Life Drawing for Animation demoz

UPDATE -- This post was featured earlier by Bryan Lee O'Malley himself as well as Drawn!  Wasn't expecting this, but I guess I'll be sharing more of my demos from now on!   -Stu

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Hey guys

So I've been teaching at CalArts for about a month now, about time I share some stuff.

This being my teaching debut, each class has included its fair share of experimentation on my part.  Above all, what's worked best for me are the storyboard-demos I open each class with, following a 25-30 minute gesture warmup.

Some random anatomy stuff (bones, muscles, joints) the students also keep as a printout for ref.: 

 

 

But I'm more concerned with how the parts move together, and how they are used practically as tools of expression -- maybe the most experimental part of the demos:

 

Talkin' about legs/feet and how they can express attitudes on their own:

 

Oh, and I did a stroke-by-stroke demo 2 weeks ago that included how I typically draw w/ gesture:

Just this week, I wrapped my demo with some work by other artists whose works are in coherence with the class' goals.  Loved putting this part together:

I have a feeling these demos will be completelyyy different in the coming weeks, but I look forward to sharing!

-Stu

Metal Gear Solid stuff

Man I love this game - took some time outta my day to get these outta my system.  Just waiting for the day someone tells me I can storyboard the movie version.

 

SOLID SNAKE

 ROY CAMPBELL, MEI LING

NAOMI HUNTER

Man, I'd love to draw the rest of these guys :)

-Stu

"For Alexandria" - an FFIX fancomic

Now it's no secret I'm a huge nerd, so enjoy this story I did for Zac Gorman's Final Fantasy IX anthology, the Tantalus Theater Review (release TBA).

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Growing up on the Final Fantasy series had a big impact on me creatively, and FFIX was no exception.  First hearing about the project, I was instantly inspired to come up with something.  As it usually goes, however, what started as a quick project for fun turned into something much more serious and time consuming.  Despite that, I had a ton of fun writing/drawing/coloring the story and I hope you enjoy reading it (whether you've played the original game or not)!


...and to anyone curious who hasn't, I've provided a short list of referential notes after the jump!


-Stu

PS: Huge thanks to Nate, James, Kat, and Deb for their help with color-flats!

Something Dumb I Did Vol. 3, etc...

Meanwhile, at work!

This one's short...

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...because dumb stuff shouldn't take that long.

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8-I...

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Oh, and also! -- Thursday night I was lucky enough to see PORCO ROSSO at the Egyptian Theater!  One of my favorite movies...

...It was fun!'

-Stu

Warmups from work

I found these story-warmups earlier today...I think I did them in September? August? Something I started but, as you can see, didn't keep it up for very long. :P

The only thing I can remember about 'em is I had one song per picture I'd just listen to on repeat til the picture was done. And also, to anyone who's curious, doing full-color pieces in ToonBoom Storyboard Pro?...huge hassle, but it can pay off!

"Who's Theme" by Minmi

"Old Soul Song (For the New World Order)" by Bright Eyes (particularly everything after 2:40)

"Electricity" by The Avalanches


Should I continue doing these? I should. :)

-Stu