Cleaned up!

Got a chance to cleanup my rough excitement sketch from a few days ago!

Tried out a second ball bounce. For some reason the Z tangent in the graph editor really threw me for a loop!



Had a few minutes to try out some more poses using Animation Mentor's Stu Rig





On these ones I tried to use directional lights to highlight the lines of action!

Today's inspiration provided by the great art styling of Mike DiMartino. I just started watching Avatar, the Last AirBender, and I instantly fell in love with it. It reminds me a lot in both the drawing style and the way they treat the story and the characters of Hayao Miyazaki. I can't wait to find the time to watch more of it. Thanks for the inspiration!

Readability

I've really been focusing on the instant readability of a pose. As the phrase goes, Keep it simple, stupid!

I really like this excited pose, but I'm worry that it might look like he's falling into bed.
I might do a few more tweaks to it, or just try a whole new pose altogether. *Still using Animation Mentor's wonderful "Stu" Rig*

Here's my first attempt at a bouncing ball animation in Maya.


It's based on this ball bouncing sketch!


To close the night here's a few more excited poses!




A big thanks to Shawn Kelly who ran a Q and A tonight. He is so excited about animation it's contagious. I've just got to stay up for the next 18,000 hours and get all of this stuff mastered. Thanks for the inspiration!

Exciting!

Another new week of classes! I can't wait to see what amazing stuff I learn!

Roughed out some poses that exude excitement.



Today I got a lovely critique from Aaron Hartline! Who I was already following on Twitter for quite a while. What a treat! If you haven't checked out his Post it blog, go there now! It's awesome.

Here's what he had to say:
"Great pose! Feels very pushed!!

Below are a few comments, hopefully they are helpful:
1) Sketchbook 1 - make sure to always add the line of action when doing your pose sketches. The LOfA will give you alot of important information, such as the flow of the spine, how the limbs flow in and out of it, silohette, and balance.
2) Sketchbook 1 - dont concern yourself with clothes, hats, etc. The more simple the better!! Rather by just drawing loose stick figures that really pay attention to line of action, weight, balance, and silohette - you will get much more dynamic poses!
3) Sketchbook 2 - Push the screen left leg down a little bit more towards the ground. Right now its too close to the back arm, making the silohette a bit cluttered.
4) Sketchbook 2 - Rotate the head slightly towards screen left so it looks like he is running away from whatever is chasing him. This will create a more storytelling pose - maing you wonder what is he running from?

Great start - a few tweaks and your set!
~A"



I thought about doing the leg before, but I hadn't considered tilting the head I think it really helps the image a lot!

The 5 variations on a pose

Got a chance to do some more work on the Preston Blair style squirrel frolic!

(click to enlarge!)

I really liked this pose, from a few days ago.
(Stu rig brought to you by AnimationMentor)

It was based on this sketch from a while back.


The original pose I felt was very readable, but this version seems more true to the original sketch.


Then of course I had to attempt one that was completely over the top!

I got some more feedback from some other students who seemed to think I wouldn't get the best grade based on the rigidity of the original pose so I figured I'd go with this one.





The same pose with a slight toe roll on the front foot. I felt it added just a little more than the flat foot of the original!



Even more tweaks, just about to fall asleep too!


I think the line of action and silhouette really pop on this one hope it gets a good grade!


I passed by the 5 Chinese Brothers children's book earlier this week. I can't believe I forgot about this wonderfully illustrated treasure. I'm not sure it's necessarily politically correct these days, but Kurt Wiese's illustration style itself is beautiful. Thanks for the inspiration!

Pose Pose Pose

Trying a new way to rough out my next Preston Blair style animation, and I think it'll be a lot easier and look better in the long run!


(click to enlarge!)

Practicing more poses in Maya again today using AnimationMentor's Stu rig

More Movement and Maya!

Finally finished the color on the last part of the Preston Blair hunter sneak!


and sorta roughed it all together, although there's a couple things I want to do to smooth it out, hopefully tomorrow!



Had a blast posing AnimationMentor's Stu rig yesterday so I figured I'd practice a bit more today as well!

Tried a more subdued yet expressive pose. I'm not sure it really communicates, but definitely a good exercise.


Tonight's inspiration is brought to you by Bert Klein and Teddy Newton, by way of Michael Sporn!

Life drawing and posing

Spent some time drawing some interesting characters at the mall this weekend.

(click to enlarge)

Then tried to match some of the best poses in Maya using the AnimationMentor "Stu" rig!

Last rough for the Preston Blair hunter sneak cycle. Hopefully I'll have it colored and animated by the end of the week!


(click to enlarge)

Woke up with Freddy Moore and Bill Pressing on the brain! I love their styles so much! They both have different but similar takes on the same subject. I've got to spend more time trying to get some of that style and energy into my female drawings! Thanks for the inspiration!