Illustrator induction

We worked on editing a character in illustrator using the pen tool and opacity to lower the density of the character and then drew with in the lines as an experiment. We didn't go through a list of settings in photoshop so we were very limited with using complicated effects. Me my self I know how to use Illustrator a fare bit but not too well because I jump between packages like Photoshop, I know how to use a lot of effects to neaten and clean up images for a flawless look.

Really funny twist on Mario and Luigi's brotherly relationship, mario is more like a tenager who does not want his little brother luigi to tag along.

Illustrator Induction

Worked with illustrator on using the pen tool, had a practice though I will need practice with drawing pen tool shapes. This was just a basic experimentation to understand the basic parts of a complicated package.

This is just a demonstration of just a play around with brushes the pen tool together.

Animation Research

Animations

Samurai Champloo

Samurai chamloo flows three main characters, Mugen, Fuu and Jin who are three wonderers through out japan centuries ago. They bump into one another when a big fight happens in cafe where Fuu works. This fight is held between Jin and Mugen who are rivals through out their journey. 

"A young woman named Fuu is working as a waitress in a tea shop when she is abused by a band of samurai. She is saved by Mugen, a mysterious rogue, and Jin, a young ronin. Mugen attacks Jin after he proves to be a worthy opponent and they begin fighting one another and inadvertently cause the death of Shibui Tomonoshina, the magistrate's son. For this crime they are to be executed, but with some help from Fuu, they escape and Fuu asks them to travel with her to find "the samurai who smells of sunflowers."
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samurai_Champloo"

I have followed all 26 episodes this anime is full of surprises especially the first episode when all the main characters meet. I like it because of the action that the anime is packed with especially the fight scenes, Mugen is my favourite character of all, love his Hip Hop inspired back rolls and spins. Another thing with the cartoon is that it is highly inspired by Hip Hop in so many ways even the way all the characters dress and walk. I wish they had made more episodes, i really think they should have stretched the cartoon further.

     












The same character designer that developed the characters in Samurai Champloo developed this animation for Kill Bill Vol 1 for O-Ren Ishii one of the assassins for Bill. The artist is called Kazuto Nakazawa.

Boondocks

Boondocks an adult swim cartoon currently running at season 4 on 2014 is based on three main character Robert, Riley and Hue. Robert is a grandfather that has moved to a place called Woodcrest which a highly rich populated white neighbourhood, he moves here along with his two Grandsons Riley and Hue. Roberts newly found house happens to be owned by Ed Wuncler the third who his a highly regarded rich man who owns a bank. The story follows these three main characters and how they get into so much trouble  in every episode whilst they are living in their current home an neighbourhood.

Created by Aaron McGurder  and animated by Lesean Thomas.

This was known to be a comic created by Aaron McGurder and moved on to become an world wide black adult swim cartoon.  













Black Dynamite

Black Dynamite is another Adult swim cartoon and another favourite cartoon of mine. it follows a ruthless pimp like hero that leads his own crew to saving their own black pimping civilisation. Black Dynamite is a action packed cartoon with surprises and excitement.

"The show is predominantly a parody of and tribute to blaxploitation cinema. The show continues the story of Black Dynamite and his crew of Bullhorn, Cream Corn, and Honey Bee as they engage in dangerous and over-the-top misadventures sometimes involving African-American stars such as Michael Jackson, when he was part of the Jackson 5, O. J. Simpson, Richard Pryor, Mr. T and other celebrities such as Elvis Presley, as well as Black Dynamite's recurring nemesis President Richard Nixon, who was also the main villain from the film. The show makes references to the original Black Dynamite film, such as Fiendish Dr. Wu as the leader of a group of ninjas; the show follows its own continuity, as some characters from the film who were killed off are alive in the series."
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Dynamite_(TV_series)"

  

Pat Lee - Concept Drawing "From Thought to Form", Top 10 Panel/Page Lay Out Methods and How I Make Comics, Pt. 1 [Script/Pencils]

These  are some forms of animation I have looked at in relation to scenery for animation and story plots. One of my favourite comic artists is Mark Crilley who is a highly known Youtuber and comic book author for his comic books Miki falls and Brody's ghost, I like his drawing style, he like to draw a lot of manga and has a very neat drawing style which I like. The bottom two videos belong to mark krilley and the top video is on drawing and shading a character which is one of the techniques I need to focus on including my proportion to scale.    

