Project Poltergiests.

Every time I access this blogspot, I take note of my digression or progression ---  and how much I used to dedicate (or not) to keep this stream alive.  Many years of progress are at a temporary standstill as I embark further into the ambiguous fog of my professional future.

Another year has come and gone.  And I have to do a lot of reflecting on this New Year's Eve...

I call this thread "Project Poltegeists", because I remain haunted by my elongated list of things I want to achieve with myself.  Each entry into each new year-- this one being 2018-- I examine the list again and try to create a strategy for success.

I know one year I was wanting to create more background work versus character art in my illustrations.  I still need to develop this skill more and each drawing I've done since includes a character or characters within a scene now, but I feel I've definitely harnessed my style, which makes this particular goal a success to me!  I try not to be too hard on myself with these, because I have no real life reference....  they still seem to make some kind of impact to me though in the state they are in just as they are.... because of the story and emotion in them.   So, success enough to me!

I wasn't able to get much personal work done, because I'm pretty deep in production with the "Death of a Snowman" short, which is moving along very slowly but very professionally, I feel.  I did manage to finally complete a sequential scene, however, to an illustration that I had developed a while back that branches off of the original "Cranky Crispy Kringle":

"DRAWING CANDY CANES" (New)

"CRANKY CRISPY KRINGLE" (2014)

(I have another idea for the third, too-- for next year or anther maybe!)

Which brings me to yet another aspiration that struck the other day...  I have been deriving a way to make 'more' happen using this strategy I am about to write about... using a method similar to a backwards planning theory...

Majority of my time these past few years has been spent trying to manage debt on low income wages.  Despite the travesty, I am grateful to have found a lasting day job while I strive to keep working at land the dream job!  My biggest challenge is finding the time to stay 'in the game' with other professionals as they accelerate their work portfolios and demo reels ....   It's been a constant dedication of almost all the time I have free from the daily grind of the day job.  I've found some workarounds, though, lately-- that have really excited me.

Find the job with static time and get the phone and the apps that offer quick on-the-go solutions.  I did. And I am thankfully getting quite comfortable with both the applications and the workflow integration.  I am ecstatic about the future with this technology!

I draw in my tiny little sketchbook whenever I get a break, when I'm finished or satisfied with the pencil drawing, I take a phone snapshot, import it into my program of choice, and do whatever cleanup I can.  There are some limited functionalities, such as the inabilities to cloning textures and lasso and paste and such-- but for the most part?  It's grade 'A' in my opinion.  I'm so grateful for it.  When I get home from work, I immediately make the adjustments I need with the functions in the main program, and then I reimport for the next day on down time at work.

I finally made the transition after a little inspirational push I got when I volunteered to read a short script, written by Lisa Jones, based off of the origin of Peanut Butter and Jelly.  While I was reading the script, I decided to try my hand at a fun concept that I couldn't get out of my head.  I felt adding color was necessary to make the characters more enticing, so a sucked it up and give it a stab in the Autodesk Sketchbook app that was sitting wasting away on my phone.  I've had it for a few years actually, but always just felt intimidated because my stylus wasn't pressure sensitive and the back-and-forth adjustments to the size and the opacity of the brush were too cumbersome to a relaxing workflow.  But when I opened up the app after some time not using it??   The updates just floored me.  So, a large thank you to the mobile developers out there for making 'on-the-go' life easier.  It was so much more simplified, intuitive, and user friendly!  I couldn't believe it.  Something just clicked and I felt immediately hooked!

And here's what came out of it!  It needs a second pass still, but this is  my first mobile paint job:

DIGITAL PAINTING

My goal is to start cleaning up all of my traditional illustrations and to begin digitally painting them all--- The ultimate goal being to make a self-published book with my collection of work!  I've wanted to do this for years... and I'm going to do it on my mobile phone.

I'm currently in the process of cleaning up this Illustration I've been working on with this back and forth method.  I'm still drawing in details while I do it, too, and then compositing them in later!  It's been a great workflow for me-- and even more so once I start developing my digital painting style some more!  So excited over here!!

"PRIVILEGED PEKINGESE"

 

(Don't mind the sketchbook ... it's super, super old and in really sad form)

 

The other poltergeist that haunts me is putting myself on social media in a way that is more interesting and intimate.  I don't really know how to connect with people sometimes, but to share what I love with them and sometimes makes stupid silly jokes.  I'm going to give a fair try to try to fight that fear social isolation online with my peers...  not to be afraid that I might not have any followers although I'm following a million people.  I'm not going to let that dismal stupid upfront and in-your-face number be a reflection of the quality of my work or the quality of me as a person...  I'm going to share whatever I can, art related and non art related-- just to try to exist on the social media platform more.  My hope is that whoever I am through the computer will bring people in naturally.  But, really, who cares?  I'm pretty confident about my skills and my talent level, although I am aware there is obviously more advanced talents also out there.  I'm still going to try to turn more heads and get more acknowledgement for my work, though, while continue to make as much polished and appealing artwork as possible!

