Digging for Artifacts (rediscovering old work is scary)

I finally opened up the plastic bag of drawings I brought with me here from Australia... all the paper inside feels so precious! I feel like I need to wear special gloves and keep them away from harsh light and keep them in their plastic home, away from air... I started to animate 2 scenes while still in Oz and now I'm settled and prepared enough to start on them again. But it's been about 6 months since I drew the keys!!! ARGH! It's scary going back to work that is so old now and I'm going to have to remember where I was at... 

Here's my new desk! I've got my work laptop and my light tracer there. I'm going through everything.

Here are some of the backgrounds. I'd love to give them away one day as gifts or something... Like I said, they feel precious... I spent a lot of time fleshing out bg's before finally cleaning them all up digitally.

And here is my paper punching station on the floor! I've got a lot less space here in San Francisco and a much smaller desk. I do actually have a little cabinet that I bought to store stuff from Ikea when I moved here a few months ago and haven't put it together yet... Old punchy should probably find a home there.

slow but steady

I'm still struggling, as usual, to balance all the aspects in my life. But since my last post I feel pretty good about the amount of work I've done on Pickled! This past weekend I did work, for my job. But the previous two weekends were all about Pickled. Part of the reason I was doing work over the weekend was because I had a massive headache on Friday and had to take the day off. And on President's Day weekend I was really sick. So with all the down time, I needed to do some catch up.

But anyway, I've put down at least basic rough paint for all the backgrounds now (well except the montage ones), I prettied up the leica/animatic enough to show to a couple friends at work and I punched a stack of animation paper.

Next time I make a film... I will definitely use a different approach. I'm dying to put together a piece FAST! (Well, not necessarily the story elements), but to just crank out some emotional stuff that's relevant to me or fun or experimental... Maybe just do pencil tests and no clean up... Something less all consuming.

12 days, Pickle Free

UGH. It's been 12 days since I have been able to work on Pickled. My dad was in town the past couple weekends and I had a major deadline at work yesterday. I feel chaotic... I need to clean and do laundry, get groceries and friends are asking me out for drinks... Oh yeah, my personal trainer who I regret signing up for 3 sessions with is going to kill me for eating the whole world yesterday and not exercising enough. I'm angry that I never have time to draw... or play my ukelele... or work on Pickled.

Balance! There's been little 'semblence of it for me recently.

On Thursday I went to a mini concert by Lana Del Rey and then waitied 3.5 hours to meet her and get her signature. I wore my 6 inch platform heels. Actually they aren't that bad in terms of pain due to longterm standing up, but 3.5 hours of not walking/sitting and just standing will suck no matter what shoes you're wearing. I got there a couple minutes late and only heard 3 songs. I guess her song list that evening was very short, meant as a bonus to the real event of the evening; the signing! We weren't allowed to take photos which sucked as I lugged my Polaroid around the whole night. I got a snap with my phone while in line before realising the no photo rule. (She's in the center of the photo above in white!) She really was sweet and gave some time to every person in line. All 300 people! It meant she missed her flight home :P It was totally worth it to wait in line. Now on to some background painting!!!

Cellar Colour Study

A quick colour study!

art and the future...

I spent most of the weekend pondering the future of art and animation... One easy way to sum up my thoughts is: cheap, fast, easy, new.

Recently I've been obsessed with film cameras and photography. I'm pretty new to it but I'm letting photographic influences leak into my film. Recently I bought a refurbished Polaroid. When I couldn't understand how to use it and nor could a chap at the photo store/developing place I visited, I picked up a Holga. I've wanted a Holga for a long time but didn't pick one up since I knew I'd be going to Australia. It's expensive to bring stuff around the world and back. Also, while there I didn't make any money so picking up a camera and buying/developing film was out of the question. I later realised that my Polaroid is working just fine, the problem was me; I wasn't holding the button down long enough to let the flash charge before taking a photo. So since that time... I got another Polaroid in case something happens to the first one and recently I ordered a Lomokino. (!!!) I am just going to stop looking at things that are for sale for awhile. Oh yeah and I also bought two very old camera bags on ebay.

I love old things. I've learned recently that I don't enjoy old things for pure nostalgia though. Which is a relief. I like thinking about the future and new. I like pushing for the future of art. Thinking of the future of art... Often "cheap" disgusts me. But it depends. Sometimes cheap is fabulous. But I tend to be attracted to quality and "magic". To me, a Polaroid camera is wonder and magical. It was a big deal in it's time and was/is a pleasure to use.

Film cameras are seeing a big resurgence, especially via the format of toy cameras/lomography. It's interesting that as digital cameras get ridiculously advanced (Lytro), people are reaching for something "primative" and unpredictable. I think "cheap, fast, easy, new" applies to many aspects of art these days as well as other industries. I think it's what people often want or have to be. I personally love the fact that my Holga was cheap. I do still have to pay for film and developing however so "cheap" may be somewhat of an illusion. It's more like small payments over time instead of one investment up front. And that method of making money is certainly popular these days.

I expect to receive my Lomokino on Tuesday and I am super mega excited.

LINKS:
The Impossible Project - new polaroid film and products
Lomokino
Lomography
Photoworks in San Francisco - cameras, film and developing

Happy New Year!

view of the bay bridge at night

I lived in a hotel in Chinatown for a week when I arrived in San Francisco 

my new polaroid

In 7 days this blog will have been around for 3 years! I think I came up with the idea in very early 2008 so that is 4 years Pickled has been in my head.

I've been too busy to work on Pickled for months now. I moved out of Australia in September 2011 and then stayed in Toronto for a couple weeks with a weekend in Montreal with my parents. Then I moved to Vancouver, BC in October with Steve and started a new job there animating at Big Bad Boo. And then in November 2011 I moved to San Francisco, CA to start animating at Kabam. So what with living in 3 countries and 2 provinces in 2 months and starting two jobs, all the logistics of that have kept me very busy. I can't wait to get back to Pickled! People ask me if I'm done... I am far from finishing.

I think that people think I'm insane for animating it hand drawn as well. I don't think animators are "insane" like people claim. I've heard it said over and over. It seems like a way to say that what you're doing is great or to give yourself a pat on the back somehow... I think different people have patience for different things. I don't have the patience to use a lot of dishes and make elaborate meals like a chef. Animating can be emotional and a challenge but it's also a relatively safe job. I think art is as dangerous as you want it to be, but it can be very safe.

Recently I got a couple new cameras which I think are excellent vents for creativity. I got a refurbished Polaroid 600 Land Camera (from the 80's) and a Holga 120 CFN. So the Polaroid is "new" to me, but certainly not a new camera. The other day I was at the Fisherman's Wharf I heard someone beside me say "OH MY GOD A POLAROID." while was taking a photo and I coudn't even look at them while I was looking through the eyepiece. Both cameras have extreme limitations and I like that. Nothing against new digital cameras, I still love them, but these 2 film cameras are a lot of fun and are just a different medium. I hope to get some of my photos online sometime, however without a scanner at home it is going to take some time to get there. I'll get some film developed and see what the scanner at work is like!

*I can't figure out why blogger wants to date this post as Jan 2, it's Jan 1! I saved my timezone as the correct one in my google account as well. grr

My Storyboard Portfolio is Ready!

So I've recently finished putting together my storyboard portfolio! Woo! I've put it online on my Behance site. Please check it out here! Creating the storyboards for my short film was fun, addictive and creatively satisfying. I would like to do some more storyboarding, in a professional environment.

the best gesture drawing session! *link

I put up a little post on my personal art blog with some gesture sketches of a beautiful little baby I got to draw for about 40 minutes! Check it out: http://art-candy.blogspot.com/2011/08/best-gesture-drawing-session.html.

Thanks for Voting!

Thanks to everyone who voted for my short! Unfortunately I didn't move on to the next round. I didn't get enough votes. I didn't actually realise when the voting period officially started and ended so, maybe if I had been on top of that I would have fared better. If you check out the Sydney Opera House you tube channel, you can see all the shorts that made it to round two in the gallery. They're all looking pretty good, so that's cool!

I'm on a small hiatus from Pickled right now. I'm putting together a storyboarding portfolio! I'm not sure where I'll be or what I'll be doing in a few months ahead, my time in Australia is possibly coming to an end. I will definitely be getting back to Pickled soon enough though!

Several weeks ago I came across a lecture by Jim Capobiano (creator of the Leonardo short which I wrote about on my first post ever!) on the journey of making his short film. I learned some new things so I'm grateful that Creative Talent Network and Jim made the lecture. I'll be taking some of his advice when I hop back onto Pickled.

Please vote for my Animated Contest Entry!

I need your help! I have finally finished my animation contest entry and I would really appreciate it if you head over to http://www.youtube.com/sohcompetitions and vote thumbs up on it! It's called "The Great Dinner Party Escape". If I win this round I will need to create another 30 second piece and if I win that I will need to create a final 30 second piece. The final winner will be screened at the Sydney Opera House! There is also a cash prize and I intend to use that to fund a future animated film that I create with a group of artists. It's a lot of work but the opportunity is incredible. Thanks so much for supporting me!

The characters in this short were designed by Deanna Marsigliese. They are the very characters from my short film Pickled. I was killing myself trying to come up with a whole new short idea to fit the theme of escape as per the contest requirements. Finally after boarding and reboarding attempts for 3 days I decided to create a piece with the characters I have already developed for my short. It made sense because, firstly they're gorgeous, but also, the timeframe in which to create this 30 second piece was very brief. My characters already have their motivations and personalities set. I got to continue workshopping these characters for a couple weeks while putting together this piece.