Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Narrative Illustration Anamatic

Toadz from Cyndil Tanner on Vimeo.



This video was a lot of fun to create but it took longer then I thought it would but I learned a ton. The music was done by Voicemale, Bolero. I am planning on continuing to create videos like this one. It definitely is a trial run, but it is a start. For this project we had to create a minimum of one minute animatic. I have never done this before and I also have never used any film editing software, thankfully a couple months prior to this assignment I bought Avid, an editing software. I still needed to learn how to use it though, but with no sleep: amazing things can be accomplished. I did get a little carried away and sadly because of limited time I had to draw in photoshop; which I hate.
The good news is I finished the project and am now on my way to finishing more.
The video picks up after my storyboard, where Armide goes to see a master witch, whom Armide hopes will help her become the witch she wants to be. My favorite part is at the end where Repunsel gets her hair stuck, it is hard to tell because the timing is a bit off but I love it. In my later videos it will be better.
Enjoy and expect more great things!

Monday, November 22, 2010

Maquette: Armide






So this project turned out great but it took loner then I thought it would, it was a learning process though. I did a maquette, this is like a small sculpture of your character, they do maquetes for movies when they need to draw a character over and over again, it is also a great reference for lighting. It was fun but extremely frustrating. Note to all who attempt this, cut your nails!

Armide: Revised



So after looking at all my other characters I had to change Armide, she was too tame compared to the others and I need her to stand out. I got the inspiration for her from one of my roommates who had the most awesomest hair in the world. Overall I thought it was fun to design her, that and now she has a unique character.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Toadz

So the next project, we had to create a minimum of three characters that either support or hinder the main protagonist. I had a lot of fun creating these different characters, I ended up loving it so much that I created four. Armide's frog, Maeve (Armide's Mother), Madame Gothel (the witch from Rapunzel), and Granny Ginger (the witch from Hansel and Grettle) were the four I chose to do. I wanted to take different views on them other then your disney average evil witch. I really pushed the characters and what they look like, in so doing that though I now need to go back and again redesign my main character. When will I find time for that? Oh well, here are the character's personal illustrations and following are the line-up, how well they look together is the most important when creating groups.









Toadz

So our teacher wanted us to go more in-depth of what our character is like so her assigned us about 200 questions that we had to answer about our character's personality, physical traits, quirks, interest, religion, etc. Don't worry I won't bore you with the details. Just the images :). We had to then do action studies for our character, I did my best trying to break my character to see how far is too far. Some of the work some of them don't have that great of silhouettes.





I thought the exercise was a ton of fun though, that and there are a ton of hilarious picture of people falling on the internet. The next part of the project is an emotion studies, comprising of 12 emotions: Joy, Surprise, disgust, regret, fear, anger,love, sadness, pride, nervousness, relief, and confusion. See if you can figure out which is which.



And lastly we had to create a five point turn around. It was daunting but I did it, though I think I could have put a more s-curve into her.

Toadz

It is time to create the main protagonist. Her name is Armide and she is a quirky odd type of witch. I've had multiple reviews and revisions done to her and I am still not satisfied. So expect changes but for the most part this is her general idea.

I began out with just trying to see what her outfit would look like:



After I finally decided on what she would wear I then went ahead and illustrated what I thought she would look like and also a little of her personality should come out.





That is all for now

Toadz



So I started this new class called Narrative Illustration. This class focuses on character design and story. Which is great cause that is what I am looking into right now. We have to create an id and logo and a story to go along with it. My story is Toadz. I will give a synopsis below. I am super excited for this class. So lets get started.

