off to get as many photo ops of deer and the floating torii gate as possible. Eventually I became hungry and found a stand selling grilled oysters. And by oysters I mean the critter is bigger than your freaking hand. The lady cooking them was really nice and gave me an extra one for free!

Hiroshima's Peace Parka and Memorial was haunting. That's the only way I can describe it. After the past few days, it wasn't until this point in my day that truly felt like an outsider. Being an American, the guilt just weighs you down, as if a fog rolls in and you try to claw your way through. I mean, my family helped rebuild this country! Where was I getting off with this guilt? Upon finding my way to the Memorial Cenotaph, instead of praying in the Japanese way I'd been practicing for over a week, over and over in every shrine I visited, the Hail Mary's just came out. For some reason I can't explain, it only felt fitting to pay my respects in the way I knew and felt most sincere. I'd been imitating these rituals for a week and this way only felt the most respectful. I moved on to the atomic dome. If the sight of that skeletal structure doesn't twist your gut then you sir, are not human. The train ride back to Osaka was deep in thought.

Shizuoka

I met up with Couchsurfers in Tokyo for a dinner before departing for Shizuoka. Ride of choice? Not the train this time, but the WISH-CLUB bus! Myself and eight other couchsurfers were going to stay at the home of Mochan, a man who I have come to idolize as the perfect traveler.

Mochan's house is modest and surely not a luxury hotel. All of the walls are plastered with artifacts from around the world, a sombrero collection, flags from several countries along the ceiling and maps. Maps from almost every continent, all signed by the people he met, tacked with pictures taken with them. I was in awe. Mochan's hospitality showed no bounds with a full day planned of Mt. Fuji viewing and themed sightseeing. Our first stop was the Seikenji Temple, famous for its hundreds of stone statues of monks and students of the temple. We them moved on down the street for a tour of a previous Prime Minister's summer home, a prime example of traditional Japanese architecture and use of natural supplies for practicality and aesthetic.

We hopped the bus and made our way to the Fuji Sengen Shrine, where climbers go to pray before attempting to reach the summit of Mt. Fuji, a very spiritual place for the Japanese I am told. Chickens and roosters were the guardian animals here, very fun! From the shrine we headed to Lake Kawaguchi, supposedly one of the best places to see Mt. Fuji. The only problem? Clouds, clouds and a touch of fog. We moved on to the Shiraito Falls, a collection of waterfalls depositing the icy cold waters from the summit of the mountain to a gorgeous display to watch while you munch on grilled squid on a stick.

Mochan resolved to try to show us the VERY best place to view Mt. Fuji. As we attempted to get there though, the bus was overtaken with a dense, dense fog. So heck. It wasn't all in vain thought. We got out and made our own Fuji-san.

Heading Home

As I boarded the shinkansen back to Narita, I was ready to come home. Don't get me wrong, the Japanese people were the nicest folks I have ever met. I especially appreciate all the obaasans and ojiisans who welcomed me and helped me find my way when I originally thought they would be the most vehement on avoiding my little American self. If anything, the foreigners living in Japan left me with the worst feeling of being an outsider. This trip grounded the idea of the mixing of romantic and bizarre I had thought of Japan. It is the land of two extremes; the calculated beauty contrasting with the flamboyantly bizarre. This juxtaposition only enhances the appreciation for the other. It hit me very hard and only left me wanting to learn more, to talk more and to discover more about Japan.

KB

Back from Japan, time to clean up the photos!

2009-03-29T20:52:00.000-07:00

One bummer about my time in Japan was the very hazy and cloudy weather. Slowly but surely, I'm going through each decent photograph and messing with some color editing. It's great practice since I will need to apply the same to the footage I took with the camcorder.

Nishio Conservation Studio - TCA Video

2008-10-10T18:15:00.000-07:00

Nishio Conservation Studio
Travel Channel Academy
Rosenblum Associates
Travel Channel Media

Travel Channel Academy

2008-09-20T06:37:00.000-07:00

So we just wrapped up the Travel Channel Academy on Friday. It is essentially UMBC's Visual Concepts IV without the bullshit, the wasted time and where they actually teach you how to use Final Cut Pro in an idiot-proof way that gives you a product. On the whole it was a fun expierience, but a grim reminder of what a 9-5 can do to one's creative time. Essentially in 3, 8-hour days I was able to work on a creative project and see the final product in an extremely quick turnaround; something I haven't been able to do much of since I began working behind the reception desk at Travel and since the shelving of the Paul Rand project. It was a truly terrifying shock back to reality after I set foot out of that conference room and was asked to order a taxi.

The Nishio Conservation Studio, one of the only private studios to specialize in treatments for Japanese folding screen paintings and scrolls was kind enough to allow me to come in, slip into some slippers and film them as they do their mind-boggling patient work. Yoshi, the founder, taught me more in that 2 and a half hour period about the politics of these works, the degradation and the technique than I learned from months sitting in Spain. Shoot, I want to go back just to hang out.

I need to look into the legal junks and see where I can share my video or at least post some stills. I'm very proud of what came of this project and have a deep appreciation for the subject matter and the people involved. It's defintely niche, so it couldn't measure up with Arlington's changing of the guard, Google Earth or some sushi, but hell, those were some ridiculously nice videos coming from people who've never touched a camera. It breaks my heart that these sparks of creative talent are smuthered by lack of confidence. "I'm not a creative person" is such complete crap. Creativity is not synonymous with hoity-toity, artsy-fartsy, starving artist, elitist or shiny Macbook bullshit!

K

Siggraph 2008

2008-08-18T09:15:00.000-07:00

First a big "Hello!" to the people who may find there way to my lil' spot on the internet! Nice to have met you all!