Life drawing is still not necessarily my niche, but I still work on one life drawing while I progress on a fictional illustration.  I flip back and forth between the two to keep fresh and challenged.  This one, in particular, gave me a ton of trouble and needs to be reworked digitally, but here it is as is in my sketchbook:

LIFE DRAWING

Not my best life drawing... but a life drawing!  I'm already onto my next, which is my brother and his family!  I'm hoping that because they are familiar subjects and I have a ton of reference of them that the results will be fairly accurate.

As far as the "Death of a Snowman" project, I'm full speed ahead into rigging.  I need one more day on the main characters blend shapes and her eyebrows than I'm onto the facial rigging and the final body rig of the Snowman!

I am putting a snippet of the girl lip synching to dialogue this week!  So, please check back next week!  Here is the rigging reel so far, though:

RIGGING REEL

I wish I had some photographs to share of the ornaments--- perhaps I will see them in the real life form soon.  I heard they were pretty cute!  But for now-- this was the digital concept for one of them: 

ORNAMENT TEMPLATE

The other ornament that was more mass produced is a modified (cheaper) version with Charlotte, the lead girl, holding a placard with the title.  We are planning on setting up a store in which both can be purchased.  If anyone is interested in buying one, please feel free to comment below!

I also took a night off to make a clay sculpture of the Snowman by hand using Sculpey, and had at one point considered hand making ornaments, too!  That was a lot of fun, but he's currently sitting in my fridge right now... cooling off  (hah) ......waiting for more finishing attention.

The magnets were also kind of cute, but still need some texture and lighting work.  I'm just considering it a phase 2 look development, since a lot of the work was done in post:
 

 

We may try to do another fundraiser again at some point in which we will offer the same prizes, and hopefully some more unique prizes!  And I am hoping to set up the front cover image soon, too.  So, lots of new stuff with "Death of a Snowman" will be surfacing soon!  I hope you will all keep eye on out and share the work with your friends, family, and peers!

 

Anyways, that about sums up 2017 for me.  One more hour left here in Los Angeles until the clock strikes midnight and my coach turns into a 2018 pumpkin.  :-)

 

I got a jump on updating my website for the new year and I joined ArtStation and other social media avenues with hopes to share all the latest this 2018.... 

Link here for my current 2018 Portfolio Website

 

With 2017 now passed, I had the opportunity to work on my first fully animated CG Feature doing facial animation for a really fun company.  It was a real blessing and I remember I looked forward to going to work every day, working with my crew, and creating awesome stuff together!  I hope to find that sense of fulfillment in 2018.

 

While I love to create either way-- it really does feel nice to have a 'place'. 

 

That place might help scare Project Poltergeists away for a while.... or keep them at bay for a small while whilst I get my financial life back in order.  Maybe I can go back to school again for my Master's one day....  That's another thing I've really wanted to do these last couple of years.

 

All of these stored up thoughts and projects sit on my shoulders year after year.  There's just so much more I want to achieve in my life and I still feel as ambitious as a child playing a video game.  I'm hooked on the 'win'.  'One day, One year', I keep telling myself.  There's a ton of things I need to 'win', too. 

 

Like getting back to writing my book and decorating it with the scenic illustrations that I envision.....

I think about that book all the time.  And all of my own personal 'wins'.  Maybe this year I can confront at least ONE of these Project Poltergeists for good! 

 

Happy New Years to you all.  I will try to write again to the blog soon...  just like I used to beforehand.  I promise to keep it updated, but if I go M.I.A for a while please be reassured that I most certainly at working hard on the craft, taking control of all the Poltergeists lurking in my thoughts, and continuing to reach for the stars!

 

Happy Holidays...

My Current Work In Progress:

"DEATH OF A SNOWMAN"

As we cross yet another end to another year, I have been working non-stop and found little time to explore the creativity I once found so much time for.  To me, that makes 2016 yet another failed year.

The good thing about this year, however, is one particular project that has encompassed all of the free time that I do happen to have.

The project is called "Death of a Snowman" authored by the amazing Daniel Guyton. I've had the pleasure working with Daniel as one of his first performers in his stageplay "Where's Julie?".  Cast by Daniel as the part of 'Julie' in the sideshows at the Irene Ryan Competition in Altoona, Pennsylvania, mine and Daniel's history goes back many, many years ago when I was nominated for my stage performance in "The Glass Menagerie" while earning my first degree in Performing Arts to compete with other actors for theatrical awards.  Sort of like a small time Golden Globes for college students.  Not too many people know that I have that first degree or that I (was told) was also pretty skilled in it... It had a similar transparency as my artwork had back then.  People that were affiliated with that stage of my life discovered I was pretty good with drawing and creating characters some time afterwards...

Before the start of social media explosion, while I had went on to enhance my visual arts skills by pursuing a degree in digital media and computer art, Daniel Guyton went on to develop an incredulous volume of work.  He has a range that reaches all ages and identities while still upholding his ever quirky balance and peculiar sometimes unconventional outlook.  His work "Where's Julie" is still preformed quite regularly around the country-- most probably around the globe, too.  While we stayed in touch through facebook, Daniel had preceded to become a very active member in the playwright community, including a dramatic arts instructor, participating in the Writers Guild of America, and also as a member of the Board of Directors for Working Title Playwrights...

Daniel is currently involved in a fundraiser to help support local playwrights in his area.  To learn more about the cause, you can link up HERE.

