CE Figure Drawing Dump

I took a Continuing Education figure drawing class for one credit this semester, and it was really awesome and easy and helped me understand the figure a lot. Some figures are better than others, and I certainly have a long ways to go before I feel entirely confident about figure drawing, but I feel armed and powerful with knowledge that I didn't have prior to this class.

Also, here is a terrible photo of an unfinished painting I did in my drawing class:

I am sorry the frame is wobbly and her face is messed up and her legs look flat. I am sorry. I am sorry.

I went to Colorado over Spring Break

My brother and I visited my dad in Colorado over our spring breaks, and we basically did nothing since my dad was at work every day. We did go hiking twice, however, and I felt the sun on my legs for the first time in months. I also purchased a pair of fun and sexy! new balance sneaks, so that was cool and good for my feet.

My pictures from it are kind of boring, but I love long hikes, and the grandiosity of nature is both inspirational and overwhelming to a short, anxious person like me. (Warning: Photoset contains DSLR flower photograph. Proceed with caution.)

My brother is awkward.

Animation moodboard and preliminary scraps for "Anxiety Dream"

We're nearing the end of second semester (I can't believe it!), and we've just been assigned our final project in my Intro to Animation class.

Here's the moodboard I put together for it (images were compiled from all over tumblr and cargocollective):

I don't know why the colors appear so much duller when uploaded to this website or even to tumblr. It's a little disappointing.

With regards to my film, which will either be titled Anxiety Dream or Dream Anxiety or Stress Dream or a combination of the three or something entirely unrelated (I haven't yet decided),  I am interested in synesthetically capturing the anxiety and ephemerality and abstraction of anxiety dreams.

I've been having a lot of them this year—actually, I can't remember the last time I had a dream that wasn't dysfunctional.  I wonder why that is; I don't feel like I've been particularly mentally unstable this year. Maybe it's because of my fucked up sleep schedule (i.e. my nocturnal lifestyle).

The first half of the film (about 30 seconds or so) will be her waking up, late to class, and partaking in the daily morning ritual that so many of us rely on to establish a sense of self and maintain sanity. I think it's a known fact of humanity that without routines, our selves and our society would fall into disarray. The beginning half of the film will be done in pretty normal character animation. Halfway through, she'll be running to class and fall into a hole in the ground, and the anxiety dream sequence will begin in her midair descent through this bottomless pit. I'll use, like, markers and crayons and maybe even paint. Who knows?

The character herself looks pretty young and pretty average, and the environment she lives in looks like a normal apartment or dorm. There will be a very strict color palette in the first half—somewhat limited, though vibrant. Biomorphic abstractions will accompany her in the latter half, during the experimental part.

It's all very vague. I showed my animatic to my class on Friday and it was more or less a disaster; nobody could tell what it was about and everyone seemed....doubtful? I don't know how to describe it. It was like when I gave my presentation on Al Jarnow and I was so excited and prepared to talk and then the response was just a letdown. I don't know, man.

Here are some visual scraps/concept art stuff I've made in an attempt to familiarize myself more with the character and her personality/setting:

I've got about 5 more weeks to finish this. I feel a little fucked.