Arctic Bunny Animation

Farm House Animals

2012-02-01T05:25:00.000-08:00

Spring animals cute and bouncy!

Photoshop practice

2012-01-13T09:07:00.000-08:00

A little practice don't hurt no one

Random Acts!

2012-01-13T07:49:00.001-08:00

What a busy end to 2011. Best part was my film being screened on Channel 4 on Boxing Day! Yay ><

You can check out A&E Downunder with great sound effects by Marmalade. Sweet

http://randomacts.channel4.com/#view/130

Character Expressions

2011-12-06T02:07:00.000-08:00

Had a hand at practising some character expressions. This really helps get the acting right and add more feeling into the character. I came up with a few every day scenarios involving more than one character so they play off each other.

Final Tribute to clint!

2011-12-02T05:36:00.001-08:00

You are awesome!!

Quick Sketch-Clint Eastwood

2011-11-25T04:07:00.001-08:00

It's good to start the morning sketching. I had a bash at Clint Eastwood-such an awesome guy to draw!

Here he is old and young!

Then I went on to characterise him a bit. I think I could even push it further..

Greek Heroes

2011-11-18T03:41:00.000-08:00

Here are a set of videos I character designed and animated for Open University while I was at 12foot6.

The Mole Clan

2011-11-06T08:23:00.000-08:00

Earlier I created some fighter bears. Here are the evil counterparts: the moles! They are a tough bunch and constantly try to take over bear land as their clan gets bigger.

They can be quite a nuisance digging holes and tunnels all over the land as they widen their territory. The bears are furious at such brutal selfishness. But are they a match for the moles and can they keep them out of their lands?

Sumo Chef

2011-10-31T09:59:00.000-07:00

Work is a bit quiet at the mom so decided to work on my own stuff. What happens when sumo wrestlers retire? Well in this case they become sushi chefs :)

Home Bears

2011-09-09T04:47:00.000-07:00

These are part of the growing bear community I am developing for fun :P

The personalities and stories are endless! Seriously having so much fun that I may develop this into a proper bear world with a variety of bear characters and narratives. Who knows?

The Bears are here!

2011-09-08T03:18:00.000-07:00

The way of the bearmurai (so cheesy I know). Noble and strong, with sword skills that are second to none

Still as a tree; sword bear stands ready to unleash a flurry of strikes before you realise she has moved.

Like a dance he weids this great spear, flowing it in breathtaking arcs with the wind. My personal favourite.

Fierce and loyal. Watch out for his pronged stick that can disarm the most skillful of swordsman.

An inner and outer eye sharper than a hawk. Bow bear can shoot on target even blindfolded.

Stick bear. A calm and focused exterior he waits; then with lightening precision he strikes!

Fighter bears to be exact with all different type of weaponry. Cute on the outside, fierce in the inside. They have to protect what they consider dear.

Maybe this is a TV show, or a kick-ass computer game or a kid's book? I don't know yet but I have the characters at least. It would be fun to push it in the game arena, cute and cool like mario? mmmm

Marketing Gnu-Final Designs

2011-09-06T01:55:00.000-07:00

Following up on that, the chosen design was selected. I had to push it further and make our marketing guy look like a right idiot. So it was suggested that I add a gnu/moose hat for comic effect. I think it works quite well!

Marketing Gnu-Initial Designs

2011-09-06T01:49:00.001-07:00

Here are some character designs for a project for 12foot6.

Description: He is a marketing 'expert'. He is a motivational speaker. He is very David Brent of The Office. Very full of himself. Has loads of theories about marketing. Is a total idiot. People who hire him think he is a marketing guru. But they are mistaken. He is a marketing gnu. Basically he promotes absurd marketing methods. Does everything wrong. He would not use direct mail.

Short Film: A&E Downunder

2011-07-29T04:12:00.000-07:00

Here is a short film I completed at 12foot6 for their 'get well soon' campaign.

I chose the interview that was conducted by Lucy Izzard, and then spent 6 weeks planning and animating it. Sound design of the project is still to be done but got impatient so put it up.

About a drunken accident on a road trip in Australia.

CV

2011-07-29T03:49:00.001-07:00

Here is an updated CV outlining my main achievements, skills and experience.

Rockers

2011-07-10T11:47:00.001-07:00

Character submissions for a possible animated project in Columbia.

Showreel 2011

2011-07-01T08:35:00.001-07:00

Here is my new showreel! A compilation of work I have done the last 2 years.

Greek Heroes

2011-06-28T08:02:00.000-07:00

The beef cake yes-Hercules my favourite design out of the three.

Odysseus and Penelope. I made Penelope too pretty and young apparently so made her more sour and old in the final version above.

Achilles and Achilles with Patroclus -who was his lover (so they say...)

Orignal modern look-not approved.

Greek Heroes; Hercules, Achilles and Odysseus reminisce about their glory days in a set of comedic yet educational animations for The Open University.

At first the characters were meant to represent old film stars talking about the times when they were strong and famous blah blah...hence the modern attire. Then the client decided to go back to the roots and have Greek clothing.
The films are more like interviews I guess, with the heroes discussing how their lives have been represented by popular culture.

Here are the chosen character designs. The animated films should be ready to watch by now but the client has not put them on the web yet. Will tell you when they are ready!

