Hansel

Finishing up visual development homework!

Caribou Film Preview

A quick preview of my film!

-Melissa

Film Sketch

Triceratops

These are just a few doodles of triceratops I did during work! They're tiny little things, so there isn't much detail. Hope you enjoy!

-Melissa

Eeveelutions!

          Last night was the Character Animation gallery show at CalArts! It was quite a busy event, and it was so cool to see not only animators but students from other parts of the school come together for the event. 

          I decided to have some fun with my gallery show piece and allow nostalgia to take over. These were fun to draw, but also quite a challenge. 

          From now on, it'll be full-fledged portfolio/film work for me. You might see a few updates, but for the most part I'd like to keep my film a secret until it's done. I'm rather excited about this one, so I hope you guys enjoy it when it's finished!

-Melissa

Caribou Trot

Here's a quick work-in-progress cycle!

Film Concepts

Caribou Thumbnails

Third Year Film Character

Possibly my final design for my film character this year. I'm really excited to see how one is going to turn out, I'll try to keep this blog updated as much as I can with concepts!

-Melissa

Lion

Wanted to draw something before the big end of the year rush.


-Melissa

Third Year Film Concept Art

A piece of concept art for my third year film.

I've been jumping around to a lot of concepts for a good story. My original idea didn't sit well when presented at my mid-residence review, so I ended up taking a break from thinking about my film at all. For a few weeks I focused solely on my portfolio and eventually developed a story around the caribou I continually doodled.

I hope to really nail the story and designs over winter break so that I can start animation soon! Saving up for TV Paint on my Eee Slate. =)

-Melissa

Caribou

Lately I've been drawing quite a few caribou. Perhaps its the season? Their horns are so much fun to draw.

-Melissa

Design Thoughts: A Character's Environment

Hello everyone,

I made a post about a year ago concerning thoughts about design, and thought it was about time I make another.

There are so many things to talk about which affect how we view a character. It isn't as simple as big versus little- there needs to be a reason for that conflict, a definition for what makes it extraordinary instead of ordinary. I decided for this post I would focus on one aspect of design and expand on it.

In nature, everything is constructed for function. It does not design simply to make something look beautiful- there's a purpose for everything, and any feature that lacks a use becomes a burden.

The greatest difference between natural selection and character design is what side each approaches from. Nature approaches all things from the outside and selects features based on outward situations. Everything depends on environment- the more harsh the atmosphere, the more specialized the organism. Personality, though present, is not of importance unless it serves a benefit to the organism's survival.

Character design takes the opposite approach. As artists, we enjoy working from the inside out. We ask ourselves "Who is this character?", and based on the answer we begin drawing. The character's psychology is what determines their anatomy instead of the physical situation.

Both methods produce successful characters for their reasons. However, the best character designers are able to take both elements and use them to play off each other.

I will continue this thought later, but I wanted to end this post with a question: When drawing, do you start with the shape first, or the personality/story for the character?

For myself, I tend to work with shapes first. I look for something that looks interesting and enjoy creating a world based on that character's quirks and shapes. These shapes tell me exactly what the character is thinking and what he/she has gone through.


Thanks for reading,
-Melissa

Ethiopian Wolf

African Buffalo

Improvement

I am so amazed at how much I've changed as an artist over just a year. I can't wait to see where I'll be in 2012.

Galapagos Tortoise

Croc Run Cycle - Second Pass

Here's the second pass for a run cycle for my film character. I tried to imitate a similar cycle to the Jesus Christ lizard.

Red

Film Idea