A big "Thank you!" to the super people who make Siggraph happen. LA was expensive as snot but the conference made up for it.

A "Rock on!" to all the exhibitors in New Tech and the Expo, thanks for the free junk, the snazzy Phong shirt and for letting me play with your expensive toys!

And a super "Hell yeah!" for the Student Volunteer Committee, Team Leaders and fellow Volunteers who worked their butts of under the stress of confusion and craziness. And thans for th CS3 packages too, it's nice and snazzy :)

Poor Man's Office Coffee Delight

2008-08-01T05:34:00.000-07:00

Poor Man's Office Coffee Delight

1 K-Cup French Vanilla Coffee
1/2 packet of Hot Cocoa
Lots of sugar
Lots of ice
2 creamer shots on top

1. Painstakingly brew your free coffee in the ridiculously complicated and fancy machine.
2. Add generous amount of sugar and hot cocoa.
3. Stir vigorously.
4. More vigorously you wimp!
5. Heap lots of ice on top and pour cream on top of ice.

Moral of the story: !@#$ you Starbucks! (aka, I ran out of free gift cards.)

K

Soot & UMBC: a reflection

2008-07-14T11:08:00.000-07:00

It's been almost a month and a half since I completed "Soot" and graduated from college. After anxious waiting and the thought of many resumes still floating in the employment void, I luckily found an adorable little full-timer at Travel Channel Media.

Within a week I went from rolling out of bed at 9am and walking to class in a sweatshirt to rolling off my bed at 6am, donning heels and driving off to the metro station. It's been a rude awakening realizing that there will be no more summer breaks, much harder to spontaneously see the fabulous friends I've made in Baltimore.

This senior year was incredibly challenging. Spain was an entirely different animal and "Soot" really feels like a triumph with the time constraints that we aligned too. Of course there was more I wanted to do with it, farther I wanted to take it, but sitting in the puddle of funtastic mud won't help me move onto better ideas and challenges.

Looking at this short, there are a million things I would wish to change, scenes I didn't want to leave behind and corners I wish had been cut. If time had permitted I would have bumped the frame rate from the 10-12 fps (frames per second) back to 15 at the very least. Two short environmental scenes that were cut could have been reworked to help draw the time out. Most of all abandoning the Venus and birth of creativity concept was depressing and necessary. It was tough, don't get me wrong. My life was absorbed by this thing. There would be days where I would forget to eat, would stay up all night in that crummy little window-less lab we affectionately called the "dungeon," kids from the 3D Intro classes would walk into the engineering labs exclaiming "You're still here!?"

But really...it's not right to beat myself up about it. "Soot" was not as deep or dramatic as I had first envisioned, but if that was the case I probably wouldn't had had as much fun with it. I love the classic and modern cartooning styles, and getting to explore those quirky movements was possible with my little caveman. Some people see this thing and call it "avant garde," but really I think it just weirds them out, haha. I'm just happy people can feel something from it.

So anyway, here is the final version of "Soot" a little cleaned up visually. The delay came from my lack of software to shrink down the size since leaving school. (I'm still awaiting answers to my drum circle ads, so hopefully one day for kicks it'll get a real soundtrack)

If I had to sum up my experiences from the past fours years up, it would go like this:

College is what you make it. I made it awesome.

Being involved with the UMBC Animation program and organizations like ArtCOM and ArtWeek opened the doors to incredible opportunities, but most granted me some of my most cherished friendships. These individuals are challenging, honest, creative and I miss them incredibly. They were my rivals, my fuel and my greatest teachers. When looking at art schools, don't just look at where the faculty is coming from, look to the students because that is where the real learning will take place.

K

Silly things

2008-07-06T07:55:00.001-07:00

Katie graduated, lol. This was on my cake. Thanks Mom!

Otherwise I stay "creative" at work (except that I did this off the clock...waaaah) by designing things to make our newsletter not-ugly. Hopefully I'll be getting Photoshop for spiffing up presentations too.
/cry Baby steps Katie, baby steps.

Anywho, I'm going to convert this into my everything and anything blog, so keep eyes peeled for things involving my hobbies, travel and crafts. Yay!

Summer Projects

2008-06-04T10:53:00.000-07:00

So I find myself working 40 hrs/wk, wondering what to do for the summer to keep my artistic muscles nice and beefy.

Siggraph is coming in August (which is always a huge motivator) where I will be student volunteering for my 3rd year. My former classmates and professor Eric Dyer will be showing off their project "Bellows." Congratulations and best of luck to you all! I will see you there as one of the goofballs in a red vest.

After finishing up some artworks I owe to loved ones, I'm thinking of reopening WoW commissions and other such nerdy delights and brainstorming for a new short (one that wont be rushed in under a month, nyuk nyuk). Not sure which idea to go with, but I think it will have a lot to do with star constellations. It will be perfect for becoming more intimate with After Effects. Otherwise finding the energy to complete Maya tutorials may require a bit of coffee. I'd love to do a collaboration, but it'll have to wait till I have a hold on my new schedule and routine.

This stuff isn't worth a grade anymore, and it makes it that much more valuable. How exciting!

K

Anatomy of a Video Game

2008-05-17T07:17:00.000-07:00

Last night the Anatomy of a Video game class, taught by Katie and Justin of BreakAway Games LTd., at UMBC had our final game presentations shown to an audience of our peers, professors and a crowd of industry professionals. Nervous? You bet we were!

The three groups, Melifador's Bridge (Fighting), Purgatory Heights (SRPG) and my group, Argyle Knights XIV (Sandbox Adventure) rocked the house and made some great impressions, showing off all the work these teams of artists and programmers put together.

I'm going to try to snag some screenshots from other groups, but until then above is my groups manual, and go on my word that I've worked with some of the most talented people in the whole damn school and that if they don't get incredible jobs after this experience, than I'm assuming they will make their own and eventually hire me at their awesome company.

Note: My classmates and I will be presenting our games again at the...

IDGA Baltimore Chapter Meeting
May 29th, 7pm
at BreakAway Games Ltd.

"Soot"

2008-05-10T15:49:00.000-07:00

Almost done!

2008-05-06T18:51:00.000-07:00

I am rocking Soot's face off! Cheah buddy! Featured above are some of the cave paintings features in my thesis film. If you remember anything from Art History I, you should recognize a few. But since you probably were sleeping through the best part of the class and because I am kind, here are my references and where they originated (in order of appearance (Left to right, top to bottom):

Reindeer, Font-de-Gaume, France
Rhino, Grotte Chauvet, France
Bison, Altamira, Spain
Bison (of Bird-Headed Man fame), Lascaux, France
Stag, Font-de-Gaume, France
Reindeer, Font-de-Gaume, France
Bison, Lascaux, France
Stag, Font-de-Gaume, France

Ok, break is over! Back to work!

K

Crunchtime

2008-04-24T14:15:00.000-07:00

Well it's coming down to the wire (click for my super fun updated production schedule)!

New videos are up in the Animation tab of my portfolio. One is from my Special effects and motion graphics class but, most new ones are examples of what I've been up to in the Anatomy of a Video Game class for our final group project. Our Dragon Hunting game is shaping up to be pretty entertaining. I am learning a lot from the programmers, especially how to make it easier for them when it comes to making sure the art assets are importable. Sweet!

Senior projects is coming along painfully slow. Almost all of the 2D is drawn. Color keys are complete (an example from the opening is above). Still have a lot to do though, but if I stick to my production timeline I should be fine. I need to run to the supermarket and stock up on caffeine.

Take care,
K

Texture test

2008-04-22T14:01:00.000-07:00

It's crunchtime! Ahhh! Less than three weeks to go! And pony has his first texture, awww.

Rough Draft Nonsense

2008-04-07T09:26:00.000-07:00

Chinese Horse Progress

2008-04-05T08:14:00.000-07:00

So here's a peek at the progress of the Chinese horse. It was a challenge learning to correctly rig and skin beyond what was touched on in my classes, but with lots of determination, two deadlines to meet and some great support from my classmates, I learned a lot in this part of the project.

For the Anatomy of a Video Game midterm project he was then imported, with all of his movements and accumulations, into the Gamebryo game engine. In the Animation Editor he was tweaked to have his animations blend into each other as if he was controlled by a player (run->walk, etc). In the Scene Designer, he was given a plane to run on and a spotlight. I wrestled with some pre-existing coding for a few hours, but eventually he was able to be imported into the actual gameapp and ran correctly.

I'm very excited to begin texturing and animating him for the specific parts of Soot.

Idle cycle.

Walk cycle.

Running cycle.

Blaaarhghrgrhrghrgh

2008-03-30T14:39:00.001-07:00

Dooooodles are fun. I want to use this guy for another project.
Bow ties need to make a comeback. Fer'eal.

Still alive, sorta kinda!

Been workin' out kinks on the horse (by kinks I mean re-rigging and skinning the butthead over and over again). Katie H has been quite patient with my bumblings, but hey, at least I'm learning how to get better at this stuff. Skinning has been quite the challenge because of the chubby pony's anatomy. His front legs are bizzare to animate in 3D, especially with my limited knowledge of the gumbi-ish riggins. But anywho, Mr. Horsey will be walking, running and idling by Wednesday and fully operational in the Gamebryo engine. Oh snaps! Video games!

I was asked to make a t-shirt for my old high school's environmental science program.
The description was a little weird, but it sounds like they got what they asked for.

Have about three-quarters of my keys done for Mr. Painter on the Soot-front in all their sketchy, blue glory. Hope to have those finished by Tuesday for line tests. Once the timing is checked against the animatic and my exposure sheet, extremes and in-betweens will begin. So I hope the faculty likes the color blue, because they're going to be seeing a lot of it for the rough draft presentation.

Tomorrow after class I'm going grocery shopping for the future late nights in the ani-dungeon. I should get some vitamins since a steady diet of ramen and cheezits probably won't be very good for me.

K

Weeee

2008-03-21T15:12:00.000-07:00

Backgrounds are coming along. Yesterday had somewhat of a drawing-block as I redrew and recolored just my horizontal pan over and over again. But I have the inking style and the color theme details ironed out. So with 3 backgrounds inked, 1 and a half colored and another just needing the cave paintings, I'm making up for lost time.

Heading home tonight for Easter fun and family time. This will also have some animating (finally geez!!) sprinkled in with the TV binging I usually do back in the 'Ville. A little behind schedule. I blame my AMST/MCS papers.

EDIT: Before I forget, a reference or two for the Chinese horse's movements.

Some of these music videos are just *too* intense for me. But good for reference. Wewt.

Take care folks,

K

Animation Dungeon

2008-03-19T16:21:00.000-07:00

Party weekend, sick day Mon/Tues and an unusually busy day at work today.

With the sunset I made my way up the treacherous flight of stairs to our 2D animation dungeon. The task; cleanup and revise my storyboards and to make them into a more comprehensible animatic. With access the senior lab's pretty Cintiq, I was able to re-create it moderately quickly and to divide everything up into concrete shots. This has been wonders for helping me lay everything out in the frame, my God. Some parts are still a bit quick, but I wanted to get it up here for feedback anyway. Clocked in at 1:40mins. Probably could make it to 2mins, but I know that some parts will be quick. Like a viper strike. Hisss!