My Book; Concept Imagery

2011-05-30T03:22:00.001-07:00

Hey people so I have decided to have a go at making an illustrative book. I was munching an apple about a month or so ago and I came up with a pretty cool concept for a children's book- I mean it just came to me just like that! So during the weekends I have been putting together some concept imagery and thoughts about this new project. The story is about a boy who enters a mysterious new world in the sky which is held aloft by balloon-like trees.

This has been inspired by my endless daydreaming as a child and the type of world I would imagine going to. This is also inspired by Gulliver's trip to Laputa. It almost pays tribute to daydreaming, (though scolded by my mum) where most of my good ideas come from.

I went back to traditional painting with ink, which was a refreshing break from working constantly on the computer. It also assisted in loosening me up.

I am going to make a habit of uploading images on the blog as it is easier for me to have all work in one place as opposed to a sketchbook where work can get lost. Watch this space for more concept imagery, storyboard panels and much more!

Short Film Stills

2011-05-23T08:53:00.000-07:00

Hey Folks! Nearly finished another short film; exactly a year since I did my last one. This is based on an actual interview of a lady (Lisa) who has ended up in A.E after a bizarre set of scenarios-mainly caused by drunkenness.

This short film is part of a set of films by the 12foot6 studio. Each one depicts a different interview of a person who has had some injury in a strange way. All are true life events and are pretty funny. If all goes well I will have the film ready by next week to show you but in the meantime here are a few favourite stills.

Rejected Character Designs

2011-05-06T06:34:00.000-07:00

Currently working on a set of animations for a certain client. It's a character animation piece based on 3 Greek Heroes. The look started of as quite contemporary and fresh, like old film stars reliving their past. This has changed over the weeks but thought I'd put up the designs that were rejected as they stand as pretty good characters in their own right :)

Once animations are finalized and published I'll put the selected character designs up.

Japanese Restaurant web video

2011-04-17T06:50:00.000-07:00

Just finished an animation for a Japanese restaurant's website. The owner contacted me (from Japan) to create a hand drawn look animation where a customer is walking towards a door and it opens, thus entering the site. Had lots of fun and really enjoyed creating this retro style image for the web video.

Flash Faces

2011-03-10T07:25:00.000-08:00

Quick portrait exercises in flash. Many think the drawing tools in Flash can limit you. Though this is true to an extent limitations can sometimes force you to draw differently. I found the brush tool can really loosen up your tablet drawing as you need to draw accurate confident strokes rather than hairy sketching.

Inside my sketchbook

2011-02-24T06:52:00.000-08:00

A few practice exercises I squeezed in during work. Can never underestimate the need to continually practice drawing the human figure. I am a little weak in this area so hopefully with some more exercises in the coming weeks I'll improve :) It's good to have a visual diary that reflects the artists evolving skills.

Repairman Character

2011-02-18T02:51:00.000-08:00

Now we have the repairman, the occupant of the space. This guy is a real introvert, completely absorbed in his work. He seldom talks and that's only to his customers when need be. It;s almost as if he hasn't developed proper social skills and finds it hard to communicate what he feels. He does this better through his work: fixing things. To him his pride, affection and feelings are reflected through the way he completes his task. He has never let anyone down when it comes to fixing a clock, heater, stove you name it.

Donning goggles (never know when they may come in handy) and a large coat ( filled with small tools) he works alone in his house and occasionally goes out to drop off goods to forgetful customers like Mrs Murcle.

The Repairman's House-concept imagery

2011-02-15T06:35:00.000-08:00

Textured Image

Flash Drawing

Layout

This week I have managed to fit in some concept ideas for an upcoming short film I want to create this year. It will be based on an Italo Calvino's passage from one of my favourite books: 'Invisible Cities.'

I really like one of the descriptions about a city called Ersilia, where inhabitants stretch strings to establish relationships. I liked it so much that I scanned the page and kept it in a file. That was 6 years ago. Whilst tidying up last year I came across the passage and knew I had to create something from it. I wasn't sure back then but just had a feeling that in time I would decide what to do with this description. Now I am sure and I have been busy these last months constructing a rough story, creating characters and drawing up some imagery to capture what Ersilia means to me.

I have quite a a lot of drawings and I am hoping to scan them in this week. During this week I was focusing on the space the main character inhabits; his house. He is a repairman by trade and is totally immersed in it.

I have several images:

the rough layouts to understand what to put in the room;

the vectored image- drawn in Flash

then added texture and depth with Photoshop in the final image.

These concept images are just the start and nothing here is final-already finding things I don't like.

Frogs, snails and puppy dog tails...

2011-02-02T07:29:00.000-08:00

Last week was requested to design some frog and snail characters for a possible advert. Here's my attempts at designing two life forms I find quite gross. Even tho it was a little pointless as the client wasn't going for this look, it was good practice for exercising those character design skills.

Location, Location

2010-12-19T04:15:00.000-08:00

Remember the writer I told you about who wanted to turn his book into an animation? Well things seem to moving steadily with that project and I have just been playing around with some location concepts. This is mainly to get an idea of how certain locations in the book may look and where the characters will be placed. I sketched and tried out different styles to show to the client and see what will suit the animation. I looked at the restaurant and coffee shop location as these feature in the pilot of Marcus Flemming's book 'Happiness'

The author/client really liked them; especially the coffee shop vector piece. He reckoned the simplicity of it will suit the animation but recommended I changed the banal name of the shop: 'The Coffee Cup' sounds a bit dull and typical!

