Animation Spotlight: Deathigner

Hello guys, welcome back and thank you for tuning back with me as I moved and settled life back down.

Lets get back to art, and the first step is seeing something amazing that will inspire us to do some artwork.This animation was done by students at National Taiwan University of Arts , Department of Multimedia and Animation Arts.

It's beautifully done! Well painted and in a style that we don't get to see anymore. Very reminiscent of 90's Disney and early 2000's Cartoon Network features. Check it out!

Hiatus Over!

I'm back!! Moving is complete and desktop has been dusted off....for the most part.
Still updating the system and the software and getting my desktop legs back.

Get ready for some amazingly horrible artwork in the coming weeks and days. And lets continue the journey on growing as an artist!

Moving Day!

Hey everyone. Thanks to those of you checking in regularly. Been a hectic week with work (shorthanded team) and now moving all week with the final big move tomorrow. I should have my desktop up FINALLY after two months and I will really be cranking out for art stuff for you!

If I am able to run to IKEA tomorrow and get a new computer desk, I will be resurrecting Saturday Sketches.

Otherwise be on the look out for my follow ups on Finding Inspiration and Animation Spotlights.
Cheers.

Finding Inspiration: Part Two of People & Nature

Sorry for the delay, but life happened. Glad you're still here.


Now where were we...

Humans (Part II):


Humans. Your fellow man. As mentioned in the last post, you never know who you will meet in a random location. Everyone has a great story and it might tie in to your life and your experiences. People are an endless source of great inspiration, no matter how big or small their name, title or salary is. So below I have included some inspirational videos from your fellow human beings who have said something that is worth listening to. They can say all of this better than I could ever write, so I'm saving you from torture.

I really don't care for pop culture stuff but I was thoroughly impressed by him. It's nice to see Hollywood actors when they wake up and say something.

To be Continued...

To artists out there reading this: I will post more creatively inspiring things in the future but first I need to get those of you feeling burnt out to get up off your arse. :) 



[ A Glance Back:

This whole segment on finding inspiration took a wide right turn that I did not intend on taking. When searching for 'cool' things to post and pass along to my fellow 'I'm-destined-to-failure' graduates and artists alike, I kept stumbling on more and more thought provoking and stimulating videos. No, not those kinds of videos.

This segment has turned more into inspiring people to ASPIRE, versus finding cool shit online that will get your creative mind rolling. Just note that kind of stuff will come later when I have run out of videos and inspirational pieces to post. I realized I am posting things DIRECTLY for you guys who do feel like you will fail outside of college, or the artists who like myself feel very mediocre compared to our classmates; you know, the ones who can create such beautiful pieces with such ease. 

Getting people inspired to KEEP GOING is what this is. Not giving up on your dream for the sake of your parents or how you are viewed by society. It's not about how much money you make or how respectable your title is. You don't give up to settle for these things if you know deep deep down you were meant for something else. You know that one little piece of hope and passion keeps rising up no matter how much you suppress it. You can ignore it and justify its existence on a childish dream but it will continue to stay a CHILDISH DREAM if you treat it so.]

Finding Inspiration - Part One of People & Nature

Okay...follow me on this one.

Sidebar: Whether you're writing a new short film/feature film, painting, drawing from life or trying to capture a moment to paint - it's hard!! Inspiration doesn't always flow. Sometimes your creative tanks are drained or worse - clogged. At least when your drained you can walk away, rest or do something else and come back to it. When you're in a creative block- you have never felt so helpless! There is nothing you can do to bring it back at will, you have to wait for it to hit you again. That might be a few hours or a few days! And forcing yourself never helps because if you produce something worse than you hoped it only pushes you further down the hole your attempting to crawl out of! Does any of this sound familiar?

Humans:




Thank you to Prasad for the video!

 You ever go into a coffee shop, sit alone and just people watch? Listen to others pleasant conversations? Bouncing your eyes and ears to people in the room?

Now..Have you ever walked up and just talked to someone? Any random stranger in that coffee shop? I recommend you do.

My favorite stories I love to hear, and it wasn't until recently I realized I enjoyed it, are the life stories of other people. How they got to where they are and where they plan to go from there. I touched on this in the podcast section and it still does apply because the SOURCE of the inspiration is still humans.

I have met artists who have said they NEVER hit creative roadblocks. And I'm sure they have never made a bad drawing before either. Sad to say the rest of us are just human. We struggle on occasion.

Have no fear. For your cure for Humanism is......more humans. Or can be at least. Sometimes watching a flick can be instantaneously inspiring if you see something that sparks a feeling you've had before and didn't know how to adapt it but NOW you do! The same can happen when talking to your fellow human.

This is why I recommend strangers. They are an unknown story to you. They are the breath of fresh air everyone talks about. No matter WHO it is, everyone has an interesting story. Some people have gone through many of the same things we are currently going through in our lives. They might just have the right advise in store for you. Most have overcome great odds to make their dreams happen. Sometimes hearing what it was that they sacrificed to get to where they are is awe-inspiring of itself and will begin to put things in perspective in your own life. It is in these moments that artists and authors pull from to create their next great thing. Every filmmaker and writer will tell you how they adapted stories from their own life experiences (or that of a close friend). These themes we love to resonate with are based off true events. They happen! The stories are out there.

So next time you're out in public, talk to someone who has a moment and ask about their lives. You might hear about a grand adventure. You might just make a new friend. You might find a mentor. You might just find that inspiration you were looking for!



On the flip side of this coin talking to friends and family can reinvigorate what makes you YOU. You as a creative mind or artist are naturally filled with imagination and decent ideas that can be molded into great ideas. Talking with my friends we constantly play jokes off one another and run with it. We have such great times laughing about nonsense until one of us falls over from not being able to breath. During some of these talks an idea will present itself. When I start story-vomiting out loud to them, they all start pitching in more ideas or ways the story can be branched out. It's incredibly fun, natural and inspiring.
Even my brother sometimes will say something stupid enough that it makes a brilliant idea for a rough animation short.

So if you can't get over this block in your head. Put the pen down, put the brush down, put the laptop away, and go sit in front of someone. Connect to your fellow man. Be human again for but one minute.

Animation Spotlight - Requiem for Romance

Unbelievable. Who hasn't had a story similar to this...or conversation at least.
Awesome animation and brilliant style. I really loved it.

I don't think I need to say much, it speaks for itself.

The Inner Struggle - Just Keep Going

I spend a good part of my days off, just wandering the internet. Finding fun informative videos, look at Deviant Art profiles, or learning a tutorial on something I've been wanting to learn for a while. What I am TRYING to do, is to channel that into that smaller percentage of time I spend actually making art.

Where the disconnect happens:

It's incredibly cool to see all the amazing works of art people make around the world. Ideas that were so obvious and in front of you and yet no one but this one person saw it and did it. Ideas that are so genius you can't help but continue searching their portfolio looking for more inspiration. Ideas so genuine, fun or advanced, that you want to be that artist.

Frustration settles in. Envy takes over. Disparity cuts you down. I find myself comparing myself to other artists.



Any professor, parent or experienced [insert job title you want] will tell you to never do that. You cannot compare yourself to someone else because you cannot compare what you both have gone through and value of those experiences.

One artist may have practiced and failed their whole life and finally created a master piece they decided to share online. Feeding off the constructive advice and admiration, they continued to make more and more thus filling their portfolio with jaw dropping artwork. What we don't see is the pages and pages of bad drawings they made, or the first set of paintings that were deleted out of shame when they received no views.


It's during this discouraging stage I decide NOT to start the next piece I was planning and that is where my disconnect is. I feel inferior to this amazing artists that are leaps and bounds ahead of me, and yet I forget - I have so much more time to grow. I have so much more to learn. I haven't failed enough. The only real failure has been a failure to start. That is the biggest mistake I have ever made. I waste my time telling myself maybe I should try doing something else instead of actually TRYING to see if I can do THIS!

Don't compare yourself to others because you don't know what stage in life they are in. Everyone has their valleys and their mountain tops. The hardest people to try not to compare yourself with is the artist younger than you, who are so naturally gifted. But just cause they are naturally gifted doesn't mean they don't have their own struggles (e.g. managing money, family issues, handling stress, organization, communication). 
Don't give up in trying cause someone is better. At some point in time EVERYONE was bad at what they did.



Just keep going. Just keep going.



It reminds me of the weekend I went hiking in Catalina with my buddies. We were exhausted climbing this mountain. The path KEPT turning over and over again. Every time it LOOKED like we were there, there was another hill or curve or barrier in our way. We stopped a few times and rested; we even debated on going back. But one thing we kept saying was "We would kick ourselves if we turned back now only to find out later that we were almost to the top" And at our last stop as we debated one more time, I looked up the path and saw stair steps. It was the end of the path. We made it to the platform at the top. 

