Bamboo Teahouse

First Layout - Last Week of School

2006-12-09T11:56:00.000-05:00

Okay so, uhmm, yeah things are a little crazy right now at school. I recently just finished Life Drawing class, and Animation History. All I have left to do are:

14 Layout objects with 3 views
Bugs Bunny "Jump-on-to-a-Box-with-Perspective" Final Animation
Organic Galleon Final Layout
(Finish the Timing) Final Storyboard Like-A-Reel
Character Design Final "Evolve your previous Assignment" Assignment
4 Digital Tools Assignment which includes making a demo reel

AND FINALLY

Animation History Exam

...........................

Someone shoot me.

Nahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, just kidding, even with no sleep, I've come a far way of just teaching myself to let things be. I'm happy that I'm almost done first semester. What a ride it's been.

More Seneca Stuff Uploaded Behind Schedule

2006-10-20T01:34:00.000-04:00

Long time no upload! I forgot to upload some of my work in the past weeks so here it is. I'm still killing myself over time management. I'm so glad reading week is this week because it'll give me the opportunity to really catch up on work and have a fresh start.

I'll post my other lifedrawings and hopefully I'll keep improving. Here's some character design stuff that i've been working on that'll hopefully fend off the art dogs that I know. Take the meat you killers!

The designs were for stereotyping 6 characters and the photoshopped colour drawings were an assignment in digital tools class. The line drawings are done by David Bluestein who just so happened to be the Art Fundamentals Co-ordinator as well as my teacher.

Week FIVE and Still ALIVE!

2006-10-11T22:52:00.000-04:00

Hello Again! These are just some of my week 5 drawings. I added the week 2 stuff because I thought it was an interesting way for me to get back in touch with the life drawing process of "modeling". Week 5 cafe sketches were therapeutic. I'll update again very soon since we got back our storyboard and layout assignment. I'm dreading the feedback on our first three animations though. As I promised, I'll update again VERY soon.

Week 5 X-tra Life Drawings

Week 2 "New Process Gesturing"

Week 5 Cafe Sketch

Animation = First Selling Your Soul, Then You Turn Into A Zombie

2006-10-05T22:36:00.000-04:00

Hi Everyone!!!

It's been a while since I've been updating this old thing, and I apologize once again for not posting my school work or any other for that matter. Once I get some projects back, I'll start scanning and explaining what we have been doing.

The first few weeks have been extremely fun and hard. It's a challenge, although I do have to admit, I don't think I am approaching time management effectively. I've come from being a lively, feisty fighter, to a barely walking, barely standing, coffee-drinking zombie. I'm already established as "Jackie the Machine" or "Jackie the Workaholic" and even though my classmates use it endearingly, the truth of the matter is, in the long run, it's not healthy.

I've been feeling pretty lousy lately, and sleeping and staying over at school when you live 5 minutes walking distance away is not exactly the best logic I've ever come to calculate. I'm going to have to rethink my plan of action because it's definitely not working. I still love this program though, and I never complain about the work. I think I might just have to pull back on the reins a bit and let my self breathe. I can only do so much with my skillset and mindset right now.

On a more cheery note: this is what I've been up to.

Cafe Sketches - Week 1 to Week 4

Extra Life Drawings - Week 1 to Week 4

Torso Top and Bottom View

Back To School, Fools! BWAh HAh HAhAh!

2006-09-05T22:21:00.000-04:00

Mass apologies for not being able to post recently. I went on vacation as well as had a one hell of a month in August.

School has started back up in September, and typing this post is all I can do to keep awake ( I didn't sleep very well the night before the first day of class). Hopefully, all goes well in this coming semester, and I plan on meeting lot's of new and exciting artists who have made it into our program. Hopefully, everything I've learned up until now will stay with me...I fear I'm a tad bit rusty.

The new people that I've met so far seem like a friendly bunch of people...OH MAN I'M SO EXCITED FOR THIS PROGRAM!!!

-love you all

jackie

Subway Sketching Continuation of New Process

2006-08-09T01:06:00.000-04:00

So, here it is. More of my thing, less of strained boxes. I think I'm going to try to be a little loser, but now that I have some more knowledge of form and planes as well as boxes and sculpting the forms out. I'm going to try to imagine that instead of drawing a restrictive box. Here's to you, kid.

Panda Power! Oh It's Back, Baby!

2006-08-09T00:54:00.000-04:00

UPDATE: PANDA MORE IN PROGRESS

So, this is some studies of pandas and brown bears I'm doing for the Design Challenge Blog that some Senecans started up. some drawings are from "The Art Of Animal Drawing" and they really are helping me understand volumes. go check out the site on the right side of the links. top one.

Pandas are an inside joke and one of my friend Nate (see links) suggested I do a royal panda counselor. I coulnd't have made a better choice. I'm having too much fun drawing my panda counterpart in a design. First I wanted to study masses and bone structure, then figure out poses and attitude to describe his royalness. More roughs on the way.

