Film Study - "Zodiac"

WEEK 3 - Urban Landscape Painting

We went on location to Washington Square, this week. For the first half of class we did a study on location, and then the last half was taking reference photos for our next assignment, due in two weeks.

Here's the study I did of Coit Tower:

WEEK 3 - Thesis Development

This week's assignment was 100 thumbs to help me start visualizing my film.

The one main thing I learned this week: I don't want to be a storyboard artist.

I didn't get anywhere near drawing the entire film, but I did hit 140.

I'm gonna continue working these thumbs out, using Sherrie's advice on some of the sequences.

WEEK 3 - Adv. Perspective

We reviewed the "Geisha" assignment. Joko gave me some great critiques on making the lighting and characters more clear. Mostly the problems pertained to values being pushed and pulled.

The next week's assignment deals with perspective of figures on multiple planes, at varying heights. Joko showed us how to approach this issue in various ways, including starting with a flat perspective, and THEN applying the horizon line into the composition. 

Something I find very interesting is that Joko always stresses that you should always start with a good composition, not thinking about perspective at all, and THEN applying the environment and perspective into the scene.

Next week's topic is "Noah's Ark."

WEEK 2 - Urban Landscape Painting

This week we had to bring in studies for a larger painting that we would be working on later. I worked from two photos I took from last week.

I've since started a larger painting on the first image.

WEEK 2 - Thesis Development

This week Sherrie and I discussed what my focus should be on my thesis. I showed here some character studies I did over intercession, or Lucy, Albert, and one of Eleanor. She liked some of them, but agreed with me when I said that I hadn't quite "found" of the characters yet. She recommended that I leave character design for a while, and focus my attention on finding the look of the film.

For this week, I'm going to be working on thumbnails for the entire film. Minimum, 100.
I'm gonna be working on composition, positive and negative shapes, working on how to best direct the eye to the focal points. I will also be applying value, focusing on atmospheric conditions, and lighting conditions.

I feel like this is the best move for me right now. I really need to have a better idea of how the story flows together, and doing thumbs of the story will really help me to literally visualize the film.

Film Studies

I've been warming up with film studies. I find this VERY educational in terms of both training my hand  and eyes to capturing light and color, as well as understanding cinematic composition.

I try to paint both live action and animated films, so that I can be able to break down both genres. I also try to picks screenshots that have a particular type of feel that I want to practice.

I plan to do a lot more of these! They are going to become very handy when I have to start planning out my own color boards for my film.

 

WEEK 2 - Adv. Perspective

For Week 2, we discussed our homework, which for this week was, "Samurai."

We had to complete three finished illustrations, each describing different horizon line perspectives, in relation to two or more figures.

I feel like I learned a lot on this assignment. I worried in class last week, that I wouldn't be able to come up with a unique-enough story for my beats, but luckily, Joko provides us with examples from past classes, and I immediately became inspired by many of the works. I especially loved the idea of Samurai warriors fighting sci-fi giant robots.

I think I'm understanding value a lot better than when I started here at the Academy. In fact, I know for sure that I am. I am making a lot of decisions about composition value pattern, eye path... a whole lot quicker now, than I ever was before. Most of what I've been learning is becoming second nature ---- which is a huge thrill for me! 

For my critique, Joko mentioned to pay more attention to ellipses in relation to the horizon line. He also mentioned to make sure that the robots' feet were firmly planted on the same ground plane as the figures. Finally, interpolating shadows distances and angles need some tweaking.

Most of the critiques were simple changes, and he said he really liked my composition on all three pieces.

Next week's theme is "Geisha." The assignment is two illustrations of figures resting beneath the horizon line. I had an idea that may help me with a preliminary concept for The Tuner, with a shot looking down and through a crowd of black umbrellas, in the rain. Sound familiar?

Here's what I turned in this week:

WEEK 1 - Urban Landscape Painting

Urban Landscape Painting
Craig Nelson

This class will be an excellent course to support my thesis. I thought the class would be focused on cityscape alone, but I come to find out that the difference between  cityscape and urban landscape is that urban landscape is focused more on the interaction between the figure and the environment. So paintings could anything from grandiose building scenes, to very small, intimate stories about people carrying groceries home.