Latest Animation Work

2010-12-08T06:16:00.001-08:00

Great news! The company I set up with pal and Columbian based animator Daniel Arce has created a cracking animation for ASIFA. It was received very well and included a collaboration of several artists using different animation techniques; from stopmotion, flash, 3D Maya and even film. This is 'Domo Animato's' first animation and we have more to come!

More Domo Animato work here: AnimationDomo

Inspiring work by Ben Hibon

2010-12-02T06:43:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago I went to see Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows.' Thoroughly enjoyed it since it happened to stay true to the book and the trio finally displayed some decent acting skills.

One of the surprises of the film was a beautiful animation narrating the' Tale Of The Three Brothers from 'Beadle the Bard.' It used a unique style of animation that mimicked puppetry and the lighting evoked a haunting atmosphere. The character design of 'Death' was perfect-sinister and spooky.

So, even if you are not a Harry Potter fan I really recommend you see the film, even if it is only for the animation. Personally, I think it should win an award for best short animation within a feature film or something...The animation was directed by 'Ben Hibon' a Swiss director who created another piece called 'Codehunters.' Check it out below. The animation is 3D but rendered to look like an ink drawing- it is visually impressive with strong special effects and clever animation. Makes me want to learn 3D now :P]

New Characters for Pilot

2010-11-16T03:23:00.001-08:00

Heyy I am back with some more character designs. This time its for a writer Marcus Flemming who wants to make one of his stories into a possible TV/Online series. I got a mail from Marcus a few weeks ago asking me if I was interested in working with him on his story. So I checked out his story: 'Happiness (the secret to)' and after a few pages I was hooked!

The story is witty, funny (had me LOL a few times) clever and very contemporary and I can see it definitely working well for TV/Online mini series. So far the Pilot's script is in working progress but in the mean time I drew up some character designs for the main characters in the narrative. We have the main guy a (nameless) writer in love with his 'muse' who has no interest in being with him. We also have the main guy's Agent who is constantly waiting for him to produce his book.

I really recommend you give this story a read as I can't do it justice and I'll guarantee you'll be hooked like me. It's available on Marcus' blog here:

HAPPINESS (the secret to)

Asifa Martian

2010-10-30T15:38:00.000-07:00

Ta da character designs for the latest animation segment I have just completed! This was part of a bigger animation that involved a few talents, one being my business partner and friend Daniel Arce. Domo Animato (our company) was asked by ASIFA, (Association Internationale du Film d’Animation) to create an animation promoting them. We got stuck right in and along with a few other artists we created a cracking animation, displaying different animation techniques. I of course represented Flash and my segment was to animate a cheeky martian peeing into popcorn clouds, which caused a rainfall and thus created a mutant plant. Wonderful!

Can't show the animation yet but here is the little martian, who looks like he could be called Gobo. Gobo the Martian! I like.

Naughty Kids and Ripped T's!

2010-10-24T04:43:00.000-07:00

When I read the brief of this project I got really excited! The client owned a clothing shop in Finland and wanted a cool commercial advertising the T-shirts she sells. As soon as she mentioned she wanted a look that was similar to 'Simons Cat' I knew I had to apply, since I love that animation! I got talking to her and the idea became more interesting and fun, she wanted to show kids destroying their T's so that they could get new ones. The ideas had to be fresh and creative, kinda like 'Bunny suicides,' y'know the little sketches where a bunny is shown practising different ways of committing suicide but in a funny non-gruesome way.

So with those references I got cracking and came up with '7 ways to get a new T-shirt.' Naughty kids figuring out ways to get mum and dad to but them new T's!

Band Members & Solo Artists

2010-09-23T08:47:00.000-07:00

Been a bit off the radar but have been busy busy working, so I have a good excuse ;P. I have been recently approached to create a music video for some artist and the company involved wanted to see some example of my work, particularly band members. Here are a few I knocked up this week. The blue ones are supposed to be an urban rock/pop band and the bottom one is an RnB singer.

So who knows these characters (or ones like them) could be in animation really soon.

Monkey Madness!

2010-09-10T10:20:00.000-07:00

Here's the finished result; just about managed to fit it in around work and setting up a company. Glad to say the client, my cousin and yummy mummy Shehla loved it. Lets hope the little Aarav will be happy when I print it off and give it to him soon.

OK so any young mums or expecting mums out there who would like an exclusive poster for their little gem, then I'm your girl! What ever the animal or non animal, the setting and the scenario I can create it for you in good time to the highest quality. It will be one of a kind for your one of a kind ;) If you like what you see then contact me.

Je voudrais un poisson si vous plait!!

2010-08-22T03:48:00.000-07:00

Something a little more random. While me and Komal (my twin) were in Paris back in May we thought it would be fun to create little spoof videos of our time in France. We were staying in Hotel directly opposite the 'North Station' (Eurostar) and that was our shooting location!

Simply using my ipod's video setting we filmed me saying random French sentences that we remember doing back in our school days, like the very obvious ones 'Je voudrais...' but added our own Eccentric Twist.

Here are two twins just goofing around in the hotel room around 12am. Produced by Arctic Moon Productions 2010.

Monkey Mania

2010-08-17T07:53:00.000-07:00

I have just been requested by my older cousin to create a poster for her baby son. Now my nephew whose name is Aarav is the cutest, sweetest and scrummiest baby ever- I love him sooooo much!! So how could I say no? After hours of pondering and sketching I thought why not create a poster that shows his name being spelt by a band of monkeys? Monkeys are cute and naughty like little Aarav. His name could even be spelt in bananas within a jungle setting-sorted!