Subway Sketching: Just The Four Of Us

2006-08-06T22:25:00.000-04:00

Today, I went sketching with some friends. There was only four of us, but we had a blast none the less. It's amazing what kind of conversations you can have with a small group of people. They say going to places where large groups of people gather, like parties, can stimulate your mental/social skills. I think that's true of course, but there's something much more intimate and personal when it's just your friends and you doing the thing you want to do for the rest of your life. Or maybe, at least to get better at. :)

So, in my before post, I believe setting aside boxes for now, will be my best bet to tackling faces. It seems that I tighten up subconsciously when I draw boxes, trying to get them "perfect" and "in perspective", puts a lot of strain on your brain. What I believe happens for me is, I concentrate too much on making the box look perfect, and not enough concentration on making my faces look human and alive. So, I'm just going to get away from the boxes for now, but use a different process to attain the same results. We'll see how it goes.

Trying Something Different: Give Me Life!

2006-08-06T20:45:00.000-04:00

August 6th, 2006,

I wanted to try something a little different. After a life drawing session, I had a conversation with the life drawing model and I asked her to take a look at some of my stuff. My boxes weren't really working for me, so she suggested I try something else. I couldn't completely agree more. I also spoke with some of my friends today at Bobby Chiu's Sketchgroup, and they also suggested I work on a different approach to faces. There is no set method of drawing. Drawing lot's of boxes is only a one way of many to get perspective and plane changes. I personally find boxes a little too containing for me, rather, I think I like to just imagine the boxes now then draw inside those imaginary boxes, except on paper. I hope I'll continue to work this method out because today wasn't a bad drawing day for me.

It's been a good weekend so far. I can't wait until the real drawing starts in September...until then, continuation of drawing and life drawing should be helping me out.

Return To Blind Contour: Quick Contour Study

2006-08-05T04:42:00.000-04:00

Quick contour study. 10 mins, thursday, august 4th, 2006. Starting to wind down and just trying to take it easy. Going to try to draw for fun now, as silly as that sounds. I find that when I'm not pressuring myself to do something, I usually do better. When you wanna get better at drawing, you can't try too too hard. :)

Jig Saw Puzzle: Can You Unscramble It?!

2006-08-05T04:33:00.000-04:00

This Is The Title Because I Have Nothing Interesting To Say

2006-07-28T03:46:00.000-04:00

More and more and more. The monkeys were pretty cute. A lot of them were like swinging around. If by any chance you guys visit the zoo, the exhibit to see is the spider monkeys.

The Polar Bear

2006-07-28T02:48:00.000-04:00

Polar bear was actually pretty cute. There was a gang of geese, flock , whatever, but they were pretty brave to come up to us to see if we had food on hand.

More From The Zoo

2006-07-28T01:53:00.000-04:00

Lesson learned from this day: tigers are freaking huge up close.

June 26th, First Time Zoo Drawings

2006-07-27T23:45:00.000-04:00

Had fun with two friends a while back drawing some crazy animals. :)

Sketchy Sketchy! Moody Moody!

2006-07-24T22:29:00.000-04:00

Current Mood: Foul

Nothing much to say today. Here's some sketches. I'm studying some Bridgeman's currently. Still working on structure and mass as well as trying not to tighten up my drawing when doing longer poses. The only thing I'm happy about is the profile view of the woman. I'm trying to get an clear understanding of the main differences between males and females and be able to communicate those differences.

And The Frustration Continues: Round Two

2006-07-21T03:11:00.000-04:00

Yeah. This is my more recent stuff. Seems all the bad things that can happen to you when you don't want it to...happens. Personal issues and life's curveballs have been piling on top of me, so I'm trying to ignore it and just keeping myself preoccupied so that I don't think about these situations. It seems like my frustrations are just increasing. I need to take it easy for a while. Like I said, I don't get beat down. I get angry. Off to more life drawing. Hopefully I'll be more optimistic and less pissy in my future posts. Sorry if I'm upsetting anyone. I can't always be my crazy self it seems...

A note to myself though: start doing some drawings of other things besides boxes.

until next time

-jackie

Back To Basics - Massing

2006-07-07T00:20:00.000-04:00

Boxes...Boxes...Boxes...

This was done a while ago, but the main reason for me posting it was to remind myself what I'm trying to accomplish this summer; not pretty pictures, but understanding of theories, processes, and as well, just getting into the habit of drawing.

The second post is of something I decided to just crap out in a minute during x-life. Terrible, yes, I know. It's up anyways as a constant reminder of why I'm working on faces and heads this summer. Back to Basics. Bridgeman...here I come. :S

Overwhelming Frustration Vs. Ongoing Ambition

2006-07-06T01:41:00.000-04:00

Alright. So. These life drawings (which took forever to scan in since I had 18 x 24 newsprint on a 8 x 12 scanner)were done Tuesday, July 4th, with Shawn as the model. It was an odd, uneventful day. It was made better with my conversations on the way here to Seneca @ York with Shawn, but overall, I've been fairly disappointed with my progress in life drawing. I feel as if I'm just violently mashing conte or charcoal into my newsprint. Not only do I feel that I'm wasting valuable materials, worse still, I feel as if I'm not progressing the way I should be.

