Andi Again

I looked over my graduating project from last year to remind myself of how I can and have improved.

 
Andi, the young one-handed miner of my Pied-Piper-in-space Andona story acted as a sort of psychological mascot throughout the whole process, keeping me amused and affection for the project high.  So, one night, I started to redraw her to solidify her in my mind:

I'd like to practise more gesture drawings of her.
I'll probably continue to draw her for years!  She's pure fun and sweetness.

J. x

More Green Pencil!

Andi lovingly clinging on to Piper's leg!
J. x

Catching up on Andona

I was meant to post this a couple of weeks ago!  Yikes.  Time is just slipping away...

So, I had to present all the final major project work I had so far to my class and lecturer, in an effort to pitch my planned exhibition pieces.  It has been well received, and I got some good grades which is big a bonus!

After trying to imagine every aspect of the world I'd created, and writing the whole story, it all boils down to four images.  The four pieces I'm creating will (hopefully) look as if they're stills taken from an animated feature film.  I'll try to present each image on multiple layers of acetate to give the illusion of being from a cel animation, or a single print out on photo quality paper, A2 size.  It's a lot harder than I imagined it would be!

Finalising Andi

Piper Design

Visualising the Princess of Andona

Andonian Housing

Concepts for my final exhibition pieces

Developing the throne room scene

Designs for the palace guards and handmaids

Piper capturing the rodents on Andona

Andi dragging an unconscious Piper post-explosion

Drafting the scene on the Odd-Job Space Station.
The crew have just got the Andonian children on board

No doubt I'll put up images when they're done.
I'm excited to see mine and my class' work framed and displayed!
The exhibition will run from June 1st to 8th.

J. x

Pop Ya Colour*

I recently saw a great piece of work by Potato Farm Girl of Josie and the Pussycats.  The colours really popped, so I went off to play with my pencils and markers to see what happened.

I came out with this:

Character Design for Animation: 'Andi' (Prismacolour pencils, Promarker pens)

I often use orange and blue coloured pencil to draft out for cartoon images, but using green contrasted against the warm browns and yellows making my images glow.  What do you think?

Not only is it refreshing to do something different but it mentally refreshes - it's like seeing your work through new eyes.

J. x


*Yeeeah, that's a shameless Usher song title pun...

'Andi'

So, this week hasn't been a complete waste!  I have missed all my classes and been a big snotty lump on the couch for the past four days... But I got some drawing done!  And, surprisingly, it's exactly what I had wanted to create all project long.

Maybe my brain is fuddled from lack of sleep, but I actually prefer the character pictures I've done this week to all the ones I've drawn while in good health.  That's why I feel comfortable posting these up online:

    

[Pencil drawings.  Dodge and Burn Tool in Photoshop to shade and strengthen lines]

This is the orphan that Piper will meet on Andona and can't get rid of.  She doesn't have a name, so he comes up with one for her from 'Andona', settling on 'Andi'.

You might have noticed that I've taken away her left hand - the cruelty!  It's all a part of her back story and will tie in with how the story plays out.  Not only that, but I got fed up of looking at how gorgeously perfect female and child protagonists are in animations - either looks or personality, if not both.  I wanted a sense of realism, and what's more real than admitting life can be cruel and unfair?

I'm toying with a few ideas at the minute; making her a boy, less cute, short hair....

What do you think?

J. x

Shadowline

I recently purchased 'Shadowline: The Art of Iain McCaig', and I can tell you now, it is beautiful.  Stunning.  GORGEOUS!

Every page is filled with his art.  Work from Star Wars to Harry Potter, storyboards to illustrations.
Not only that, it has mini-drawing classes inserted in booklet form inside.
It is a book that is both fiction and a presentation of-- baaaah!
Let him show and tell you himself!

Iain McCaig on Shadowline


I'm not a particularly big Star Wars fan nor am I much of a fan of the Harry Potter films, but you don't need to be to admire these works of art.

Buy it!  You will not be disappointed!

J. x