Inspiration

Let me inspire you with some images from the greats.



Absolutely magnificent drawing! Bold, but that expression is SO SUBTLE. But oh so very readable! The misalignment of the eyelids along with the unfocused gaze.... That skewed mouth.... The lean of the body. The silhouette is readable, too, and the graphic shapes that the body cuts while maintaining believability. Truly masterful draftsmanship!

Speaking of masterful draftsmanship....



Entirely different feel, right?

Enormously courageous yet explorative strokes of a brush here. Note how he feels out the form of the horse. The exaggerations, the depictions of movement, the manipulation of the form while keeping the unmistakable proportions of the animal! Look how those back legs peter to nothing - and yet, what weight it has! I could rant about this all day. You don't have to be one to one realistic to be an accomplished artist. On the contrary, the drawing out of the dormant or underpinning nature of a figure or object - the exaggeration - can make your pictures seem REALER than real. Yes! Realer than real life!

For the same reason that pure rotoscoping will lead to floatey animation, yet rotoscoping with exaggerated weight, up and down, squash and stretch, seem convincing and realistic, distilling the essence of your subject is the purest form of drawing that I believe you can do.

Lastly, here are some Animation tips from Patrick Giusiano:

Animation Tips

- India

The Zone : Bidston Moss Pixilation

The Level 5 Animation Students recently completed a short pixilation project centered around Close and Remote's 'The Zone'.

'The Zone' revolves around fictional occurrences around the area of Bidston Moss, centering on the discovery and effects of various otherworldly artifacts that are discovered, often by accident, by unsuspecting wanderers.

Well, good news -- all of the stundents' animations are now up for viewing on 'The Zone's' website!

You can view them all by clicking here!

You can also view them through the FACT website here!

Sucess Against the Odds Animation Competition!

Hello Animators!

If you were looking for a fantastic animation opportunity to sink your teeth into over the Easter Holidays or beyond, then I have good news!

We have recently been contacted by the National Accident Helpline in association with Aardman Animations, (responsible for the National Accident Helpline claymation 'Underdog' TV ads), who have teamed up to run an animation competition called 'Success against the odds'.

The brief is to produce, in a media of your choosing, a 10sec-or-under animation that centers around the theme of 'Success against the odds'. It doesn't need to include the underdog character or have any reference to the National Accident Helpline - you can do your own thing, completely and utterly.

The animations will be judged by Aardman animators, and the winner will not only get feedback on their work from Aardman, but also be invited for a tour of the animation studios, with travel and accommodation inclusive in the prize. That's not all they'll get, either! For full info, check out the entry pack, which you can have emailed direct to you here:

click me! > Success Against the Odds Entry Pack < click me!

The deadline for this competition is the 18th of May 2014, so flip those frames, shoot that armature, and render that shot! This is an amazing chance to get your animation seen by the best in the business.

-India