?

How to Draw the Human Face

1. Begin by drawing a circle. This will create the basic shape of the head “refer to slide 1″

2.Draw an upside down triangle from the square keeping the triangle relatively equally proportionate to the head. “refer to slide 2″.

3.Draw in half oval shapes on each side of the circle and triangle. These will make the basis of the ears. be sure to be aware of the placement of each ear as the ears are usually planted between the circle and the trinagle. “refer to slide 3″

4.Draw an intersecting diagonal and horizontal line across the face. This will create the placement for the eyes mouth and nose “refer to slide 4″

5. keeping your placement even you can now draw in the shape markers for your eyes nose and mouth. “refer to slide 5″

6. Now you will begin drawing in your detail on the face. The most important part is to get your key markers and then you can go crazy with it. “refer to slides 6-8″

Podcast:

Research Post 3: The future of animation

The animation industry has been in a battle between the old versus the new (Carlson, 2003).In recent years we have seen the evolving state of animation features as CG has taken over the market for animated films. Even today, we are starting to see the effects of new technologies and how they are bringing animation closer and closer to the real world with movies now flawlessly combining 3-d animation with live-action film.

technological industries on the rise

In recent years, we have seen a huge amount of growth in the animation industry, particularly in technology. With the release of ground-breaking technology such as the “i-phone” and android, we have seen the animation industry take flight into new avenues of business such as apps (Weinberg, 2012). Digital media has become the leading new industry as the world has transcended into the age of information(Cashmore). In the last few years, Texas has become one of the leading states of the video game industry (Strassman, 2011) . It seems that animation is  now becoming an integrated part of our lives as it leaks into multi-media industries that have become part of everyday life.

Animation Industries Unknown

On the surface we think of Pixar films and the latest video games on the market when animation comes to mind, However there is an underlying animation industry that many do not know about. Now-a-days, animation is practically used in everything. Medical animator’s use the technology to illustrate functions of the human body which has effectively helped prospective doctors and workers in the medical field understand the functions of the human body(“animated biomedical productions,” ).  Legal Animator’s use animation in forensic science which helps forensic scientists solve crimes (Naillon). Animation has extended into a slew of fields which prospective future animator’s should take into consideration.

 

Resources

Carlson, J. (2003, February 10). http://jeffcarlson.typepad.com/thought/2003/02/the_future_of_a.html.

Weinberg, J. (2012, April 26). http://uk.news.yahoo.com/appys-2012–angry-birds-rule-the-roost-in-rapidly-growing-industry.html.

Strassman, M. (2011, June 23). http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-18563_162-20073815.html.

Cashmore, P. (n.d.). http://mashable.com/2011/10/11/digital-media-future/.

animated biomedical productions. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.medical-animations.com/

Naillon, B. (n.d.). http://www.ehow.com/about_6127575_forensic-computer-animation.html.

 

 

Interview with Stephan Martiniere Part:2

I had the pleasure of interview Mr. Stephan Martiniere who is a world famous digital and book cover artist. In this interview we discussed some of Stephan’s own personal experiences in the animation industry as well as some of his techniques. Stephan’s art work can be viewed on his website.

Interview Pt:2

A: So you have a very unique style, but in the past did you have any issues with style, or do you have any issues now?

B: It was a blessing and a curse at the same time depending on which part of the industry I was getting involved. When I started animation for TV, I was already very comfortable with drawing cartoons as well as drawing very realistically. I was really interested in story-boarding which eventually lead me to become a director. That part of the industry was a blessing because I had a choice to work on many different projects based on my versatility in style. It became a curse in that all these years in animation I was primarily drawing, mainly in pencil or marker; I was rarely painting and when I did my color works were done mainly in colored ink, consequently, it took me a lot longer to establish a painting style that was my own. TV Animation is an industry in which you have to adapt as an artist to a product, and if you’re a good artist, you can shift your style to whatever needs to be done. It took me a long time to learn how to express myself as an artist. When Photoshop happened, it gave me an opportunity to create something that was truly mine.

A: .conceptualizing; it’s all something that we do but many artists have a hard time getting their ideas on paper. can you talk to us a bit about your process, and how you go about working on a project and how you get from beginning to end.

