Clay Sculpture?

So I've been researching clay sculpture a lot recently.

Hopefully this blog post will not only let me express my personal views on traditional sculpture but also entice yourself to perhaps consider giving it a try!

My first proper attempt at sculpture (high school aside), was during the development of my short animation that I made in third year - (before the summer).

I used an easily accessible product named "Newplast". The modelling material is ideal for stop-motion animation; However, it can also be used for creating still models.

"Newplast" the industry standard for stop-motion flicks.

Neat fact: On the London studio visit trip I noted that Tandem Studios used Newplast almost exclusively for their stop-motion projects. So I was glad to have made a good choice.

Since then I've made two more sculpts from Newplast. Thankfully, I seem to be getting better each time.

My latest rough sculpt. Newplast.

However, for my exposition I would love to use polymer clay, or an oil-based clay to create some really polished character statues/maquettes.

I guess I should share the sources I've found during my research!

This video is a great two-parter, which gives a neat little intro to the life of professional sculptor, Tony Cipriano, who, despite sounding like a mafia boss, explains his work excellently and clearly.

I've also bought a couple of books on the subject to get me started, and help me hopefully pick up the foundations of modelling.

The first is "POP SCULPTURE", by Tim Bruckner. This book is actually recommended in Cipriano's videos, and really does lend a massive hand to people eager to learn this way of art.

Recommended by Tony Cipriano

On a more basic level, "Modelling Heads and Faces in Clay", tells you the step by step process to making convincing human heads. Which although perhaps seen as boring by some, is obviously essential if you want to be a great character sculptor.

So hopefully in the coming weeks I'll have finished a first draft of a clay sculpt. And hopefully it'll be on the way to being awesome.

Art Dump Ver. 1.1

Finished reading "The Skillful Huntsman" today. (I'm reading other books parallel to this one). And got inspired by the incredible artwork yet again. So here's some character sketches for y'all.

Update/Pitch Summary and Reflection (Week 4)

Today I had my first progress presentation of my honours project.

It went really well! Got some really useful advice and now have a much greater idea of where I what I want to do next.

I basically put across my vision for my final project. - Which I have just realised hasn't been discussed on this blog.

To begin with, I've changed my entire idea. About a week ago, if memory serves.

Research Domain: Story Illustration and Design

Aim: To design an appropriate universe and artistic style for a story and interpret the importance of visual creation in adaptation.  

(Current) Objectives:
-Examine existing design processes and interpret reason behind creative directions.
-Critique and contract justification of bringing a stories' universe "to life".
-Create a broad visual realisation of a story, and assess the design process.

So basically, I'm going to completely realise the visual feel for a short story. And the process is going to be fun/interesting part.

This is kind of how I envision my final showcase to look. This is of course very early doors. But I like where it's heading.

design process: silhouette-thumbnails-refine-scenes-polished final concept art- high quality clay sculpts.

So this will allow people who view the exhibition to see my entire thought process in terms of design direction and decisions and, of course, experiments. I also would like to add a bit of inter-activity also. For example, I have a set of head phones which should be worn when viewing to add to the experience of the project. The head phones could either: Tell the story, in a compelling rhythmic style, play ambiance & foley sounds appropriate to the story- (through the help of one of the CSP students perhaps)- or even a mix of both.

ANYWAY...

Tips I received from pitch session:

- expand my research horizon, look into more books which cover the design process for films/games.
- consider making a timelapse video tutorial/info video about how I go about designing. (They do say the best way to really learn something, is to teach it). So I'm quite excited about the idea of that.
- What makes my design process/ideas different? What other creative professionals have done this well?

So as soon as I left the pitch session I headed to the library and got a hold of a few goodies.

- 2 DVD's (Gnomon Workshop):
"Character design for Games and Animation"
"Anatomy of A Short Film"

Image courtesy of graphixshare.com

(Gnomon DVD's were particularly recommended by Robin Sloan.)

I also grabbed a book which caught my eye.

Image courtesy of Amazon.co.uk

Because one can never draw too many naked people.

But seriously, I started flicking through this in the library, and ended up reading about 15 pages, so I couldn't not take it home. Some of the points made are incredible, and I only wish I'd discovered this sooner. I will no doubt post more about this book as I read more into.

Up until the start of third year, I hadn't bought a single art book. This fact is more than slightly depressing. But at the same time I'm now getting my hands on every scrap of art literature I can.

For adaptations such as "The Lord of the Rings", the studios release the accompanying "Art of" books. Although some of these books don't really explore the process that well, some of them can be incredibly interesting and can really help illustrate the pipeline behind visual development for adaptations.