Toadz
Be Your Own Witch

Amongst the sunny branches of the tallest tree of the dread forest sits Armide staring up at the clouds, she lazily picks out shapes of frogs and toads in the sky delaying her return to home. Back at home her mother, Maeva, kept putting on the pressure of choosing her alignment, or witch type, so that Armide would be an acceptable witch. Which, she was not. That is acceptable; she was actually described as an awkward witch. Her potions were potent but pink and her outfit was horrid but classy. She wasn’t your typical warty witch but neither a seductress type witch either. She was different. Each day her mother would try to entice her with entrails or potions to see what would peek her interest. Armide in turn shows her mother her own trick of transforming people to frogs, (which her mother just laughs at). Finally, Maeva gives up and sends Armide on an errand to go see her aunt, the fortune teller, to find out what Armide should be.
With her pet star toad, Renjii, in hand; Armide starts down the crooked road, which leads out of the dread forest to the local town where her aunt has a firm grip over the gullible peasants. She says hello to the werewolf as he tries to entice a young girl wearing a red coat with some flowers and continues on her way. At the run down village, in a hut lives the fortune teller witch, a perfect example of a true witch: crusty as her shack (nothing like Armide). The seer gives a crooked smile and gives a great act and show before she commands her glass ball to tell her the future. Armide doesn’t show much interest and the old witch disappointedly tells her that she must travel the four corners of the land Fée, meet with the great witches of the past and gain the advice from them. What type of answer is that ‘ask someone else’, annoyances? Armide decides instead of just asking for advice she will attempt to become each of their apprentices and learn to be a witch like them.
Finding these great witches of the past isn’t that hard, you just go to the most unpleasant location you can locate and at the heart is the witch. The problem is the peasants in between. One scenario she was confronted by a malicious group of peasants that were really after a man-made monster named franksten or something, but they were perfectly willing to change goals and go after Armide. This didn’t help Armide’s mood, they burned her broom and she was forced to curse the land with flies. Bwahaha, more food for the frogs!
She finally arrives at a candy cottage in the center of a confusingly twisted forest. The old witch was willing to listen to her plight and showed her the simplest ways to create glorious candies and goodies that Armide burns quite gracefully. Disgusted by Armide’s hopelessness and angered by the waste of good treats,(that and the smoke scared off some passing children) the old witch attempts to throw Armide into a pot of water to boil and eat her. But Renjii leaps into the face of the old witch and in the confusion and thrashing about the old witch tripes into the pot and gets boiled herself.
Armide leaves in a hurry and scoots past another passing fly infested group of peasants armed to the teeth with stakes and mumbling about vampires. She turns them into a bunch of toads for good measure. She soon arrives at a giant garden, with every plant one can dream of and a giant wall that surrounded everything, at the center was a sun tanned witch, Dame Gothel, gardening amongst some cabbage. The witch listens for a moment and says she can stay because the best witch is one that can garden. Armide lasts about a day when everything she touches starts to die or something goes wrong. With half her garden destroyed Gothel drags Armide to a tower and attempts to lock her in. But Renjii climbs on the nearest and only broom in the tower and Armide gets the hint and steals it in and flies to safety leaving Gothel alone and trapped in her own tower forced to watch as her garden is stripped bare by an expecting father.
This pattern continues with every witch Armide encounters. She accidentally breaks all the mirrors in a kingdom and trying to say sorry she makes an apple pie for the witch, I guess she was allergic. The snow queen’s palace is not flame resistant apparently and melts; that witch is lost in the river made from that large chunk of ice. (Note to self: do not make bon fires to call forth evil spirits in a palace of Ice.) Armide even tried to ask the Sea Witch but a passing fisherman snags her and she is put out on market before she can do anything to help.
“Well, that didn’t work very well,” Armide heads home trying to figure out her next move, but as she is on her way she is followed by angry peasants, literally hundreds of them are hunting after her. She loses most of them in the forest but she meets more problems as she gets home. Maeva is there waiting, she screams at Armide, and proceeds to curse her when other witches arrive. More witches don’t mean anything good, Armide is to be destroyed for the fact that she has defeated their great witch leaders. ‘Not only did you defame our great Witches but you continue to use that bizarre frog-curse on people.’ Screeched her mother. To make matters worse the lost peasants start showing up yelling for respite and vengeance.
In the calamity of shouts and cursing, Armide hears a soft croak coming from her toad. At least Renjii still loves me. Truly, Armide has always loved frogs too, they have always accepted her. That is probably the reason she created the spell of turning people into frogs. Her Spell! She looks around at the angry peasants and infuriated witches, and with a smile she waves her hand and in a flash and a thousand pops; she is surrounded by thousands of frogs. Her smile turns to laughter as she realizes she is the most powerful witch in the land. She is her own type of witch.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

The Last Summer Project



So my boss got so excited about all the projects I was working on and see how well I was able to execute all of them, she brought me over to one area of the library where there were three pillars and she told me I was completely free to do whatever I wanted to these pillars. So I thought of using quotes on reading and adding to scenes from childhood tales or stories. I also have always admired the style of the vintage silhouettes, so I tried that style. It turned out great, took a bit longer and more experimenting then I thought I was getting into but I am happy how they turned out and also I heard that many of the librarians were fighting over who would get them when they are taken down at the end of the semester.



I love the story of Cinderella, that and it was fun designing out her dress.



I had to have an image for the guys, so here it is, taken straight from the story of sleeping beauty, at least the Disney version.



This last image I just loved because it was just fun to do and the story of Alice is so readily recognizable. Later one librarian told me that I should illustrate a whole children's book in this style and she already promised she would buy it. I really do love this style but I am trying to perfect another, you never know where life will take you.

The next summer project




So with the success of the first project, my boss and a couple of other librarians decided that they wanted to use me for a couple of other projects around the library and there was one area of the library that had windows lining the wall but the problem was the students when sitting at the desk stared right through the windows at the other students sitting across from them. We didn't want the poor students to feel as if they were in a fish tank (don't tap the glass :)). So the library director approved for contact paper to be put up and it was my job to make it pretty. So I cut out stencils and created the effect of etched glass. Turned out pretty impressive and the students wont feel as if someone were staring at them.

Summer Job




So during the summer, I worked for the university library. Starting out doing the dregs work of any college student working for the college, but then one day my boss discovered that I was an artist when I drew a couple of my colleagues for the fun of it. Well this discovery allowed me to be in charge of the bulletin board next to one of the exits of the library. My boss said I was free to do what I liked so I tried the ripped paper style and after showing her a couple of my quick sketches I was able to produce the image below, which will be shown all semester. I had a ton of fun with this project and it allowed me to experiment with a new style.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Vita

Vache

Mouton & Singe, the twins

Souris

Serpa

Poulet

Lapin

Cochon

Chienne

Chevalle