Scene 13: 2013 version vs. 2014 version

The last post was the pencil test for the revision of Scene 13. Again, below is the version of Sc. 13 completed last year:



And this is the revised completed scene, one year later:




Of course, this meant I also had to revise the scene that immediately follows. The old and new versions of Scene 14 tomorrow.

What a Difference a Year Makes

Since learning of the 10,000 hour rule (that to become good at something you need 10,000 hours of deliberate practice) I've tried every day to apply deliberate practice to drawing.

I'm happy to say that I'm seeing results!

Below is Scene 13 from my film that I completed in January, 2013 (the lip sync is off because I animated before recording the voice):



Below is Scene 13, revised as of January, 2014:



What I see is: better character design; better character acting; better animation.

Admittedly, the only reason I re-did the scene is because the audio didn't fully match my animation. But now I'm glad I did. It took 3 weeks and 3 days to fix it (not to mention the days I'll need to color and composite each drawing) but that time was well worth it.

Most importantly, my drawing has improved dramatically since last year. I'm no Glen Keane, nor probably ever will be, but it's a huge accomplishment that I've improved in comparison to my skills from one year ago.

It isn't about being a better storyteller than others; it's about being the best storyteller I can be.

Breakdown. Breakthrough! Part II

In summary: I was ready to animate Honey; I discovered that my original design for her face wasn't holding up to further manipulation and didn't look sufficiently "cartoony" for my taste; I discovered I can't caricature for crap; I bought a great book about caricature.

I collected some samples of styles I like then I got to work drawing.

And drawing.

And drawing.

All of that constant drawing of ONLY Honey's face became tiresome but I kept drawing, adjusting her eyes, nose, mouth and head shape until I created a combination that worked for my eye.

It took about THREE months but I finally got her to a point with which I'm satisfied.

The October, 2013 drawings:





The November, 2013 drawings:









The December, 2013 drawings:





And the final designs:




To reference Lino DiSalvo's comment about the difficulties of animating emotions for female characters, I think it's interesting that I didn't struggle nearly as much when designing Luthor. I think it's because that, as a male, I wasn't as concerned with his attractiveness. It looks like this idea that women ALWAYS have to be attractive regardless of what they're experiencing is more deeply ingrained in my American brain than I like to admit. Note to self: GET OVER IT!

Ultimately, I'm glad with the decision to put film production on hold until I designed a Honey I could be satisfied with. I purposely use the word "satisfied" and not "happy" because it became clear during the design process that regardless of how hard I tried, my skills, at this present moment, were simply too limited to allow me to design the Honey that made me happy. Settling for "satisfied" for the sake of re-starting production was a practical decision with which I can live.

Onward!

Breakdown. Breakthrough! Part I

"Breakdown. Breakthrough!"

I'll always remember that line from the movie "Jerry Maguire."

Jerry thinks he's having a breakdown. But as he progresses through the experience, he instead realizes that it's a breakthrough.

I recently experienced something similar.

Back in October, 2013, I was preparing to animate a new scene with Honey. Once I sat down to work, however, I discovered--to my horror--that I didn't really know how to DRAW her!

Then the struggle began.

In years past, I would picture images but lacked the skills to get them down on paper. In the last 3 years, I've improved that skill from regular practice. But trying to animate Honey made clear to me that I have another drawing shortcoming: I can't caricature. As a result, the mental image I had of Honey and the one I originally designed weren't matching.

And unlike years past, I was DETERMINED to get past the roadblock.

Brad Bird said in extras on "The Incredibles" DVD that the only reason to tell a story in animation is to caricature (which is why I didn't like the animated films "Tokyo Godfathers" and "The Illusionist," among others. The style was too realistic and lacked caricature and was therefore boring.) I decided after hearing that to make Honey as caricatured as possible.

As I began drawing, I was reminded of recent comments made by Disney animator, Lino DiSalvo (head of animation for Frozen) about the difficulties of animating emotions for female characters because they're expected to always be "pretty." I didn't find DiSalvo's comments as awful as others because I felt he was simply repeating what his bosses told him to do which is: keep the women pretty. Always.

So despite wanting to make Honey look more "cartoony" and caricatured, a part of me wanted to keep her attractive as well because she's one of the few black leading ladies in animation. She's representin' in a way, whether she likes it or not.

Once it became clear that I needed some serious caricature help, I turned to the best source I knew: Tom Richmond. Immediately I bought his book and got to work reading it and applying the principles (I still haven't finished it.)