I am very honored to be a major part of "Death of a Snowman"'s first digital reproduction, spoken as both an artist, a patron of the arts, AND as another captivated audience member who has filled a seat to indulge in a number of his stage plays over these years since first meeting him...

Although still very premature, I share pieces of it now, because after the holiday it will taper off into the changing of seasons and be somewhat lost in fevers of spring.   I am hopeful that 2017 will give me enough spare time to complete it for a properly timed line up the next holiday season.

So, first, before I explain my progress on this piece, let me wish you all a nice holiday season filled with everything you want, with peace and love, as well, and give my blessings for the New 2017 Year.  A Good New Year to you all.



SNOWMAN PRACTICE RIG

Since last summer, in and between multiple days jobs at a time, I have been burning the midnight oil to create some professional developments on this project.  While this process has taken tremendous efforts during general inabilities to live day to day (aka the sob story of every struggling artist) it has indeed come a long way that I am excited to show. I approached this proposal as if I were part of a preproduction team.  That is one of my goals, anyways, so I found these creations to be most enjoyable.  

The first part of my process was to open up the sketchbook and draw as many different designs of the two main characters as I could within as little amount of time and send them off for selection.  I did some quick builds of the two main characters, however, to try to get myself aligned from a traditional to a 3D mentality.   I was most content with the results of the snowman, and while he was not yet accurate to the initial 2D concept selected, I decided to make a practice rig on an unweighted / unskinned version of him in order to breakdown the types of controls I would eventually need for some of his animation:

 

 

While the rig still needs a lot adjustments, it was a fun quick little tasks to play around with.  It is very breakable at the moment.  I can't wait to put the real rig on the real character!

TEMPLATE SETS (First Versions)

 

I chose not to spend much additional time working with color or digital concepting yet, and instead decided to move on to researching and pulling reference to help start building some of the major sets.

  

INT.  KITCHEN



INT.  LIVING ROOM

INT.  CHARLOTTE'S ROOM



EXT.  NEIGHBORHOOD



 

 

 

 

CALL OUT SHEETS SAMPLES

After taking a mari class on CGSociety with Justin Holt a couple years back, I was inspired to develop a few templates that he would describe as a "Call Out Sheet":

These templates would include anything and everything relating to the character, object, or set to help demonstrate the direction of visuals in one united place...  color palette, texture, reference imagery, anything to solidify the development.

ANIMATED PREVIEWS OF WIP SETS

 

Additionally, I figured getting a head start on building some of the sets would help me find a firm grasp of the of the schematic and spatial information I wanted for the storyboards.  While it was tedious adding in some of the smaller details--  I figured the more inanimate objects floating around the more natural the set would look in the end...

 

 

 

STORYBOARDS

And in the same sense, I chose to do the storyboards to become more acquainted with the characters-- their expressions, their body language, their physique from different angles. By the end of the design of the boards, which was drawn quite sloppily by hand, I had broken down a 15 Page Script to nearly 200 drawings and my flow to get accurate and confident line work down on paper had increased and cleaned up tremendously.  It was quite an amazing experience for me.  And it gave me a lot of courage to put it all together in an animatic once I had received the voiceover work.

My only regret is that I wish I could've had the chance to digitally render all of these drawings for the animatic... perhaps one day after it is all finished I will. For now, I placed the drawings in simple storyboard panels with its complimenting camera specifications:

PAGES 2 - 3

PAGES 27 - 28

 

 

Any more research of how to build a shot list would be great (how to organize a sheet with the numbers of cameras needed in each set etc)!  I looked, but wasn't really sure what was industry standard or not?  So, I winged it in the panels...

But organizing the boards and camera direction into a pamphlet will greatly assist me as a quick 'go-to' item for the 3D versioning.

 

 

2D ANIMATIC

As far as the completed 2D animatic, we have decided to reserve showing the full animatic publicly at this point to uphold some of the story for the final release.  Instead, I constructed a trailer with the very basics-- the 2D images from the storyboard with snippets of dialogue combined with very preliminary stages in 3D layout of the opening title sequence:

The trailer isn't much at the moment, but we are attempting to uphold some mystery for the piece to show the animatic in its entirety, for the viewers that haven't read the short or gone to see the show in it stage rendition.

My current stage of progress is at the start of building the 3D layout that will begin to replace the 2D footage.  I hope that in this wintery season, I can share some more of this progress with you all.  I can tell you I have a very long and difficult road ahead of me... but I will get to the finish line eventually and I hope to still have kept your interest it seeing the final product.

The support always helps carry me onward.  I know I am taking on a lot and my hope is that the feedback on it is positive enough to move my journey as a professional artist further up the mountain so it's begins to become a downhill fully reinforced battle.

I know that the story "Death of a Snowman" is a beautiful one and an opportunity that I could not refuse.  To be able to do more of this type of work in the future with such cleverly talented masterminds like Dan Guyton, would be a blessing.

So here's to an ambitious and prosperous 2017 year. This one will be better.  Exhausting, most likely, but better.  I can feel it.  :-)

Happy holidays, all.  Happy New Year.

You may follow the media page for Daniel Guyton's "Death of a Snowman" here.

AND THANK YOU,  AS ALWAYS, FOR READING!

CRUTCHES: Every Artist Needs Support.

