Improbably Possible

After finishing the little series on the 12 Principles I realized that it's been quite a while since I've shared what I've been up to. So as I develop more post ideas I thought I would take a minute to do that. I graduated from Animation Mentor back in 2018 (I said it was a while haha), and after about a year of applying and trying to make new shots for my animation reel I signed on to my first contract as a 3D Animator. I actually just wrapped up work on this project, it has been an absolute joy to work on and I'm still shocked and grateful I had the opportunity to be involved. That project was in the Film/TV sector of the industry and a little over a year ago I was able to start working in the Game sector. I have really enjoyed both sides, but personally, I was able to learn more about mechanics and animation faster working in games because of the types of animations that games require. In addition to working as an Animator, I was humbled to be asked to teach at my al...

For my posts discussing the 12 Principles of Animation, I want to begin with Timing and Spacing because I feel that this principle is a major building block of the art form. This principle has a lot of power in establishing the style of a shot as well as what will be exaggerated and highlighted. It is also a principle that can be a bit confusing at times. For example, I'm calling the principle "timing AND spacing" while it has also been called simply "timing", and I sometimes hear students talking about the "timing feeling off" when it seems like they are trying to call out the spacing. All this to say I feel there's a lot to unpack so I decided to devote two posts to this principle. In this post, I'll define the principle as I think about it and share some basic examples so that in the following post we can dive in a bit deeper but all be on the same page. So, let's define this principle. The first thing to note is that while it is conside...

Here are some visuals to show where I am. These are some notes and thumbnail sketches for the 3 shots I have been working on this term. I plan to post the final animations here, but until then I hope that you enjoy this little sneak peek.

After talking about life as a journey and the process of becoming an artist in my last post I thought I'd share a little bit more about where I am in my journey right now. Currently, I am wrapping up my 3rd term at Animation Mentor. I am enrolled in the character animation program there and have been blown away by the teaching and community that they have developed there. Animation has always been a dream of mine, but because I was not an excellent draftsman in grade school I convinced myself that I would never be able to do that. However, I found animation so interesting that I learned as much as I could about the techniques and production pipeline hoping that I might find an opportunity to work somewhere in the industry. This round about approach helped me gain a lot of understanding that I'm finding very helpful at the moment, as well as cultivate an appreciation for many forms of art. I hope to write a more detailed post about my how I got here soon. Also, as a...