Now if only YouTube or Googlevideo would upload the dang thing or keep it online I'd be all set.

Feedback is appreciated! Do it!

Blue is either much easier on my eyes or much friendlier than working in straight-up black. Might have something to do with the mentality of colors we develop through school, like red means "Wrong! You Fail!" and black is more a "You Can't Erase Me Bahahaha!" kind of thing. In the long run, probably a somewhat bad idea to be working backwards right now, but it needed to be done. Rather redo this now than have to redo hours of animation later. ~~I'm having serious doubts that I'll have this polished in time for the senior show, but~~ I'm gonna kick this film's ass!

Oh! Saw Horton Hears a Who! on Sunday, will post a super review when I catch a break. Ridiculous Blue Sky, ridiculous! :)

Soundtrack of the evening was: No More Kings, Daft Punk, Wax Tailor. Rockin'.

Background Inspiration

2008-03-14T15:12:00.000-07:00

And a cartoon featured on Cartoon Brew by Chuck Jones. I love the way the caves are done here, and may borrow some of the look for my own backgrounds.

Got the key to the labs. Animation awaits me!! Woooo!

Model Sheets and Such

2008-03-04T20:51:00.000-08:00

Hurrrr I'm sleepy. I've now attempted storyboarding in PS, Flash and have finally resorted to just sketching the damn thing out on half sheets of paper. It's a bit sloppier, but at least I can get thoughts down at the rate they flow out of my head! A little behind schedule on the animatic, but I'd rather get this crap right now than have to edit a time-based file later. Anywhosits...

Hooray for 2D modelsheets! Painter's colors are below, and the Sorcerer's probably aren't going to change much from his tea time illustration. Later I'll just paint them into the model sheet layers. Otherwise, I'll be messing with the color keys super duper soon, prolly once I get into layout and decide ultimately where my lighting will be placed. Wraar!

From the 447 walk cycle project. Background test ok, needs to be refined. But I like the texture, may carry some of that over into Soot's backgrounds. So far rigged the Painter in profile. Once I get into AE animating for specific scenes I'll make some hands and faces to swap out.

And this is who is next in line for modeling, Mr. Bison visiting from the Altamira site. The sketch is an attempt to figure out limb segments and placement ahead of time.

Ok I gotta sleep.

K

Horse model - Take Two!

2008-03-03T20:02:00.001-08:00

Mark II of the Chinese Horse! It's looking a lot better now than last time. Sometimes restarting really is the best method. Extruding an 8-sided cylinder had a much better workflow for me than the draw polygon tool (used in the previous attempt). Still some detail work and fixes (omg the front legsss, they make me cry) to make out.

Otherwise happy I took a break to mess with the Toonshader in regards to the outline issue. I want a more "inked" kind of look, so some more messing around is in order. Hopefully some better insight to texturing is coming this Weds when we go over it in Anatomy of a Video Game.

Still truckin along! Here's hopin' this baby is fixed and rigged up by Weds!

K

An Example

2008-03-02T10:24:00.000-08:00

Here is an example close to my intentions for the scene where the Herd bursts from the sanctuary walls.

This sequence was done by a company called a52.

I dug up some articles on CGSociety.
http://features.cgsociety.org/story_custom.php?story_id=3478
http://postproduction.digitalmedianet.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=34946
http://www.darnellworks.com/a52/nr0088.htm

On Inked outlines in Maya.
http://www.vrvis.at/vr/cgr4/cartoonshader/index.html
http://www.highend3d.com/maya/downloads/plugins/paint_fx/Tomcat-
Cartoon-Shader-2417.html
http://artis.imag.fr/Publications/2006/BTM06a/x-toon.pdf

Sootsauce

2008-02-26T16:57:00.001-08:00

Oh so, tomorrow I am giving my pitch in class for "Soot." Here is a basic rundown of what I'm talking aboot...

Synopsis:

“SOOT” is a glimpse into the early days of visual and creative expression by modern humans’ ancestors, the Cro-Magnon. Many theories try to explain the peculiar nature of cave paintings as record keeping, storytelling, boredom, low lighting (technique) or even hallucinations as a result of fume inhalation from animal fat candles. This film’s goal is to attempt to simulate that of the fat candle and low-light theory to try to explain the Painter’s point-of-view when the first anthropomorphic figure in these cave paintings were made. It isn’t glamorous, refined or epic. It is just what it is; an experiment with happy accidents.

Story:

Characters: The Painter, The Sorcerer, The Herd
Setting: Inside the Sanctuary

Painter is preparing paint in a stone bowl. He checks the consistency between his fingers, even tastes it. He makes a face of disgust, shivers. Painter begins painting wall.

Shot of eyes, mesmerized and focused. Low shot: Arm blocks camera with its painting movements.
Shot of candle flickering, heat distortion visible.

Snap back to sanctuary, his hands are covered in soot. A few Bison and Antelope now appear on the wall. The Horse starts to twitch. Painter is puzzled.

The herd stampedes toward him. The animal shapes swirl around the ceiling and walls of the cavern.

Camera follows the whirlwind motion of the Herd as the shapes and lines close in on him, consuming him, transforming him.

The man cries out, arms waving as if he's trying to shield himself. He stumbles back, trips.

He is exhausted and panting, slowly he looks up. Camera pans up the wall (as if following his line of sight. Halfway up it cuts to a high angle the cavern wall) He is face to face with the Sorcerer. Terrified he stumbles again and scoots to the back of the cavern. The entire mural of the cavern is revealed.

The light from the candle flickers from across the room, making it seems as if the creatures on the wall are moving on their own.

