BMA115, comic, IT'S DONE!!!! 4 November

 It's finished!!  Hooray!!  There's always more to tweak, but if I really want to do that, I can do that over the summer.  She needs freckles.  He probably needs stubble.  William S. Pierce's suit needs stripes!  There's always something.  But I expect that I will be ready to move on to new projects very soon.  Next year, we're supposed to do a 24-page comic.  I think that I spent, conservatively, 11 hours per page on this comic.  Sadly, the cover only got two hours.  But those are the breaks.  Next year, I will have to do everything much sooner.  One hour per page was spent on each of the following: story development, pencils, colour experiment #1 (failure), inking, colour experiment #2 (success), colour (basic), colour (detail), colour (filters), lettering and bubbles, editing, layout.  A second-year told me to start on the new comic as soon as possible.  Good call.  I think that I will carry on with this story (I already have characters, backstory, premise, basic story arc for the 24-pager) and Agent MacIntosh and F. Scott McMurdo can finish their mission to destroy The Machine.   Won't that be nice?  I should take the time and label my colour references now so I don't have to start from scratch next year.

BMA115, comic finish up, 1 November

After 3 hours, I have finished painting up the backgrounds of the sunrise scenes (building top) and the copper and wooden interiors of pages 9-11.

To Do
shade faces x3
colour M3 uniforms
chalkstripe S. Pierce
reflective tape McMurdo
Bubbles and words
box all panels
reformat
run through Illustrator
 We get kicked out of the building at 9 pm. Dammit!  I wouldn't care if I could get in here during the week more than just Friday, when I can stay until 11.

I'll come in early tomorrow and get the wording done.   I might have to "skip" class and work on it when I should be doing professional practices and stop-motion.  I need to figure out how to use my time bettter next year.  I might need to force myself to work for an hour after the kids go to bed each night.  Or choose less ambitious projects...  or take more time off so I use my working time more strategically.  I definitely won't be taking any extra classes.

BMA 115, comic colouring and inking, 31 October

100% colour and ink coverage!!  Yay!!!  Shading and shadows, texturing, words bubbles, WORDS... lots more to do.  Oh, yeah.  And putting everything into the new format, too.

BMA115, comic development, 26 October

I've put in about 10 hours of work on the comic this long weekend.  I've got 3 pages to ink, but I've been dragging my feet and colouring the other 8 pages instead.  That decision is sure to catch up with me.  It was the same story during the penciling process:  lots of time/energy spent on the beginning of the comic, then everything petered out at the end.  As a result, my drawings weren't tight at the end which means I now have to catch up in the inking stage.  It will all come right, I'm sure.  One week until hand in.

And still no covers!!!!

What's due and when, 20 October

BMA243 digital illustration blog                                   21 October
BDM106 essay                                                               27 October
BMA115 drawing portfolio due                                     28 October
BMA243 digital illustration portfolio/cards/jigsaw       28 October
BDM124 stop-motion short and blog                             2 November
BDM103 Event write up                                                5 November
BDM127 2D short and blog                                           6 November
BDM115 comic and cover                                             6 November




To do: compile best drawings for portfolio.  Finish tweaking 243 SIT 'n' spit.  Shore up 124 and 127 blogs.  Publish film review entries.  Finish stop motion and 2D animation shorts.

BMA115, Comic development, 9-11 October

 We had an all day session in 236 with David to focus on our comics.  We discovered that we're going to be printing at a smaller size and will all have an individual comic.  The smaller template will require stretching the panels or having larger top and bottom margins.  I need to think about a wrap-around cover, and possibly a logo or design that runs along the bottom margin.  I've been working this weekend on getting the inking finished and I have three more pages to go.  I got rid of the watercolour layer I'd put in weeks ago because it was holding me back.  I've focused this weekend on putting big blocks of colour in.  I'll go in again to add highlights and lowlights to the colours after I decide how much shadowing goes in each panel.  

To Do List, 8 to 12 October

BDM124
What do we need to have done before starting to film Monday afternoon?
camera settings. review material

BDM127
finish animating "Green" scenes, tuck into "Amber"
Get all props and puppets into each scene so it's ready to animate.  Layout artist stuff!

BMA115
All day Friday.  Comic workshop.  Get story plugged into panels.  Get blacks inked.  Second round of colour.
Draw three noses for class Wednesday

BMA243
work on card and jigsaw puzzle ideas


Sunday night
BDM103
smooth up write up for animation film festival idea

BDM106
write first paragraph of paper.

