"We're on the pig's back, charging through a velvet field."

It is now 7.34 AM. I have officially been in the labs for twelve hours. I'm running on a grand total of seven hours of sleep for the past three days, none of which happened during the aforementioned past twelve.

Go me! I have not even begun to hallucinate yet! The dancing, magenta toilet on the ceiling says so.

At any rate, my computer decided it really and truly hates me, so I have to come to the labs to hopefully finish my thesis. Wow. I feel like I'm back in CA already. Fffffffffun.

So yes, computer troubles = reason for lack of frequent updates. But as I am currently sat before a computer that doesn't Nelson-laugh at me every time I try to do something constructive with it . . . Update!

The assignment? Design packaging for a game. Whoo! (click on it to view it larger)



And now, I think I will stagger back to my flat and crash for a wee bit before class. ::looks outside:: Oh my sainted trousers, that's daylight! Where did THAT come from?! ::boggles::

critters make the world go round

I felt compelled to do quick sketches of my pets. Because I luff zem so.


(click to enlarge)

Mmmyep. The dog's name, "Niisan" is a Japanese word for "brother." The snake, Pinstripe, does, indeed have a pistripe, though you can't see it in the picture (it's a long, white line which runs all the way down his back). And lastly, yes, the betta fish is named "Fuzzy Elf." The blue betta fish, even. Points to you if you get that reference ::snick::

Georgie girl!

Whoo! The mockup/dummy book for my children's book, Georgie and the Unicorn got into Best of Ringling!



And as it happens, I'm currently at work on a certain part of my thesis . . . It's something a bit different than anything else I've posted on this blog. So far, so good and I'm having a good time with it ^_^

People in my Illustration class have been doing such nifty things with cloth and clay, I was inspired. I used to make dolls all the time . . . Why not revisit it? asked me of myself.

So!



The head, hands and feet are made of Sculpey with foilforms inside. After I baked them in the oven, I started mapping out the cloth bits (arms, legs, torso). You can barely see it on the cloth, but the pins and pencil lines are there!



The the feet, hands and head are then attached to a wire armature for the body, which is then softened and padded with pipecleaners.
. . . Also, don't you just love my sewing kit box? I'm a grown adult, I swear!
And is that my collar in the background? Blimey, I wonder if I realised I wasn't wearing that at the time. I usually feel downright naked without that thing!



So, since the fabric portion of the doll is white, I laid down a white base over the clay parts, so as to maintain consistency in her skintones. Aaaand since Georgie is a redhead, I gave her an orangey-red hairline and eyebrows.



And what is a hairline with no actual hair? It's . . . well, rather stupidly redundant, actually. So, yes! Hair time!
Heh, I ended up cutting snips off of my wig from my Megacon costume . . .


(click to enlarge)

. . . And dyed it red with . . . er, dye. Go fig, eh?
(the blonde hair I started with is on the left, red dye's in the middle, and the freshly dyed redhead locks are in the bowl on the right)



Except for the part where, duh, plastic doesn't asorb dye! Whoo! What sublte brilliance! Soooo, blonde it is. I'll have to colour it some other way.

So yes, here is the start of Georgie's hair. Also, the cloth body has been sewn and attached. Man, this shot is sort of . . . mind-bendy. From this angle, Georgie's feet look like they're close to the same size as mine O_O



Aaand now, approx. seven hours and a tube and a half of Krazy Glue later, Georgie has a full head of hair . . . And what a head of hair it is. Very . . . 80's-chic :P That'll be fun to style later. Plus, I've still got to make it all gingery.



I also gave her some pupils for the time being, because frankly, she was sort of scary without them, heh.



To be continued!

Plus de Loup-Garou!

I recently acquired a copy of the animatic I made last year, La Chanson D'Un Loup-Garou and have made a few screencaps.































If I can figure how the youtube thingie works, I shall post the full animatic here. Whoo hoo, tra la la and fiddle dee dee ^_^

Is business time

Business card, anyone?

FRONT:


BACK:


Heh, it's a chimaera; A lion-beast from ancient Greek mythology with three heads; Lion, goat, snake. Mmmyep, that's about it.

More Animatic Action! . . . In stills. Go figure :P

Here are a few still images from the animatic I'm currently at work on. I'm pretty excited about it, it looks like it's going to be a lot of fun to splash up and patch together.








And the same scene as in the last post, spruced up, plus characters;



Aaaand some thumbnails from the story sequence;

What a week-end

Whoo. Back from Megacon and still reeling. Photoses to come soon! For now, back to work. Here's a background for my next animatic assignment;



AAAAAAHHH,IhavetogotoclassnowaaaaaaAAAAAAAAH! ::flails and runs away::

Hallmarkness

Sketches done in the recent Hallmark workshop at Ringling;





Thanks, David, Sam and Daniel ^_^

. . . And now I am off to prepare for Megacon. Lord Lumme, that's tomorrow isn't it? Yes, yes it is. Crikey, these things keep sneaking up on me! They really oughtn't do that, it's a trifle rude, you know?

Thesis workings . . . and some "it's not working!"s

Neurgh. I officially have a love-hate relationship with ebony pencils.

HARBINGER OF DOOM: "Fala, do not sharpen that pencil with that dull, dull sharpener which happens to be the only sharpener you have. It will cause the lead to crack all the way down throughout the inside of the pencil."

ME: "Pftpftpftpft, what do you know? There's nothing wrong with this sharpener or the ebony pencil. I have sharpened many an ebony pencil at many a time. You might say I am a veteran in that very experience. I could sharpen an ebony pencil blindfolded with my hands tied behind my back and using only my teeth."

HARBINGER OF DOOM: "Now there's a dying art."

ME: "Watch, see? Sharpen sharpen sharpen, ha ha! Here we come a'sharpening among the pencils so-"

EBONY PENCIL ::crrk!death::

ME: . . . Oh, Christmas trees! ::throws both pencil and sharpener across the room and smashes face on wall::

HARBINGER OF DOOM: "It is so very stimulating, being right at the expence of others."

ME: "RRRAAAAAAARGH!"

. . . So, yes. Seeing as I have just sharpened my last ebony pencil to death and I lack the funds to buy more, I will be taking the time to do the colouring portion of my thesis till I find myself able to afford both more pencils AND a new sharpener. Here's a wee sample of said colourationation . . .

Blue mooooooon! (Lune Bleeeuuuuu!)

. . . You saw me standing aloooone! Without a dream in my heeeart! Without a love of my oooown!

Er yes, sorry. I love that song (the Marcels, not Elvis, nerks!). And this recent assignment and the result thereof reminded of it.




It's very much (if not grossly and utterly entirely) based on a poem I wrote, entitled "Le Chanson D'un Loup-Garou," meaning 'The Song Of A Werewolf' in English (et oui, c'est un poeme en Francais, bien sur.). I love werewolves and I wanted to lend their lore a happier turn. Mayhap I shall post the storyboards/animatic I made of the aforementioned poem. Mayhap, mayhap.

Wow, Hallmark workshop next week.
Wow, Megacon next week.
Wow, animatic due next week.

Er, wheee!