Next post: the results of all the hard work.

Shoutout Sunday: Amadhia (formerly Timothy) Albee


Amadhia Albee, formerly known as Timothy Albee, is also one of my earliest influences, like M dot StrangE and Terrence Walker.

I can't recall how Albee entered my radar but I'm glad she did. When I learned of her self-made, 22 minute film, Kaze, Ghost Warrior, I immediately bought both the DVD and the book that explains its creation. I especially like how then-Timothy's name appears exclusively in ALL of the credits of the film except for executive producer, the only credit she shares with others.



Albee left her studio job, moved to Alaska and, in the company of her sled-dogs, created this film in six months using two computers. Now that's some hardcore DIY!

 Albee then released a book, CGI Filmmaking: The Creation of Ghost Warrior, detailing how she made the film. It's definitely worth the read. The book contains the complete script and final shot list, production and location stills and a thorough explanation of the film's entire creative process. While thumbing through the book as I typed this post, I realized it would be helpful for me to re-read it since I'm deep in the production process of my own film.

I recommend that DIY animators watch Albee's film and read her book. Despite it being published in 2004, the overwhelming majority of the information isn't dated. Albee talks about filmmaking principles that will always be relevant.

Shoutout Sunday: M dot Strange


M dot Strange is undoubtedly one of my biggest influences. No one defines DIY better than Strange. Plus he doesn't own a car and rides a bike so what's not to like?


Here's his bio from his website:

Self taught animation filmmaker born and raised in San Jose California. Currently runs Mysterious Doll Films, the worlds smallest cg animated feature film studio which has completed three films in the past six years. Starting in 2013 the studio will release a new original animated feature film every year.

M dot is also a musician that has produced over 15 albums including scores to his last three films. He is also an author having published two books in 2012. He's married to an Icelandic artist and has a bike.

His first feature film WE ARE THE STRANGE premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival and it won the Golden Prize for most groundbreaking film at the Fantasia Film Festival in Montreal the same year.

M dot was crowdsourcing and crowdfunding before they were buzzwords. He was been featured in the New York Times, Wired Magazine and other international publications as well as being invited as a featured speaker at several international events.
M dot's current work includes the animated feature film I AM NIGHTMARE, the comedy series BADASSERY and music videos for the bands Rabbit Junk and Mindless Self Indulgence.

Admittedly, I like Strange's DIY attitude and work ethic more than his work. His aesthetic doesn't appeal to me which is fine, I'm confident that my aesthetic probably wouldn't appeal to him. That's irrelevant. What's important is that he's an ARTIST. He has something to say, a burning desire to say it and he's not stopping until he's done saying what he has to say. He won't let technology, money, experience or any other factors stop him from telling the stories he wants to tell. He takes time out of his busy schedule to share his experiences at festivals, conferences, books, on his blog and through his videos.


 If you're an indie artist of any kind, Strange is someone with whom you should get acquainted. I'm confident that he'll inspire you as much as he's inspired me.

Thanks for the inspiration, M dot Strange!

Stick Figures and Mannikins

Gesture has a sister and her name is stick figure/mannikin!

The examples of gesture from this post include aspects of the stick figure/mannikin. They're actually inseparable elements.

Here are some sources from which I learned the stick figure/mannikin:

1. How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way—Stan Lee & John Buscema:



 2. Figure Drawing for All It's Worth—Andrew Loomis:






3. Famous Artists Course:


4. Peter Cox (painter and Arts Students League instructor):
I took Cox's artistic anatomy/figure drawing class in the '90s and learned a lot. One of his methods that I especially liked involved getting the figure down quickly by concentrating on drawing its "major masses." There are only three parts of the skeleton that are solid and inflexible—the skull, the ribcage and the pelvis. Cox taught us to get those three parts down first during the short poses section of the class. The remainder of the skeleton flows from those three parts. I still use this method today when doing gesture drawings. The red lines in the gesture drawing below show where I placed the lines of action (I always start a figure drawing with a line of action) and the major masses before building volumes and clothing on top:








Kill Your Fear, Be Successful



Afraid of being laughed at?

Afraid of making a mistake?

Afraid of failing?

Afraid of succeeding?

Afraid of being uncomfortable?

There can be ZERO success until we kill all of these fears. Every self-improvement book I've read, published from the turn of the last century to the turn of this century, has hammered home this one major point: you must kill your fear if you are to have any success in life.