It feels as if all my frustrations are wrapping themselves around my tiny little brain. It's as if when I put down any lines, or think of different processes, my mind somehow always goes back to "what the hell am I doing?". I need rest, and I need to read some books. I'm not the type of person to give up so easily...I'm the type of person who uses anger as a tool to overcome my faults and weaknesses.

This is my mentality when I compete in sports; screw the poetry if it turns out that way:

I'm not lookin' too hot, so what the hell can I do?

Think. Just think.

Can I beat them? Of course I can...I've worked harder. I'm better. I'm stronger.

What fancy *bleep* can I pull out of my *bleep* to win? What do I know, that they don't know? What can I use to my advantage?

Most of all, how bad do they want it? Not as much as I do. I want that win. I want it bad....

* * * * * * *

and whenever I pumped myself up, usually, we always won. I think I'm going to use what works for me. In this case, I know I'm ambitious. I'm going to use that focus and drive to beat this mother effing life drawing. 'Scuse the french, but I'm going to kick it's ass. KICK ITS' ASS!

Return To The Boxed Face

2006-06-22T03:22:00.000-04:00

Well, after taking a short break from faces, I found myself longing to go back to them. I'm a perfectionist, so if I don't have something done to my standards, I'm never sastisfied. A blessing and a curse in disguise, no? Anyway, I went back to faces and I need to practice getting back into "linear thinking mode". I'm trying to go back to boxes in life drawing, too, and that didn't end too too badly.

Bobby Chiu, Gavin, Kei, and T decided to come to an X-life session as Seneca so I'm thankful that they were there to help me out a bit. I'll post some life drawing when I have time and it's not 3:30am. <3

How Can Anyone Not Like Feet? - X-Life Studies

2006-06-22T02:58:00.000-04:00

Okay gang, these were some studies I was doing at X-life recently. I think this was around the week of June 17th (it's good to date your sketches so that you can see how fast you're improving or what you need to change to improve faster)
and I have to say, studying body parts is really pretty fun. I always was pretty fascinated with National Geographics or the Discovery channel whenever they had science related to the human body.

I guess it's just natural that my curiosity with the human body carrys over to art. In any case, I enjoyed studying feet and arms and hopefully I can carry my fascination and enthusiasm for it to other parts of the body.

There is much to work on, but what Jackie X-life is complete without a contour of some sort. Body contour down for the count and I definitely enjoyed filling a page of feet. The idea came from my friend Andrew's (See Links) blog where he put up all his talented life drawing sketches.

Get Those Brain Juices Flowing!

2006-06-10T01:20:00.000-04:00

These sketches were done during the time my friend Nate (See Links) and I were sketching at Yorkdale. I had heard that Jose (See Links) and him would do concepts, and since I wanted to get away from drawing some heads, I thought, heck why don't we just do some concepts back and forth. And so we did.

1st - Night Cavern Carnivore

2nd - We had the basic shape of some benches and a plant that was situated where Nate and I were sitting, so we made a character out of that. Mine is some tree, venus trap thingy. Maybe I'll add more to it later.

3rd - Old Hispanic Janitor, I tried my best :S

4th - Nate's concept idea was Humanoid Canine Warrior. I made mine a St. Bernard Brawler. I was surprised that the wristband and collar on the dog fit nicely for the title of a brawler and added a nice effect that it was a dog.

Two Heads Are Better Than One...Or In This Case...A Gajillion

2006-06-10T00:55:00.000-04:00

I was lucky enough to attend a Bobby Sketch Group again thanks to Future Shop giving me a Sunday off, and I'm happy to say I think I'm on the right track with trying to understand linear structure. Bobby was kind enough to quell any fears I had about diving into a new technique. I'm glad that I got my friends to go, too. It makes the experience all the more enriching. Oh! I found myself in an unlikely place in the newspaper. My name is not mentioned, but I'm definitely there. Check it out Mom! (http://www.imaginismstudios.com/journalism.html)

"Around Islington station, now headed eastbound, Mr. Chiu has his sketchbook out, showing a young woman here on her first time an example. "You have a jaw line here . . . and you continue to build." Mr. Chiu says, guiding his pencil over the page. "Lines can be drawn plain and simple . . . or in all sorts of ways."

HA ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! It's good to be a Fundie.

Ps: The first few sketches were done at Yorkdale mall with my friend Nate and as well, on the subway. The drawing with the two people wrapping their arms around each other were too cute to pass up. The markered drawing is by Bobby's touch. He corrected my structure and now I have to focus on accuracy.