So for my personal development I want to become much more well read in these Art of Books, and in Art books in general .

'til next time,

Clay sculpt test.

Another art dump. Enjoy. 

Silhouette Studies.

Over the summer I came across a blog while researching silhouettes and basic character design theory. 

"Academy of Art's": "Character and Creature Design Notes".

This blog is a great resource for character designers. They don't post too often anymore; But they make up for it by having one of the most awesome archives.

I'm a massive fan of silhouettes. I love being able to get down the idea for a character, (or any design for that matter), and then having all your options on the table to choose from. Readability is such a key factor in design, that it almost seems silly to me NOT to harness the usefulness of the silhouette. If you have a strong silhouette then you have an advantage of an interesting design from the word GO.

Because of the tremendous fundamental benefits which silhouettes can lend a design, improving my illustration through the use of silhouettes will be a major part of my personal development.

If i can make my first step (silhouette) in the process as great as possible then it serves to make sure the journey itself goes in the best direction.

Seriously though, it's often thought that with a thumbnail or silhouette, the key thing is that it must be done as fast as possible. But that has very little to do with it. It's the readability of the design which is key (Jason Chan 2009). So ultimately, I want the foundations of this design project to be as strong and interesting as possible, so that in the end they best represent the story.

London, and why it was awesome.

Back in August, myself and a few classmates were lucky enough to visit several Animation and VFX studios in London.

MPC, Tandem, Studio AKA, Frame Store and Double-Negative (D-Neg to the townspeople), were the ones I managed to visit.

Personally, the highlights of the trip were Tandem and Studio AKA, but that's just because I dig animation and the style of work those guys create. Of course that isn't to say the other studios weren't awesome; They were - extremely.

I loved Studio AKA because it was very clear from the moment I stepped in the front door that they had such a love for the work they were creating. At first it felt more like of a gallery than a studio, with an enormous amount of framed concept artwork covering their walls. Unfortunately, I wasn't permitted to take a photograph of the work; But some of it may be available online if you dig deep enough.

The studio has become famous for their Lloyds' TSB commercials., amongst other things.

The other Studio - "Tandem" - another force to be reckoned with in the advertisement world - had the most refreshing studio to visit. The studio roof consists of several huge window panes, which allows the building its amazing lighting conditions.

It also happens to be the studio where, albeit a separate division, the famous online short animation series "Simon's Cat" is created.

"Simon's Cat" boasts over 1million subscribers on Youtube. 

The reason these two were my favourites, was not only because they were the animation studios of the visit. More than that, they seemed like the sort of company I could easily see myself working for. They clearly loved story-telling. You just have to watch Studio AKA's charming "The Big Win", or Tandem's hilarious "Crash Bang Wallow" to see this.

I could also see how important all areas of the creative process were to them, and how seriously they are about it. Their characters, environments, stories, music, visual effects, were all so beautifully designed that some of the stills alone were enough to make me burst into a full-on dorky, tooth smile. 

So what did I learn from this?

Well, what became apparent to me was that I wanted to create something like the short films of Tandem and others. 

Realistically, the odds are really against in me in being able to do this in the time I have. 

Do I have years of animation skills and training? No.

Could I do this alone? And survive? probably not. 

But that doesn't change the fact that I very much want to do it. 

At the same time. 

Do I have years of animation skills and training? No. But, do I have a fair amount of time to get as good as possible? Yes!

Could I do this alone? Probably not. But, are there probably many people who would love to help out? Probably so!

I'm constantly researching character design, and loving it. But at the same time, I'm also writing short stories, and studying film theory and layout and loving that.  

So we'll see, I guess. 

I'll leave you with my latest character, and why I designed him the way he is. 

"Chuck"  - Because who wouldn't love a DIY chimp?

Character design theory. 

Next steps. 

- Do an animation Jam. 
- Finish Ed Hooks' "Acting for Animators". 
- Meet with Lynn (Programme tutor), again.
- Panic less. 
- Work more. 

Rory

"Personality Dictates Design"

Hello again,

For the last few days I've been reading journals from various character artists/animators around the globe!

One that really stood out as concise, well presented, and just awesome was the journal of Walt Disney character animator Bobby Pontillas.

The "article" is simply the slides from a presentation he had made to his fellow colleagues about the way he discovers and experiments with his characters. He goes into detail about the shape theory, and the importance of silhouette. He has a bunch of other great posts also, so I'd be sure to check out everything he's put up if you're into character design/design in general.

There's also an article on how he found his way into the industry.

It's simply just a collection of useful pictures which I thought I felt I would share. I sure found them useful.

Lastly, I used the advice in the slideshow to brainstorm some of my own characters!