07-22-2013: The Seedsmith!

Hey, all! I have just done some SUPER fun stuff.

This is my first solo stop motion shot, the first time I've done two characters, and the first time I've animated a camera move. It took a total of 3 hours of planning and 12.5 hours to execute (spread across two days).

I already see how I'd do things better next time, but I'm pretty ecstatic. This is definitely some of the most fun I've ever had animating.

And here are some pictures of it in process for ya:

The sets for this film are absolutely gorgeous. This is an external one of the field, complete with plow-able soil.

My beloved x-sheet, and the only way I was able to do this.

Channeling some good energy!

With the actor. He's such a pleasure to work with.

6-29-2013: Luckiest Girl Ever!

So! I have officially celebrated my graduation from the animation MFA program at SCAD! Woo! I'm still in Savannah, tying up some loose thesis ends. But I have received the best grad present in the world! My very own Cintiq! I cannot contain my glee.

Here's the first thing I've really done with it - a quick warm-up self portrait, about thirty minutes. SO EXCITED. 8D

05-09-2013: ChoBaby Doodlin'

I've been doing a lot of work for my thesis film, Falls, lately, so not a lot of time for doodlin'. But I took a moment today to pop out this quick little sketch of my derpy kitty, Cho Cho.

04-28-13: Baby's First Stop Motion Animation!

Hey, all! Yesterday I teamed up with my good friend Chris Freihofer for our first bit of stop motion animation ever! First, we worked out how we wanted the shot to go. Then Frei manned the monitor and planned our shot out with DragonFrame's awesome arc tools, and guided me through posing our mantis character for each frame. (He was a little jealous that I got to play with the puppet, but I insisted his guidance was what was making the shot work!) We hit a couple of snags with old batteries not holding a charge for very long, but even with the challenges of switching batteries and re-positioning the camera, it was an immense amount of fun. What a great way to animate!

04-18-2013: Adventures in Stop Motion!

This quarter I am embarking upon my first forays into stop motion animation! Honestly, I don't know what took me so long.

Directed by Robert Vilushis, the film is about a small fairy man who lives in the woods. He runs a magical forge with which he smiths seeds into tools for his farm. Three critters assist him; a praying mantis, a pill bug, and a slug. He's built various tools to help the animals - he made a shell for the slug, turning it into a snail. The snail shell has been my major sculptural contribution so far.

Sarah Mannino, our lead puppet artist, sculpted the
body of our slug - I helped make the mold to cast him.

The shell was designed to look like acorns, sawed in half,
hammered flat, and nailed together like shingles.
Collecting reference was fun.

Sarah was kind enough to sculpt the
base shape of the shell for me. Super time saver!

Here's my basic plan for the details, with real acorns
and another of the seed-smith's tools for reference.

After approval from the director, I fleshed the
design out a bit more and brought it into relief.

Agh! I forgot to take pictures of it before it went off to mold-making.
But here it is afterwards, a little worn, but still holding some details.

And here's the mold! 

I'm pretty thrilled - it looks like the silicone caught a lot of the detail.

Stay tuned! I'll post the plastic versions once they've been poured.

3-28-2013: Zbrush Zbrush Zbrush

My challenge to myself this week has been learning Zbrush! I decided that, even though my thesis film is going to be 2D, a digital maquette of my character might be helpful to keep the animators (myself included!) on-model. Here's the character turn (there are some errors I'll need to fix, the position of the arms, for example):

With the help of some Lynda.com and Pixelogic tutorials, and my great friend Kintan Chauhan, I've made a great deal of progress in the last few days! Though it started out a little rough, ha ha.

Seriously?

Ew...

Here's where it is now!

Getting a little more comfortable here! Woo!

For those who might not know, the rough spots on her shoulders are what "Zclay" looks like before it's been smoothed out. I'm loving this program! And the tools I've learned so far are only the tip of the iceberg. Huzzah!

3-27-2013: Jen's Fantastic Voyage

Here's a lil' thing I wrote up back in November, after Fall quarter, but somehow forgot to post. Figured it deserves some internet space. The course was "Constructive Human Anatomy," and was taught by Paul Hudson. I highly recommend studying with him if you get the chance! A brilliant mind and incredibly talented.


"Okay, so, less about cleaning out blood clots, and more about exploring human musculoskeletal physiology, but fantastic nonetheless!

I had an incredible course at SCAD this past quarter. It left me more intelligent about the human body, but also changed the way I observe and interpret the world we inhabit. I also got to dig back into some clay! It was exciting to remember how happy and comfortable I am working with my hands.

We began by looking at the head, torso and pelvis into basic shapes. We made these out of clay, and drew them from life until we were well acquainted with them. Then, both with conte and clay, we cut away and added volumes until our eggs, soupcans and teacups actually started resembling something you might see on a human form.

At the same time, we were learning the names and shapes of the major bones and processes in the body, and conceptualizing a pose, shooting reference, and building an armature for our own personal muscle study in both clay and conte. By midterm, we had base head, torso, pelvis and scapula shapes on our ecroges, and had drawn them from 6 different angles.

After midterm, we started on musculature. In class, we worked with partners to place muscles on a neutral-posed skeleton. At home, we added the same muscles to our ecroges. We covered the neck, back, chest, stomach and upper arms in class, but we taught ourselves and each other about the forearms, buttocks, and legs at home. I think that was my favorite part of the course. It was a good reminder that learning is not just for the classroom, but a continuous, invigorating and powerful process - and one that can be shared with your peers!

I'm very proud of what I was able to accomplish in the ten weeks of this class, but it's definitely just the beginning. I'm definitely going to keep refining my ecroge, but I've also got a bunch of projects floating around my mind! Very exciting times!

Thanks, as always, for reading. Love you guys!

Best,

Jen"

3-27-2013: St. Grumpy

A friend cried out for help: "Dear Internet: We need a painting of Grumpy Cat in the style of a saintly icon. People with artistic skills, MAKE IT HAPPEN! I have no artistic skills, otherwise I would."

He posted this reference image, which you can find here.

(Unfortunately, the image seems widely used,
and I can't seem to find the original artist.
Please let me know if anyone knows who it's from!)

I complied:

She is holding a Starbucks Coffee Cake, because they are her favorite food.

3-6-2013: Disney-fied!

Got inspired by Tangled! So here's a Disney Jen. :)

And a green one for my vfx buddies out there - we're in this together, guys! Hearts!

2-18-13: So much for that late work night.

Came to Monty to work. Put my shots through triage. Got all set up with to do lists. Realized I forgot my scripts at home. Drove my hard drive back to get them. Came back to Monty. Without my hard drive. And then I did this. Time for bed!

2-11-13: My love!

A tribute to my love, Grumpy Cat.

1-24-13: Tiger Tiger, Burning Bright

Got to do a little more work on this today before I ran off to meet with my producer. Still not sure about her left ankle - will have to get some reference. But tigers! Yay!

1-23-13: A little work in progress...

A little work in progress for a fun side project to unwind. The beginnings of a quick little ditty for the tarot card, "Strength."