It's been a while.  I've been meaning to collect my thoughts and write...

For some reason, I feel that for a creative versus the more logical brain, these days tend to be more abysmal than your average bad day.  Every artist, professional or hobbyist, has gone through dark days.    

If you are an artist and you hit these days, months, even years of feeling defeated, your goals feeling long awaited and pointless, and you are on the cusp of feeling like you will never regain the inspiration and drive you once had-- make sure you have a list of go-to's to help get your thoughts back in the right place.

Thankfully, my parents came to visit a few months back.  My father, again, two months ago.  And my Mother is about to my another journey to keep me company for my upcoming birthday tomorrow!  I'm so excited to see her and thankful to have them in my life.

So, this post, will be about my gratitude to them and the importance of having support in such a difficult field to break into...

Sometimes it takes so much energy to convince myself of the journey I am fighting over and over again, and then my family comes to reminds me of how realistic I need to be under specific circumstances.  Specific, meaning being an adult independent--- and trying to find any type of work in order to survive. 

My tax documentations also seems to remind me that I am a so-called adult "independent"....  My thoughts on the actualities of attempting to survive in this country as a proclaimed independent I will reserve for another topic some day.

But capping off the 4th of July this past weekend, I remember my country's birth, signing a Declaration of Independence, however, all of these hundreds of years later not yet proving that we can live independently as individuals versus as a community of independent states free from the rest of the world...  I doubt I will live long enough to see the day come where we can all survive independent of one another, but it is one of my dreams living in this country.  And it is truly the fairest dream of all.

Circling back to my point-- sometimes, no matter what, you have to find support outside of within.

For all that comes from within can only get you so far in life....  Not to sound defeatist-- but it's simply the facts when living in a systematic society.  And every society need a system, whether we claim anarchy or not.  Without order we cannot exist....

So, to steer away from all of the chaos, I always am lead back to my roots, my family....

Or some type of crutch that keeps me sane.

Thankfully, I am lucky to have my family's unfaltering support and faith in my success for a promising future ahead, whatever that may end of being.  It's very scary.

It is said that one shouldn't dwell in the past or worry about the future--- but live in the moment.  But what happens when you think about those moments affecting your future?  What if every moment, every decision, and every consequence-- when you are trying to shape the future that you imagine for yourself-- reshapes the future that you want for yourself?  Your life is not putty and only you alone can hope to have sense enough to control what you would "imagine" your destiny to be...

The best you can do is try your hardest, right, even if no one seems to be paying attention?

Outside of family ties, there is only finding enjoyment picking you up enough to continue a forward moving journey --- forward moving ONLY-- with friends and company that not only  give you reassurance in yourself, but also lend those crutches you need incase you're in need of a pick-me-up.  Some families just simply aren't there for the quest.

CRUTCHES are important in this business.  In life, in general.

With or without the aid, I always try be in control of my destiny,

Sometimes, though, you will turn around thinking someone is looking over your shoulder to criticize you or sitting on your shoulder as an angel looking over you-- but you're alone.  And there's no one there.  So, as much as you can say we need each other (or don't need each other)-- we are alone to try to shape our destinies.  For our destinies our consequently by our own doing, our own fate, and our own decisions. 

I have been alone while doing this for the most part-- so the observance is for sure-- if my advice is questionable.  Not sure that being alone has gotten me far-- but it has kept me loyal to myself and "doing" despite roadblocks and adversity.  Ultimately, stepping away from others for a while will help you see where hands stretch out to meet you and where they don't, although you can never tell why or why not help would be there to begin with or not...

Work as hard as you can, and no one can deny you didn't work hard as critical as the world is, whether it's by the way you choose to live your life or the quality of work you produce.

The decision is always yours.  Even if that decision is to throw in the towel or truck onward and struggle until you hit a spot that your comfortable with both creating while surviving.  But it's a real difficult trick to find both.

I've been looking for a long, long time.

And luckily I have had some great opportunities all the way.

But new choices must be made.  I must find a way to survive, now, and standing just outside of the industry years after I have graduated, I have to look into a way to keep on my feet.  I'm sure the choice has been made by many artists before me... and I wonder what became of them and their artwork.

I wonder what will become of me, because without creating art-- I feel incomplete.

Without recognition for my talent I feel wasted.

The images are a few photographs my family took for me when they went to see my work in the exhibit showing at Fashion Institute of Technology.  When you DO hit some random accomplishments, they go support your successes.  That's the best feeling...  And working on bringing these student's concepts to a reality was one of the greatest jobs I'd ever had the pleasure of having! 

Here is the link to professional pictures from the exhibit:
 

Things have been busy these past few months, in some good ways and some bad ways.  I'm so busy I haven't been able to produce much work of my own unfortunately.  But I am glad to put 2015 behind me in the vault of another year where I am working really hard in pursuit of becoming a steady professional artist and trying to keep my faith that all of these long hours of crafting and learning and then crafting again, will eventually bring me some type of content in the course of my career. 

In the cusp of spring 2016, I recently hit a small stint as an in-house Zbrush artist preparing and cleaning up models and scan data for prototyping with very prestigious toys / collectibles company out here in California.  It was short lived, but I was very fortunate to land the job in the first place and even more fortunate to be lead under the direction of such headlining talent and to be giventhe chance to work around top notch traditionalists / finishers.  The experience was invaluable with all of the new techniques and skillsets I've developed...