Speaking Of Drawing...Contour Excercises Are Back

2006-06-04T03:53:00.000-04:00

Well, I was just reading some lessons from Bert Dodson's Keys To Drawing book, and I decided to do the recommended exercises for kicks. It starts off with blind contour, and since I haven't done that in a while, I thought I'd give it a go. To my delight and surprise, I drew some pretty decent blind contours of my hand. It used to be awful, but I think because of Fundies, I'm doing alright. Hopefully, you guys can critique this and see how it goes. I'm still studying from the book, and it's pretty fun. I highly recommend the book to people wanting to draw like a draftsman.

You Put Your Whole Head In, You Put Your Whole Head Out...

2006-06-04T03:42:00.000-04:00

Heads. How I loathe them, but then one day, after I woke up at a friend's house. I decided to just draw heads and work on structure. I spent 2 hrs trying to figure out the skull and I think I learned something in the drawing I posted first, even though the heads before that came first. It's funny to see the small transitions and thinking processes when I told myself to draw a bigger box so I could see the head better, and it worked! I'm starting to understand strucutre a little better, I just hope I can stray away from the general skull onto more caricaturing now.

Drunk Quirky Art? Hey, That's Alright In My Book

2006-06-04T03:29:00.000-04:00

Well, these couple of drawings were done at a friend's party when I was a little wee bit, um, intoxicated. Anyways, I remember asking my friends to just give me character concepts and then I went and did the best I could on them. Luckily for me, my friends have a sense of humour, I doubt my pictures would turn out funny (not only because they were drawn terribly) but because they just have a great sense of humour. I find it builds my curiosity and creativity. What do you think? Lawyer Hippo, Tiki God, Gnome, Dolphin caught in a bear trap, and a Chicken with cow udders. Now if that's not sick, I don't know what is. I had a fun time with this though. Makes me wonder how far I can go with characters.

Hey, You Got Some Sexy Legs There...Mind If I Draw Them?

2006-06-01T01:06:00.000-04:00

X-Life Drawing legs. Always fun and challenging.

Focus! Concentrate! Think Structurally!

2006-06-01T00:41:00.000-04:00

Well, I went back to Bobby's Boxes (heheh I think I coined a term, anyways) and I've steadily noticed a slight improvement in heads. I'm still trying to figure out caricaturing because that is so difficult to achieve. It's mind wracking. How do you begin to learn how to make things look right, then go off to distort it so it ALSO looks right.

My body feels like it's going to fall apart, but my mind burns to go on. I'm feeling wicked guys, pure wicked awesome. It seems after drawing a lot, my ambition, dedication and inspiration has come back to burn with a fiery passion. I'm motivated to draw more which is great.

I do have to thank Future Shop though for providing my motivation to draw. It's been....interesting...working there without thinking of art at all. It just shows me how badly I miss it when I come home and draw on the subway or go to x-life after working 8 hrs a day.

I noticed that on one of the model's knees, her knee cap area looked like a face after I had drawn it. It was odd how I was drawing faces then after studying her knee, it looked like a face. Cute coincidence. I also repeated the scribble-creatively excericise and came up with two unlikely creations. It was a lot of fun though and a very different approach to how I think. I also did a small study of how Bobby Chiu does profile faces.

Mr. Conte, I love you. More posts to come!

I'm On A Posting Spree! You Can't Stop This!

2006-05-31T22:41:00.000-04:00

Well ladies and gentlemen, I'm going on a posting binge. Some gestures here and there plus my very first freehand sketch of an interior of my school. I have to practice more hands and perspective drawing it seems. Heck, I need to practice everything!

Contour, Baby...I Love You.

2006-05-31T10:28:00.000-04:00

As the title suggests, I love contours. I love blind contours, quick contours, snail-paced-I'm-going-to-gouge-my-eyes-out-because-they-hurt-so-much contours, tactile contours...I just love 'em. Some of these contour drawings were done on the subway (like the extremely shaky red hand) and others were done in life drawing. However, I need to get away from relying on contours too much. I'm trying to go back to the boxes to understand structure more, but as well, I'm going to review my Art Fundamentals training as I keep going to X-life.

A Break From The Norm: Which Animal Personality Are You?

2006-05-31T01:36:00.000-04:00

A side note and a slight break from Art, I recently took a test for the heck of it that one of my friends sent me. You can take this test as well at http://web.tickle.com/tests/animal/

Basically, it asks what's your Animal Magnetism in the world of "L'Amour". Have fun guys. I know I did, hehe.

Jacqueline, you're a Tiger in the wild world of love.

Grrrr. Go get 'em, Tiger! You know what you want and how to get it. And with your powerful stealth and impressive attitude — who are we to tell you otherwise? You're a natural predator in the lush jungle of love. With plenty of poise, power, and perfect timing, you'll charm the pants off any target you set your sights on. You've got beauty and grace that's irresistible to most who cross your path. Your territory is so well marked, it's not surprising that you sometimes can be a bit of a loner instead of hanging with the pack.