So far I have finished the band of monkeys and here they are.

Winter Meditation

2010-08-12T06:01:00.000-07:00

Hey PPl just finished another music video for the amazingly talented composer Michael McEvoy. This piece is called Winter Meditation and it looks at the portrayal of a winter wonderland. I used video and photos to create this film in Premiere Pro, then it was taken to After Effects where other special effects and filters were added. Take a look see.

My Final Film -The Little Stonemason!

2010-07-01T02:36:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone! Been so busy the last few weeks with my final film, showreel and exhibition etc. Finally I have my latest work to show -excited!!

I have posted up my final film, 'The Little Stonemason.' Hopefully this will all lead to some good things :) If you like it please spread the word...

Latest Background work- because space matters!

2010-06-15T01:58:00.000-07:00

Hey Y'all can't seem to stop doing backgrounds for my animation; its not that its the most important but the environment matters. Especially for conveying mood, atmosphere and ambience etc..
Here's some more up-to date environs. I thought a blue sky would add better contrast the golden cliffs

E4 Competition Promo

2010-06-11T06:11:00.000-07:00

I movie I entered into E4 Monday Night Movies Competition.

Now I look at it the animation it seems very stiff compared to my Final Movie that I am working now, but hey its my first real attempt.

Inspirational Movies

2010-05-25T05:13:00.000-07:00

So I am now nearly at the clean up stage of my animation- the most time consuming part! I looked at a few films from 'Gobelins' School of Animation in Paris to get some design ideas. Below are my favourite ones. Both pay beautiful attention to light and atmosphere, an element I want to put into my style. All content has been taken from this site:

It's all in the Background

2010-05-19T10:04:00.000-07:00

Rough Keys

2010-05-16T04:45:00.001-07:00

Rough Keys from Arctic_Bunny on Vimeo.

Here's the rough keys of my animation. This shows the movement and timing of the film, in essence it's the most important part. Once the keys have been established I can get on with animating it all through and then finally colouring and cleaning it up. Some parts of the background have gone a bit off like the placement of the stones but apart from that it should read well enough.

Final Film Animatic

2010-05-04T05:37:00.000-07:00

Animatic for Final Film from Arctic_Bunny on Vimeo.

My Final Film of my final year has been inspired by Canaletto's 'The Stone Mason's Yard.' Set in an alternative Stone Cutter's village a Stone Mason's son is building a tower from stones until a little chicken comes along. The film will mainly focus on the discourse between the two protagonists-one whose behaviour is erratic and fast and the other who's more gentle & methodical. The animatic displays the setting and timing of the animated film.

Some little bites of inspiration.

2010-04-26T05:07:00.000-07:00

Painter: Victor Hugo Dessin

Recently I have been in awe of artist Victor Hugo Dessin. His ink and charcoal painting are mesmerising using vivid contrast and small detail, creating a scene that seem lost in time. One may say they are even other worldly. I love the think ink outlines and subtlety of brown hues on paper; this may be something I want to incorporate into my background work, providing depth against the characters in the foreground.

Composition:

One the most important parts of animation is to get the composition right, especially when you have more than one character on stage. These images describe this well (taken from John K's blog) and I especially like how the effect is achieved well with minimalist detail and lovely curvy lines.

Graphical Style

These images were taken from -try to guess- Google during the Vancouver Olympics. Again, I thought the images described the movement, environment so well through fluid stroked and iconic detail. This will be helpful for my backgrounds too when trying to simplify them.

Final Film Storyboard

2010-04-21T08:42:00.000-07:00

*CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE & ZOOM*

I have finally managed to draft up a storyboard for my final film this year. The film is supposed to be no longer than 1 minute 30 seconds but alas my storyboard looks like it may be over 2minutes long! I focused on the interplay between my main characters the boy (with no name) and cluck - cluck. I have tried to create a 'mischievous' discourse that portrays a certain childlike innocence. The story reminds me of when I was a wee ickle girl spending hours role playing with coloured pencils-yes I was easily entertained :p or later on when my playing matured to lego. Loved lego! So in this case the boy is *little me* I guess and the chicken represents an outside force that conveys the message of the temporary not the everlasting. It's a time thing really where all the elements of the story from background to the breaking of the stone structure represents the notion of transience and pride for the everlasting. But the stones are momentary and so is sadness and happiness. Yes I absolutely love this theme it must be my Eastern philosophies seeping in.

Entertain yourself with the storyboard, the much edited draft cut will be up later this week so watch this space :)

Explorations of the Nude aka Life Drawing

2010-04-20T05:24:00.000-07:00

Ink Background Images

2010-04-16T09:17:00.000-07:00

I must admit I was a little daunted about approaching this, I hadn't done any environment/spatial drawing since my Interior Design days. I dusted the paintbrushes and ink pots and got busy. Surprisingly it was very relaxing to go oorganic and get away from the computer screen which I spent 90% of my time on. One of the parts I love about animation is setting and context and how free you can be in creating your world. I only could go so far in ISD with this, until a tutor snapped ' how is that feasible?' - yeh no fun at all. So this week I concentrated on creating the environment for my next film. Back to the painting for some inspiration: I really liked the contrast of the timber wooden worker's shack and heavy stone so I thought of a way of meshing the two together. An image of Miyazaki's 'Laputa Castle in the Sky' flashed in my head. The miner's town in the film was made of timber shacks plugged onto the cliff face like limpets. I loved the height and airiness of the space and wanted to have my two characters in a similar environment. It also connected well to the timber and stone theme of the painting. After researching over the net I found images of houses placed on cliffs in this way too- meaning on some level its feasible- not that construction matters in animation- I'm out of Interior Design now! The images show my inspirations and what artwork I conjured up from them.