How to Draw Fight Scenes

Another Youtuber called koizu, his anime drawings are very clear and strongly detailed, I like his use of a mechanical pencil and the way he observes vanishing points and scenery. I mainly like his drawings because of the details he puts in and the etching and sketching he does. His characters are filled with life and his outlining is superb.

Character Design Tutorial Part 1: Research

This video is by a youtuber called mikhail dingle he is a character design artist, I really like his method of designing and drawing style main for his colouring because his contrast is very good and the body plus toning is in proportion and stand out as designs on a page.

Mike Tyson Mysteries Series Premiere: The End | Mike Tyson Mysteries | Adult Swim

A Mike Tyson animation, this is wicked and I love the detail they get into the face of mike tyson, the cartoon almost reminds me of the old scooby Doo a classic Cartoon so people would say. I see some of the 12 principles in play especially pose to pose and squashing and stretching. The voicing of the characters is spot on and perfect.

Korgoth Of Barbaria I. [HunSub]

Very funny and mythical tale, its random scenes almost remind me of Adventure time and the drawing style is very soft but very aggressive and violent, content is very hilarious. When I watch this it brings back my childhood because the era reminds me of heman especially the main heroic barbarian like character along with the demon  like creatures, this cartoon is violent but funny.

King Star King: Watch "KSK !!!" the Pilot Episode Now | Adult Swim

Very funny and random animation, almost reminds me of Adventure time because of its random features it contains. Imagery is very detailed for a cartoon and can be seen as very explicit for an adult cartoon, very funny and classical fable.

The Birth of Captain Murphy | Adult Swim

This is a short animation by adult swim of a rap artist called "Captain Murphy" also known as Flying lotus the experimental Hip Hop music artist. It is very dark but I like the colouring and the characters are very funny and remind me of some of my friends I associate with. The main character is what I would like to see of my self, he is very creative and likes to develop his own characters from scratch, but the character looks like he has come back to haunt him like an unforgettable nightmare.

Photoshop tutorial 3

To days tutorial was a carry on of what was done the previous week with photoshop. We learnt how to animate by frames the previous week, this week was animating using a timeline. We learnt the basic principles of animating using photoshops, the brief was to communicate the four different elements of earth, winter, water and fire. The lesson was mainly focused around the timeline and onion skin settings which allowed the animation to be continues in phases by fading each stage of the animations movement.

e.g.

This is a clear demonstration of my Element animation, it shows the fading of the ball and leaves the fire behind and an traveling effect.

 These are both notes and ideas I jotted down for help with developing Ideas and techniques for my animation. Key notes were made whilst, I was talked through the steps of time lining. In the tutorial we were told that steps of movement were to be recorded before an animation was developed. The movement of a character is to be measured before animating because the animator needs to have every precise measurement so that the animation is very clear with its movements and communication of a characters feelings, emotions or depiction of scenery.

Pest

Pest from Cartoon Brew on Vimeo.

Wicked animation, cartoon style is very interesting with detail funny cartoon with very hilarious scenes that pushes the boundary. Very random, like the random scenes because they surprise you with laughter, your not expecting to laugh but the character just does something outrageous and then your forced to because of the excitement and the strange/abnormal behaviour of the character. I think the fact that they have made the character blue makes him look like an alien and gives him another funny aspect for a character, he almost reminds me of Johnny from Ed Edd and Eddy.

Storyboard (Liked example) "BZD ART"

I was surfing through the web when this storyboard caught my eye, I really like the drawing style and find the characters very expressive and communicative towards one another. Use of detail of the black ink is very well done. This piece mainly caught my eye because the style of drawing is very similar to mine, but I would like to develop my style further, until I can draw a lot smoother like this so that my work is very uniform and neat. This by an artist called "BZD ART" his work is amazing and I really like his drawing style because of its focus on accuracies such as; detail, colour, shading and drawing style.

This Artist can currently be found on blogger and this piece is another amazing piece of visual art, love the detail and the focus on the characters.