To Do list and itinerary, week of 5 to 12 October

Classes resume
Monday
9-11 BMA243 illustration work
BDM106 essay writing?
lunch check out camera
BDM124 stop motion  move assets to working space and start filming
5-9pm  5 eyes and nursery rhyme illustrations for BMA243

Tuesday
9-11 BDM103  project research
BDM106 essay writing?
lunch
BDM127 2D animation
5-9pm finish BMA243 work, if needed

Wednesday
BMA115 Drawing
11-1 BMA243 work, if needed
BMA243 class work
5-9 comic work and drinks with Alex

Thursday
9-11 BDM103 project research
11am-11pm

Friday
9am-11pm

Saturday
9am-9pm

Sunday
working at home on comic

BMA115, Comic, layout and expansion, 3 and 4 October

Everything is creeping along, incrementally, because so many subjects have to be dragged along at the same time, towards the same goal.  The comic is due a few weeks before the animations, though, so it needs intense work over the short term.  This weekend I expanded it from 8 pages to 12.  The first page is the "cover" and the remaining 3 pages were used to move stuff around and give the panels some breathing room.  I tend to cramp my text and it can't "breathe".  By increasing the size of the panels, I hope to give more room for the words.  That's going to take a weekend of intense work to sort out.  And colour, and inking will need a weekend each...  The figure on page 2 is awkward.  So much to do! 

BMA115, Drawing, model studies, August and September

2 minute quick poses

 Drapery exercises

everything was in good proportion until I stepped back and discovered that I had a giant head due to the paper being hung over my head..

skeleton exercise

BDM115, comic refinement, 23 September

In Illustrator, David showed me how to use the Image Trace option.  It's on the top of the tool bar, so it's easy to find.  There are all sorts of options to choose from, and they'll clean up my lines, which is awesome!  I need to take the file in as a jpeg, so things move faster with the smaller file size, then export it into whatever file extension I need it to be. I have permission to expand it to a 12 page submission, including cover art, so the images and text have room to breathe. It's all feeling very cramped.

page 2, as it currently stands

silhouette option, Image Trace

tracing option, Image Trace

16 colour option, Image Trace

grayscale option, Image Trace

To Do List: 24 September to 5 October

Study break commences this Friday.  We've dropped all pretense that a "holiday" is involved.  HOWEVER.  The girls are out of the boarding house for the next two weeks so I will have time off in the evenings!  I will take advantage of this extra time.

Here's what's due and when:
BMA115 drawing, lips                                      7th October                Done
BMA243  5 eyes, Joan of Arc, Victor               7th October
Safonkin, Angel, steampunk blueprint,
 Robot Woman, nursery rhyme
BMA115 comic colour 1st draft?                     14th October
BMA243 Digital Illustration portfolio              27th October
BDM115 8-page comic and covers                 28th October  (Week 15)
BDM106  Essay assignment 4                         30th October
BDM124  Stop-motion finished animation       2nd November
BDM103  Event proposal                                  5th November
BDM127  2D finished animation                      6th November
blogs

To Do LIst, 17-21 September

BMA115
Comic.  Is it possible to space it out into a 12 page spread?  Because I have SO much going on and things are getting really, really cramped.

BDM124
update blog, do something... anything to get things moving on to next phase

BDM127
"Green" shots animated for Tuesday
finish setting up "the box"

BMA243
write and research proposal for playing cards and jigsaw puzzle
refine angel wings bodies
fix steampunk blueprint by dodge?burning house to dark it up to level of chimney and balloon

To do after 9 pm Sunday

BMA115
draw 6? ears on A4 paper, not in a book, for class Wednesday

BDM103
study for exam 10am Tuesday

BDM106
thesis statement and outline for final essay: internet technology's impact on traditional movie and tv making with special emphasis on auteur theory

Run through blog and make sure each class has something.  Take pictures of drawings and load to blog for BMA115

Post reviews of Monumental Valley? game and Big Hero 6 to blog

BMA115, Drawing, comic editing and colouring, 12 September

Inspired by the colour palette of this illustration, I've started colouring in my comic.  I'm feeling very strongly attracted to the verdigris green/blue and fiery orange.  I did some editing and played with some panel sizes and shapes.  I've done a watercolour layer with a basic brush of colour.  I'm working on creating a difference between environments and getting the characters to pop out.  Most of page 4 is going to be in a grey scale because it's taking place on a film noir set in F. Scott McMurdo's delusion.