New Mini's for Etsy!

I finally got around to updating my Etsy shop! It only took a few months, but I got a bunch up there. There's still a ton more minis sitting in a cardboard box that I still need to photograph. If you want to check them all out, head over to https://www.etsy.com/shop/DesignByLJ Here's a sneak peek of what's to come!

Class 01 Animation Basics Final Reel!

It was a rough semester but it's over! Now I can finally have a weekend off to update all of my new mini Etsy paintings to sell!  Between working two jobs, getting used to only working on this class in all my spare time, going out of town so much, and my laptop completely breaking and having to buy a new computer...but it's done! This is basically how I feel right now...haha

My demo reel is officially turned in and completed! This is how it turned out! If you want to see a better version, you can view it on my portfolio site at http://www.lindseymjones.com/animation-mentor/

My next class starts on Sunday, which is basic body mechanics. My mentor for that class is a senior animator from Blue Sky Studios. I'm trying to hit a different studio for every class to guarantee different styles of animation. My mentor for class 1 was very cartoony and exaggerated. You can tell because he worked at Sony. This is a link to Joe's IMDB to see what he has worked on. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3309484/ I guess this means it's time to apply for jobs again...oh joy.

Personality Walk Splined

This is my final submission for the personality walk. For this assignment, we had to spline it out, and create all the in-betweens. I ended up going pretty far from my original blocking, and ended up with this crazy walk.

And for our poses, we had to show balance. I wanted to get a bit of ungracefulness in there, because everything I saw was either ballet or gymnastics or yoga. Characters perfectly aligned, doing great things. So I wanted to go with more of a person standing on a rolling chair, and it starts to spin around type feel. So these are the sketches I came up with.

Then I thought about how I was little, and would always try and stand on the fire hydrant, waiting for my school bus. I could never balance myself on it, because there was only room for one foot.

and now this is my final render

Personality Walk Blocking

For this assignment, we had to block out our personality walk. It took me a while to figure out what I wanted to go with. I shot a lot of reference video, and ended up doing one walk in particular. It was almost a double bounce walk, with the feet leading toe first. This is my planning for it.

And then this is my walk. I got a lot of feedback about how the mood was confusing. It looked like a sneak, and it looked like a stomp. I needed to go with a certain idea, which I didn't really do. I kind of just combined a bunch of different aspects of the walk, and there's no clear emotion here.

Our pose for this week was to pose out exhaustion. I could definitely relate to this one. Especially having to work 2 jobs, take these classes, and still end up with no money by the end of the week. These are all of my ideas for the pose.

I really wanted to go with the stair one, but his head was just way too big, and his body looked funny on stairs, unless they were massive. And now this is the pose I submitted for it. I ended up using a lot of pictures of homeless people as reference. I was thinking about exercising, and if you were running around the park, and needed a break. Which led to homeless people sleeping on park benches. 

and based on my mentors critiques, this is my final render!

Vanilla Walk

For our assignment this past week, we had to complete our vanilla walk. I splined him out, and added all of the in-betweens. This is my final result.

And our pose for this week, was to show concern. It was kind of tough being original with this one. My sketches came out either depressed, or excited. I was originally going to go with more of a stressed out, pacing back and forth idea, but that came out kind of hard to read. 

So the next best thing? Kids! Kids always bring out the concern in parents. So I figured adding Ballie in, would be the only way to convey that properly. So here is how my pose ended up.

And here is how my final render turned out based on my mentors notes!

Vanilla Walk Blocking

It's finally time for a walk cycle! This past week at Animation Mentor, we are doing vanilla walks. I chose to use the character Ballie. We are only blocking out the shot, and then next week we are splining it together. This is what i did for the blocking.

And then our pose for this week was to show physical strength. I originally wanted to do something along the lines of an egyptian building the pyramids, or a firefighter holding the heavy hoses. I even found a to of suitcase reference images, which I can relate to myself for always overpacking.

 I ended up using Stu lifting up the couch to try and get Tailor out from underneath. There have been so many times I was trying to find my rabbit when she was still a tiny bunny. She almost always ended up underneath the couch or bed. 

And now this is my final render.