University Final Major Project Part 1: Animal Studies

Some scans of drawings that I did over the summer that I hadn't got around to uploading until now. In order to come up with an original character design, I decided to create a hybrid of two animals. After much consideration, I decided to go with a lion an turtle combo, mainly because I liked the idea of a land based mammal being able to swim. 

To begin with, I studied each animal separately to begin with in order to understand their motion and movement. As my character is supposed to be a teenager, I studied lions that hadn't quite grown into adolescence yet. All of these images were drawn from original web-based pictures, but I think I managed to get varied poses for the lions and turtles.

After these studies, I started combining them together to make new animals. I was unsure about what theme to go with, but after designing the one on the top right, I wanted to emphasise the creatures speed. I then decided to reign in the creatures design in the final scan, and came up with the design on the top right.

I then decided to experiment with the final design in a variety of poses. I think I got the balance right between the lion and turtle design. My next phase will be designing the animal to be anthropomorphic. Check back for more news on my fmp later on.

'3 Weeks in October' University Project

Been back at Uni for about a month, now in my final year so I've got TONNES of work to do. For the first 3 weeks back we were required to create three separate animations based on Power of 9, Onomatopoeia and 25fps@staffs.

Power of 9 encompassed the 12 animation principles. I created this in Maya software to freshen myself up for future 3D projects. I didn't want to do anything too complex, so I made a simple sphere and cube shape. I like the rendering on this, I think it keeps with the simple tone of the film.

Onomatopoeia required us to create an animation based on a chosen list of 6 different words. Mine were flap, flutter, rustle, meow, snap and bubble. I tried to create this as a whole animation rather than just separate segments. Was quite fun just animating rather than having to think of a concept first. I'm gonna try working on this in my own time, so hopefully I'll have an updated video soon.

25fps@staffs was promotional material for Staffs Uni BA (Hons) Animation course which I'm currently studying. I worked with Tim Panter from my course on this one. As we both had strengths in illustration, we decided to create three birds that symbolise part of the branding. I drew out the yellow and pink birds and Tim drew out the blue bird. I then edited them together using Adobe After Effects. This is probably my favourite of the three, as it's one of the few animations I've done which I think is finished.

Enjoy the video:

One Hour Challenge No. 21 Taz

Time - 1:00

One Hour Challenge No. 20 Zoidberg

Time - 55 mins

One Hour Challenge No.19 Tails

Time - 1:10

One Hour Challenge No. 18 Squeezy Toy Alien

Time - 50 mins

One Hour Challenge No.17 Ripster (Street Sharks)

Time - 1:00

One Hour Challenge No.16 Dr. Cortex

Time: 1:00

One Hour Challenge No.15 Stitch

Time - 1:05

One Hour Challenge No.14 Snoop Dogg (Caricature)

Inspired by my Snoop Dog Sculpture I did last year.

Time - 1:10

One Hour Challenge No.13 Pluto

One Hour Daily Challenge No.12 Genie (Aladdin)

Time - 1:00

One Hour Daily Challenge No.11 Jigglyrine

Time - 1:00

One Hour Daily Challenge No. 10 Tinkerbell Von Schweetz

Time- 1:15

One Hour Daily Challenge No.9 Indiana Simpson

One Hour Bart Simpson/Indiana Jones morph, struggling to keep his hat on. Inspired by     The Simpsons parody of the chase sequence from Raiders Of The Lost Ark. Thankfully had enough time to provide shading on this one. Purposelly made the whip very long for a more comedic look.

Time: 1:10

One Hour Daily Challenge No.8 Gromit Lightyear

Slacked off with the daily challenge lately, so I thought I'd update with something extra special, Gromit Lightyear. Inspired by Gromit Unleashed (specifically Pixar's sculpture), I've decided to take the one hour challenge on a different route by merging two characters together. I really enjoyed doing this one, the fact that he's talking into his communicator is ironic. I also like his giant helmet.

Time: 1:20

Gromit Unleashed Exhibition (Part 2)

MORE Gromits:

Sir Quentin Blake - Gizmo

Katy Christianson - Canis Major

Dan Collings - Malago

Cheba - Grosmos

Sir Paul Smith - Lancelot

The Beano - Gnashional Gromit

Hannah Cumming - Collarfull

Andy O' Rourke - A Grand Day Out

Natalie Guy - May Contain Nuts (& Bolts)

Tim Miness - Isambark Kingdog Brunel

Carys Tait - Blazing Saddles

Paula Bowles - Bunty

Martin Hanford - Where's Wallace

Joanna Lumley - Poetry in Motion

Bristol Catholic Church Choir

Dale Evans - TutanGromit I

Nick Park - Newshound

Julie Vernon - Golden Gromit

David Inshaw - Bushed

Jools Holland - Bumble Boogie

Laura Cramer - Vincent Van Gromit

Ian Marlow - Sir Gromit of Bristol

Definitely a great day for public art. I'd highly recommend seeing it while you can. I can now FINALLY create my Gromit (Gamarada) as well, with my mini sculpture set:

Here's a picture if you can't remember:

If you want to learn more about Gromit Unleashed, go to www.gromitunleashed.org.uk/‎