New semester blues.

Me in my Georgia Ave
strolling gear.

After a long hiatus, I'm back once again pushing pixels and taking names. I've got a great lineup for this year. I'm taking a step back from the 3d and focusing more on traditional forms of art. Yes, I'm actually using pencils and paint brushes. But I do have say that I'm made notable improvements since starting this semester. I remember when I couldn't draw at all and now form, line, and shade are my best friends.

Besides the progress with my foundational skills I can't say too much has changed. Still need more money, Still need to move, and still not too sure about myself. Feeling a little stagnant but there has been progress, just not in the areas I want.

I really have a problem with getting my content out in an orderly fashion. Maybe just an organizational problem in general and having little self discipline isn't helping at all. I have quite a large amount of content from this summer that needs to be edited and posted in numerous places. Maybe I need an assistant. Hmmm...

I'm thinking of starting a Photoshop tutorial series. I have all the equipment and technical knowhow and I think people may enjoy the sound of my voice. (I know I do.) By my next blogpost I'll have a basic tutorial up, which should be very soon.

Below are a few examples of my progress. These are scans from the sketch books I started at the beginning of the semester. Professor Melchesua is responsible for most of the character sketches. In his 2D animation class we had to develop a character based on ourselves. I still have problems with hands, heads, and feet. Proportions are getting a little better but my shading has experienced the greatest jump in progression. I'm starting to enjoy drawing more than I ever thought I would.

"People don't realize how deep the roots of trees go, Much like their own roots."

Character study and  few other sketches from the "KarmaToons" lesson.

Sacrifice of the Mushroom kings....SMH

A few weeks ago I went to go see an art installation at the Curators Office gallery in DC. The installation was an animation called "Sacrifice of the Mushroom Kings." I found out about this exhibit by reading an article posted on Kotaku (link). The animation featured characters from some of my favorite video games and told an ambiguous story about the current economic and sociopolitical standpoint of the United States. Bullshit. That's exactly what it was. This story could have been better told without using video games as a gimmick for attracting viewers. There was no connection between the message and the characters used. The render quality of the piece did stand out but quality is expected for anything being shown in a gallery setting. The animation was shoddy, characters feet weren't properly on the ground along with the jittering between different phases of movement. Please reference the "Animator's Survival Kit." Here's the trailer:    

81st Annual student art show

Oh, quite the event this was. The opportunity to showcase your work in a gallery setting is always an honor. The student show went well for the electronic studio with the addition of separate categories for our department. The electronic studio had the gallery glowing with the light of our plasma screens showcasing our digital work. It was awesome. I submitted three pieces into the show this year, Two digital prints, one of which won 2nd place in the undergraduate digital print category, and one animation which I won 1st for.

Time to begin again :)

     Its been a while my friends. I apologize for neglecting you, but I am back once more. This has been a busy second semester so far however, it does feel good to be back in the game. I've been kicking out some great new content for the portfolio and the student show. I've been introduced to some new dynamic techniques using Maya and Lightwave. Fractures and fluid dynamics are what I'm going to spend my free learning time on now. I expect great things. In my latest video I've done a few things when it come to composting and chroma keying using Lightwave.

     

     I'm taking some great classes this semester that are really feeding my creativity, one of which is 3D Concepts. In this course, we learn about creating art using different mediums like paper, clay, wire, metal, etc. It is a intruductary course that I don't feel that I need to be taking but I never turn down chance to absorb information. I took a few pictures in a class where we had a guest artist doing a few demos. 

     "David the Wire Guy" is a street artist that supports himself and his family of four by traveling and selling hand made jewelry. He came in and taught us some basic wire wrapping techniques, I believe its called macrame. He does really intricate work very quickly. If you click on the photo you'll be able to see a lot of the jewelry and some of the tools used in the process. Armed with pliers and wire cutters he makes awesome trinkets. The thing I found most interesting is that his art has given him the opportunity to travel the world in an almost carefree fashion. I almost envy the man but I wonder what type of sacrifices he needed to make on the way. 

    In presentation graphics, we're doing infographic posters. I talk about it in the video above and give a few examples. My professor was out of the country for the first two weeks of class so i decided to give his first assignment a go on my own time. I took a different prospective on the assignment as I soon found out on the first day of class. In my original design I decided to make a college road map of sorts, showing the path to success here at Howard University. i did a basic basic sketch and i was just about to start sketching it out in illustrator and I was given a little clarification on the actual specifications of the assignment. The places I was giving directions to had to be real physical places, local, and 5 miles from each other. I still might complete my process for my original idea but I did come up with something pretty cool for the assignment though while I was in class. I decided to go with directions to the Washington,  DC Spy Museum. I chose to go with a  "ransom note" typeface. I'll be back on Thursday with another update.

Final Version: