Lots of stuff

Well, I had started out this post with something mildly interesting - but then my cat came along and walked all over my keyboard, which started doing things on my computer that I wouldn't know how to do if I tried. 

This is him - just for interests sake.

He is quite an eccentric creature (although, who am I kidding - what cat isn't).

And yup he was sleeping this way - he just opened his eyes when I took the picture.

Anyway - this week is a busy one. We have film challenge at school (which doesn't contain the word challenge for no reason). But this year things seem to be going pretty well, and we have all our animation done - just a couple of scenes left to clean up, and then colour - all with two days to go. : ) 

So thus the scanty posting this week.

But the other news is that the book with my illustrations in it has been published - so that's pretty exciting. Here are a few examples from it which I can put up now that the book is complete. The first one is from the poem 'Duke Visits the Dentist'

And this one is as you probably guessed, the Christmas poem, called 'Duke and Santa Paws'

One of my favourite little characters in the book is the little brown guy who is lying over the back of the grey spotted dog on the mat to the bottom left.  

Hope everyone else is having an excellent week!

One of these things is not like the other...

This might seem a little random, but I drew it because I actually saw it. 
I was walking through the park on my way to school one morning, and there on the top of one of the park benches were these three seagulls. They were so evenly spaced along the top of the bench, and all looked pretty pleased with themselves. 

After looking at them for a while as I walked past, I was struck by the fact that there was something a little odd about the whole picture. Then it hit me.


So I just had to draw it. He looked so happy - it was like he was thinking, 
'Yup, I'm one of these guys. I'm all good.' 


Good on him, I say.

Roosta

Today's post...

Hi!

Not too much to say today, so instead we will go with key words that sum up my day:

• Coffee
• The colour purple
• Rooster
• Bus
• Many small people

Now that I have that out of my system; I have the privilege of sitting next to a bit of a clever pants called Siobhan. : ) She is cool. And yesterday we drew some post-it pictures and she very deviously drew me! I felt very honored and so I took a picture, and now I post it here (hehe pun intended).

Cool huh! So everybody can check out her blog here.

You know you want to.

Yesterday's post...

We are doing clean up this week in class, and after half a year of developing looseness and a rougher style, I must admit it wasn't easy getting back into it. However - it is more in line with my natural tendency to un-roughness so after a couple of days I'm getting there. 

But I have missed key animation!

Next week is our school's annual 'Film Challenge' - which puts us all into teams of 1st, 2nd and 3rd years and sets us the challenge of making an animated movie trailer in 4 days. Last year was really tough, but it looks like I've got a really excellent team this year - go Purple! (That's us).

Today we had a random drawing topic of: 'I *heart*...' - I was really stumped. Had no idea what to draw. So I doodled. And drew a kinda cute (although incredibly anatomically incorrect) alligator.

So I just went with that. 

I don't particularly love alligators - however I know that there must be people in the world who do right?

So this one's for you guys.

Boo hoo

Well, I have been trying to upload some pics all evening but there seems to be some glitch and it just ain't working. 


So, just know, that I did try and there are some very random pictures coming your way soon.
Hopefully tomorrow. 


Night.
: )

My introduction to mascara

A true story.

My favourite item of make-up is mascara; and I was reminiscing the other day about an experience that I had when I was little that might explain why...

Once upon a time, when I was just a wee young thing, I snuck into the bathroom at my parent's house - the goal was the bathroom cabinet, which I knew had lots of interesting things in it, because I would often see Mum or Dad open it and use stuff out of it. 

It must have been full of really exciting stuff, because it was up high, and difficult for small people to reach - so I thought it warranted exploration. Despite the fact that I knew I wasn't allowed to explore said cabinet on instruction of my parents...

So I climbed up...

First thing I find is Mum's make-up. Score! think I.

I had a rough idea of what you were supposed to do with it because I had seen Mum apply it... actually who am I kidding, I knew exactly what I was supposed to do with it! Muahaha!

Found the lipstick...

Meh.

But on rummaging around I discovered something more amazing...

The mascara!

So black! So spiky looking! 

I knew this was the one I had been searching for...

I knew I could create a masterpiece with this.

So I got to work!

I applied that mascara like it had never been applied before!

The results looked incredible.

And then, despite the aforementioned fact that I knew I had been told by my parents that I was not allowed in the cabinet, I marched myself out to the living room to present my work; nay, my masterpiece to them.

They would be so proud! 

I looked fantastic.

I had gone and just used up that whole mascara on the whole of my face.

Why stop at the eyes when you can just go nuts everywhere. 

In fact, the above picture does not even do justice to the blackness that was my face on that day.

My parents were overwhelmed to say the least, and I don't think that they really knew how to react. So they did what any forward thinking, just parent would do... 

Dad took a photo.

And then I got a (small, mind you) reminder that what I had done was naughty.

As a disclaimer: I am in no way trying to portray my parents in a bad way - I actually really appreciate the way they handled this - I knew that I was being naughty, so I deserved a telling off. And they were (and are) both really great parents. And yet the fact that Dad took a photo means that now we have a record of what I consider to be a kinda funny story. hehe. 

The End.

Had another exciting day in the world of animation! 

Don't have much to put up today, so I thought that I would just add this very short clip, which was another of our assignments. As you can probably tell I was not incredibly happy with the laugh at the end, and ended up redoing it on the last day - which is part of the reason why it is so unfinished and pretty much just keys. Laughs are tricky things to animate as it turns out!

Happy Monday everyone.

Baby walk

This was the first key animation that we did of a walk cycle at school - and what do they do, they give us a baby walk. Eep.

And then I load it up to Youtube, and what does it do - but pick for the thumbnail one of the weirdest frames out of the lot of them - zombie arising.

But it was a fun one to work on! These are just the keys, some breakdowns, and a coupla inbetweens - so maybe at some stage later in the year I'll add in the rest of the inbetweens and make it all nice and smoooooove.

Today was a good day

He didn't have as good a day as I did unfortunately.

He misses his family.

And it's Christmas, just to add insult to injury.

However, I promise it turns out alright in the end don't worry. 

P.S. That is supposed to be half of a walnut (or something along those lines) being used as a lampshade. On looking at it again I thought it needed a little explanation. : )

The fear of paper...

Over the past number of weeks I have I think been looking a bit like this behind my desk:

Although in addition there is a whole pile of discarded paper and empty coffee cups behind the desk.

I have decided that I think it is a fear of paper. 

Behold! Upon the desk an innocent plain white piece of paper! 

Seemingly so simple.

Seemingly so sweet.

And yet what I have been seeing is something more like this...

Mate. 

No wonder I have been finding animating so tough!

However I have decided that this has to end! 

Never fear people! I will conquer the paper!

Just in case you were worried.

And might as well put this up too...

Should not have put the drop of the shoulders in at the end - but ah well, live and learn.

It has been a little while...

...but I'm still here. 

Here's a coupla sketches I have been working on, in the development of a little birdy character. These were some of the ones that I was relatively happy with, although I think that I will still have to tweak a few things. The most challenging part is trying to get as much character and personality into the expressions as possible - but it has been a really fun challenge. 

Just a quick line test...