Thursday 17 June 2010

So a little update..

So it's been a very long time since i updated you on progress etc. Following total melt down with my computer, well that's an exaggeration but following two system recovery's and losing and installing programs twice over, i'm still to install Corel Painter again. This being the case, Raph is put on hold until i can find a copy. We live in a modern world, where people do what they can to get the over priced programs they work in. For the first time in my life, i can say this; i can't find a serial number for a piece of software i actually bought! I have sadly lost the serial number for my copy of Corel Painter, and i can't seem to find any peg legged versions out there to input :(

Comic colab is coming on well, we have a main character, a name, a name for the comic. We even have a website which i will be posting soon once we get the first few art images up :)

Check back soon :)
James

Thursday 3 June 2010

Everyone had a favorite turtle, right?

When i was a kid i LOVED Teenage Mutant HERO Turtles, not that ninja crap that they changed so they sounded cooler. 4 mutated turtles taught kung-fu by a mutated rat that used to be a sensei's pet? I THINK SO! Anyway, my favorite was always Raph, so i decided to do a new piece of artwork to hone my painting skills for this comic i'm doing. This is just a work in progress that i'm dumping on you at 2:37am as i need my rest and sadly have work tomorrow. But i will finish him off tomorrow evening.

Wednesday 2 June 2010

The first stage

So a little update in the first week of the rest of my life as such.
I had my driving theory test yesterday, sadly i failed by 3 marks, but aced hazard perception. Sadly passing one wont get me the theory done and dusted so i shall have to re book it for say 2 weeks time, when i will ace both parts!

Saw Prince of Persia the saturday after submission. I was impressed though saddened. Such is the feeling i get from most films now. As i'm getting older i'm wanting more blood, more swearing, more violence, and sadly PoP Sands (as my cinema ticket read) didn't deliver. Too many swords piercing bodies to be withdrawn spotless. At one point in the film where Alfred Molina i think? Well Doc Oc, he was chasing Dastan and he lowers a gate on him only for Doc Oc to be all "you....why i outta!", instead of what i would have said in that situation! lol That being said i think Disney and Bruckheimer (sp?) have made a winner here. It's no POTC as far as the masses go, but i could watch it again no trouble. I'm just glad it was PoP Sands and not SATC2! lol My girlfriend has good taste!

Now onto where i am creativley. Friday night i ordered something i don't think Phil or Alan would have expected of me; Autodesk Maya 2010 Intermediate "The modeling and animation handbook". It arrived today, a little late if you ask me but still it arrived and i am yet to start working through it, but i am eager to start. I think once i bridge the gap between the things i never picked up and the things i know how to do, i'll be a better animator for it. So yes i shall start on that soon and wow you all with the progress i have made.

Secondly the comic i am working on with friends is coming on well. Still in the brainstorming stages, we're just fleshing out our anti hero character and building his lifestyle before and after the present day. Who he was, where we want him to be etc. Below is a quick colouring of our character design. Sadly worked over in Photoshop as a jpeg, it isn't to the standard i would like if it were PSD with layers and what not, but still it is of a standard where you can see where we're going.



















I look forward to posting more to you soon.
James

Sunday 30 May 2010

Well it's no secret...

I'm not really cut out for the CG world, it was never my bag, not as a career anyway.
I lack the potential, and no amount of pep talks or inspiring conversations could ever get me on par with the people that love what they do and do what they love, i feel i will always be a spectator in regards to the CG world, never an athlete.

Saying this, i don't believe i should just throw away 3/4 years of Maya "training" based on not being fit for a studio job. Instead, i'm going to go back a few notches and learn what's missing, so that as time goes by, i can use what i know to futher my career as a freelance artist rather than being out of my comfort zone surrounded by Maya, when illustration is more my forté.

This blog, pass or fail, will serve as an update of my life after UCA and the projects i'm following both personal and professional. I shall start by informing the readers that i have decided to futher my Maya knowledge by embarking upon a character design project, which will eventually include modelling, texturing and rigging, three area's i've tried to avoid at all costs over my past degree. As well as this, i have signed on to do the inking and some drawing work for a comic set up by a few artistic friends of mine; one a graphic designer, one a fine artist and a writer, and lastly me; an all round dogsbody.

I look forward to updating you all on my various adventures in the bigger picture that is life.

Regards, James.