He tries to stand up. Cut to first person view, dizzy spell. He falls back on the cavern wall, one hand leaving a print. He flexes his hand, trying to get a grip on the wall and retches. The soot from his mouth, coats his right hand, revealing the inverse image as he falls away.

Cut to black.

Research & Challenges:

Cro-Magnon tools and society
Cave painting techniques
Extra-somatic memory; the external memory; the freedom of biological memory.
Artistic license vs. Prolonging a stereotype
Novice theories

Expectations & Goals:

Further develop skills in:
3D Rigging and Creature Animation
2D Animation and Compositing Techniques
Layout, Design and Look Development
Keep documentation in a production blog.
Produce a film worthy of submittal to film festivals.
Have fun!

Gear & Talent:

Software:
Autodesk Maya
Adobe After Effects
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Illustrator
Hardware:
Computer
Intuos 2 Tablet
Talent:
UMBC Drumming Troupe

Production Schedule:

February
Week 4: Draw & Rig Painter puppet, Edit Storyboard, Complete Animatic
March
Week 1: Model & Rig the Herd, Finalize 2D Character Designs
Week 2: Layout & Backgrounds, Texture 3D, Record Soundtrack(?)
Week 3: 2D Key Animation, 3D Block/Rough Animation
Week 4: 2D Tweening, Complete 3D, Compile Very Rough Cut

April
Week 1: Continue Animating
Week 2: Keep On Animating, 3D Lighting
Week 3: 2D Cleanup Animation, Compositing
Week 4: Cleanup, Compositing

May
Week 1: Complete

Success!

2008-02-18T17:43:00.001-08:00

The Ikenobo Ikebana exhibit was a success! So sad I couldn't go see it OR the expo at the Kennedy Center either! Curses!

In which Katie tries to remember how to model...

2008-02-09T11:32:00.001-08:00

So on Wednesday night, during a modeling exercise inART389, I remembered that I freaking forgot how to model. It was slightly understandable since I hadn't modeled with Maya in a little over a year, but still, it lit a fire under my ass to get back in the saddle.

So here is what I've been tinkering with yesterday. Here is the first draft of the "Chinese horse" model, a character based off of a painting of the same name from the walls of that Lascaux caves. I expect to go through at least two more model drafts before I have something better to rig and texture. Like I said, I'm a bit rusty!

My classes this semester look like they will steer me in the right direction. For the most part my classmates are vocal and enthusiastic. I have high hopes for the video game class, but I hope the senior projects group will become more comfortable with each other so there will be more feedback.

Looks to be an interesting spring!

K

Character animation

2008-02-02T09:22:00.000-08:00

Ikebana Society poster, take one!

Take two!

This Raine guy was a test I did for an attempted character design gig with Blind Ferret back when I was in Spain. Sadly I wasn't very familiar with Least I Could Do, but hey better to have tried right? What can I say, I like Looking for Group a lot more.

These are roughs I did in Valencia. Hooray for learning how to really do traditional animation!!

Sawing exercise where in-betweening was the goal of the assignment.

A character must take two steps. And so he did.

And it seems the walk cycle file for the Sorcerer is corrupted! Nooo! Guess I just have to do it again :(

K

Update of Doom

2007-12-09T09:39:00.001-08:00

Well, well it's been awhile! Lots has happened since my last update with plenty of doodling goin on.

The Painter was given a more roli-poli and mischievous body to work with. He is still malnourished, but with more elasticity to work with. Later this week I will grab and post a sawing and walk animation from the UPV computers with his new body.

The Sorcerer (El Hechicero), having a cup of tea. This human-lion-stag hybrid is really quite the gentleman beneath all that fur and antler business. However, he is not above munching on the occasional creature that crosses his path.

From earlier sketchersons, these two characters have had significant development. I've extremely pleased with the progress my little caveguy has gone through, and after some tests, has proven animate-abbble.

As far as story is going for Soot, I've taken a long break from it after about two weeks of smashing my head against a wall. Ideas have come about here and there, but nothing that I am able to explain coherently. Luckily for me, I have a great support system here in Valencia, and with many thanks for my professor Maria, I'm not discouraged, just thinking very hard about what it is I'd love to make a film about. So far I know it involves cave paintings, beasts, monsters and the little punk who draws them. And it has to be fun and cute. That is a requirement :)

The final cast...

...gettin' busted up...

...busted up...

...and fixed!

Otherwise my maya head was molded, cast, molded and cast again, then broken and restored. Hopefully he'll make it home in one piece so I can paint and finish.

And more naked people with some motion studies. Always fun in my book.

In Paris I didn't have the chance to do a lot of sketching with my museum hopping, but since the Musee du Branly wouldn't allow pictures in their palace of African, Oceanic, Asian and American artifacts, I resorted to jotting down some design observations of my favorite pieces. Nothing fancy (horribly crude actually), but I'm a firm believer in sharing research. And penis stingrays.

In the Louvre, I nearly peed my pants after finding a close relative of my favorite piece in Baltimore's Walters Art Gallery. This version is Quetzalcoatl has more plumage than his Walters rattlesnake counterpart. Making a replica of it would be a great challenge.

I'll post my Paris museum photos eventually though, still need to sort through them.

K

Happy Birthday Katya!

2007-11-20T14:04:00.001-08:00

And a happy birthday to my little cousin too!

Wish I could have spent more time evening up the lines but working with a migraine isn't too fun. Sorry darlin'

K

Happy birthday Jenny!

2007-11-19T09:52:00.000-08:00

To my lil sis who's celebrating her sweet 16 :) Watch yourself, she's hardcore!