On the homefront, I recently moved out of my one living arrangement and upgraded to a better living environment.  I am working on organzing the prefect studio space for myself, so that my remote work is sweet and concentrated....  so far so good.

But that remote work I've been stumbling through since last summer, one of the greatest opportunities I've had, has come to multiple stalls due to my finances, bills, and the time it takes working to make a little bit money to keep me above water...  The project is large scale, but small budget.  However, we are hoping to start showcasing all of the preproduction work soon to possibly get some leverage for the next step in production.  More on it to follow in future blogs for I hate to discuss it in detail, as I am not as far along as I would have liked to be at this point... it's trucking slowly but surely through the storm.  For now I have just been battening down the hatches.

Lately, I've been sprinkling it in here and there, but it truly is a struggle, and my time is often comparable to a watch that has fallen into water.  I'm exhausted and disoriented with what should come first-- when some things that aren't quite responsibilities weigh so heavily as priorities.

And I keep being reminded that:

Support is crucial.  Find some things.  Anything that that brings comfort.  Even if it is just to ease the troubles and nerves in times of stress--  I can't imagine not walking away for a while to find my physical and emotional comfort zones.  I am thankful that my family has stood by me through this struggle, but sometimes I even feel like they want me to give up or that they are tired of hearing my agonizing frustrations.  I have to admit-- an animal is good, because it can just be there and even if it doesn't know what you are saying-- it's there to listen.  I am so thankful to have my dog, Waffle, out here with me. 

And, in closing, I hope to write again with more news soon.  Up and UP only...  :-)
Thanks for reading...

"Aliens Underground: F.I.T Subway Re-Imagined"

Hi everyone, I hope everyone is well and summer is going great! Things have been very busy lately, so I have to make this a quick extended version from other social media sites...  Sorry!

I will try to elaborate later on next week-- as sigGRAPH is coming!  I am sure I will have some recap from some type of presentation.  So, keep a look out  ;-)

So, quickly, here's what's been up with my artwork these past few months.  I just received additional resources on the exhibit that I help create at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City.  Mainly, I was given the links to view some of the photographs from the exhibit!

The sculptures will be on display until August 31st, 2015, so if you are in the local New York City area, please drop by, as I am sure all of these tiny sculptures are much more authentic to see live and in person! The exhibit looks absolutely amazing!

Here is the link to see some of the photos!

And another one to view some additional photos:

http://issuu.com/kcstation/docs/aliens_underground_-_fit_exhibit_c6afeee1dc407d

Below is a series of snapshots of some renderings of the 3D sculptures for the pieces that I given the opportunity to work on, and the complimenting credits to the creators of the initial concepts!

 

"MATA ALIEN" - Zoila Mata

 

 

 

"WENDY" - Christine Bell

 

 

 

 

"NATURE'S BEAUTY" - Hyoung Kim

 

 

 

MOLERAT - Carlos Luciano

Each of these 6-Inch printed sculptures were recreated by digital sculpting artists, including myself, using reference that was created by Illustration majors from FIT's class of 2015.

The address to see these sculptures in there physical state is West 27th Street and 7th Avenue-Pomerantz Building.  Please stop by and support both your next generation artists, myself, and all the other digital sculptors that were involved!

Currently, I am swamped with another creative opportunity that has been consuming much of my free time...  I am working hard to get stuff done and get it done good!  As I find out more information, I will elaborate some more about this job.

At the wake of sigGRAPH 2015, things are ridiculous trying to get prepared for it.  If you have never gone, I highly recommend attending some time...  Especially to check out some of the production session or the dallies.  Over the next weeks, I promise to put together some sort of review. 

Thanks for reading, as always.  :-)
I hope you all enjoying the summer!  It is going by way to fast for me! 

 

Envirornment Art.

My first attempt at stepping outside of my usual character modeling work and branch into something that would appear easier than it actual is... Environment modeling is a huge testament of patience and detail work. I have high hopes for this piece, as I know I need to open up my skillsets more and I'd really like to have a nice fully rendered concept.
 

 

I am planning on making this  into a fully polished 2D concept piece, with potential for animation at a later (later) time... So far it's been a lot of fun and extremely challenging.  So many small details to get through!  A lot of research and reference hunting, too.

 I've been working on this in free moments over the past couple weeks. I'm eager to get past the modeling for once in my life, however, and dive into the lighting, maps, and texture work.  I'd like to play around with Xgen as well, as I've heard a lot of great things about it...

 

To learn about the process, I've been busying myself with my digital tutors subscription, which has been a lifesaver.  Specifically I found Justin Marshall's "Setting Dressing and Design in Maya" very helpful.  His videos were easy to understand technically which is always nice for a change, but very useful for demonstrating different ideas for how to approach of organizing, and building the foundations for working with out of the assets as an entity. 

 

I particularly liked his referencing technique;  painting registrations marks on his terrain as a guide to where his objects, vegetation, etc, will be placed...   There was definitely some great tips throughout his tutorial.  I recommend it for a core foundation if you have never attempted modeling an environment before!

