Thursday, July 28, 2011

I Repeat: I Repeat

Writer's Thougths,
Yes, I did notice that I occasionally may repeat something I've written before. When I do that it's called 'searching for something to say.' This simply means, if there's been a lag between posts and I want to drop in and say something, but OMG, it's not significant, it's just saying "hi."

Wait a minute. I wrote about this before....New thought.

I've been pondering my story Candle Dance. Okay, it takes place in a Coney Island. Then, I thought what about a fruit stand? But that didn't seem to fit. How many animated  films are there where food is a major part of the scenery? I can think of Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory, Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs, Ratatouille...
Yes, fruit and vegetables are really good. Really.

I think about things like this when creating scenery. It's a decision of realism or idealism. The world as we see it, or the world as we dream it. I think it was Anton Chekov, who said something to this effect. In all fairness, I don't want to give any carrots a bad rap.

I will however, in the design process of this story, tone down what might be considered too high calorie. The only problem is I may not be sure of the caloric content of every image...:)

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Brand New Day

Artist's Thoughts,
I got back into animating a short while ago. Not a long animation, only time consuming. One day it took roughly two hours to complete 2 seconds of animation. Like I've said before, it's a labor of love.

Over the past few months the lessons seemed to come in downpours. You know when you have too much on your plate when you feel some enthusiasm going out. Well, I'm happy to be back on course. My original plan was to create short short films, or pixeltunes. I have longer stories in mind and it's okay, but this may not be the time, as far as trying to animate them. Sometimes it's a clash between vision and resources. Sometimes it's constantly revising until it's just right.

Another reason for staying with the original plan, has to do with the whole point of maintaining a blog. I mean, I could wait until a project is totally finished which could take several months. Or, keep things in a format to stay in contact on a regular basis.

My last blog was about keeping things simple. Going without a set menu, for the summer, gives more freedom to explore ideas, and keep the fun revived.

I can't go without mentioning the you factor. You keep me inspired to press on.

It's a brand new day.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Dancetown Revisted

Artist's Thoughts,
I was having some fun with some new backgrounds and characters one day. There is an art to creating characters beyond human figures, which is something I've never done before. I started with the simple 'primitives' as they are called. Theses are squares, circles, triangles. It was fun, but not really my realm. So, it's back to earth...

Animating music is something I enjoy the most, whether it's a piano melody I've composed, or fast-driving loops. I love it. Especially, at this time. Every artist has their moments. I think what we try to do is continue around events happening in our lives.

I'm really into 'calming' colors. Classic. Warm. Warm colors in the hot summer? The menu will continue to revolve and evolve. Welcome to process...

I learn new things every day. That keeps things exciting. Animating is always new because every scene is something that has not been animated before.

Until next time. Thanks for dropping by.


Saturday, July 9, 2011

New Dancetown Video

Artist's Thoughts,
Along with the new Artiscape Journey video, I also posted a new piece to Dancetown Arcade. Please check it out.

Artiscape Pixeltune



This is a simple pixeltune created in what I call 'moving art' because of it's painterly effect. In animation the style is called anime. What I love about anime is the ability to use traditional art methods, such as, shading, tone, blending colors.

The story is the common metaphor of life. Riding the waves. The ups and the downs. Moving forward. The idea came to me on a day that I needed to slow down, reflect, and regroup. I composed the music for this piece during a time that I was very much into the film music scene. A scene I still love today.

I hope you enjoy this pixeltune.

Friday, July 8, 2011

Video Coming

Artist's Thoughts,
I did plan to post a video today, but most of my time was on the design side. However, I will have a video ready  for you soon.