K

Re-re-re-re-mix

2007-11-14T14:48:00.000-08:00

Oh snap, Soot is going to be rewritten again! My animation professor here in Valencia gave me some realistic feedback the other day and since my mind has been working overtime developing new ways to express the ideas behind the story in an easier to understand and much, much less serious/epic way. Also something that will keep me within the time constraints. Sweet!

Here is a purple alligator eyeballing his feathered toothbrush for you. My parents have been house hunting in Florida lately, I guess you can say that inspired him. Been playing around with shapes a bit more in character design and would like to continue little experiments like this. My mom got a big kick out of it. One for the fridge, har de har har!

Because link pimping is in my nature, I'd like to promote Cameron Fielding's blog filled not only with helpful information for the adventurous 3D animator, but some fantastic visual observations and downright interesting animations too.

Until next time.

K

Wallpaper fun time

2007-11-11T19:24:00.000-08:00

Was a slow day of storyboards, took a break and made a little wallpaper (as seen on the page, blub blub blub). My mom loves the ocean as much as I do so I e-mailed her a copy of it. Though I don't know how much she'll enjoy the eel, coelacanth or squid, hee hee :) Feel free to use if you are a fellow fan of our fishy, crustacean or cnidarian friends. Fun Fact: I would probably eat about 99% of the creatures featured here.

Back to work!

Edit: I also want to plug Stephen Silver's latest ArtCast #10. With how I've been feeling lately with trying to take charge of my art and 'destiny' after graduation, it really couldn't have come at a better time for me. If you are an artist that needs the occasional boost and one who enjoy sound advice, I really recommend you take a listen.

Edit, the Sequel: This article helped too.

K

Making my way.

2007-11-10T23:10:00.000-08:00

There are times I feel very lost in my interests.

Some days I'm dead set on going into 3D animation. Other days I feel particularly nostalgic and focus on 2D. In-between 'some days' and 'other days' I doodle storyboard thumbs. And on Tuesdays I decide I want to make comics. This isn't a fun ride going up these hills and valleys trying to focus on something, mostly since there are piles and files of unfinished and cruddy work in a handful of disciplines sitting in the basement back home.

I find the inspiration truck hits me as I browse other artists' work. I see these fabulous illustrations and incredible inventive animated shorts and I just get this feeling "Why haven't I been working on something like this? Or this? Or that? Dang this person really has style, I'd love to explore that, oh and that too and...etc." I get so worked up! It's as if this part of my brain needs to make a film about this, that and those at that exact moment! It's exciting at the time, but a build up of guilt comes next in line...

It'd be nice to squash this thought as I've realized lately how it works me up into a little, anxious ball of nerves. With Soot I've had something to focus on and work at on a daily basis. Planning for the mixed media had been very challenging and fun.

Poco a poco, Katie. Poco a poco.

Here's my first whack at a run cycle. Crit is as welcome as pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving. Poor Max is looking how I feel when running. Swimming is waaay cooler anyway. 'Just keep swimming, just keep swimming...'

And here's some quick ink studies from bird display in the Jardines del Real here in Valencia. It has a natural science museum and a zoo there, but they are closed at the moment, boo :( Anywho, it is a gigantic botanical park at the top of the road I live on. It's also a convenient walk to the Jardines del Turia, which is essentially a dried up river filled with even more parks and gardens that runs through the center of the communidad. I think it is one of the things I will miss the most about this place when I leave.

Ok time to get back to storyboards. Check ya laters.

K

Sketchblogtastic.

2007-11-08T08:30:00.000-08:00

Well let's see.

I merged my Soot production blog with a sketchblog I was planning to make anyway. My old IRC internship blog is now at a new address, so funstuffs from last semester are located over there now while I hijack the old URL for future devious purposes.

You'll also notice a ton of links. These are really cool artists, I don't know all of them, but I figure they won't mind any extra publicity, hur hur. Having them all located in one place will be nice for getting more active in the art blogging community. Gotta stop being bashful around people whose works I admire... FrederatorRAW has helped jumpstart that a little bit. The only ones you won't find on here are ones hosted by LJ.

Anywho, just so I didn't waste anyone's time with this information, here have a handful of life drawings.

Oops almost forgot! Made the first mold of my Mayan head today in stone conservation/restoration class. Got plaster on my jeans, but pretty excited to see how the mold comes out next week.

Time to write a paper and finish some animations. Peace!

K

Scriptsauce.

2007-11-05T19:21:00.000-08:00

And so I went through with my own edits, cut out a minor narrative element and restored focus to the relationship between the Painter and the paintings (Venus, Sorcerer and the Herd). Currently model sheets for the Painter and Sorcerer are 50% done and storyboarding will commence soon for even more editing.

Comments are open and y'all are more than welcome to smack it around.

SOOT
by Katie Better

Characters:
The Painter
The Sorcerer
The Venus
The Herd
__________________________________________________________
Setting: Inside the Sanctuary

Open black.

Dimmed, a yellow light slowly appears from background grows larger as approaches foreground, outlining contours of the cave walls and ceiling. Figure emerges, introducing the Painter. Figure is warmly lit from front, cool light from back.

Light circle stumbles.

Man reaches his hand and runs it along the small opening. He slips down into a small tunnel.

First person view through the crawlspace.

Man places candle onto a ledge and drops to the bottom of a small cavern, the sanctuary.

He blinks and squints. Camera pans from space and circles around the cavern as it returns to the starting point, he has moved toward the wall (placement is where he will begin to paint)

Man approaches the north wall and places the candle on the ground, his satchel dropping nearby. He kneels down and runs his hand along the wall, feeling is texture.

