Drawing Course

As well as getting back into animation, I have also tried to get back into my drawing again. I recently finished a course in Canterbury for beginners and Improvers in drawing.  

For the first lesson the aim was to use negative space to get the outlines of a series of objects placed on a piece of paper in front of us. We then later went and added in the shadow to give more depth to the image. The second lesson involved drawing an object and the scaling it up, to draw in further detail. The rope was my second attempt as the object I chose to draw first proved to be rather difficult. The tutor also suggested that it wasn't interesting me enough to carry on with either. 

The following drawing activities consisted of quick sketches and drawing what the eye can see, first using a pen without leaving the paper and to draw in lines only. The rest concentrated on drawing using different pencil tones to give the illusion of perspective. To do this we used a light pencil (2H) to draw objects further in the background, a dark pencil (2b) for the foreground and a tone in-between m(HB) for the mid-ground.  We also focused on drawing plants and using two pencils. A 2B and an HB to get the basic outline on the paper by holding them together. This was because the views which we were drawing consisted of a lot of foliage. We also as a wind down exercise used chalk on black card to draw the outline of the houses we were viewing. The white and pink were used to represent the skyline.

 The second to last lesson the drawing lesson was held at Solly's Orchard, Canterbury where we took down information sketches and drawings to reuse on the last week. The aim was to learn to take down information quickly and efficiently so that when revisited later- One could still reconstruct the original image.  I ended up drawing one of the houses along the river edge as it screamed to me. Plus I couldn't resist drawing all the animals which happened to be around. Including the fluffiest dog I've ever seen.

The last lessons I re took the pastel and charcoal drawing and re configured it using pencils. A fair bit has been changed since the original, but that was the intention of the activity. To take what was wasn't working and improve it. I'm quite pleased with how it turned out. Especially the area of foliage on the right.

 

Return to Blogger

Gosh has it been so long since I last did a blog post? Hoping to remedy that and return to frequent blogging. 

The past year has been a blur of change and adventure for me. A trip to Japan at the beginning of 2014 for 3 weeks as well as a new job. Though whilst this was occurring my animation hasn't been neglected. My Miro Barn scene has had a lot of developments since I last posted about it. Started out with limited amount of objects in and flat textures. 

However after some feedback I went back and not only added more shapes but also tweaked the existing ones to make them look less 'flat'. 

Here's hoping to get the chickens and dog into the scene soon.

Lighting Test

Just a few quick lighting tests. However the dog is now all textured.

Miro Dog: Test Skinning

Just a quick test to get an idea on how the dog would move once skinned. Plus it was also a test to see if I could remember how to do skinning. It's amazing how things easily come back to you.

Miro Dog: Skinning Test from Charlotte Buchan on Vimeo.

However a few of the shapes need tweaking in order to have more efficient movement. I also need to go back a few stages to lay out some UV's etc before moving forwards.  Also I've just realized that I've not uploaded a front/back view of the dog. So below is a screen shot of how the shapes look from the back.

Miro Dog: Adding Joints

So to show more of what I have been up to, here is my Miro dog, this time with some joints roughly placed. However it's proving tricky. Where the dog isn't anatomically correct and is simply made of shapes, placing the joints has been hard. I'm not entirely sure I have the back leg correct yet. I've also been experimenting with moving the shapes around to try and get something as close to being correct as possible (also taking a shape out). 

To help I've looked at the website below as well (with references to Inuyasha)

Dog Anatomy

Also having finished animating first two scenes in After Effects I've come to realize that I've only got an idea for the first half of the music. So I've whipped up another animal which Miro is famous for, the rooster as well as chickens. The plan is to have my dog character chase them around, carrying on with the barn scene.

Miro: Mini Pre-Vis

Miro: Short Pre_Vis from Charlotte Buchan on Vimeo.