A Medieval-esque Boy and a chicken- My new characters!

2010-04-13T09:05:00.000-07:00

Last week I was busy at the lightbox sketching some character ideas. I chose my painting as y'know from my prevoius post and now I needed a story. I decided to take a closer look at the painting and in the left part I spotted a little rooster perched on the sill and a little boy not far from it. mmmm interesting....Now what I liked about both these characters is that they seemed quite unaware of their surroundings as if they were in their own world. I knew straight away they were gonna be my characters and I actually wanted to animate a flappy chicken for my film so this worked.I want the setting of my animation to be a medival-esqe/ indutrial setting that involves stone carvers working around a cliff. So I thought earthy natural colours would be good for the boy. His little hat has been inspired by a Japanese country man in the animation Princess Mononoke. And I thought it made him look cute lol. As for the chicken (clucky) she's a mischievous chicken who is kinda loopy hence the weird head bending. Both characters will have an interesting dicourse in the animation that is fun and quirky.

Rolling and Panting into Final Term

2010-04-13T09:03:00.000-07:00

Already I'm turning the corner into my last term and still trying to catch my breath! What an explosive 6 months it has been so far, still remember the first day like yesterday: fresh, bushy tailed and bright eyed ready to tackle the world of animation. How little I knew back then and now I feel I have leapt 20 hurdles- I mean I can animate now -what a feat JStill can't relax in the back seat, I have loads to learn and accomplish thus a new journey begins with my final film. Drum roll please..They still say you can learn so much from the old masters. I really saw the truth behind that when we all darted across the National Gallery, eyes peeled for our latest inspiration. So much can be gleaned from a painting not in just terms of style and composition but narrative, myth and symbolism. Some can contain as many complexities and nuances as a novel. It sounds so prestigious to say that our final animations are in collaboration with the National Gallery and they are in essence our clients. 'Oooh' people exclaim in response.After several days of pacing and umming and aaaing I found it! Yes that one piece that supposedly 'spoke to me.' What is it about this painting I like so much, that had me stare at it for 10 minutes? For a start it was the colour palette, I was drawn to the rich Terracotta walls of old Venetian houses, the incredible detail placed on the stonework and the sun so vividly picking up the texture that I could almost touch it. This depiction of Venice is indeed not as flamboyant as the other paintings in the room, many depicting aristocratic gentlemen and ladies in flowing garments attending boat festivals or parades. No, this painting is far more mundane, simply showing stonemasons at work. It just seemed so simple and honest. Enuff blabbing here's the piece:Canaletto: The Stonemason's Yard.

Storyboard for E4 Monday Night Movies.

2010-04-13T08:55:00.000-07:00

Here's a storyboard I completed for the D&AD competition 2010. It involves character Rick Bryant defusing a bomb. Watch my Youtube space for the upcoming animation.

Background Images 2010

2010-04-13T08:45:00.000-07:00

I stupidly deleted all of my 2010 posts!! I am gutted since there were so many- oh well so now I am posting all my work from 2010 in sections.

Character Design 2010

2010-04-13T08:27:00.000-07:00

Man skipping in Minas Morgul

2009-11-06T10:02:00.000-08:00

lalala skipping along in minas morgul

cool man walk ;)

2009-11-06T09:58:00.000-08:00

checking out all the ladies lol!

Ninja Jump Animation

2009-10-23T07:08:00.000-07:00

Using flash to create a relatively simplistic animation that explored both timing and anticipation-key elements in animation.

Bouncing Balls

2009-10-14T09:16:00.000-07:00

Sounds dodgy, but just some clean bouncing balls :) : http://www.arcticbunnyblog.blogspot.com

Early Animations

2009-10-09T05:03:00.000-07:00

FIRST ANIMATION WK (finally)

2009-10-06T09:22:00.000-07:00

2009-10-01T03:11:00.001-07:00

2009-10-01T02:10:00.000-07:00

http://s757.photobucket.com/albums/xx214/arcticbunny/GWAT/?albumview=grid

Here are a couple of images I have done for the 2nd issue of GWAT. The tree painting illustrates a moment in the novel when Gi-Gi, our main protagonist, reminisces about her home: the enchanted forest. Almost creeping out from the depths of her confused mind she sees the surrounding scaffolding morph into trees, hazy and faded like a mirage. As the trees become stronger in image they transform back into the scaffolding; the true reality and her new industrial forest.

The second image displays gi-gi in a number of poses for the 2nd issue. I have left construction lines to show you how I create my drawings through layers.

Trying out Walk Cycles

2009-09-07T04:22:00.000-07:00

GWAT( girl with a tale) 2nd Issue: background images and layouts!

2009-08-29T04:19:00.000-07:00

It has been sometime since I have posted up some work, partly due my holiday and my shaky internet connection, which has a freak attack when I upload images!