You started on a path. Don't go back. You will kick yourself for the rest of your life for not pushing a little bit further. 

Just keep going. Just keep going.

Saturday Sketches - Flip and Evil Pudge!

What a long day!!

But I got a couple of fun, quick sketches out. I just do this for the sake of FORCING myself to animate, because as of late I haven't been. And just to brush up skills. Sure they're not too extravagant or complex but practice makes perfect.
Just practicing...just learning to work faster.

VFX Spotlight - SIGHT

This is an unbelievable piece! Brilliant, imaginative, and....creepy. And I'm not talking about the guy, that's a given, but the technology. I can definitely see that we would be moving towards something like this, which I thought would be cool, but I guess this is what could possibly be on the other side of the fence.

Anyways - real world aside, the VFX and motion graphics are fantastic! Just had to get out of bed to share once I saw this. Whatcha think!

Finding Inspiration - Podcasts

Okay another round of inspiration.

I was originally going to start diving into art, digital art and animations, but I started listening to my podcasts again (I'm seriously behind) and I came across this amazing episode of Fatman on Batman, and I knew I had to share.


http://smodcast.com/episodes/fat-man-on-batman-1-paul-dini/



For those of you who might not know, it is a Kevin Smith podcast (one of his many), where he asks various legends of film and television come in and talk about Batman.

How does this have anything to do with animation? A little. He does bring in a few people that have worked on Batman The Animated series - there's your tie-in. But its less about animation and more about BREAKING INTO THE PRODUCTION WORLD.

Paul Dini, Mark Hamill, Jim Lee, Bruce Timm, & Kevin Conroy just to name a few; these are the incredible people who he interviews and its AMAZING to hear their origin stories. We focus so much on superheroes in Hollywood but my favorite stories are the origin stories of real world legends. How did they get their start?

Some came from small towns in the middle of nowhere, some came from prestigious schools and others wandered the world until they found what they love. In the end, every story in incredibly inspiring and worth your time. I urge you to just listen to one podcast and if it doesn't do it for you, no worries- Check in this weekend and I'll have something different for you. But if it is up your alley, you won't regret it.


They were once in our seats. They, too, were once medicore to above average students who made the best of EVERY situation they were in and it took them to new opportunities, where they continued to take advantage of all the knowledge open to them. And nowadays they are the people we wait in line to shake hands with and take a quick photo of.


UPDATE:
If you ARE into film schools and want more SPECIFIC inspirations. Check out another Kevin Smith podcast called Film School Fridays. One of the newer channels he started, he makes his rounds with film schools and talks to students that are on the rise!

Theres plenty of other podcasts out there that are worth listening to! Please share below. I need more haha.

Finding Inspiration - Vimeo Shorts

UPDATED! Check out the bottom.

Writing a story...is not easy. Apparently. So I am finding out the hard way.

As most of you film (and other related) majors would know, story is key to any movie you make.
Some studios have mastered the art of storytelling, and spend years developing it before a single line is recorded or a frame is shot.
So before ramping up production, you need to have your story ironed out, and ready to go. Although creativity is in our blood -- sometimes coming up with an inkling of a remotely decent idea is pretty tough.

SO, how does one find inspiration?

Its all over the place. Vimeo is my favorite watering hole for inspiration. Take this video for example. Not a SINGLE WORD is said, and yet a day later I'm still thinking about it. The film maker took something so simple, and fleshed out a story from it. A love story that you wish would work! Everyone fantasizes about having a great love story that "beat all the odds".




Definitely up there as one of my favorite shorts now. A great story will stay in your mind for hours if not days after seeing it. Not to mention, look at the range captured with just music and expressions alone - brilliant.

While I have a ton I can say about story I'm going to save that for another post, another day. There's just too much to say and so little time for me today. Not to mention I have a few books I need to knock out of the way before I start plastering the interest of my opinion. Having said that I will be dropping more goodies soon; I plan on writing and animating a short film for my thesis and want you all to be apart of the process, but more on that later!!

But what do you think? Whats story to you?
Where do you find your inspiration!

I'd love to know, feel free to share in the comment section or on facebook.
Thanks for reading.

P.S. Check out more of Ted Chung's work on vimeo!! He is a brilliant filmmaker and definitely a name to look out for in the future.