Off camera, he opens the satchel and brings into the shot a view of his fingers covered in black soot. Close up of the sticky substance as he rubs it between his fingers. He sniffs it and turns to look over his shoulder to cough.

Shot of him kneeling and hesitating, his hand hovering over the wall. (Foreground is blurred, but comes in focus.)
He stretches his fingers out, then relaxes them slowly. He begins working, to make a likeness of Woman. The lines themselves twist and fatten, taking form of The Venus.

Swift clip to the man shaking his head, eyes wide.

Pan left to the fat-burning candle. Fumes are visible as heat distortion on the background.

Man hesitates for a moment, flexes his hands again and continues to try to paint. The lines morph more swiftly into The Venus, then taking the form of a great chasm, consuming the man.

Swift to black. Slow pan revealing a grimy, textured plain. The man in sinking into the sludge, the soot. He begins thrashing. The sludge bubbling furiously as it consumes him as he tries to take a last breath.

Man breaking through a diaphragm as a shadow (grayed environment, all the inks are inversed).

Snap back. He realizes he is hallucinating. He reaches into the dirty satchel, sniffs the soot again. He then puts the soot into his mouth. As he chews his body melts into particles, representations of carbon molecules, atoms, DNA. His image rapidly shifts into plants, animals, stone, etc. (elaborate).

Snap back to sanctuary, his hands are covered in soot. Bison and antelope now appear on the wall. The herd stampedes toward him. The animal shapes swirl around the ceiling and walls of the cavern.

Camera follows the whirlwind motion of the Herd as the shapes and lines close in on him, consuming him, transforming him.

The man cries out, arms waving as if he's trying to shield himself. He stumbles back, trips.

He is exhausted and panting, slowly he looks up. Camera pans up the wall (as if following his line of sight. Halfway up it cuts to a high angle the cavern wall) He is face to face with the Sorcerer. Terrified he stumbles again and scoots (or crawls?) to the back of the cavern. The entire mural of the cavern is revealed.
The fat candle flickers from across the room, making it seems as if the creatures on the wall are moving on their own.

He tries to stand up. Cut to first person view, dizzy spell. He falls back on the cavern wall, one hand leaving a print. He flexes his hand, trying to get a grip on the wall and retches. The soot from his mouth, coats his right hand, revealing the inverse image as his hand falls away.

End.

Want to take a sec and do a shout out or two. Special thanks to Katie Chrz for her advice and to my Mom for being when it comes to smacking sense back into me, even from thousands of miles away.

K

Art update

2007-11-01T12:13:00.001-07:00

More sketches! I'm going to start compiling them into one big image so I can save the upload space on Blogger (my Spain blog's photos are making a slight dent) so yeah. When I happen to do more individualized artworks, they can have their own upload space.

The good news is that The Sorcerer and The Painter (as I have dubbed Manguy) have had their designs moved along quite well through massive doodling sprees and midnight receipt scribblings. Next step for them will be a model sheet. As far as development the next focus should be The Venus, the Woman and the Herd. Awesome.

In other news, haven't gotten any feedback on the script yet so I'm going to go ahead and finish up my own edits, then send it on to Eric.

K

Some of the first doodles...

2007-10-24T11:47:00.000-07:00

So the beginnings of the script have been sent to some of my most trusted cohorts for some serious beatings. In the meantime, here are a few of the concept doodles and art I've been kicking around the past few weeks. I think I want to head away from the solid stylization of the characters and more towards something loose and fluid. But gritty. Like sand. Or dirt even.

So with that said I'm starting to give a bit more thought to the actual cave itself and what I want to do with it. If it is going to be 3D (as I want it to) this means some serious planning lies ahead. I'm not someone who just opens Maya and can just make an amazing cave model off the top of my head. Sure, I can make one. Just not amazing. No way. This be needin' some plannin' hons.

(Please excuse the dimness of the images, I have to use my digicam to take photos of the sketches and doodles. My little desk lamp just doesn't want to provide enough light!)

Sanctuary with fat lamp, with conte crayon. Working with such a limited light source will bring about a few challenges, but ultimately will teach a good, good lesson.

First images after the idea was still fresh. How silly.

I kinda liked how the hunter started out, so I thought maybe I'd "develop" him some more (during class or course. How dedicated, amirite?) and explore his construction and build.

I want the Herd and the Sorcerer to be very strong visual images. I want it to irk the viewer. The bulging eyes are going to carryover for sure, but the strong geometric lines...not so sure about.

Quirkier and looser...but kinda looking too much like Ren Hoek and Kricfalusi-ish.

Another of Manguy, a charcoal quickie.

And so the writing begins...

2007-10-08T09:03:00.000-07:00

While I have been sketching like a maniac for this project, eyes burning from internet research and waist deep in books (mostly in Spanish), the time has come to move from the bulk of the research phase to the script-writing phase. Sounds like fun right?

In the past, I've had a teacher or two tell me that one of my weakest points is my storytelling capabilities, so a bumpy ride is expected for this phase. The thing I want to focus on is powerful communication through gestures. I am excited because this will give me ample opportunity to reach back into my studies of American Sign Language and gestural communications. While the people of this time had a lesser developed language, I am invoking my artistic license for this trailer-length short film.

K

More Research

2007-09-26T21:32:00.000-07:00

So something I've decided to make very clear in this piece is the simple elements of Cro-Magnon daily life and culture. In a nutshell: Know what the hell I'm talking/drawing/animating about.
I don't want to feed the growing misconceptions of these ancient peoples, but rather add to the education of the public. So while you can expect people wearing animal skins, don't expect it to be prettied up with the blue stegosaurus necktie that Fred Flintstone sports so well. But this does raise a question of where do artistic license, conceptual understanding and these researched theories meet to work together? And how do I convey my idea without twisting it so far to introduce new misconceptions?