 

But, hey, I've got a long way to go myself...  So, luck be on my side that I get to the finish line as I intend...

 

 

There really is a lot to learn about an environment modeling workflow.  I'd really love to find some more resources, maybe take a class at some point.  Even matte painting would be great to explore down this avenue of the industry!

Have to make this one short, but wanted to get my latest work out there... Things are a bit hectic at the moment with the hustle of it all.  I'm volunteering some of my time at a company learning and working with character animation and have a small commissioned gig (which I'll go into both at another time-- but both very exciting!).  Both are keeping me very busy, too, but hopefully I will have more progress to show soon!  

I hope you all had a great holiday!  Welcome to Summer 2015.  Let's bring it on strong!
Please drop by again to find out what's new! And thank you as always for your support!

"I Know That I Know Nothing"

Getting set, and gone.  I left my hometown mid March to make my return back to California in pursuit of a career path.  I waited out on leaving right after the holidays in fear of the winter weather -- as I had to drive back across the country with my dog -- and I wanted to give myself a little extra time to get my work together for 2015.  In both aspects, I can't really say I was overly successful, but the efforts took dedication and were exhausting.

Firstly, I drove through the worst winter advisory of the season.  Plain. Bad. Timing.  Snow, sleet, ice, and fog all the way from New York through Tennessee!  It took three hours of driving blinded by and crippled by a thick white mess to get from Staunton to Ronoake.  Very scary.  Not to mention my dog wanting to go for a run every time we stopped to clean the wipers or gas up... Who I can never escape guilt for being so well behaved on the ride, otherwise.

I look back now, though.  And it was a truly great adventure.  Great bonding time with my Mom, whom I miss her company deeply now.  And an equally heartfelt time spent with my dog, who enjoys to stimulus of different atmospheres.

The latter-- the workload--  I rebuilt my website from scratch as a couple people had suggested.  Make it less stylized and more generic.  I was always hesitant about because my updated work, in retrospect, would have to compensate.  I've updated an animation reel with the facial animation work I've had over 2014...  And I began to redo my modeling reel.  But then, as fast as the time went by, it was time to leave, again.  Fast forward a couple weeks, when I look back I'm not sure if it was worth it to redo my 'package' -- when I can spend that time actually building more artwork and doing what I actually enjoying.  But in the end I tend to steer toward doing whatever I think will actually help me get paid work.  Perhaps its self-defeating.  But I did it.  And it's done.  Here is two comparisons of the new website the old website:  I'd love to hear feedback on which is more professional and pleasing to look at, but I know this blog doesn't produce too many comments. 

HOMEPAGE

 

 There's no doubt the site needed an update, but a complete renovation had honestly been pushed off for quite some type.  A)  It's a ton a work.  B)  How to design a site that is functional but still interesting to look at, as I'm not confident my work can stand on its on merit yet.  Meaning, presentation should sell what is lacking in content.  At least in my opinion, and as that cliché always screams (said it before and will say if again) "Presentation is everything"

I don't want to go too far into the updates in this post, but the main objectives that  I was trying to achieve was putting the best content in the opening page and narrowing down my focus(es) to what I am aiming for as a career that I'd be happy in.  Also, I nixed the branding, simplified the navigation, and attempted to go as neutral a color scheme as possible.  Although, I didn't completely curb the designer side of me.  I stuck to natural with one non-invasive accent color. 

CONTACT PAGE

For my new site, I simplified by combined my Qualifications and Bio into one page, and kept me contact form within reach on every page by including it in a side tab.  Also, I offered more of a closeness / familiarity by including a face to the name.

 

 So... California.  Things have swung into a busy schedule very fast.  I am keeping tight lipped about my current work situation, as I am not wanting to jinx myself.  I am more deeply invested in animation than ever before, which has been pleasure to enter a weekday with, but still currently on a wild craze to secure an independent living for myself out here. 

Outside of my elusiveness, I  have been busy with interviews in all types of industries and busy with different industry tests, one for photoreal work and one for gaming -- both have which have resulted in higher learning, texturing work, and overall more enhanced pieces for my portfolio.  I cannot complain either outcome, although circumstances are still leaving me a bit high and dry.

So I find myself looking around for work... anywhere.  Because I have to survive, right?

My tips from this mess? 

Not in this industry alone, but ANY industry for ANY job, even if you feel over or under qualified, do NOT lie on a resume.  I hate the thought that I would ever have to resort to lying because I'm worried about what a potential employer might think...  I never have and never will.  

Give yourself due merit, and give the potential employer an opportunity to hear your side of the story or let them take it upon their selves to compromise your integrity (or not).  Instead, try your best to sell yourself in your cover letter.  Clarify what they write in their advertisement while including yourself in the equation, almost in a 'repeat after me' fashion.  They want you to get personal and tell you a bit about yourself, give it to them...  But don't lie on your resume.

If I have to go back to 1999, for crying out loud, I will.  (And have).  What should make work experience become obsolete?  It should never become obsolete.  There's a reason why you worked some jobs, and there's a reason why you'd work those jobs again.  No one has the right to judge or discriminate why you're standing there looking for work.  And , yes, on another note, discrimination is usually silent.  I can understand being underqualified for a position, but if anyone had ever given me advice...  Should it have been suggested that I  need to under-qualify myself after all these years?

