Illustration with Animation 2018 Degree Show

Opening to the public from Saturday 19th May, we look forward to seeing you at the Williamson Art Gallery for The Level 6 Illustration with Animation Degree Show. Come and enjoy a selection of artwork and animation created by our current Level 6 students.

Level 5 Illustration & Animation exhibition 2018

Artwork by Harry Parker, Poster Design by Amy DeNobriga

Opening to the public from Monday 26th March, we look forward to seeing you at the 12 quays campus for The Level 5 Illustration & Animation gallery practice exhibition. Come experience a  diverse selection of artwork and animation created by our current Level 5 students.

What to Look for in the College Library Part I: New books for February

One of the best ways to broaden your knowledge and skill base is to check out our Illustration and animation section in your campus library. This February we have some new books ordered in to assist  you budding Illustrators and Animators with storyboarding, the use of different artistic mediums, character design and information on how to build a portfolio.

 
Useful books for Industry information and Portfolio building, perfect resources for level 5 & 6 vocational projects.

• Writers' & Artists' Yearbook 2018 by Bloomsbury Yearbooks. 

• Children's Writers' & Artists' Yearbook 2018 by Bloomsbury Yearbooks. 

• Reel Success: Creating Demo Reels and Animation Portfolios by Cheryl Cabrera.

• The Digital Artist's Portfolio and Demo Reel Guide: Inside Knowledge For Landing Your Dream Job In The Digital Art, Animation, CG, Motion-Graphics & VFX Industry, by Dave Scotland.

• How to Create a Portfolio & Get Hired: A Guide for Graphic Designers and Illustrators (Portfolio Skills) by Fig Taylor.

Illustration techniques:

• Reportage Illustration by Gary Embury & Mario Minichello 

• Urban Watercolor Sketching: A Guide to Drawing, Painting, and Storytelling in Color by Felix Scheinberger.

• The art of drawing folds: an illustrators guide to drawing the clothed figure by Kelly Brine. 

Character design:

• The Ultimate Guide to Character Design with Stephen Silver: Techniques, Tips, and Tutorials for Drawing Effective Characters by  Stephen Silver.

Children's' book illustration:

• Children's Picture books: The Art of Visual Storytelling by Martin Salisbury & Morag Styles

Animation production and practice: 

• Prepare to Board! Creating Story and Characters for Animated Features and Shorts, Third Edition, by Nancy Neiman. 

• Directing the Story: Professional Storytelling and Storyboarding Techniques for Live Action and Animation by Francis Glebas.

• Frame-By-Frame Stop Motion: The Guide to Non-Puppet Photographic Animation Techniques, Second Edition by Tom Gasek.

So get to that library and get learning...

BA(Hons) Illustration with Animation Degree Show 2017

Please come to support our students at the BA (Hons) Illustration with Animation Degree Show at the Williamson Art Gallery. Students from the BA (Hons) Fine Art and HND Photography courses will be exhibiting their work also, so there will be lots of artwork to see.

Tech Cues - Digital Creative File Formats

Choosing the right file format seems like a minor rather mundane thing - an after thought that you are confronted with when saving your shiny, new piece of work.

However, keeping your data stored in the right way, between work sessions or when moving between programs, can mean the difference between clean crisp images with a smooth workflow and blocky blurry results with nightmare unpicking of older files.

Here's a handy guide to keep you on track with some of the main scenarios we encounter on the course.

squash and stretch

Check this out, it's a great tutorial and very easy to understand. fantastic break down for creating bounces in stop motion.

2016 Animation Festivals

Now we are into the second term and a brand new year, it's a good time to start looking at and planning to attend animation and Illustration festivals through the year. Whether or not your plan to submit some of your final pieces into the contests, festivals are great place to visit for networking, workshops and seeing what's happening in the industry.

Coming up in February...

‘Animex International Festival of Animation and Computer Games’ held in February 2016, the largest festival dedicated to animation and computer games in the UK. It has a day dedicated to animation and game design.

 Chester 30th international Film Festival 23rd February - 11 March 2016

A country Doctor

Great animation in this. reminds me a lot of Richard Williams A Christmas carol

Traditional animation

Great Disney archive film on how Snow White was created.

Check out this guys set designs and models. wonderful stuff
Matthew Albanese

http://www.matthewalbanese.com/a-new-life

Really nice and slightly evil digital animation :)

Verdi - Traviata
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDhHxIz83Ic
great stopmotion

Insperational Animation: November Edition: Monkey Rag - An Animated Short by Joanna Davidovich

                      
                        

Joanna Davidovich

Website: http://www.cupojo.net

Twiter: https://twitter.com/JoTheZette

Check out Monkey Rag, almost 4 years in the making, Joanna is a freelance animator and character designer who created this animated short between her busy work schedule. Check out her website to see more of her amazing work.

Canvas Network: Free! Animators Course

Summers here and the works handed in but before you run off into the sunset you should totally check out this course running June 8th - July 14th. Canvas Network in conjunction with Professor Alejandro Garcia of San Jose State University are offering a free course Basic Physics for Animators covering topics of:

•Timing, Spacing, and Falling

•Path of Action & Arcs

•Inertia, Follow-through, and Drag

•Forces & Action

•Pressure & Lift

•Cycles & Rotation

•Squash & Stretch

By the end of the course you will create a 10 to 30 seconds animation using the concepts you have learned.