Sophisticated and discriminating, you set your standards high when out hunting for love. Trendy new hot spots are probably your typical habitat — though any place you can find sleek, beautiful mates is good in your book. Your confidence and charm will certainly get your partner purring. And whether it's your bold patterns or the stealthy way you pounce, there's just something people can't resist about you.

Anatomy For The Fundamental Arist?

2006-05-30T23:45:00.000-04:00

Okie dokie, some old stuff that we did in Seneca's Fundamentals program. Learning about muscles and skeletons are so hard. Especially when you have to take a piece of art from Anatomy Lessons From The Great Masters, and then draw the skeleton INSIDE THE WORK OF ART! I must say though, I learnt a lot from this assignment and I'm glad that now I know a little more about the human body.

The very bottom man is a character I created for my Stylistic Drawing Class in Fundies. It was this hero type guy called "The Protector" set in a futuristic setting on Earth. The planet was overrun by aliens, like an alien "Enforcer", and this "Protector" was Earth's last hope *insert cliche music theme here* . Oh well, I was happy how he turned out.

Third Time's A Charm

2006-05-23T00:31:00.000-04:00

Yorkdale Mall Sketching = Fun!

People who pass out at the mall dining area are hilarious. They also make greeeaatttt models. I highly recommend cafe sketching to anyone just learning how to draw, or anyone in art for that matter. There's something about cafe sketching that reminds me of the old romantic era of Paris and Italy. Maybe it's the whole idea of the romantic artist, but some day I want to go there and do the REAL "cafe" sketching. Oh well, I can dream crazily can't I?

Going back to Bobby Chiu's teachings of Linear Structure, I attempted to use this new technique on an unlikely character, my neighbour's cat, Arthur. Arthur is a black cat that is ridicoulously friendly, not to mention weird. Anyways, the point is, he has a great face and I really tried to structure it out here. I just wish he would stay still sometimes...

There's nothing like a pidgeon to brighten up a bad sketch day.

There was a guy named Mark at Bobby's Sketchgroup and I attempted to caricature him, or at least make a drawing that resembled him...somewhat. Haha! I got a long way to go. Although, he did have a beard, and glasses, and hat, something just doesn't feel right, and I think it could be...you guessed it, STRUCTURE! Back to the drawing board ;)

I couldn't get enough of Arthur, so I drew more of him.

Skimping on the hair so I can concentrate on the face. Baby steps...baby steps..

Second Post In A Day? On A Roll, Baby!

2006-05-22T23:34:00.000-04:00

I put this one up for the sake of improvement. This page is a little better than most of the pages in my skethbooks, so I figured, heck give myself some credit. I had some friends comment on the top left head. I think I just completed my first small step towards comprehending the enormous task set out before me called "Linear Structure". Compliments a la Bobby Chiu Sketchgroup.

I really like that guy's mustache. However, I hate the proportion problems I always have with skulls and the chins. I seem to elongate noses and lips and chins. I should fix jaws as well. Bleh.

This page wasn't too bad. I had a lot of fun with guys with earphones. It seems everyone has a music player these days. Including me. Oooh!! Note to self, start doing daily self-portraits.

A random doodle in the sketchbook. I kinda like him.

An exercise in creativity. Scribble something down on the paper if you can't think of anything to draw. It's best if you just stare ahead and let your hand do the thinking. Then when you think your hand has had enough, look down and draw exactly what you think you see. In this case, I saw a lizard thingy. The only trouble is getting it to look like it's structured. BLAST YOU STRUCTURE! I'll GET YOU SOMEDAY!

Sunday Bloody Sun...er...Monday...

2006-05-22T22:46:00.000-04:00

Faces, Faces, Faces. You can be so pleased to see a face that you adore, remember, have touched, have lovingly gazed at, and other times you loathe the very sight of someone. Then again, that's if you can remember the face of a person at all, ha ha. Anyways, enough poetic brain regurgitation. I drew this face on my way to work. I'm finding it harder and harder to get some drawing time in as my job at Future Shop grows more intense by the day.

After attending my very first Bobby Chiu Sketchgroup session on Sunday, May 7th, 2006, I realized that I had become more passionate about my drawing. I had this burning desire to get better. I am currently trying to follow Bobby's teachings of linear structure and the sketches hopefully will improve over time. My willingness to put myself through hell by learning something new comes first, and I'm positive that the improvement will come later. I just need patience and a will to persevere. Dedication? Piece of cake ;)

Oh god, the structure....tremble and quake in fear....*shudder*

Now here was something interesting. I have never had a person realize that I'm drawing them before. As soon as this person saw my pencil scratching madly at it's arch nemesis "Mr. Tony Toned Paper" he became abnormally more magazine-coveresque. He brushed his hair (which I might add was really effing cool) to the side, adjusted his earphones, and smiled as I drew. What a cutie.

American Idols from a magazine. I tried to realize the structure on something that wasn't moving, however, I usually hate doing this, because it always feels like the drawing comes out dead and flat.

Embrace Your Weaknesses...Challenge Yourself!