A 34 year old single jobless woman or a 62 year old jobless man...

There is a reason why that person is standing there at that place applying-- and that reason is for no one but that person to understand.  Most people would never waste their time without an intended purpose. 

This doesn't need to be written, but there needs to be awareness and it should no ever be forgotten to all those out their struggling.  The hardest obstacles to prove unlawful, when all one wants to do is work for a fairly earned buck, are issues that deal with mixing sociology and psychology in the standard status quo.  It just never quite mixes right.  Like oil and water-- although both are used together sometimes. 

Even applying blindly online to a variety of jobs in a variety of industries, which is defeating enough as devoid of social interaction it already is, it truly makes one question if it would really be this difficult if friends put in a good word...  I mean, how much quality and authenticity does an online voice really have?  How does an employer gage that outside of what's on paper?  In employment reality, its essential to have a references, but not have many associated friends?  But what is a reference in contrast to friend anyways?  Aren't they doing you the same justice by endorsing you as a person without underselling your skills?  They are the ones would acknowledge how they'd feel you prevail because they know you and your ethics personally.  What does networking do, if not building budding professional relations?  To me, networking has always seemed like a cold way of communicating your desire to mold with other opportunists.  Who really cares?  We do it, but do we really like each other I find myself wondering sometimes... and if we did or didn't... where does that interaction take you?

I'm not saying, it's bad.  I do it all the time...  It just makes me wonder.
I try to equate networking to some type of animal behavior and all I come up with is a bunch of birds hanging out in the trees waiting to figure out which flock their going to fly south with..  I don't know?  Just the first thing that came to my head.  :-)

Anyways, it's just a stream of consciousness written without a set emotion outside of sheer hope.
All just curiosities and observations.

As far as my tests --  that's just what they were-- and each of them two had very powerful personal results, but sucked a ton of personal time out of me, which is why I haven't been able to finish up this post until now.

Here is one of them so far:

 

I will make a post of all the difficulties I had along the way and some suggestions for how to approach them maybe.  There were a lot-- as this was intended to be a model for gaming purposes with an ultimate 'passing' goal to skin and rig him.  I have no formal training on modeling for gaming, so the process is self taught and/or scattered with protips and potholes.

 

Overall, however, the concept and model itself was well received...  This model is my first model I finallyI feel comfortable with working with textures and UV layout, although pipeline and workflow integration is still very iffy. 

 

Much of my stumbling came from going back and have to adjust topology, seams, etc and then having trouble working with fixing up projection and polypaint data again.  Along with skinning and rigging in 3ds Max, a program I've never had to skin and rig in before.  

In finishing, I will probably default to my native 3D program for that area, Maya-- since I am already familiar with the process.  Or maybe even Motionbuilder, now that I have learned that program in the past month!  It seems to work well with Maya, too, but we'll see.  I'm not going to give myself a headache about rigging or rush into the specific trade, since I know longer have to...  but I am interested to see if he will actually work as an animatable character.  Unless there is anyone out there who wants to give the skinning / rigging a shot?  ;-)  Otherwise, 'll get back around to him at some point in the future postmarked with a promise...

BUT--  Before I had left New York, I started building a personal piece in Maya, as well, which I've had to put on the shelf since then.  I am planning on finishing up the sculpting details this week, since I'm finally test-less! 

I've got the itch to get back to my personal work.  I can't wait to incorporate all I've learned.
But, first I need to prioritize.

So this week it's hustling to try to find a way to make ends meet, continuing with the project I'm keep tightlipped about for fear of alternative hexing, and I'm back to my A-game focusing on my personal work.

Until the next time...  I will have some more to show soon.
Please come back and visit!  Hopefully good things are on the near horizon! 

 

The link is the same, but here is the link to  my updated site, if you wanted to check it out!

Putting It To Print.

Happy 2015, everyone, and thanks for following along with my lifelong pursuit to keep at work with my art on a professional and personal level.

The last couple of months I have had the great privilege of working with one of my favorite software doing one of my favorite things!  My task was to make a bunch of 3D sculptures in Zbrush out of children's drawings and make them suitable to print as physical models with Shapeways and a company called 3DP4E.  A few of them are now on an extended display at the Children's Museum of Art in New York City thanks to 3DP4E, which I had the honor meeting and of being escorted by, to go and see the exhibit for myself the other weekend!

It was a small but incredulously awesome display to say I was a part of, that hangs near the front entrance and is semi-viewable to the outside passersby who doesn't have time to step in.

I wasn't in town to attend the reception, because I was still in California at the time, but luckily was able to make it back home to find it may become a permanent exhibit!  Quite the honor and it is picture worthy, as I haven't yet had the opportunity to be awarded too many of these types of jobs like this at this point in my career...

Currently, I am scrambling around to find work again, trying to stay focused and keep inspired while I try not to panic about money and worry about being broke.... This was a definitely a nice booster to my professional confidence, as times have been tough since I've left the airlines and made the leap to try to launch my career with art in entertainment full time.