B: Well the process is different based on what you’re working on. When I’m working on a movie, I read the script and then I work closely with the production designer or the director. It’s a collaborative process where you bring your talent and vision to help realize their visions. At the beginning there is a lot of blue sky process where you flesh out the big ideas, the mood, feel and look of the environments, then, the process becomes more granular and you can end up working on a variety of things such as characters, costumes, props or vehicles. Every needed piece of the film is important. When I do book covers, it’s a very different approach. A book cover is first about selling a book with one image. The cover becomes a tool to grab the consumer’s attention and convince them to buy that book. Artistically, it’s a very personal process because book covers don’t require you to be at the service of a big story, so it’s more about who you are as an artists and the style that you have. Book covers in some ways are very rewarding artistically because you have much more freedom to explore your own creativity, take risks and explore new approaches and techniques;  you don’t have that much freedom when working in film.

A: Advice, People that

B: DON’T DO IT!!! I want No competition!!

A: laughs

 B: I am joking of course, but seriously, if it’s what you want to do, you first need to acquire the basics and foundations. You have to practice all the time as it takes years to develop artistic skills. It’s also about how you think about ideas and bring them to life. Research is also very important and knowing what’s out there can make a big difference. It’s also important to know the players and the competition. 10 or 15 years ago, when I started, there was no internet and it was extremely difficult to get into contact with anyone.  You may have known who Walt Disney was but how did you go about getting in contact with anyone that worked for him? I encourage young people to take full advantage of the technology and learn as much about who’s working in the industry as well as how to work.

 

 

 

Interview with Stephan Martiniere Part:1

I had the pleasure of interview Mr. Stephan Martiniere who is a world famous digital and book cover artist. In this interview we discussed some of Stephan’s own personal experiences in the animation industry as well as some of his techniques. Stephan’s art work can be viewed on his website.

Interview pt. 1

A: I understand that you have a particular focus in science fiction and fantasy art. What motivated you to tackle such a technical genre, and what gives you inspiration.

B: The context in which I grew up motivated me the most. I grew up in an environment in which I was constantly surrounded by comics and I was constantly reading comics. I was interested in everything that was fantasy and spaceships and monsters. There was nothing that particularly lead me to the genre, it was just a preference.

A: So your work typically goes one way or another, you fantasy tends to be very fluid and organic, and then you contrast that with a lot of your science fiction which tends to be very technical. Is there a reason that you go to each extreme for that or is it that over the years that’s just how it came out.

B: When I do science fiction that involves something very technical, the way I use Photoshop seems to be more relevant in terms of using it more as a photo manipulation tool. I also use a technique that I developed over the years which is a subtractive technique. I create a very pure straight erasing tool to make very precise straight lines. Because the art is very technical in nature it tends to make more sense to use these techniques. When it’s Fantasy, It involves things that are more organic such as characters, vegetation, and clouds. These things are more curvy and whimsical in nature. The painterly approach seems to be the better approach in conveying the softness and roundness of these things.

A: Take us back to the beginning of your career and talk to me about your experiences when you first got into the industry, and were there any hurdles or surprises that you encountered when you first started working in animation.

B: Before I started school, I wanted to be a comic book artist. Being surrounded by comics it seems to be the logical choice. I didn’t think very far into the multitude and subtlety of careers that you could choose as an artist. I didn’t even know that you could be an animator, and I was watching cartoons all the time. My world was really comic books. My views changed when at age fifteen I got accepted at “Duperre”, a famous art school in Paris. In addition to the classic disciplines such as anatomy, perspective, drawing, painting and sculpture, the 4 years program was broad enough to allow me to discover and practice a variety of disciplines such as photography, architecture, advertising and a banquet of other exciting  artistic courses. After completing the program I was unclear about what to do next. I applied to another school to become an art teacher; I was even accepted to the prestigious art school ‘Les Beaux Arts” but comic book still being close to my heart, I choose the closest thing to it and went to the animation school “les Gobelins” for a two year program. At the end of the first year, I was hired to work on an animation production for inspector gadget in Japan. It was a summer job and I was only to be there for 1 month, but eventually 1 month became 2, and then 3, and then they offered to hire me full-time. Suddenly, finishing the animation program became unnecessary This was a career move. I accepted the offer still thinking to myself I would eventually go back to comics; it never happened, and that was the beginning of my career.

 

Research Post 2: An overview on the 3 main sources of Inspiration

In one of my previous posts;  Research Post: An Introduction to Finding Inspiration, I introduce inspiration as part of the scientific process in art and animation, and I also talk about the 3 main sources of inspiration. Today, I would like to expound upon those 3 key sources of inspiration and give examples of how successful artists have used them in their professional lives.