2006-04-20T01:41:00.000-04:00

Well, it's been a while since I updated some art-related work, so, during the final week of school, with millions of final projects due, and all the meanwhile I'm in danger of failing Fundies because I haven't handed in these projects, I have decided to update my blog at 2:07am. Yay for insanity and brilliance (or stupidity).

Update with job interviews - Future Shop wanted a "2nd interview" even though it's more like the fourth. I'm not complaining though. The interview went very very well and that's great because I need a job by the first 2 weeks of May or else I can't stay in Toronto. I attended a presentation today at my school by an artist who works for "House of Cool", an animation studio based in Toronto. The guy Robin Joseph and his stuff was pretty awesome. What really struck me most of all was the references and research he did in order to become inspired, motivated and most of all, retain his passion for drawing (Maybe I'll post my notes up later). I just hope I'll be able to retain or gain a certain kind of motivation this summer. All my friends that I've met are here and I would really love to stay, draw and spend my first summer in the Tee Dot Oh.

Hand - Study of Hand from Joseph Sheppard's Anatomy of the Artist

Crapola Sketches - God, I need to study faces. Messing around with sketching at Yorkdale mall.

Crapola3 - I know there's a lot wrong with the faces. Most are flat, out of proportion and need desperately to be fixed. I guess blogs are good so that you save your mistakes and constantly review why you did that so that you don't do it again, or at least, try not to.

Crapola4 - I've started noticing that I draw my faces almost exactly the same. I need to try to vary my shapes and proportions. Gotta get out of this habit of drawing everything the same.

Crapola5 - Blargh.

Crapola6 - I was feeling goofy, and just wanted to play with how to just draw a face. I smacked on facial features in general here and there. Not looking so great. Gotta keep studying faces...the hair on people can be such a B*tch as well! Gotta study how hair moves this summer...or sooner.

Crapola7 - Ugh. 'Nuff said.

Hands - I wanted to start studying my hands more after doing the animation portfolio, and I've found it's getting a little easier here and there to draw hands. I copied some drawings from a book my friend Dianna had, and it's a pretty good book I must say. I still have a long way to go, like posing hands to give expression, instead of just drawing my hand in a position that it's in.

Feet - Feet are also really difficult for me. I wanted to study them outside of extra life drawing because sometimes I feel overwhelmed by other things I must do in X-life. There's so many parts to draw, sometimes you don't really feel like trying to study flesh and bone in front of you, but instead, curl up in a chair and read a book about it. Sounds silly, but there's always a time and a place.

Hands2 - Structure problems here and there. Basically trying my best to replicate the model's hands in extra life class.

Feet2 - It's funny how the more you draw things over and over, you eventually discover new things to describe the object or thing you're drawing. In this case, feet.

Hands3 - More studying of hands.

Horse - Horse from the head. Just felt like drawing a horse.

Jackie Simpson - A caricature of myself in the style of the Simpson's for my Stylistic Drawing class for Art Fundamentals. My friend Daks helped me out with making sure I have the proper shape and volume of my hat as well as my teacher Jim Graves. I need to get a real jump on that project...

Mouths2 - Life Drawing Homework Assignment. Mouths are referenced from Joseph Sheppard.

Mouths1 - Same references from Mouth2. I have such a hard time with mouths I'm glad we got this project. It really forced me to draw them in their pure form in the format of 3 tones. It gets tricky when you have to describe lips with only lines and no tones.

Robin Joseph Lecture Doodling - Self-explanatory with some notes I took during the presentation.

Foolin' Around - Captain America turned out funnier than I thought. Funny in the way that he looks terrible for a super hero.

Skull - More rapid studying.

Skull2 - Ditto. I'm trying to get better at drawing faces, so why not draw the buildings blocks to give a great face? The Skull! I guess I'll update in the future again with more stuff. Ciao!

2006-04-08T03:04:00.000-04:00

Interview Day: The Outfit

PANTS ARE SO HOT!

Okie dokie, this entire week has been crazy. I'm so glad I have a sister who graduated from fashion @ Ryerson, because I honestly don't know how to dress appropriately to my figure. Anyways, I begged my sister to go shopping for an interview outfit, and here's the getup. I was so nervous this entire week, I couldn't sleep properly. Thanks to my friends, cousins and one of my cousin's roomate, they really helped me prepare for my interview. The amount of support I get from these guys is just amazing.

It's strange how I've come to appreciate things more now that I'm a little older. Especially money. Gotta thank my mom for that. It's true that they say, "finding a job, is a job in itself." I think it's more along the lines, you need a job to find a job. Check these prices out. There's moths coming out of my wallet.

Feet First Shoes ~ $115
Borrowed Bag ~ Free
Borrowed Necklace ~ Free
Smart Set Pants, Sweater, & Top ~ $115
Hemming of Pants ~ $13
Haircut ~ $63.85
Watch Repair ~ $10
Total = $316.85

Acing your job interview and having the person interview you be very interested in the likes of "professional onling gaming"?