Researched examples of pixilation animation

                                     

These are a few pixilated animation that demonstrate a clear use of pixilation as research. These are all good examples of pixilation but I really like the Top one more because it uses very smart methods of illustrating feeling and thought especially when the character is on the computer typing and searching, it shows everything the main character is looking.

Studio pixilation notes

Batman: Bright Day

Like this whole concept, makes the batman movie feel like more of a comedy and less serious.

Luigi's day out

Really funny twist on Mario and Luigi's brotherly relationship, mario is more like a teenager who does not want his little brother luigi to tag along.

Gosh Dern Foreigners - Oney Cartoons

Funny animation used to highlight the importance of immigration how people should be positive to foreigner no matter where they settle.

Suarez untold

Another animation by "Flashgitz", put a twist on suarez's bitting incident during the world cup, they made him look like a vampire and added "blade" to the scene to give the animation some quirkiness.

Racist Mario

This is a both crazy but funny animation with sega and Nintendo characters. The only problem is "Mario" is a racist on a rampage set out to destroy all sega characters.

Inspirational animations

Brain Divided from Cartoon Brew on Vimeo.

This one of my favourite animations, which I found on youtube a while back, it tells the story of your general state of mind and how two individual sides of you can be divided, negative and positive. These two characters are based in the mind of a man that is on a date, they fight against one another changing the mans physical state and appearance and personality until his date no longer wants anything to to with him. They collaborate at the end to win the woman back.

 
Death Buy Lemonade from Cartoon Brew on Vimeo.

Another animation with a funny twist, love the animation style. Everything goes wrong over a glass of lemonade, the girl kills me with laughter, her character is so demanding, she reminds me of "Mandy" from "The grim adventures of billy and mandy" she seems very miserably and angry through out the animation.

Inspirational animations

Mac 'n' Cheese from Mac 'N' Cheese on Vimeo.

A very funny chase between two main characters, one called "Mac" which is a large bulky and rampaging male and the other "Cheese" a small slim like character who is on the run from "Mac". There are some very funny scenes e.g. when "Cheese" sniffs some cocaine to increase his running speed.



PECG 50th Anniversary greeting from Charlie Canfield on Vimeo.

Funny in some areas, where he miss pronounces the title "PECG", most of the way through, I found it dry and not so very funny. I feel there is not as much excitement, where is the running or over exaggeration e.g. The news reporters on "Johnny Test", The Simpson's, Futurama etc.

 

Photoshop induction 2 Animation process

I uploaded my flip book animation onto photoshop from Adobe Bridge which order and adjusted my images in order so that they could be later on placed into photoshop for further development, created a timeline and added an addition animation to demonstrate the new skills I had learnt to day, the size had to be adjusted to 27.9 cm in with and 21cm in length, the images from my flip book were later on cropped and adjusted so that the time line ran smoothly.

Static Shock !

My favourite superhero cartoon of all has to be Static Shock that used to come on Cartoon Network during day time, the main character Vergil always use to remind me of myself and the cartoon and scenery/setting reminded me also of my family and the neighbourhood I grew up in. At the age of 8 and up, i would love to tune into each and every episode, it almost felt like the cartoon was telling my story, I would walk around and imagine my very own developed superhero's developed comic form.

Elemental Orel

S2 E4 - Elemental Orel from peppermint larry on Vimeo.

I find this stop motion cartoon is very funny and features great characteristics, almost reminds me of celebrity death match.

Jonathan Harris Showreel 2012 from Jonathan Harris on Vimeo.

This is a sequel/compilation of work by Jonathan Harris. He develops animations for E4 and currently has his own blogger account where you can view some of his work, his style of drawing reminds me of regular show/adventure time. The arms and body features are very long and not structured realistically to hand or leg features in their general form. Jonathan has a very nice cartoon style and his animations are jam packed with excitement and satire for viewers watching E4.

Carol Singers from Treat Studios on Vimeo.

Love the cartoon style, very similar to mine and find the detail and shape of characters very odd but purposeful.

E-volution (E Stings 2013 Finalist) from Eliot Ruocco-Trenouth on Vimeo.

A very random but understandable concept, like how the character evolves cleverly to end up becoming something dull and un-clever.