Don't get confused. As Arnold Schwarzenegger said in a graduation speech, take risks but don't be reckless.

The following two blogs discuss variations of the same theme.

Addicted2Success says don't play it safe.

zenhabits says get out of your comfort zone.

We artists need to listen to this advice, then live it.

Shoutout Sunday: Terrence Walker


Terrence Walker holds the top spot of influence in my development as a DIY filmmaker. His work was made me realize for the first time that being an indie animator was possible. I devoured his first blog and continued reading his successive blogs, fascinated by his travels from California to live and work in the Philippines, Shanghai, Japan, Korea and Hong Kong. Rarely are Americans fearless enough to leave this country to pursue their artistic dreams abroad but that's exactly what Walker did. 

 Walker's bio from his Studio ArtFX website:
Terrence Walker is a published manga artist and animator having written the global manga World of Hartz for TOKYOPOP and responsible for the independent animated short films Shadowskin and Understansing Chaos, which changed the indie animation world forever. He also worked as a 3D digital artist, in Hollywood, for studios such as Sony, Warner Bros. and NBC/Universal on multiple television and feature film products.
Terrence Walker

 I own several of his DVD's—the short films "Understanding Chaos" and "Shadowskin" and his making-of DVD "Anime: Concept to Reality" which contains the two aforementioned films—fascinated by his process and can-do attitude. Walker also sells (often at discounted prices) in-depth tutorials covering a wide range of topics, some of which I've also bought. Walker gives the buyer a lot of content for their money.

Back in April, he was interviewed for a podcast by another successful DIY animator, M dot Strange (the topic of next week's shoutout.) It was a treat listening to two guys who've drudged through the muck of indie filmmaking talk about their experiences.

 Terrence Walker has given up a lot of his time to share his expertise and experience with people like me and to create useful content. His insights have been invaluable. It's because of guys like him freely sharing so much that they've not only saved me time and frustration but have inspired me to keep pushing. 

 Thanks, Terrence!

Luis Escobar's Draw Fu




In my constant search for distilled drawing knowledge, I stumbled upon Luis Escobar's The Drawing Website and blog. Combining his martial arts studies with his vast drawing experience that includes storyboarding The Simpsons, Escobar makes a point that's worth repeating often: drawing is a skill that can be taught and learned. His drawing instructions are clearly presented in easy-to-digest portions.

For those of us struggling to improve and in need of some beginner basics, I recommend subscribing to Escobar's emails at his website and getting his free ebook "The Art of Draw Fu Beginner Level."





THE Secret




I don't know what Rhonda Byrnes's "The Secret" is exactly but it appears that she's collected centuries of wisdom from various sources and combined it into an accessible system. I can't speak to the value of "The Secret" book or movie but I do know that I've come across what I consider to be The Secret. Here it is for free:

Control Your Thinking, Control Your Life.

THAT is the secret to human existence. I came across this "secret" while reading Charles F. Haanel's "The Master Key System." Published in 1916, this book tells you the secret on page two instead of dragging out the mystery for 200 pages.

The secret is that every human being has the ability to create what he or she wants through their thinking.

It's that simple yet incredibly hard to execute.

I highly recommend that you read "The Master Key System" and read this post from the Addicted2Success website.

Austin Kleon's Book Creation Process

Image courtesy of Austin Kleon at austinkleon.com.

Austin Kleon is definitely one of the few blogging artists that I think every DIY creator needs to follow. His advice is succinct, accurate and realistic.

His "Steal Like an Artist" was manna for my creative soul and now he's working on a new book, "Show Your Work!." I can tell I'm going to love it just based on the title and some screenshots of his writing process that he shared on his blog here. I love seeing his creative process!

How important is Kleon to me and my work? By simply reading the first item on his list above, "Think process, not product," I've relieved myself of the huge self-inflicted pressure to complete this film quickly. Kleon validated for me that rushing through the creation of my film is not the goal. The goal is to learn from the process of making the film so I can apply that knowledge to future projects.

I'll be talking more about Kleon in an upcoming Shoutout Sunday post.

Gag Cartoon

Wouldn't it be great to get a gag cartoon selected for publication in The New Yorker?

I used to think that until I researched how that actually works. Since I'm not interested in waiting months or years to be chosen, I'll just put my cartoons up here.

Here's my first. The gag is VERY dated and not original. BUT the point of this exercise is just that: to exercise my drawing skills, cartooning skills and gag skills while creating a body of work.

And that's why we do what we do, isn't it? To create our own bodies of work.