~ Priceless

Just Jokin' Around

Me wishing my white knight will come rescue me from a walking animator zombie. Wait a minute, they're the same thing...

Warm And Fuzzy Feelings

What the title says, ah ha ha. :D

Am I ready for the next step? You bet I am! I totally aced my interview! Hopefully, I'll do the same with my 2nd one. Although, I'm probably going to freak out again and prepare like crazy. Sigh, lack of sleep, round two, here I come...

Promotion! Art Fundie to SENECA ANIMATOR!

2006-03-29T04:40:00.000-05:00

Woahhhhhhh my god! After 2 hrs of sleep from the night before tweaking some fundie projects, I woke up Tuesday, 28th of March, at 8am to tweak some more. I finished my stuff, walked to school, and took a deep breath to face my 2nd most important day of the year...

Today, (well yeseterday now, I guess), I had a meeting with one of the program coordinators at Seneca regarding my animation portfolio score. I was lucky enough to be able to talk with him since realistically, I should have been made to wait longer for my results to come through the Ontario College Application Service.

After some waiting (he had to get out of a meeting), I finally was able to speak mono-a-mono with Mark Jones. What happened next was intensely nerve-racking. After battling what seemed like an eternity, I finally heard the words I so longed to hear, "well, you will most likely recieve an offer of admission into animation".

Heart pounding, body shaking, my mind nearly exploded on me. After such a build-up of tension with me waiting for him to type in his computer, he told me exactly what score this little unknown person standing in front of him was waiting for. The words dribbled over me as if it was sweet nectar melting over the most exquisite delecacies you've ever had. I had scored a 9! A freaking 9 out of a possible 10!!! Walking into this, I was hoping for at least an 8 and something in the ranges of 7. It blew my mind that I had done so well.

I politely thanked Mark and as I was leaving his office, I couldn't take it anymore. I wasn't even two steps out when I started giggling manically. I picked up my pace, started running, hopping, dancing, fists pumping into the air as a sign of victory, accomplishment and achievement. I ran to everyone who possibly knew me to tell them the good news. Today was a very good day. I just hope my friends will be able to feel the way I felt today when they find out their scores.

I guess you could say this is a cinderella story. A summer's worth of art lessons, a less than strong background in high school art, and a year's worth of SENECA FUNDIES of working your ass off until you pass out in exhaustion in front of your classes, will get you where you need to go. My advice to any fundies who have high hopes of getting into animation: Attitude is everything. With it, you can do anything. Being able to do hard work will follow, you just got to be willing to bear the pain and push yourself to the best of your abilities. Surround yourself with people who encourage you, support you, and help you through the glistening days and the late nights of work. Befriend your classmates, you can always learn something from those who are better than you, but as well, those who are worse. I'll probably have more tidbits as I complete this art fundies blog. My mind is a little tired. I'll continue another day.

Just Little 'Ole Me

2006-03-29T03:54:00.004-05:00

This was a self-portrait taken with a digital camera in first semester Art Fundamentals. Look Ma! No Tripods! (My hand that I'm resting my head on is actually holding the camera) Unbeknownst to me, my photography teacher, Ron Erwin, decided to take a bunch of first semester student's work and post it onto the public televisions scattered across our college campus. I didn't even know my picture was up until my friends would tell me funny stories about how they "saw" me. I'm both flattered and humbled with this picture.

First Semester Fundie Photography

2006-03-29T03:52:00.000-05:00

This is one of my very first pictures taken from first semester photography class at Seneca's Art Fundamental's program. I really had a fun time with all the pictures and I actually got to travel a bit and have quite an adventure. Some things were photoshopped for colour, sharpness, and cropping, but other than that, most of the pictures are in their original condition. Holding digital cameras with super shaky small hands is not for the faint of heart.

More Bark - I found this strangely appealing to my senses.

Grass - Who knew it could be so interesting. Cows must have a time with this stuff.

Tree Leaf - Beautiful even with all it's imperfections.

Feather - Definitely didn't expect it'd look this cool in the lenses. The lines are dynamic which makes me really love looking at this. It's amazing how we pass by such a dirty thing, only to find out as an artist, you can attempt to make it beautiful, more beautiful than it already is.

Bark - reminded me of some cavernous mountain range of some sort. Other than that, I just took a picture of it for the sake of taking it. No hidden emotions in this one.

York University - thought I'd play around a bit with lines and perspective. I've always wanted to do a picture of a long winding road with trees on both sides, but I guess I can only use what I got.

Queen Subway Station

Queen St. Again

Eaton Centre - freaked the crap out of myself with this one. Here's my mentality at the mall:

"Okay, so take the escalators to the 2nd floor....right...okay...now take off the cover...right, okay make sure I put the camera over the railings....holy sh*t I'm falling! Breathe, breathe, you're not falling Jacqueline....okay...*click*, oh sh*t the flash was on! HIDE HIDE! Okay, wait from some people to pass to take more pictures, that idiot down there was picking his nose..."

and so on and so forth. Taking pictures at high places when you're afraid of heights isn't exactly the best situation to be in. Then again, I'm proud of myself for getting a shot and at least being able to make it through the ordeal alive.

