Colored Wata'

♫ Somewhere Over the . . . Large Wall ♪

I completed a new mural over the course of 1.5 weekends.  I worked hard, long hours, but not necessarily fast (even though I tried).

Empty Wall

 Final Concept

Close Up

Character Designs

Early Concepts

I have some work to do . . .

Meh

I'll get there eventually.

K.I.S.S. - Keep It Simple Silly

After a catastrophic painting session last Sunday, I mustered up enough courage to go outside into the real world and give painting another try.

• There is no "undo" button in the real world, especially with water colors, but it is important to learn how to make definite choices and keep moving forward.
• This is a very gentle painting that is really just practice, and an attempt to learn how to focus and calm the brain.

In Plein Air

Above is an experimental painting done "en plein air" which is a French expression for "in the open air".  I like the lines created by the real architecture it is based on, but ultimately this painting is just "plein".  

Thank you I'll be here all week.

The frustrations caused by the previous painting inspired me to consider trying harder and actually practice.  Go figure.  I felt like trying watercolor, but only had acrylic paint.  Solution:  heavily dilute acrylic paint.  The tree above is NOT meant to be abstract like the previous painting.

Madam, my eyes are up here! # CG Problems

I've been meaning to post this screen capture for a while. It shows one of the many joyous technical anomalies faced in computer animation.

"Animation ARTIST?"

"So tell me, what do you want to do?"

What a confounding and confining question!

I recently had the opportunity to have my portfolio reviewed by half a dozen studio representatives. With every encounter I was asked the question above. It's not every day that you can define your destiny in a single sentence six different ways.

The frustrating truth is that studios need to be able to define me as (insert talent here). I understand why this is important, I just need to figure out how to not lose the Art in Animation.

This video of Glen Keane puts into words my mentality, although my thoughts and skills are only in their infancy.

Glen Keane Animation Industry from Noel on Vimeo.