Richard Williams!

Last night I had the lifetime opportunity to meet the man himself and hear him speak. Tony White, one of Richard's former assistants and directors (Pink Panther Strikes Again, Hokusai) is an instructor over at Digipen in Redmond now, and was able to get Richard in town for a free presentation. Richard gave us previews of a number of segments from his new dvd set and shared some awesome stories about his experiences with Milt Kahl, Art Babbitt and Ken Harris, and the pearls of wisdom he learned from them. After, he signed some books (The Animator's Survival Kit, for those that don't know) and took some pictures for us fanboys and fangirls. It was an incredible experience to meet someone who's had such a huge effect on my animation education.

For more info on local animation events, check out 2dornot2d.org

180 Turn Final

AAUUUUUGGGGHH! RIP Bill Melendez

Holy Moly I am a bad blogger, I really need to post some, ya know, WORK up here.

However, I felt compelled to write a few words. If there's a character that's as close to my heart as Mickey Mouse, it has to be Charlie Brown. So naturally, the Peanuts animated specials were incredibly influential to me. "A Charlie Brown Christmas" was a revolutionary achievement in animation and television history. Nobody could have brought the Peanuts to life but Bill Melendez, or provide the instantly recognizable voices of Snoopy and Woodstock. Mr. Melendez passed away today at age 91 and the animation world has lost another legend. Thankfully, he left a lifetime of work we can appreciate and learn from.

Alright, enough words. WORK to come soon.

180 Turn Blocking

Just waiting on my crit, polish to come soon!

Waaaaaaaaallllllll-E

It's time for me to add my voice to the choir of praise for Wall-E. I finally got to see it this weekend. Twice. It's every bit as good as you've heard. It's right up there with The Incredibles and Ratatouille. Of course, Nemo is a masterpiece in its own right, and I could watch Monsters Inc. every day and still be entertained. It's so hard to pick my favorite! Well anyway, the point is, Wall-E is a magnificent film and Presto is unbelievable. I won't ruin a second for you. Do yourself a favor: stop reading this ridiculous blog post and go see Wall-E. Then see it again : )

It's ME! (180 turn planning)

So, I'm no Jeff Gabor, but I thought you might enjoy some embarassing video reference, and the drawings that came of it.

Skidoosh!

Finally saw Kung Fu Panda this weekend. It's a killer film packed with kung fu action. Check out the subtle shakes on Oogway, the facial animation on Po, and my personal favorite, Tai Lung.

Class 1 Progress Reel

Class 1 with Nicole Herr is wrapped up! I learned a ton and had a great time. Got a one-week breather then I'm on to Class 2, body mechanics. here's all my shots from class 1 compiled together.

Pregnant Ballie and Balance Pose

Yeah, there's a bit of theme going. Trust me, it has nothing to do with my personal life. Anyway, this was my "walk with personality."

A Pose communicating "balance"

Vanilla Walk, Concerned Pose, and Exhausted Pose

A generic walk.

A pose communicating "concerned"




A pose communicating "Exhausted"

Tailor and Strength Pose

Even more Overlapping Action!

A still pose to communicate "strength."

Pendulum

Overlapping Action!

Obstacle Course

Squash and Stretch!

Bad Bad Blogger...

So, I realize I've been absent from this blog for way too long. For your viewing pleasure, I present a huge cascade of new stuff - all at once!

Nocturna

I got a chance to see "Nocturna" (http://movies.filmax.com/nocturna/) This memorial day in the Seattle International Film Festival. For those who haven't heard of it, it's a Spanish (English Language) film created by Sergio Pablos's Animagic Films as well as a number of other artists and studios. I enjoyed it a lot. It's a slightly dark fairy tale about a world that comes alive at night. SIFF described it as "Monsters Inc. crossed with the work of Hayao Miyazaki" which I found to be a pretty accurate description. The visuals were gorgeous, and the story was clever and enchanting. If I have any complaint, it's that at times the animation dropped from beautifully smooth, in-betweened shots, to only key drawings on sixes or so. This is something I noticed on Curious George as well and I assume it must have something to do with budget. To an animator's eye it was a little distracting but occurred rarely and ultimately didn't detract too much. I hope that it will eventually get a decent DVD release, and if you get the chance to see it, I would highly recommend it.

Ok, I promise I'll post some work soon. LOTS of it.

Heavy/Light Balls

Hey, so I know it's been forever and ever since I've made a post. So, for your viewing pleasure, I present the heavy/light ball bounce. Also, a "Devastated" pose.

The Ol' Bouncing Ball

Where every animator begins! I haven't animated a bouncing ball in a long time so it was refreshing to go back to basics. Here's my revision after Nicole's crit! Also, we had to produce a pose communicating "excitement"

Together Again...

For those who haven't heard, Ollie Johnston passed away today at age 95. Ollie was the last living member of the legendary Nine Old Men, Co-Author of "The Illusion of Life" with lifelong collaborator Frank Thomas, and one of my number-one heroes. He literally wrote the book on Animation and he will be missed incredibly. Thanks for all your teachings and inspiration, Ollie!

First Assignment!

Okay, so a lot of posts are going to be "firsts" for a while. This week we did some observational sketches in a public place (Bellevue Square mall, for me) and the assignment was to take one of these sketches and "refine" it into a pose displaying strong line of action and silhouette. I chose to go with number 18, but I took a crack at number 15 as well. Now just waiting for my critique!
(4_28_08: Uploaded Revised "number 18" pose)

First Day of School!

I've got my lunch packed up, my shoes tied tight, I hope I don't get in a fight, oohhhh, back to school... Today was my very first day of Animation Mentor and I'm psyched! I'll be going through "Basic Foundations" class with my first mentor, Nicole Herr (www.nicoleherr.com) from Sony! She's worked on some great pieces and I'm really excited to start learning all I can from her. I've been spending the evening cruising the AM community, getting familiar with the site and posting on other student profiles. If you're another AM student, come by my profile and say hi!

Yop!

Went and saw "Horton Hears a Who!" on Friday and once again this week. LOVED it! It was funny, in a refreshingly silly kinda way, the story had me glued to the screen, and the animators produced some fantastic acting. A wonderful tribute to Dr. Seuss and Blue Sky's best work.

So... I lied.

This IS another Animation Mentor blog. I'll be starting in Spring Quarter on March 31st and I'm going to try to use this space as a kind of diary of my progress. Periodically I'll be posting some of my work and thoughts as I go through the program. Excited that I'm finally doing this. Ready to LEARN!