A woman stands on a train platform in the outer Melbourne suburbs, waiting as metro trains come and go. She takes out a mobile phone and is busy with its screen.
A two carriage train pulls into the platform, old-fashioned with windows that open inwards, and the woman gets on the train without hesitation. She sits down and looks up from her phone.
The passengers of the train are from all different eras and are speaking amongst themselves in different languages.
There is a breeze coming in through the windows, and the woman looks out them to see a seascape, then lush hills, and more foreign scenes, clearly not Melbourne suburbs.
The woman turns on her phone and sends a message, āI'm going to be late.ā
Week 5: Character Design, using colour to express different moods.Ā
The first one is a serene sunrise, calm and unpopulated by the people of this coastal town. Warmth blooms from the top right corner and slowly ushers out the cold blues from the previous night with a soft orange light.Ā
I decided to use complementary colours, in this case, the blues and oranges, because they are what I am most familiar and comfortable with. However, another factor that influenced my decision was the fact that I could use the desaturated and darker blues to create depth in the background towards the mountains and the horizon. I wanted to have the focal point be the ship at the dock, maybe in a subtle red-orange colour, but I didnāt end up getting around to colouring it, my apologies.Ā
The second one is the town after nightfall, mysterious and tranquil although the distant half of the city is still bustling with nightlife. Night time at this coastal town is cold, but the activity of the people and their personalities are still vibrant and inviting. There is little to no light coming from the ship as the crew are active in the city.Ā
My intent with this night scene was to analogous colours in blues and dark purples, as to explore further into how colour can be used to express my desired effect for a calm and mysterious night. I think that I was a little successful in doing so although I ended up leaning into the lightly saturated greens and pinks, especially in the background, because I felt that they really add to the scene and contrast to how dark the rest of it is. Finally, I used the yellows because I really, really love how it ties the pinks and greens to the purples and blues.Ā
I suspect that I shouldnāt have been so averse to the bell tower being so prominent when I was colouring it, and should accept how it is a key part of the architecture of this town. If I were to redo this, I would lighten it a little but keep the saturation low, so that it doesnāt detract from where I want the focus to be in the background.Ā
The third and last background is intense and contrasts with the townās usual appearance. The results of a horrific disaster, maybe caused by mercenaries, fire rages, and death fills the air in dark black plumes.Ā
For this final scene, I wanted to really clash with the mood and the colours of the townās typical appearance (being soft oranges and blues) to create something destructive and harsh using analogous colours again. Iām not sure that there really is a focus to this scene, rather, the (read: my) eye darts from all the different buildings but maybe that isnāt a bad thing. I think that it is hard to take in destruction, and the dark reds and browns in combination with the yellow and orange makes the content quite shocking and violent.Ā
If I were able to revisit this, I think that I would push the light that would be cast on the buildings from the fire.
This exercise was really a good way for me to get a grip on photoshop, and although I had a bit of trouble (read: I struggled) it was really enjoyable.Ā
Just dropping some WIPs here for Week 5: Character Design.Ā
Playing around with colour, let alone digitally, is very new to me but Iām having an interesting time exploring. Iām having a hard time with those tiny houses in the background, but if you squint... they lookĀ kind of okay.
I do, however, really enjoy the orange of the bell tower.
Here are some updated concept drawings of Leonor.Ā
Almost turnarounds, but not quite there. Her outfit has drastically changed, and her face in profile had changed more subtly although I think I the way that she looks a lot more now.Ā
I adore Leonor. Someone needs to bring me back to reality, holy crap.Ā
For this one, I put Leonorās walk cycle over the background of her ship moored at the docks of a coastal town.Ā
Having her walk in a line and not on the spot really emphasises how bouncy she is, so that is something that I need to be careful with in my next walk cycles.Ā Ā
I learnt a lot from making this, and even though her up and down movement is a little unrealistic, I wanted her to look like she was walking with purpose and determination, and to be a little more masculine, which I think comes through in her wide strides.Ā
This was my first walk cycle and with that comes room for improvement. Other than her extreme bounciness, her right arm is a little bit out of control and swings much more than her left, and I could have put more work into the secondary animation of her hair, but I didnāt think it was a priority in this case. Also, there are no inbetweens.Ā
On the character and world:Ā
Matias de Estrada (quietly, Leonor).Ā
Set in Renaissance Spain (1600s), Leonor was married to a successful merchant named Matias de Estrada who, at his death, took up his identity and his name to become the captain.Ā
She led her crew and acted as a merchant for nearly 10 years before she was discovered to be a woman, recognised by a powerful man who had been close to her late husband. In a fight for her life and her freedom, they clashed swords, and while she escaped with her life, he landed a deep cut on her jaw with left a prominent scar.
Her business was closed, her trade agreements and permits retracted, but despite these setbacks, her crew remained loyal. The transition between merchant and pirate was easy, and Leonor embraced her own name once again.Ā
She intimidates, she woos, and she leads. What a catch
This bouncing pirate is coming for your lady, watch out!
Starting tips for animation? I'm sure you have gotten this plenty of times, so if you don't want to explain again, would you just point me in a direction to find it? :O thank you so much, I always look forward to seeing your videos and I love your art so much šššš you kept me in the warrior cat fandom and I'm glad to still be here!!!!!
The number one and most import step: Start animating! And if you already are animating, KEEP ANIMATING!
Seriously, the only real way to get better at animation is to animate a lot. This is coming from someone who used to buy tracing paper at Wal-Mart in high school and then scan each individual frame and put it into Windows Movie Maker in order to animate. And someone who studied a ton of theory and books about animation before that. The books help, but you donāt really start to get better until youāve been animating for a while.
Animation is hard. Itās really hard. You are the artist and the actor, and before you can even really start to get good at those things, youāve got to get used to the flow and rhythm of animation, and figure out what works for you and what you need to work on. Thereās so many things to remember and keep track of, but once you work on it long enough, these become second nature and then you can focus more on the art and freedom of it.
I donāt say this to scare anyone off, animation is very rewarding if you love it! But you really gotta love it! And donāt be afraid to ask for advice and critique, and even more important: Be ready to swallow your pride and take critique, even if itās harsh! Especially if you want to be in the industry! Team players are vital in making the whole animation pipeline work!
For more general advice: Read Richard Williams Animator Survival Kit book. Industry standard. Teaches you everything you need to know about animation theory.Ā
Study how things move. Draw skeletons. Watch animations you love on slow mo to see how they move. Keep your beginning stuff simple. Challenge yourself with new goals constantly. Learn everything you can about a subject before you animate it. Draw turnarounds of any objects/characters before you animate them. Storyboard your animations (even just simple sketches work wonders) and key frame your animation before getting into the nitty-gritty inbetweens. Learn the principles. Remember that smooth animation DOES NOT equal good animation. Be prepared to be frustrated, throw away work, and then do it all over again (Trust me, itās always better the second time.)
It doesnāt matter what program/tablet/computer you use.
Just do it.
You got this.
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