Off the top of my head, technology that was around during the time of cave art:

flakes, blades and knives with handles
spear throwers
stone tools
clothing from animal skins
Bone tools, bone sewing needles, fishhooks
beads, ochre (paint), seashells (suggesting personal decoration and individuality as well as trading over distances)
burial rituals (we are talking painted bodies, flowers, etc. These practices also lend to early religion)
permanent hearths and housings, like huts (doublecheck this!)

Now that is a significant amount of technology that had developed, far from the extremely primitive image that may come to mind for most people. My mission is that much clearer!

So currently, I have at my disposal:

The Creative Explosion by John E. Pfeiffer
Knowledge (that I remember) from ANTH302
The Internet
Politecnica Universidad de Valencia's library (if I can find anything in English)

That is a good start...I hope. While I continue to doodle and work out the conceptual and visual concepts, hopefully my little bibliography will expand.

K

Restless Nights

2007-09-19T01:58:00.000-07:00

It seems that good ideas only seem to come to me when it's past 1am and I am actually making the effort to get some sleep. This particular idea has been pestering me for the past few days or so, so I figure it may be a good time to record some thoughts, and get a jumpstart on this sucker.

I've been wrestling with ideas for my senior project all summer, but with every little idea I twisted and tweaked, evolution or a vision of a story or product could not be realized. Well, with Soot (the working title), everything appeared to me, as if the film is already in production within my noggin. The history and theory behind it all, has been an interest for me for quite sometime as I have always held prehistoric art above most other. For me these works are raw and new and were the true revolution for our ancestors and their fellow hominid species. The lack of information about the Creative Explosion allows for many theories behind "How did art come to be?" With this film I want to show my theory behind these cave paintings and also my take on Cro-Magnon culture and daily life.

Of what raw material has leaked from my ears, here are some notes:

The world is set at the birth of art, more specifically cave painting.
The film will touch on many elements of Cro-Magnon life. These include; hunting/gathering, childbirth, illness, the hearth, religion and death/burial.
This theme is my theory behind cave paintings, which is an appreciation for all life with art acting as homage to the memory or perhaps the "soul" of the subjects. This includes the many animals that are hunted and consumes, the few human figure drawings, Venus figurines, and the varying spit-outlines hands.
The complex caves and the remote locations chosen for some of the paintings provide closed spaces, whereas it is possible the fumes from animal fat candles and torches may have put artists, or even shaman into trances. These explain anthropomorphic figures.

Visually, I want:

The cave paintings to come alive for the protagonist.
Short clips, snapshots almost of the life of early man and how cave paintings tells stories and triumphs.
Gritty, solid shadows, rough inking, dirty looking, but not savage.
3d environment, 2d cave paintings running across them at the climax.

While these are merely the ramblings of a sleep-deprived animator, more research will need to be done to supplement my personal research and also that gained from last spring's ANTH 302, Human Evolution. I expect these concepts and the theory to evolve severely, but I am still determined to show my appreciation for these people and the creative revolution they began for our ancestors and modern day people.

K

PORTFOLIO - DEMO REEL

2007-09-01T20:48:00.000-07:00

Demo Reel Breakdown (.pdf)

PORTFOLIO - SKETCHBOOK

2007-09-01T17:51:00.000-07:00

ANIMATICS & CONCEPT

Animatic

Sketch

Sorcerer concept art.

IRC Field Trip level concept.

Modelsheet for Painter of Soot.

Model sheet for Sorcerer of Soot.

A meanie panda.

Soot environment concept.

DoodeBug concept sketches.

Jujubee concept sketches.

Katya's Zoo concept sketches.

Muraco concept sketches.

Warcraft character commission. (Property of Blizzard)

PORTFOLIO - ARTWORK

2007-09-01T17:50:00.000-07:00

ARTWORK

The Billy Goats Gruff. Prisma pencils on artigain.

Screenshot from 'Soot.' Photoshop and pencil drawings in After Effects.

Ikebana Society of America exhibition poster.

Teapot, modeled in NURBS. Maya.

UMBC Student Organization Space mural.

Traum Baum. Collaboration with Christina Ralls.
Exhibited at the Baltimore Museum of Art, October 2006.

UMBC Stress Free Zone Tshirt designs. Photoshop.

'Soot' background concept. Photoshop. Cintiq tablet.

IRC Field Trip concept art. Photoshop.

Old Man Coyote Creates the Earth. Acrylic collage.

PORTFOLIO - ANIMATION

2007-09-01T17:49:00.001-07:00

ANIMATION

Concepts and final version for America's Scariest Halloween Attractions "3" title edit. Motion 3.
(Original graphics not done by me, digging up the guys name though. Thank you to Peter Salvia his cheerleading and help on my first screen credit ever!)

Running cycle of the Chinese Horse. Maya. (Prepared for Gamebryo).

Max Run Cycle. Maya.
(Model by Peter Starostin, Maya conversion by James Hunt)

Bear run cycle. Maya. (Prepared for Gamebryo.)
Modeled, Rigged and Textured by Maria Aliprando.

"Soot," UMBC Senior Project. Photoshop, Maya, After Effects, Audacity.

Painter walk cycle. After Effects, (Puppet Tool).

DoodleBug's New Couch. Construction paper. iStopmotion.

"Hmmm..." a typography experiment with an audio clip from "Green Acres." After Effects.

PORTFOLIO - LIFE DRAWING

2007-09-01T17:47:00.000-07:00

LIFE DRAWING STUDIES

Nude study with Crayola chalk.

Figure studies.

Bird studies and figure studies.