Baaahd Company from Adam Cruft on Vimeo.

 Very nice detailed animation with a supprising twist to it, like the randomness it contains and the movement of characters.

My final photoshop tutorial work

Development stages of my final edited and coloured image for the photoshop tutorial I had yesterday. Changed opacity and coloured individual shapes designed using lasso tool.

I usually draw and develop my own drawings from scratch by sketching, drafting and inking. later transfer drawings to photoshop for further development or develop them by hand and colour and detail on computer.

Photoshop induction editing 2

Another set of images edited in photoshop during my photoshop tutorial, we were looking at adjustments and selection and the use of colour when using these tools.

Photoshop induction editing

Couple of images merged together and edited for practicing with photoshop and got used to using erasing tools, pens etc, Just recapping on the basics I already know. This was done in a photoshop tutorial I had to day, it has refreshed my memory of using photoshop after not using it for a month, now I still have the knowledge of using the basic skills in photoshop.

KFC / E4 Idents from FIELDTRIP on Vimeo.
I don't really have much to say about this apart from liking the style of cartoon and the voicing of the characters is very funny, I would love to produce my very own animated food advertisement with little quirky lines and characters.

E4 Xmas: Trees from Bishoy Gendi on Vimeo.
An odd and short E4 trailer but very quirky, funny scene with slave like characters. I really like the drawing style, almost reminds me of Beavis and Butthead. I understand why robot santa claus did what he did, I feel it was because he has always been a slave to people on christmas delivering goods so he thought he would turn the tables on mankind by enslaving them to do his bidding.

E4 Man

E4 Man from Tim McCourt on Vimeo.
This is very classic and reminds me of the 1980's. The E4 man almost looks like a cross with Michael Jackson's "Thriller" and Eddie Murphy in his young years from the 1980's movie "Beverly hills cop".

The Last Train from Animation Hub on Vimeo.
I think this is very good, the whole train scene reminds me of Mission impossible, it feels very epic and action packed. The only down fall is that it is just revolved around a story about a man running from a ghost.

I really like the form of this animation plus the concept, It almost reminds me of when I was a child and you would look up to a certain icon or even a fictional character e.g. Superman and want to be just like them because you spotted something unique about this person. Though I think they could have given this character a better name than flying tomato, why at tomato ? other than her hair being red.

Although this animation has wicked beats I can bop my head to, the illustration does not make any sense apart from knowing the people on the images are dead, but why are they floating around in pieces ?, are you broken when your dead or is that just the animators imagination ? These are the questions I am asking my self.I really like the style of illustration, I just feel that this animation could be designed or written better. After writing my previous statement I have gone on to find out that this was an animated video for a DJ called Flying lotus and his album "You're Dead", but I don't see how this advertises the album at all because there is not link to the cover art or CD.

Is very creepy in the sense it revolves around self moving limbs, almost reminds me of the moving hand on The adams family. I love the cartoon style though because it seems very friendly and more towards children, maybe something you would find on cartoon network.

I found this animation on "stash", I like the style of animation and drawing, the imagery and movement is very free flowing and lively in appearance. The monochromatic colours seem very dull and negative but the animation communicates something more positive, which makes you question the message behind the animation.

Who am I? Why am I here? What do I want to learn?

Why you chose to study on this programme ?

I have always been interested in animation and making my own characters move. I like the messages that animations communicate in todays modern society because they open your mind to different questions and answers. I would like to gain the knowledge and skill of how to make my own movable,  story telling characters and scenery to accompany my comic book creating skills.

What do you want to learn during this programme ?

 Learn how to animate in 2D, 3D, stop motion and understand what it takes to work as part of a team to produce a finished animated product e.g. How each member of a team earns a selected role, character designer, animator etc.

What skills do you think are your strengths ?

I can design both characters, storyboards, comics based on both imaginative and real life events.

What things that you want to improve ?

Aspects of my characters and design, parts of my sketching because some of my characters look unrealistic or sometimes too similar. My detailing of clothing is not very efficient and could do with working on e.g. laces on shoes, trainer and boots.

What ways you will evaluate your progress ?

Document all progress with designing through sketches and photographs, then later compare and note down improvements with images of design work followed by noted feedback from other animation students if needed.