Story Game 8

Been a while since I did a story game.  Lol this came out a little more anime-ish than intended.

Referenced Photo

Character TurnArounds

Still chipping away at my short and have been slaving on doing turnarounds for a while now... Wanted to do this before going back to boarding since I've been having difficulty keeping characters looking at least a little consistent on their model.  It was frustrating yet enlightening since I now realize how shapes within the characters turn by applying a little bit of perspective for guidance, plus doing the shape breakdowns have been especially helpful for recognizing the most important constructive and visual elements for the character.  Gotta still draw loose though, even when aiming for a cleaned up model.

TurnAround + other misc info for the protagonist

Meshed the breakdowns and the cleaned up version of this character together since it's easier for me to reference. 

I've been spending too much time on this now, though.  I have a few other turnarounds I have left to do but I think I'm going to break things up and see how well these hold via some simple animation tests.

Captain's Log, Stardate 65765.6

Started experimenting with a new way of journaling last night by video blogging, which is actually kind of therapeutic.  Kind of a sad realization though that my voice doesn’t seem like it’s changed since 5^th grade.  I swear I sounded much manlier in my brain.

In addition, I’ve gone back to drawing muscles and other basic studies that have gone untouched for a while because I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing anymore during café sketching.

Motivate drawing, motivate success.  Don’t force.

It has been decided...

After much scrutiny, I've finally made my decision and am officially enrolled in Ringling.  In a super compact nutshell, it ultimately boiled down to me liking Ringling's more even focus on technical skill sets + creative concepts and a more generalist education in the animation pipeline, especially since I've been so keen on going back to basic drawing skills.  CalArts was still an incredibly golden opportunity, but since they seem to trade technical skills to focus on creativity, I really felt that I'd get more lost there based on how I'm wired as an artist; like I'd end up noodling around more because I didn't have that technical visual vocabulary to really understand and properly apply what they would be teaching us.  Plus, I'm still quite interested in learning Computer Animation and Ringling really appears to be the best place to do that.

On the plus side, I've been meeting some monstrously talented 2016 classmates from both schools on facebook.  I'm feeling quite inferior again.

And since it's been a long time since I've posted sketches, I'll dump some random stuff from throughout the past week...

Bobb Chiu inspired style photoshop drawing

Saw The Hunger Games yesterday and thought the characters would make for some fun portrait doodlez 

Gesture practice using Pixel Lovely focusing on line of action

Cafe Sketching

Cafe Sketching dos

Hosted another 1-hour character design challenge on Skype and this is my little dude.  It was especially awesome because we had folks from Columbia and prospective students from both Ringling + CalArts

CalArts vs Ringling

EDIT:
So this post is a few years old and is likely outdated.  I still see people visiting here, so take with a grain of salt & be sure to ask around for yourself!

So lately I've been caught in the middle of deciding between Ringling & CalArts.  Even though that throughout the past year I've been writing how badly I've been wanting to study at Ringling, getting accepted into CalArts threw me through a real loop because 1) I wasn't expecting to get in, and 2) CalArts is just as golden an opportunity that I shouldn't disregard, especially for the sake of having my heart set on Ringling for so long.

After lurking around the net, it seems like deciding between these two schools leaves many prospective students running into quite the brick wall.  From what I've gathered, it's not just about what you want to learn, but also how you're wired to learn as an artist. 

After doing research, I've compiled a bullet list that compares some of their differences and similarities.  Though I've included things that I have been told from faculty, admissions counselors, and students + alumni from both schools, please note that a majority of these are opinions based upon my impressions as nothing more than a humble, prospective student.

CALARTS

• Swaps technical focus for creative concept skills and innovation - student films tend to be more diverse as a result
• Intention is to train students to become future directors and tv show creators, not positions that are grunts of the animation world (e.g. inbetweener)
• Make one student film a year - will graduate with more shorts and a more diverse portfolio
• Offers the best connections due to the large amount of alumni and its closer proximity to major studios
• Strong focus in character animation and story
• Best place to go if you want to work in the beginning of the animation pipeline
• Students have a larger chance of finding a job/internship before graduating
• Diverse in animation concentrations (TV animation, hardcore Disney, etc)
• Animation facilities open 24/7
• All character animation students get their own cubicle
• Students own the shorts they make at CalArts

RINGLING

• Balance of teaching technical and creative concept skills
• More financially affordable
• Strongest computer animation education - particularly for feature film
• Thesis film gives you experience in the entire animation pipeline
• Thesis film will teach you how to make an animated short at a professional and polished level
• Industry folks from places like Pixar and DreamWorks come in to critique and provide feedback on your thesis while you are developing it
• Best place to go if you want to work towards the end of the animation pipeline
• Freshman are required to watch a culturally/cinematically important film once a week during first semester
• Dirt cheap figure drawing club (FEWS)
• Digital Painting Club (DIPSY)
• Free MacBook Pro for every CA
• Professional studio-like environment
• Overall offers a more generalist education

CALARTS + RINGLING

• Strong foundation of animation principles
• Driven communities
• Offers strong focuses on feature film animation
• Strongly reputable
• Strong and consistent line up of monthly guest speakers
• Many alumni have jobs working in the industry