Anyway Girl with a Tale (GWAT) does have another issue coming up shortly and I have been working on it on and off for some time. So I have some production images and initial concept layouts for you to have a sneak peak of! I tried to mix things up a bit in this issue and create more of a hand-drawn illustrative look that for me resembled a sketchbooky style that I originally intended. So its a wee bit different from my 1st issue which used photo- montage a lot more.

These images do not have our agile character in them yet, since I am eagerly awaiting my wacom tablet from the US and then upon arrival will gleefully attend that exercise! So here is a sneak peak of the background images, see if you can glean some of the story from it. :)

THE CHELSEA (ISD), CSM (GLASS), LCC(GRAPHICS) DEGREE SHOW(s): The one to see!

2009-07-09T04:42:00.000-07:00

The Most exciting degree shows of the year: University of the Arts!

Both me and siu were very excited when we trotted over to the ISD ( Interior& Spatial Design) Private Degree show in Chelsea a few weeks ago. Having completed the course last year, we thought we put on quite a show and were eager to see how this years students would compare. After a 15 minutes of confusion ( mistakenly reading that BA ISD was in the banqueting suite when it was FDA, and being shocked with the standards)we finally found the exhibition downstairs in one of the Foundation rooms. Nothing had prepared us for this...

Enter Siu and I into a room lit by purple lights, through a walkway created by flowing lit cloth that mimicked water. Images project onto the cloth displaying students work. OMG what a difference, now this feels like a degree exhibition!

The walkway leads us to Platform 4, still so quirky and genius in its execution. Models hang from ceilings, under tables, while intricate drawings of multiple levels decorate walls. Small screens flicker with work and old objects litter ledges. Now we walk through the archway into a completely different space: Platform 2. Large pieces of geometric foam board locked together create shelves for models and work. An entire structure created for Platform 2's work, truly great. Slick laser cut models, crisp 3D images, you get the idea!

Around the corner we go to a platform we know so well, my last year platform 3! This was creatively put together using old wine crates, stacked on top, side by side creating a structural piece that viewers could walk around and through. each crate held a model or a drawing or a TV screen. What a difference from last year, almost felt ashamed! Finally finished with Platform 1, the only highlight being a table that had woven cloth on the underside. Overall this ISD exhibition was entertaining, spontaneous and really conveyed the amount of work and hours each student put in. Truly commendable!

CSM

The first part of the exhibition was Environmental design- architecture and artefact. Compared to Chelsea, which I can't help doing, it was very 'safe.' I term it so because every student had a wall and underneath each wall was a plinth for models. There was no risk, or very little rather. No interaction between viewer and work, something Chelsea succeeded in doing brilliantly. Thus, nothing captured resulting in little interest. The work was very good, with one student using textiles in her technical drawings. But again no risk and little depth.

After that dry part I swiftly went to the glass exhibition, I was very keen since this is very different and miles away from my discipline. Up the stairs I went into a sun lit room, where the transparent and translucent pieces could make good use of the light. Each piece shone, multi faceted pieces glowing with scrumptious colours of cool blues and fiery reds. A very pretty exhibition.

LCC: The Graphics quarter.

A spectacular show of colour, creativity and craziness! I loved this show, since I love Graphics. Every piece communicated something to the viewer in either a quirky poem or the assemble of words,fragmented images or cards. The ideas were limitless. I particularly loved the student panel; a wall of papers , where each student had an explanation of themselves and their work. So you could literally sift through the wall and find the student (alphabetically) rip off the piece of paper and keep it.

I also bought a piece by an Erica Dorne of a town in Tokyo, so happy!

Loved the University of the Arts exhibition, but I can' keep just saying it. Have a look yourselves. Enjoy and be inspired!

Introducing Fresh Talent. Part 1

2009-06-11T10:00:00.001-07:00

Fresh Talent looks at the degree shows of 2008-09. That is emerging new talent from the art universities. Part one displays work from Kingston University; everything from illustration to architecture. I love going to these shows, offering inspiration around every corner-and exhibitions you can photograph freely!Overall Kingston's show was very good, though I did feel their interior design section was a bit dry and predictable ( not like Chelsea lol). I was a little disppointed that the MA shows weren't up (partly my fault since I didn't check properly).

Dentists and Builders Yeesh!

2009-06-08T11:17:00.000-07:00

What a week I say! So far the builders have succeeded in driving us all mad- with their continuous laziness and making decisions on our behalf! Yes we are that touchy about our design. However I guess the house is looking pretty fine. Of course my work has stalled completely- have u tried working with so much noise and dust -difficult!

However last week was mad with interviews for my animation masters. Fingers crossed and I'll get in! With what ever time I have had I've squeezed in development for my second issue of G.W.A.T ( girl with a tale- a catchy acronym- gwat heheh)So yes that should be completed soon - I hope.

Right now I am writing in the dental surgery where I am working, its 7:07 pm and its dead quiet with just one patient left, the radio being my only companion, which by the way recycles same tunes every hour- I have heard Pink and lady gaga too many times now. They all left me to cover desk- the maniacs they will pay tomorrow when they see all the errors I've made muwaaaah!! Man I am dying to draw and do some animationy stuff, but hey somethings gotta pay for the holiday this year.

