Biggest Mystery Ever!

Hey everyone! So lately, I've been puzzled over this one question: what makes a good character a good character? There's all these successful movies, books and TV shows out there. And then there are some that aren't. So why do people relate to and love some characters but not others? Therefore, I'm going to come up with a few theories.
My first one was that a character had to have a tragic past.

His parents were killed by an evil wizard.

He was thrown out by his father.
I don't know about you, but I really like the Lone Ranger.

I don't want to spoil anything so I'm just going to say that Tonto had a really sad past.
Tonto got me thinking about guilt, because some characters had some tragic death or sin that they have to make up for.

He killed his brother.
But then what about the bad guy turning into the good guy?
I really love it when that happens.
I hope you guys all read Harry Potter.

Do we love heroes that make mistakes just like us?
They have so much power, but in the end, they're just as clumsy and dumb as normal human beings.

I know for a fact, that we love characters who change for the better by the end of the movie or whatever.
Do we like the underdog? Do we like it when the character overcomes an impossible challenge because it makes us feel like we can do it too?

Or do we just like people who are so freaking awesome and we just want to be them?


They always manage to get out of the worst situations with only their wit while maintaining a sense of humor along the way.
Man, I wish I was as cool as Jack Sparrow.
Omigod, my brain hurts. I don't get it! What's the secret?
Also, what makes some stories so good??






IS THERE A SECRET FORMULA???????
I DON'T KNOW.
SIGH
OK, THAT'S IT FOR TODAY.
BYE!

Animation Tests and Process!

Hey, I figured I would show you some cool stuff today. So, you know how you keep hearing how animation makes drawing all "alive" and stuff? Jeesh, how exactly it do that? It's a freaking piece of paper! How does it go from the drawing to the things on the TV?
Well, it's something these genius can just do, OK?
Don't believe me?
Watch this.
These are pencil tests. Pencil tests are after an animator finishes some drawings, he photographs them and puts them into a short clip to see how they move. Animators do this a lot to figure out how their character moves.

OK, I think I'm getting carried away.
Hey, did you know before they had computers, people had to color every single frame by hand? That's 24 frames per second and feature length films can be 90 minutes long. Then they would shoot every single drawing. That's pretty insane.
If you're interested in how the whole process of making a film works, this is a good video.

Pretty cool, right? That video was still from a while back though. Some movies are made using 3-D animation. That's way more computer work.

Wow, that was interesting. And complicated looking.

Sorry, I don't know anything about this.

This is cool too.

Yeah, cool stuff. Combining 2-D and 3-D. That is the future.

Some people say that 2-D animation will die out someday. Everything will be done on computers so no one will need to draw anything. I disagree. There is this special appeal of hand drawn animation that computers will never be able to capture. A human touch, maybe? The computer translates our lines into computer lines. So some of our original meaning is lost. With drawing, our hands are on the paper and everything that we want to be there is there. Does that make sense? I don't know, I feel that some control is lost.

However, on the other hand, I think 3-D animation opens up a whole new world that 2-D animation can't. It's really amazing in its own way. 

Oh, by the way, if you haven't seen Paperman yet, you really should. 

That's it for today! Piece!

Gesture

Hey everyone.
I've been having a lazy Saturday so I think I'm going to talk about gestures.

These are gesture drawings.
They have only the most important lines, but you can still understand what the figure is doing. And there is a sense of movement. That is really important. The sweeping lines follow the action of the figure.
Gestures are done very quickly. Anywhere from 30 second to 5 minute drawings. The key is to capture the entire action of the figure first. What is this person doing? That is done with the line of action. One key line that runs through the entire body and shows where the figure is going.

(These aren't mine)

(More internet findings)
Draw the line of action in the first few seconds and then build the figure off it.
Gesture drawings do NOT have detail.There are no toenails, there are no bellybuttons, there are no earrings. Just the major important body parts. The action.
Here's a very helpful video that teaches how to do gestures.

Here's the website the guy uses. It's a great way to get pictures of nudes without going to sketchy places. They also have animals, hands and feet, and facial expressions. 

http://artists.pixelovely.com/

If you do about a hour of gestures everyday, or at least some gestures regularly, I guarantee your drawing will improve.

Gestures are so important, especially to animators.It's all about capturing movement quickly. So if your model is moving, draw a gesture. Also, gestures start the structure of your drawing. After you get the gesture down, you can put in more details and refined lines. 

Animators draw gestures ALL the time.

THOSE LINES OF ACTION ARE IMPORTANT!!
I have some gestures of my own. Since I took that animal drawing class, I only have my animal gestures right now. A few were from Petsmart but most were from the pixelovely website.

Oh, I forgot. I always used Youtube videos of animals too. You see, there's no details. Some of these are just a mass of lines. (Those were probably the videos. The animals move so fast.)
Side note: If you want to draw animals, check out How to Draw Animals by Jack Hamm

Very helpful.
Do gestures!
Some tips:
1. Put the line of action down first.
2. Get a vague structure of the whole figure next. (From the top of the head to the toes)
3. Mark joints and important landmarks.
4. Think of body as masses, not lines. (No outlines)
5. Simplify. (You don't have much time!)
That's it. Do gestures everyday! Whenever you have free time, sitting at a bus stop or at a cafe, just take out your sketchbook and start drawing random people. Do it quick or else they'll catch you staring at them. By the way, you should always be carrying a sketchbook around, or at least some pen and paper.
Once you get these gestures down, your drawings will become solid and alive!
It'll be so awesome.
Peace!

Little People Houses! (Miyazaki Distraction)

I think I'll start off with the distraction.
I finished!!! This painting I was working on forever.

Here's a very bad cell phone picture. Can you figure out what it is? A kitchen! For little people. See?
There's a hose that drips water into a small bowl. They built a stove out of pieces of brick. That's a coke can attached to a soup can for the smoke to go out. The ceiling is wallpapered with tunafish can paper. They "borrowed" all these small glass bottles and containers. There's a spool of thread that someone's knitting a sweater from. They wove baskets out of dried grass. They carved bowls and plates and cups from wood chips. They have an antique fork and spoon. And there's even a tiny ceramic pitcher from a dollhouse.

I don't know, I would live there. It looks very warm and cozy. Like a simplified version of life. No busy electronics anywhere. I like those times. I mostly like my settings to be before electricity or extremely modern. Like flying cars modern. Not so good with current times.

Anyway, did you ever watch Arrietty by Studio Ghibli? I was inspired by that.












Did you know Arrietty was inspired by The Borrowers by Mary Norton?


    
So cool, right?
I love Miyazaki Hayao's work. It's so beautiful and breathtaking. I went to an exhibition about him in Korea and I got to see his layouts. Seriously, each one is a work of art.



LOOK AT THAT CRAZY INSANE DETAIL!!!!
OFWJEORJEWRJKEFKLAG

Ok, dying. There's a whole book of these out there. I think it's really amazing.
And if you haven't, you should really watch the Studio Ghibli movies. There's something magical about them. Not Disney magical, but still magical.
Princess Mononoke

Spirited Away



Ohmigod, I'm hungry! I will continue this another day. And my computer's too slow!
Bye!