Craig to an amazing hour demo, and then we walked around the city for the last part of the class to capture reference material for our studies this week.

The class probably relates most directly to my thesis out of all my classes. That is to say, in terms of learning skills that will directly apply to what my film is about. Learning how to paint buildings, the city, urban environments, and include figures..... that is EXACTLY what my thesis calls for. So I'm very excited to see how I learn to apply this course to the world of The Tuner.

WEEK 1 - Thesis Development

Thesis Development
Sherrie Sinclair

This class will be a great opportunity to work on my thesis AND complete classwork. Before, these had to be separate, but now, they're one and the same!
This week was pretty relaxed. We discussed the importance of the Directed Study Journal (of which you are currently reading), and then we worked independently. Sherrie made her rounds, but didn't get to me this week.

Here's a painting of Lucy I worked completed.
I like the style and colors of it, but I see a lot of things that I would fix. I still need to fix her design, so the overall design works.

WEEK 1 - Adv. Perspective

Adv. Perspective
Joko Budiono

This week we're working on approaching the theme of "Samurai."
We have to complete three concepts, one with the Horizon Line (HL) going through the upper section, one with the HL going through the mid section, and one with the HL going through the lower section of the figures. We will be using one and two-point perspective.

Joko discussed how this class will be focused more on the figure in perspective, rather than the environment. We'll include the environment, but we shouldn't be stifled by achieving perfect perspective. We should start with a good design and composition, and then make the perspective work into that picture.

We also discussed how to think about how to approach accurate vanishing points. We talked about how our Cone of Vision is 60 degrees. So with a two-point drawing, at least one of the VPs needs to be at least 30 degrees outside the picture plane, for the drawing to not be distorted.

I'm really looking forward to possibly working on subjects that I wouldn't normally approach on my own. I hope to have a better understanding of perspective, and how to more effectively tell my stories visually. Coming up with more original story moments, and choosing more interesting situations to make my illustrations portfolio-worthy.

Here are my initial thumbs for the Samurai assignment:

Location Drawing - OVERVIEW

For SUMMER 2013, I also took Location Drawing with Chuck Pyle.

This was a class that came out of nowhere, but I am SO glad that I had the chance to take. I kind of took it on a whim, not really knowing what it was, but Chuck was teaching it, and I've wanted to take a class from Chuck since my first semester, so this was a dream.

The class focused on two things: 1) how to interpret the world and translate it into our sketchbooks, and  2) how to make your sketchbook something more than just mindless drawing, but being proactive about using it to practice professional practices.

Eli Harris designed the class, and he subbed for Chuck one of the weeks. His sketchbook was incredible, and really had a great design to it. Which was a big lesson we focused on in the class. We we always trying to make every page of our sketchbook, not just a random assemblage of thoughts and drawings, but a cohesive, organized page of ideas. We would always try and connect a page together by adding specific and thoughtful design elements like borders or color accents. I don't know if my brain necessarily works that way, or if it ever will, but it was still really cool to see how he captured the world through his own filter, and how they came out of his brain, and onto the page. And that was really the point, is FILTERING the world into your sketchbook.

Chuck did an amazing job of tailoring his critiques to each individual artist. Using their unique traits as artists, and plussing them to make their work that much more solid.

For me, he really loved the energy that my character designs had, and he always encouraged me to find out how to infuse that same energy into my location drawings.

STRUGGLES:
I mainly struggled, again, with the medium. I used pencil pretty much the entire semester, mostly because it was all I could afford. But I didn't have that great of a range of values, so my drawings always felt a little drab and dull. When I later purchased some darker values, I noticed a huge leap in contrast and how much better the drawings we reading overall.

I also struggled with draftsmanship. Controlling my pencil, and making confident marks on the paper have always been something I've struggled with, in and out of this class. And I think I needed Chuck to really call me on it, to make me see how important draftsmanship really is, and that I was capable of improving my own work with simple changes. Starting light and soft, gradually building to dark. Really studying the subject first, then making a mark. Less searching, more analyzing.