I will be putting up my very first moving image work -dont get 2 excited lol. It's rough I mean ROUGH so don't get your hopes up. Well I better check out b4 they realise I 'm not doing work :) Next post will be all about the degree show at Kingston that I am seeing this week YAY

Samurai animation stills: soldiers and peasants

2009-05-26T06:51:00.000-07:00

Some illustrations I did for an upcoming samurai animation. Enjoyed drawing every one of them especially the horses, since I've never drawn them before- a horse's anatomy book saved the day! The animation will be airing in the US.

MY COMIC STRIP ISSUE 1 -enjoy :)

2009-05-09T04:08:00.000-07:00

CLICK TO ENLARGE

Here I present my very 1st comic strip. This is completely new waters for me so you can imagine I was a little daunted by the prospect of creating 12 issues for an upcoming magazine called ‘Sketchbook’ that my dear friend is creating. Can I do it? Well why not after all this is an interest of mine!

So I went full throttle- it took me a 7 full days to complete this 1st issue (felt like I was in uni again!) but I enjoyed every moment of it :)

Ok so what is Girl with a Tale you ask? Firstly it’s a pun of ‘girl with a tail’ (in case u didn’t catch onto that ;) This was a concept I created ages ago in my final year at Uni. It’s kinda always been at the back of my mind so this was an ideal opportunity to display my idea. It starts off with this character, a girl who has been thrown into a world she is not used to: the modern, commercial metropolis. Who is she – a freak experiment or something so much deeper? Mmmm will be revealed later on. This first issue is supposed to be a bit hazy and confusing (so if u don’t get it then don’t worry- the character herself doesn’t get it either!)

Each issue will follow this girl, her worries her strengths and ultimately her relationship with this new world. They will try to reflect the feelings of the character to the reader.

So here is Issue 1: Birth aka the Beginning. Hope you enjoy and comments (negative/positive) will be most appreciated. This is primarily a progressive journey for me after all.

Meet Polly: the firecracker!

2009-04-20T05:18:00.000-07:00

Hello and I am back with yet another character design. Last post was Dillon and do you know what makes his heart beat race? Polly the Sheriff's gf. So we have a little love triangle going on.

Polly was described as: A petite red haired gal who unlike Dillon is a real 'go getter.' She is sharp, quick and an altogether fire cracker! (yes the book used those exact words). Since our hero falls for her she had to be attractive and spunky.

Here are some designs with the rendered one being the final choice. After that I wanted to see how Dillon and Polly looked as a potential couple. I think they go quite nicely. ooooh i do love creating couples :)

This first one here (far left) tried to establish the figure and body language of Polly. The first one is a bit what the..a very sultry 'hi there' look. Nah that isn't really her- maybe a sexy secretary but not Polly. We need cuteness! The next one went 180 degrees the other way and is very timid shy looking Polly. I tend to like doing the complete extremes in characters, which allows me to garner a balance later on. The rendered one is kinda there: She looks confident, calm yet still fem. I chose this western waistcoat to add a slight tom-boyish look, which is supposed to be slight. Her red hair is popping and she has a little attitude-fire cracker! Actually I think I could have pushed this design further and made her more spunky and I don't like her pose too much. Below we have some expressions- Polly clearly not impressed with Dillon. Click to enlarge

Well this closes this little exercise. Next post I'll be showing a more realistic style: some Japanese villagers that will be put into this animation. Right now I have a comic strip due for a fashion mag and I am a little nervous since I have not done one before and I really really hope my idea fits into the mag's genre nicely. Soon I will be showing you my design: a plump kick ass goddess-lol.

Till next time. Happy drawing

Wacom Fun-check out my characters yeeeha!

2009-04-04T12:59:00.001-07:00

So here's a question. These images above do you think I a) did them by hand b) did a bit by hand and a bit on computer or c) entirely on computer? There is only one answer that applies to all.

Well I'll answer that at the end of the post. So I have been working at chase animation for a week and quite simply I am having a blast! Already I feel I have picked up so much about the animation industry; I have been scanning in super cool drawings and then converting them into line tests on adobe after effects, which gives me an idea of how an animation is put together frame by frame. I also found out chase did the animation cut scenes for the very slick video game Mirror's Edge. Check it out:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4ylAlcZPI8&feature=related

Everyone is so nice and friendly and super talented. I have picked up quick tricks on photoshop from our expert background artist, how to draw on the light box from the animators and above all loads of encouragement from my boss.

He wanted to see my work at the beginning of the week and I was kinda nervous- i mean i haven't done animation before. I had my portfolio which was stuffed with life drawing but was it good enough? Well as it turns out he really liked my work and thought whoever was teaching me was doing a great job ( I didn't tell him I was self teaching). He even gave me one of his character animation books and told me to follow the assignments, saying he will look forward to seeing my work. I was ecstatic! So I began working from the book, the 1st assignment was to create a cowboy character called Dillon. Dillon is supposed to be a bit of a lazy bum, who has a natural talent as a gunslinger yet can't be bothered to pursue it. He is in love with the sheriff's girl but she thinks he is too lazy. Yet he is a hero so needs to have that likeable charm etc.

Ok so that was the outline I began scribbling away, and it hit me that character design- (the area I wish to specialise in) is really challenging and quite frustrating. I drew loads of Dillons and finally came up with the ones above. So what did my boss think? He came over sat down and looked at my drawing for 5 whole mins and said 'yknow that's not bad.' (that's not bad? so its ok..) But he kept saying it and his expression seemed quite impressed. He originally said I could keep the book for a week and then he said I could have it longer because he wants to see more-YES!