Music

music is probably my personally most used source of inspiration. One of my favorite Artist, Alex pardee is an example of how musical inspiration can inspire art. Alex pardee is known for his graphic and colorful paintings of abstract monsters and creatures and cites horror films and Gangster Rap Music as inspiration for his grotesquely beautiful paintings(Harvey, 2011). Ann Edwards also describes music as has having the power to achieve a certain mood in art as well as a tool to use pop culture imagery associated with a certain genre of music to appeal to a certain audience(Edwards, 2009).

Life experiences

Life experiences can provide an excellent source of inspiration as we draw and create our visionary stories. Mike Weaver addresses life experiences as a way to find your passion in life and gives 3 ways to actively seek out inspiration from life experiences(Weaver, 2011). Life experiences can help mold the stories that we tell and in my own experience, I have found that I have used life experiences subconsciously to write and tell stories.

Personal Philosophies

In the past, artists have traditionally been the visionaries of society(Bax). It is no secret that many artists have used their own personal philosophies and understanding to draw inspiration for their artwork. Personal philosophies can give artists a certain setting or theme to draw from. Although considered a work of art at the hands of countless animators, CG artists and concept designers, James Cameron AVATAR film that came out in 2009 gives an example of personal philosophies being used to create art as the story of AVATAR expounds upon the injustices of the past, specifically the mistreatment of Indians and Africans by “invading” or “slave driving” Europeans(Hiscock, 2009). Personal philosophies should always be something to take into consideration as it gives our art and stories something profound and deeper than aesthetics.

Resources

Pardee, A. (n.d.). eyesuckink.com.

Harvey, L.  (2011, March 3). Retrieved from http://artistinsight.blogspot.com/2009/12/about-inside-artists-studio.html (2012,April 25). Inside the artist studio presents: Alex pardee

Edwards, A. (2009, 5 10). Drawing inspiration from music. Retrieved from http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/05/10/drawing-inspiration-from-music/

Weaver, M. (2011, December 2). How to find your passion through life experiences

Bax, M. (n.d.). http://www.stedelijkindestad.nl/

Hiscock, J. (2009, December 03). James cameron interview for avatar. Retrieved from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/6720156/James-Cameron-interview-for-Avatar.html

 

Types of Animation-Kevin Dominquez

Hello, my names Kevin and I am here guest blogging for a fellow colleague, Larry. Today I want to talk about the different types of animation. There are numerous but I would like to mention the ones that I feel stand out and help gain popularity for the field of animation. They are as follows:

• Rotoscoping
• Stop Motion
• Clay animation
• Graphic Animation
• 2D
• 3D

 

Rotoscoping– Animation that has every scene traced over by hand frame by frame. Some examples include A Scanner Darkly and The Lord of the Rings.

Stop Motion– Simply put, the recording of the movement of objects and capturing frame by frame and then and then sped up to create a moving image.

Clay animation– Clay animation is part of stop animation except with figures and objects that are made up of clay. One movie that comes to mind is some of my favorite child hood movies such as Wallace and Gromit and Chicken Run. Most people see clay animation as dead but I feel that’s not the case. A film made using clay animation is coming out in the near future called The Pirates! Band of Misfits.

Graphic Animation– The manipulation of graphics like photos and recording of movement. A good example of this animation is the show South Park.

2D– Here Simple images are put into a computer and edited by software. My favorite type of animation, mainly because I grew up with cartoons that were made in 2D.

3D– Animators create images and figures on a computer and put them through a process that ends in a amazing piece of work. In this modern day and age 3D animation is dominant and can be used to make great animated movies, mainly targeted for kids. Some notable 3D animation movies are Toy Story, A bug’s Life, and Shrek.

interview with an artist: Sarah Toby and Bruce Barnes

Interview with Sarah Toby

Sarah Toby is an astonishing digital painter and ATEC undergrad at the University of Texas at Dallas. I had the pleasure to talk to Sarah about some of her experiences with Art and how her process went as well as what she hoped to tdo in the future. Sarah gave me some valuable information on  how she digitally paints, and I’m sure this will help many artists out there with a new technique

Sarah Toby’s artwork can be viewed at Sgtoby.tumblr.com

Interview

A: How long have you been drawing and what got you your start?

B:I’ve been doing art since I was little, but I got a head start in digital art since I got my first tablet in middle school. I was involved in a lot of communities that dealt with character design.

A: Typically what kind of art do you like to do?What is your basic process like? How do you go about designing your characters?