LESSONS:
Two great quotes stood out from this semester. One from Chuck and one from Eli.
While sketching near Coit Tower, Eli told us that once we put pencil to paper, that was OUR world. It doesn't matter what the actual world might have looked like. Once it's in our sketchbook, it's ours.
He said, "Sometimes, the world is wrong." That blew me away. I was so intently focused on capturing the world exactly, that I would get so bogged down and frustrated when I wasn't able to drawing every little detail into my sketchbook. But the concept that I don't have to draw everything, or that I could change certain things to make a better design, or move trees from one end of the block to the other that weren't there before...... that blew me away!
Chuck's greatest quote rivals Carolyn's "don't be afraid of the paint."
Chuck was talking about being confident, and keeping your lines expressive. And then he said, "Don't be a chicken-shit." Best thing I ever heard from a teacher. It was exactly what I needed to hear. That kind of fearless attitude is exactly how I want to approach art. Just go for it, make mistakes, fail, learn.

 

Landscape Painting - OVERVIEW

For SUMMER 2013, I took Landscape Painting with Carolyn Meyer and Dean Larson.

This was my first real dive into oil painting, and I really had no expectations of myself, other than to embrace every opportunity, and attack every hurdle I would face along the way.

I was approaching traditional painting a little backwards, seeing as how my experience has mostly been in digital painting, when usually, you start with traditional, and THEN move into digital, using those techniques and skills. I was approaching oils from the opposite direction. So, naturally, there were many times where I found myself frustrated by the lack of layers, and the inability to edit previous strokes. But I learned to slow down and make more conscious decisions about the paint I was applying to the canvas.

I think that was the biggest thing I learned: to SLOW DOWN. I don't know if I've quite grasped the concept completely, but at least I now understand how important it is to slow down, and how much better my paintings are when I approach them with a more specific and focused eye.

In the end, I really enjoyed this class. I felt I definitely grew as a painter, and I've come to appreciate the medium of oils. I am nowhere near where I want to be, but I feel for my first attempt, I've succeeded, and I look forward to exploring oil painting much much more.

TOPICS:
Atmospheric Perspective
We focused quite a lot of time on "mastering" the concept of receding planes, and Dean challenged us to really think about how light was hitting different surfaces, and how that helped push the eye through and around the painting. Being able to recognize why certain values were happening in the field, because of their relative distance from the viewer.
Emphasis on establishing a clear foreground, middle ground, and background, and using the middle ground as an arena for the focal point.
Further into the background, the colors get cooler, whereas all pure whites get warmer.

Simple Shapes
We talked a lot about simplifying the world into large shapes. Organizing large shapes and then smaller shapes within those larger shapes. Organizing the picture on a grid, but never locking it down.

Sky and Clouds
Clouds are always harder on top, softer on the bottom. And their edges are just a little transparent to keep them from feeling too heavy.
On a clear day, the sky will shift temperature from a blue violet at the top, to a true blue, then more blue green, and then rosier/darker nearer the horizon.

The most important principle in painting is VARIETY!

STRUGGLES:
I had many struggles while painting. Most of which were on location. Just getting used to working with the field setup, keeping paint off my clothes. Trying to mix paint and work with it at the same time. All really big frustrations for me.
I struggled with how much paint I needed to mix, and then if I ran out, knowing how to mix that exact same color again. Most of the time, my paintings started paintings themselves, because I could never control the colors and their subsequent values. Feeling out of control which painting was a very real problem for me when I started.
With digital, you can make mistakes, and then adjust certain areas of the painting individually... at ANY TIME! But with traditional, that kind of luxury is not afforded to you. If you misjudge a value relationship, you can't just paint over it, or make it slightly darker.... not immediately, anyway. You haver to wait till it dries enough for it to be workable, and then hope you get it right the second time, which you won't. That was very frustrating.

ACHIEVEMENTS:
I think my biggest achievement was getting over the basic hurdles of managing the medium. I think I control the medium much better, and I'm less afraid of wasting paint, or making mistakes. I'm trying to make bolder strokes, and being more confident that I can fix my errors, as they arise.

The best thing Carolyn said to me was, "Don't be afraid of it, it's just paint." I don't know why that made so much sense, but a giant lightbulb went off and a wall fell down. I was very much afraid of the paint, and now I realize that I am in control of it, and that if I mess up, I can at least recognize how to fix the problem.

Midterm

Final