YEAR 2 @gpickin-year2 - Tumblr Blog

Colour Project Reflection

The colour project helped me understand more uses of limited amounts of colour, the limitations in the colours we could use allowed me to try and find ways around like the coral colour for the background and the way that you can use different shades of the same colour to create some sort of depth within a scene. Also, the way that different colours complement each other in a piece and the way that even with a small number of colours you can find ways for them to work. I think as well in this project i was able to work in a group where we all had different styles but we were still able to figure a way around this and create an idea that I think worked really well.

#colourproject

#gradassist

#2minutefilm #research

#sketchbook

2 Minute Film 250 Reflection

The 2-minute film went reasonably well I found. As something that was an experiment, I found it really interesting experimenting and trying a completely different way of constructing a piece of animation than what I’m used to. I found the method very difficult there were lots of parts to the animation and method that I strongly disliked. I found the style of the cutouts was really good it allowed for my drawings to be shown in a way that actually resembles them in a way that I want them to, but the movement of each individual entity didn’t really turn out how I wanted it to. Granted, I’m sure there are lots of things that I could've done differently throughout the process but I still feel like the film had character and people seemed to enjoy it anyway. If I was to change anything about the film I’d maybe do it with a keyboard and mouse and an actual computer rather than a laptop, and with time I would work a lot more on some of the movements that just didn't work, I found lots of cool ways to get around difficulties that I encountered which I could even use when I possibly try to make a film using the same kind of method. I think with a lot more practice and better technology it would be a quick way to produce a piece of animation that I’m proud of. All in all, creating the film was actually really fun (kind of), the end product I'm proud of but the way to get there could be worked on. I think the combination of real-life sketches that have been photographed works really nicely when animated in a piece of software like after effects. There are lots of parts that I would do differently but as an experimental sort of piece, I think it definitely came out the way I wanted it to. I feel like it does have that element of old school theatre in it with the small movements that build a scene using layering e.g. the waves. But yeah I’m proud of how it turned out and may use a method like this again, with possibly some other aspects of animation introduced.

#2minutefilm

Grad Assist 250 Reflection

For me to be perfectly honest, I found the grad assist project kind of intimidating I guess in a way I find it difficult to adapt my art and style in a way that matches other people's forms of art. Now I don't class this as a weakness in my art but I can see how it would make things a lot more difficult. Moving on from this I started doing some sketches for Raquel’s film and then got caught up within my own film and other things that I had to catch up on. After this Raquel sent me a message saying that she no longer needed help which was cool with me and I haven’t been able to really contact or catch up on this part so only have the initial sketches that I did. I think as I’ve already said an issue that I found was that my style didn’t really match anyone else's in a way and I wasn’t able to really get it to a place where someone may even want to use it. I thought that this part of the course was a good idea but with all the other work due in I was unable to really get stuck into it and I just wasn’t able to really get anything done for it in time for the hand in, especially with the amount of other important work that I had to do, and other things that I mentioned to Chris. But all in all with more time maybe I could've got more done but I just ran out of time.

#gradassist

Internship 250 reflection

The internship project was quite terrifying at first, having to message or email people in the industry that we wanted to talk to and get advice from. The first part of this project was trying to figure out who inspired me and I guess the questions I wanted to ask, whether I wanted to ask questions about the animation industry or whether I was interested in asking different questions about what it’s like to be creating art as a freelancer or even creating a brand for myself and how I could develop on that. I contacted around 12 people asking them questions about how their thought processes behind their art and what it was like to work in that kind of industry and how to develop yourself as a brand. I got a fair amount of replies from the artist with lots of advice on what I should be doing to develop my art and what I should be doing in terms of building myself as a brand. Lots of the artists spoke about just experimenting with lots of different ways to do stuff and to try and find inspiration from artists old and new. Some of the artists also spoke about their experiences in getting work and how they ended up getting work through social media and the effect that, that can have on your brand. Some more advice I got from the artists was about leaning into my own style and developing that through drawing and drawing, many of them said that drawing from life is always helpful and to try and take inspiration from artists that I like. One of them said that my style should not only express myself in terms of what I want to say but should also be presented in something that represents my taste in art which I think helped a lot. Most of the artists also spoke about how criticism can be hard but is one of the most valuable tools out there, and the ability to find some honest feedback is the best way to develop and grow as an artist. All in all, it was a great experience, it’s something that I doubt I would’ve done if it wasn’t part of the course so it was great to talk to these artists who inspire me and to even put myself out there in a way.

#internproj

Mixed media 250 reflection

I thought the mixed media project was really fun! It was fun to experiment with a different type of technology and way to do something. I found it good practice to use rigging as it’s something that before this I’d never really used before. I think with more practise the rigs would be a lot better in a way that they would be able to have fluid movements and are less robot-like. I think if there was something I could change about the project I would try and improve on the rigs I’d made and create the characters in a way that makes it easier for me to input the rigs into them. Another thing I’d change would be the movements themselves, lots of the characters I made seem very robotic which is something I was trying to avoid. Anyhow they turned out alright, I did enjoy creating the characters and rigs within them because it makes them feel like almost coming to life in a way. The project was a really good way to express my style in my own kind of way while working with members of my class! The experimental aspect of it was great as well the lack of pressure on it allowed me to try different ways of creating an animation and to try something that i’ve wanted to try for a while.

#mixedmedia