Queen St.

TTC - Same flash paranoia with the Eaton Centre. Apparently people didn't notice, or didn't care.

Logitech - Photoshopped the blue with curves.

Nano - Nane on a lightbox, photoshopped for some colour tinting.

Wine - no flash created a warm undertone for me. Wine over a lightbox is quite nice.

Storyboard Composition

2006-03-16T05:29:00.000-05:00

A first semester Fundies project with David Bluestein, my program coordinator and Drawing Studio teacher. Some background info on David is that he had the opportunity to work with an amazing artist called Todd McFarlane, the creator of Spawn comics. I'm really fortunate to have had him first semester, because he basically whipped me into shape for the grueling projects of second semester. Thanks Blue ;)

Hey Bucket Brains! Try Some Of This!

2006-03-16T05:27:00.000-05:00

This piece was done for my stylistic drawing teacher Jim Graves in Fundies. Jim is also an animation teacher at Seneca as well as a freelance illustrator, not to mention a great guy. We had to create a comic page with various camera shots depending on if there was a lot of action, or very little. It was also an excercise in seeing if students could communicate a story effectively.

Two Point Perspective - Build Your Room

2006-03-16T05:25:00.000-05:00

Honest Moment #2: My room is not actually 10 by 10 ft. Using your imagination DOES save you from sticky situations :P

Two Point Perspective

2006-03-16T05:23:00.000-05:00

Honest Moment #1: three quarters of this stuff isn't even in my actual room.

Animation Portfolio Life Drawings

2006-03-16T05:13:00.000-05:00

Another pose by Shawn which just so happened to make it into my portfolio. I think I did something strange to his scapula, (shoulder blade) but it appeared larger than life when I was drawing it. I guess I can't always trust my eyes, hehe. Im pretty happy with the feet though, just gotta draw more :D

Keep It Loose, Make It Flow

2006-03-16T05:08:00.000-05:00

If there's anything I've learned this year that sticks out like a sore thumb, it's a little gem that my life drawing teacher Phillip Woolf shared with us. He said, "your conte should be flowing over your paper. I shouldn't hear your conte scratching, but flowing, like water." So simple, but the imagery is so powerful.

Clue: Peter, With A Pole, In the Life Drawing Room

2006-03-16T05:04:00.000-05:00

I always can bet my friends that Peter will use a polestick at one point or another during a life drawing session. God, he does some mean poses with that pole. I think I managed to capture the gesture, but I think I still need to work on proportions.

Rob The Muscle Man

2006-03-16T04:59:00.000-05:00

Early Fundies second semester life drawing. The model, who's name is Rob, has very stationary poses. However, I've learned that in order to life draw, you have to be able to tackle not only the dynamic poses, but the subtle ones as well.

1 Hr Extended Gesture

2006-03-16T04:52:00.000-05:00

A 1hr extended gesture pose for Studio 2 Drawing class. I'm pretty used to long poses by now, but the poor model was having trouble staying awake. Good thing it was only 1 hr :]

30 seconds of Shawn/Sean/Shaun

2006-03-16T04:18:00.000-05:00

Another one of Shawn/Sean/Shaun. His poses are great and I actually used these two for my portfolio submission. Go figure ;)

Life Drawings - Model Shawn/Sean/Shaun?

2006-03-16T03:56:00.000-05:00

These life drawings were from an extra life drawing class that was open to all students from 6pm to 9pm, Monday through Friday. There's something really beautiful and relaxing about drawing the human body and really trying to understand how our bodies work to bend, twist, crouch, and most importantly, show emotion. I don't know what it is yet, but something about life drawing fascinates me.

Hands, Hands, Hands

2006-03-16T03:49:00.000-05:00

The first of the two hands, I obviously had a harder time trying to think how I was going to approach drawing my own hand. It kinda appears manly and chubby, but by listening to some friend's advice, I know what to do next time to make them more thinner, girlish and delicate.

Enjoy 'Em While You Still Have 'Em

2006-03-16T03:46:00.000-05:00

Some hand drawings I did for Seneca's Portfolio again. I didn't like the hands I drew last year when applying to their Animation program the first time, so...I went on a hand-drawing spree and drew hands for 6 hrs until I pulled off 2 nice ones. I think they turned out okay :]

Remember Guys, I Want Clean Lines!

2006-03-16T03:39:00.000-05:00

Here's another object drawing for the Seneca portfolio. Who knew that there were so many forms in a soap dispenser?

Woo! First Post!

2006-03-16T03:37:00.000-05:00

I did some object drawings that were required for Seneca's Animation portfolio and here's what I managed to whip out of my brain. Strangely enough, I never really appreciated an artist's design of household items until I had to find something structured to draw. Lamps are quite beautiful in this way.