I like to do a lot of character design, and digital painting.When I start out I usually do a combination of lines and silhouetting. I then carve out in white the negative space. I would say it’s a subtractive technique. I really like silhouetting because I’m able to get a good flow and make it very dynamic. Another trick that I also use is flipping the image to make sure it’s a centered composition. The eye dropper tool in photoshop is also one of my favorite tools because it allows me to select color very efficiently.

How did you develop your personal skills? Were there any hurdles that you had to overcome?

I was involved in art communities from early on and I always strived to improve my art and focus on getting better. I have the toughest time drawing men. I have a better sense of the female anatomy because I am a female. But I’ve realized they  just are made of a smaller series of circles to create muscle mass and get that block texture.

And finally, what do you hope to do when you graduate?

As an ATEC grad, I hope to become either a modeling or texture artist. I’m also minoring in bio because I might go into medical illustration.Ideally I want to get a job in Pre-pro. That’s my goal and that’s the dream. If not, then I’ll probably go to Grad school for medical illustration.

 

 

Interview with Bruce Barnes

Bruce Barnes is a Pre-production professor at the University of Texas at Dallas and has worked for Disney as well as various other animation production companies. I got a chance to talk to Bruce about working in the industry and his tips for prospective digital artists.

Interview

How was your early experience as an artist working for Disney?

The beginning of it was filling up boxes and boxes of drawings. I believe that drawing is still relevant and will give people jobs in CG. It will make a person a better animator even if they are a CG artist.  A lot of people think about animation studios as a kind of castle in the sky and it’s really just a regular job. Almost everybody you work with are really nice and good people. You’ll get to a point in the industry where everyone knows everyone and no one wants to work with someone who’s going to be difficult. They want good talent, hard work and ability but they also want to know if you’re going to fit into the family. When you go in for your interview just be yourself and relax, because if they expect you to be somebody you’re not, you’re not going to be happy.

Do you still do art?

I haven’t done much in a while but I’m getting back into the industry. I’m starting up my own online comic, and I’m going to write some friends from Disney and talk to them. I want to consider some options. There is a part of me that’s kind of like the old fire house dog, so maybe I’ll run again.

And lastly, what are some basic ideas you try to instill in your students with conceptual design and how does it go in the professional field?

My students have to get a sketchbook, and then I put them through sketch book exercises that hopefully they take to character creation. Then they do research and save out a multitude of thumbnails and ruff versions of character details. The final versions are cleaned up then colored. I train them to go out and start with the actual and then depending on the audience you can define your ratings what audience age will it affect. I also have them do a variety of different things such as going from horror themed characters to very cutesy child-like characters. I have them do sci-fi, goth, and just try to stretch on each genre. I believe if someone wants to do this kind of work they have to have different views to shift in and out of.  That’s called job security. You have to be prepared for anything.

Research Post: An Introduction to Finding Inspiration

Inspiration is one of those things that is very self-explanatory if not innate, but some find it hard finding inspiration. Inspiration can be drawn from an unlimited amount of sources. A few of the main sources are;

• Music
• life experiences
• personal philosophies

From the early centuries, most artists had muses that inspired them.Picasso had Marie-Therese; Italian epic poet Dante Alighieri had Beatrice Portinari(Stavrinou, 2012). In current times, artists have a variety of sources of inspiration to chooses from. Our probably most convenient source of inspiration comes from our imagination which “makes our sensory experience meaningful, enabling us to interpret and make sense of it, whether from a conventional perspective or from a fresh, original, individual one”(Thomas, 25/0). Today we have access to an unlimited, omnipitent source of inspiration which in none other than the internet. websites like Flickr, deviantart and even google images provide a vast amount of images that provides inspiration(Minichip, 2011). As a digital artists, it’s useful to use these tools as you’ll find they come in handy when trying to get inspiration. Six Revisions article : 10 unusual places to get design inspiration written by Kayla Knight is an excellent article that gives artists some inspirational choices they might have not thought of otherwise.

Resources

Stavrinou, G. (2012, March 30). Inspiration from music, film, art & media. Retrieved from http://inspirationfeed.com/

Thomas, N. J. (25/0). Imaginationsite. Retrieved from http://www.imagery-imagination.com/

Minichip, M. (2011, April 14)]. Retrieved from http://artisantopia.com/

Chandra, M. (2007, September 11). Flickr. Retrieved from http://www.flickr.com/

highaltitudes. (2011, April 22). Deviantart. Retrieved from http://www.deviantart.com/

http://www.google.com. (2012, April 13). Retrieved from http://www.google.com/imghp

Knight, K. (2009, June 23). http://sixrevisions.com/resources/10-unusual-places-to-get-design-inspiration/.