All I can say is that I am really enjoying it and I really feel my creative talents are being stretched in a good way. I just want to keep improving, because as my boss says: 'never think it's good enough, always question it.'

So what is the answer to my question? All computer. Yup every line every shade on each of those drawings were drawn from scratch on Photoshop using the blessed wacom tablet. The only tablet that can read pressure sensitivity effectively. Cos lets face it you can't draw with a mouse it is unnatural and will kill your wrist. It seems 2D animation is moving into that direction, so best to practice on the tablet early since it isn't easy to draw with at first.

Would well appreciate ur opinions on the drawings. :)

the girl got a job!

2009-03-29T09:26:00.000-07:00

Firstly I am writing this blog half dead- I can barely stay awake. Today was a tough day at the muay thai club I go to. I arrived 5 mins late and no one was there and the 1st thing khru gary (khru is instructor in thai) said: 'ah seems you're going to get it hard today Kay.' (kay isn't my name, I told them so many times it was kaj-K A J but then khru maria's 'j' looks like a 'y' so then everyone called me kay and I couldn't be bothered to tell them otherwise.) So yeh he told me that and I was like greaaatttt. and then the skipping began. I ended up doing an extra round to everyone because they all came late- that is 6 rounds: 30mins of jump rope. Then the warm up ended (yeh that is just a warm up) and khru called me to the ring.

It was khru with his pads and me with my gloves, let the sparring begin! First 4 rounds were going great until I had to step up the tempo with multiple kicks, now that kills me because after a while they just get weak and then khru gets miffed. '30 second rest' he said. That's cool I can do this, breathe in breathe out- why am I feeling light headed?- 'right lets carry on 2 mins flat out, more focus and strength this time kay.' Bam bam bam, knocking those pads left right and centre, panting and screaming like a wounded fox; keep going, focus, harder, faster, move out of the way, cover your face, elbow, turn that hip, knee, knee, wrong pad, teep, kick, 'ow thats my ass kay’- oh sorry! Move , slide, punch..... 30 seconds left (wtf!) pull it together, breathe, breathe...aaaaah I'm down... can't do this, dizzzy, sick, need water. And it happened twice more after- and I thought I was fit :(

Even though I get hurt, I die and cry I do love the sport. It gets you pumped up and keeps you super fit so that if anyone messes u can kick their ass into next week heheheh!

I got a job I got a job la la la it’s happened. A work experience vacancy mind but who cares?! I was thrilled when I rang up Chase animation and they said yeh come on in on fri! WAHOO! So I arrived at an industrial building and was led to the studio: super cool studio with brick and wood and very nice and airy, reminded me of Phoenix Wright. I saw all the animators drawing away by hand, working on the comps, wow. Just when I thought it can’t get better the manager said: 'we are working on a samurai animation for the History Channel documentary.' A Samurai animation? A samurai animation!!! aaaahh I am walking on a cloud in the illuminated forest.... It was great, the characters, the environments were all beautiful and I was just mesmerized. I start on Mon - and I have the job of cleaning up the artwork and inking in characters- super duper cool. :)

I asked the universe that I wanted to get a placement in an animation studio and the celestial bodies delivered. Ok so now how about that mini cooper....

(Image from Chase Studio)

And all begins today :)

2009-03-25T05:06:00.000-07:00

Well, well, well I didn't think I'd really get into this blog thing, seemed more like something my sister would do. But it seems many aspiring designers and artists have blogs that they share with others. So, since I happen to fall into that category I've decided to share my journey as an animator through a blog. And who knows something great may come of it!

Ok so my interest in animation and cartoon formed like a tiny bud in my tiny mind at they age of 10. I loved to draw, boy did I love to draw and I loved even more to create characters. I even would get pencils and pretend they were characters and create a whole story from them (a little sad lol). When girls were playing with dolls, Komal (my twin sis) and I would play with Lego, creating characters and stories. This progressed to cuddly toys, where I distinctly remember an orangutan toy conducting the funeral of Barbie (whose head had been decapitated by ehem me..) and Ken crying madly consoled by soft toys -bears, chicks, dogs...you get the idea. I loved cartoons (still do) watched everything from He-Man, Thunder Cats, Speed Racer, Transformers, Dungeons and Dragons to Looney Toons....I later moved onto video games- another passion of mine, playing early Mario Adventure on the Super Nintendo, always imagining it was me riding on Yoshi. Basically all this nurtured my small bud succeeding in making my interest in animation grow more and more.

Then high school came and the glowing bud inside lay dormant as I became more 'serious.' This attitude carried itself all the way into University and it is only recently: November 2008 that I decided Interior and Spatial Design isn't creative enough for my kooky mind and animation is what I want to do without a shadow of a doubt. So now the bud is stirring, oh yes it's growing and I am going to use this blog to showcase my work. It will (hopefully) motivate me to produce more work and talk about it too.

My profile pic (the little bunny) is one of my first characters on an animation I am working on. His name is B.B (Boxing Bunny) and he lives in Treetop Vale: a charming forest situated in Rainbow City. Ok this may sound like a bizarre Mario kart level but is a start of something cute, funky and well very me! More of the characters and stories will be posted on here very soon.

Here is a preliminary sketch I did of all the inhabitants in Rainbow City:

possibly a kids animation (ages 6-11)