Update: I saw this online, Ryan Woodward is an incredible animator/storyboard artist/innovator (truly is). He said this once in an interview:

What is your advice on finding inspiration?

-Invest your passion on personal projects. It softens the blow when losing creative moments you’re proud of at work

-Get your goals done. Do or die.

-Don’t force inspiration, be prepared for it. And DO SOMETHING about it when it comes- Even if you fail, at least you tried!

Animation Spotlight - A Fox Tale

Came across this gem on the interwebs, amazing fight scenes. Beautifully animated. Congrats to the team that did this!





















Inspiring, no?

Saturday Sketches - Fun Run

UPDATED:

ORIGINAL:

So with school, work and all the usual chaos of daily life - I have sadly let my animations and fun side projects die out (or get benched at least).


After attending SIGGRAPH as a student volunteer (Proud to be SV!), one can't help but to be reignited with inspiration. I will be making new animations and reworking my weekly habits, starting today.


So definitely expect more videos and weekly tests and a brand new short film project. I'll be announcing more soon once I figure everything out but with moving and a new school semester on the horizon, I suspect it will take a while to run in full gear.


Thanks for reading!

Why "The Long Shortcut"

I have, like many of you aspiring animators and artists out there, watched many videos about breaking into the industry and to many talks. What I have taken away from it is a handful of universal...um..patterns? Patterns in advice, I guess would be better way to phrase it.

1 - There is no ONE way to break into the industry. Everyone has their own unique story, and that's what awesome about everyone IN the industry. They all have a very cool story that isn't remotely similar to anyone else in the industry. So don't ask HOW do I break in, cause everyone will tell you something different. Every studio is looking for something different. Hang in there, network like crazy and do your own thing and you will find a way in.

2 - I just mentioned it - Network like crazy. It's tough for us online students. But being an online student you should already BE networking since you are.....always online. And another thing, this gives you a unique start to your story. USE IT TO YOUR ADVANTAGE.

3 - Be kind, be courageous, be you. Make that leap everyone is afraid to make, be nice because you never know who will hire you, and be you because they don't need or want an artist that can do exactly what an artist in their studio ALREADY does. Have your own style, your own...THING. Replication is good for practice and awesome to show to friends, but it won't find you a job.

4 - Only post your best work on your reel/portfolios. Yeah. That. Re-read if you don't get it.

AND MOST IMPORTANTLY:

5 - The only way you get better....is to do. You WILL create ALOT of bad drawings, you will create a lot of bad animations. The only way to make good stuff, is to get the bad out of the way. They will come, they will happen, you will learn. And every time you draw, your next one is already better. Everytime you animate your skills are already getting better. It's a game of quantity. Catch-22 because recruitment is a game of quality. But for us new to the industry, those in school or finishing school its about quantity; Quantity will improve our quality. HANG in there. Keep moving forward. There is no shortcut to getting better. What often looks good in taking a shortcut will often backfire or lead you to a dead-end where taking the original long way around would have solved on its own. The Long Shortcut as someone once told me, is the better path. It's the only path if you want to grow. You need to fail, you need to make those mistakes!

In my experience this is so true. A many times I have started over animations in the middle of the night with only a day or two to get it done! I should have just stayed with my initial ideas/plan to begin with. In the end, the long way around is the faster and better path. The Long Shortcuts in life teaches the best lessons. They teach the most vital lessons.

Closing the gap!

First post!

Woo-hoo!

Well if your reading this, thank you and welcome. I realized I needed an output on creative works but also something to help me continue working. Many nights have come and passed where I said I would work on x project and instead I wasted the night away.

Now I will have something to give me a small little push.

The other reason I started this is that many people say they like looking at blogs and seeing the growth of an artist and see their personality before calling them for an interview, which actually leads me to the third and the biggest reason.

GROWTH. It took me a long time to see it in my fine arts, but slowly and surely I have seen and noticed that my skills have improved and the speed at which I work is improving. Always improving.

There is still PLENTY of growth to go through, primary in my animation and of course in my fine arts. So eyt again, welcome. This is my journey. This is my story. Feel free to chime in at anytime with feedback, critiques, advice or if ever - questions.

Having said that I wanted to post a quote that I read anytime I find my work uninspirational or need motivation to NOT give up.

If your here to join me, if you have a journey of your own, don't give up. Lets not be one of those that did.