I've been getting back into working on Miro after being away for a month in Spain. To help get back into the swing of things, I have been working on a pre-vis. Above is a small clip of what I have so far. I've found working like this is helping me get back into the creative groove as whilst animating the 2D shapes in After Effects I also see how I will be moving then in Maya. The same goes for the cameras and how I would like them to move around.

Also a screen shot of the dog in 3D 

CGAA/ACT Speed Paint Challenge 9 and 10

And this is to wrap it up. For number 9 I couldn't get Moulin Rouge out of my mind for some reason. Reminded me of the funfair and all the blinding lights etc. Where as the last  piece of music reminded me of Fantasia. Mainly the Pegasi.

CGAA/ACT Speed Paint Challenge 7 and 8

I'm catching up. Only two more to go :)

CGAA/ACT Speed Paint Challenge 6

I'm falling behind on the speed paintings, however will try and catch up for I do enjoy doing them.

CGAA/ACT Speed Paint Challenge 5

Finished this one just in time :). For some reason when listening to today's piece of music I couldn't get the scene from Basil the Great Mouse Detective's Sewer Bar scene out of my mind. Hence all the not so nice colours.



The closest I could find to the bar itself.

CGAA/ACT Speed Paint Challenge 4

CGAA/ACT Speed Paint Challenge 3

Not quite sure what to say about these. Other than I prefer the first one (hence why it's at the top). Today's music proved a bit of a challenge. I couldn't quite make up my mind in what I thought I could see. So there are two possibilities.

CGAA/ACT Speed Paint Challenge 2

Today's music piece didn't sound too much different that yesterdays. So I've carried on with the same colour palette. However the small difference heard is that the music sounds like it eventually builds up to something. Hence the change from browns/greens to the red/browns as well as the zig-zags.

CGAA/ACT Speed Paint Challenge 1

Today's music theme sounded quite lonely and dark to me...hence now the dark colours of green and brown :)

Miro Scene 1

Not much to say really on this one other than - finally, it's ready now to create a pre-vis and to do whatever else needs to be done with it. Now onto the next scene. I also aim to have a pre-vis at some point to try and help speed my creativity along a bit.

A Steampunk Christmas: Speed Paint Challenge

Well not a lot to say about this one really. Other than I'm not sure how that tree machine is supposed to work but...it does here XD. Though I hate to admit this one frustrated me to no end. I think I need to re -learn the basics of 'Speed Painting'. I had to resist the urge not to simply delete this (as well as scream in frustration). Still, practice is always good and it gets me creatively working again :-)

Christmas Card Design

These are some Christmas card designs I painted a few weeks back. They're painted on pre-made cards which is why the tops of the images aren't as decorated and why there's a crease line through the middle. They were painted to be sent off for the even on Deviantart. The originals have been sent to the DA headquarters and they will then hand them out to people in hospitals. I'm pleased with the snowman, however I wouldn't mind some suggestions on what I could have added to the red and yellow with the swirl on it.

The Gingerbread Palace In The City Of Sweets

Not quite what I was hoping for it to look like, My original idea was for a post card look. I was going to try and have this as the main image with some squares to the side depicting certain sections of the palace. But once again I ran out of time XD. However rather pleased with this. Took roughly 2 hours (not including doing ironing in between working on it). Rather enjoying these quick speed paints. Feels good to use Photoshop after ignoring it for so long.

CGAA Speed Painting Challenge 19/12/2012

Ok this took me 10-15 minutes (I was determined to try something for this challenge) . I know it's not too good. I'm not entirely sure what I was aiming for. However I can now go in a push it further.

Edit- changed the sky colour to make it a little darker.

Pixel Circus- Work Experience

First of apologies for the lack of updates. My laptop has finally decided to give up the ghost and has a very funky looking screen when actually turned on

However on the plus side, I'm now doing a part time work experience for a company in Margate called Pixel Circus, more info about them can be found here Pixel Circus. Here I'm learning to use 3D Studio Max as the company uses this instead of Maya.