Head on over to https://www.canvas.net/browse/sjsu/courses/basic-physics-for-animators and sign up before it starts.

2015 Animation Festivals

Animation cohorts, your submission deadline is here, this is a great time to start looking for national and global animation festivals to submit your work to.

 

http://encounters-festival.org.uk/call-to-submit/

Encounter: 21st Short Film & Animation Festival

Date:15-20 September 2015, Bristol, UK

Submission Deadline: 5 June 2015 (for films completed in 2015)

Entry Fee: None

http://www.liaf.org.uk/entries/

The London International Animation Festival

Date: 23 October 2015 - 1 November 2015

Submission Deadline: 30 April

Entry Fee: £10

http://www.eastendfilmfestival.com/

East End Film Festival

Date: 1 - 12 July 2015

Submission Deadline: Late entry closure: 10th April 2015

Entry Fee: Before Late deadline: £25

 

Check out what festivals are happening through out the year at

http://www.animation-festivals.com/submit-to-festival/

Get Schooled X Nickelodeon : $25,000 Animation Scholarship

Nickelodeon has partnered with Get Schooled  to offer the opportunity of receiving an animation schorlarship  $25,000. The scholarship is open to animator aged  17 to 24 across the globe, head over to get schooled from the link below to sign up for more information about how to apply. This is an amazing chance to break into the animation industry.

https://getschooled.com/dashboard/tool/1342-25-000-animation-scholarship

2015 Animation challeges

http://www.11secondclub.com

Open to animators across the globe The 11 Second club is a monthly competition focused on character animation. Each month a different 11 second audio file is available to download, then you use that month to animate a character (or two) performing the dialogue whilst acting out a scenario that you feel best fits the audio. During the month you can submit your progress and get feedback from your peers on the clubs forums. At the end of the month everyone will votes of the submissions they consider the best. This is an fantastic environment to practice and improve you skills. Head on over to the 11 Second Club to check out previous months submissions and for more information on how to enter!

http://www.loopdeloop.org/

Based in Melbourne, Australia, Loop de loop is a bi-monthly themed animation challenge open to animators around the world focused on Looping animations. Submissions are displayed on the blog and on the last Tuesday of the month all of the posted loops are compiled and screened to a live audience at loop in Melbourne. It is important to note that there is no set timeframe for your loop, it could be a short made of a few frames or a very long piece but remember you only have that month to submit.  for more information check out their submissions page .

http://www.animateclay.com/index.php/challenges

Animate Clay monthly challenge is fantastic for you stop motion cohorts to practice your animation skills, find your self a small set brief and build up your show reel. The previous months winner chooses the current theme and the entries have no cap on length, but keep in mind one month is not a lot of time! and you might want to make new props and puppets to fit the theme. So head to the website, join the forum and get going!

Film Watch - (Double bill!) Princess Kaguya & Isao Takahata and his Tale of Princess Kaguya

 

Released March 20th, Studio Ghibis new animated feature 'The tale of Princess Kagura' , directed by co-founder Isao Takahata, is a beautiful film based on the ancient Japanese folktale The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter (Taketori Monogatari). Set in ancient japan a bamboo cutter discovers a miniature girl inside a glowing bamboo shoot who grows very quickly into a beautiful young lady.

 

This week is a special double bill because if you are able to get to Manchester this Sunday 15th the Corner House Cinema are hosting a special Double Bill Preview of 'The Tale of the Princess Kaguya' along with the documentary 'Isao Takahata and his tale of Princess Kaguya' which lets you see into the creative procedure in making the film.

 

For more information and tickets, check out the link below.

http://www.cornerhouse.org/film/film-events/double-bill-preview-the-tale-of-the-princess-kaguya-isao-takahata-and-his-tale-of-princess-kaguya

Resorce: Freelance Work Websites.

Here are some links to sites with listed freelance work in illustration and animation A great way to find a brief that fits your interests and start finding paid work. Some of the site such as Coroflot, Freelanced and Behance will let you create a portfolio for potential clients to view your work.

Coroflot

 http://www.coroflot.com/

 

Behance

https://www.behance.net/

 

Freelanced

http://www.freelanced.com/

Fiverr

https://www.fiverr.com/

 

People per hour

http://www.peopleperhour.com/

 

oDecks

https://www.odesk.com/

 

99 designs

http://99designs.co.uk/

 

Media Tonic - Creative Intern

Games company Media tonic are looking for college students and recent graduates for their creative Intern and student placement schemes.

This creative team are partners with entertainment companies across the world working to bring mobile and cross platform original games to the global market. This would is a fantastic opportunity for animators and illustrators alike to break into the games industry through gaining real world experience.

These roles are hugely popular, with Media Tonic receiving lots of applicants.

Think about how you can make your application stand out from the rest.

For more information check out the Creative Intern and Student Placement - Artist sections at

http://www.mediatonicgames.com/careers

And good luck!