I recently completed animation a 45 second promotional piece for the movie, "A Horse Story", that I have been working on with XVIII Entertainment since my move out to California, along with another small animation gig the other day.  Details to follow on that  because I'm not sure I'm allowed to discuss at this point yet.  The movie, however, is in the QC ends of post production and while the  projected release is somewhere in early n 2015, it has not yet been released for public viewing.  I know the movie was picked up by Archstone Distributors the other month, which is always good, as Archstone has had a few head-turner type movies in the past on the list.

Again, "A Horse Story" is yet another project I am grateful to be a part of, to have gained that type of experience, and I am hoping for the best for it!

For 2015, I decided to spend some time back in New York and reconnect with some of my closest friends that I feel I may have neglected time with in the past, to bond with my family and to rack some art hours my old office I built a few years back.  I'm making another attempt reorganize my priorities at trying to shove my way into the industry, loved or loathed, by updating up my website and attending to dusty works in progress since I last had a free moment.

Well, I've only been successful with meeting up with two friends unfortunately, my family and I have feuded here and there with feelings of a worn but unconditional and always familiar indifferent welcoming, and my work has sat on the back burner most thankfully to real work that trickled in.  So, my office hours have exceeded my expectations so far this year!  Yippee!  Never new news with that.  But in this small span of time, its has glimmer of aiding me financially. Double Yippers.

Which brings me to my big hopes for this year:  To be able to survive independently on my own!  Small but not so simple wishes for myself.  I'd really love to find that perfect job, with the perfect co-workers, and the perfect price tag attached.  I mean, if fairy tales stress to find that fitting shoe or we hear that cliche over and over 'the glove that fits', why is it so unreasonable to aim to achieve it all versus settle for less?

Is there a point in our lives where we should sit back and say I'm getting too old to be wanting anymore?  Well, no, but if there was a HINT of 'yes', it would feel even worse to accept that I may just be too tired of trying at the same time that I am getting to old.  I'm saying it isn't so, just because just that's it's extremely difficult to preserver.

I always say in my head.  I deserve a good job.  I especially deserve to be around good people.  I worked hard all these years since I graduated, even if it wasn't even close to graduating top of my class... And while I was in school, I still worked hard-- two jobs during the time, one flying to the Caribbean at ungodly hours of the weekends and the other as a waitress at Olive Garden-- trying to make enough money to pay for my hour and a half commute back and forth into the city every other day for classes.  Plus homework and lab time. I know no one can appreciate the excuse except me, because I actually lived it.

I still graduated.  Barely.  And barely finished my thesis-- as I few crucial elements had to be trimmed, etc, and it wasn't  as big or cool as I originally intended.  On my own just about....  somehow.  I got a cool character out of it.  That was about it. 

And I knew that my lack of committed time was where I went wrong.  To this day I regret, working those jobs while I was at school-- but I needed to.  I think my thesis would have been so much better.  (I know it would have been better).   I think it would have helped me make closer friends with my colleagues, which I feel is really important as well... 

I still kept the sail on its course, even while staying at the airlines seven years after I graduated.  Doing some amateur looking but large scale projects for reputable clients that found me somehow-- that got the job done, executed the intention of the contract, but maybe didn't "look"so polished and pretty like a commercial built by ten.  I had satisfied clients that I still keep in cordial contact with up to this present day.

I know my weak spots, though;  The stuff I haven't yet proved to the professional world.  But I also know my strong spots, my variance of skill-sets, and my worth-- including my hospitality-- which lacks in day to day existence and is an overlooked quality to have as an employee.  And I keep feeling if I could just find the right place and the right group, they'd know I was an asset, they'd like me because they trusted me, and they'd enjoy my company and working with me.

I read something the other day that hit home in so many ways.  It said "If a woman can't get hired, she can't get the experience, but she can't get the experience if no one hires her."  Its meant for anyone and everyone, but I wanted to quote it in its exactness.  I feel like I'm at a constant struggle with this since always.  I'm sure many guys can relate, too. 

outside of my twelve years the airlines, my only real longer term 3D job, was hardly even closely related to the entertainment industry-- and, therefore remained obsolete when trying to explain exactly what I was even hired for at any opportunity at an interview afterward...

But where I am now-- one of those great freelance gigs-- like this print job and this new and occasional plummeting I've been having with animation --  which would be a blessing if it became more consistent.  I remember I always considered I should focus more on animation instead of the modeling when I switched from traditional animation to computer animation.

I just remember that I wanted to bring my characters to life....  All these drawings on my blog and my website and scattered all over place...  And in order to bring them to life, I had to model them first.  I wasn't thinking what I may be better at or what would make me a more employable prospect after I graduated.  I didn't even think about my fate after I graduated...  I just knew I loved it at that moment.

If I can keep gaining experience, I'm hoping that this year, I'm going to find a job or more jobs that I like and more companies that hopefully likes me and my work, and I'm going to get back on my feet again.  That's all I want this year.  Whatever type of job that is--  It's just got to fit like that glove, because I want my career to be a half my life  in a good way, since working is supposed to be half of an everyday life.  There key substance matter in that last statement, in a world wide scream, for any gender at any age.

I'm grateful that this job (and a few others) have entrusted me enough to give me a chance to shine!!!
It keeps my world at peace.

Well wishes to you all for the New Year, as well.  And thanks for reading my rants, and looking over my work.  Stay tuned for more updates soon!  Happy New Year, everyone.  :-)