Throughout the first academic year I have learned a lot! The highlight of the year was making a show reel of my work, this allowed me to go through everything I made during the year and realize how much I have improved. I've managed to learn and achieve more than I've set out to, looking back on my first blog post in PPP. I have managed to grasp the basics of 3d modelling and animating (which I did not think I could do), I have improved my drawing skills a lot and feel even more confident with 2d animation and digital drawing. Also, in the beginning of first year I have struggled with creativity and generating ideas, however I do not have a problem with that now (which is a big win for me), along side that I have learned how important it is to research what ever you are doing, document the creative process so you can reflect on it later, these things helped me improve immensely as a practitioner. Another thing I have learned is how to do presentations and speak out. All the crit sessions and presentations we had to do made me a lot more confident in interacting with people and just speaking my mind, I don't feel that the language barrier is holding me down as much now.
What do I want to learn more about
So far I would like to learn more about 3d animation. I don't particularly enjoy it, but I know I need it as there is a growing need for 3d animators in the industry. The way I think about it is 2d and 3d animation is different in the way that 2d is drawing and 3d is sculpting, both of them demand different logic when it come to problem solving. Another thing I would love to learn more about is character design. During our recent lecture about character and short story design I realized how little I really know about it. I do not feel like we had a chance to create a character during the first year as we do now with the Character and Narrative module. Along side that I would like to learn more about storytelling and how translate a story to the screen. The recent Cop lectures got me interested in the theoretical side of animation practice as well, so I would love to learn more about how to research, reflect and evaluate as I have been way too focused on the practical side of everything so far. And the other thing I want to learn more about is how to start positioning myself within the industry, like how to get my work out there, branding myself and just start getting experience out side of the college.
What are my strengths
My strengths have not changed that much since the first year, which I think is good, because I don't like jumping from direction to another. I feel like 2d animation is still one of my strong-suits, I love analyzing movement and translating it to animation. Working with computers is another thing I enjoy and I am fairly good at. However drawing by hand is one of the things that I feel most confident about and I would like to improve it even further. I also feel like I am really good in time management and organizing my work. Throughout the first year I have managed to successfully balance between college and a part time job, I am really proud that I became so independent both financially and mentally, I might have less time to do my homework but I have learned how to do it without leaving everything to the last second which comes in really handy when meeting deadlines and working within certain time tables.
What I need to Improve
I really feel like I should take my strengths and improve them further. Draw more and quicker, more sketches, more design ideas, more animating, more working with computers and more pressure to meet deadlines, so I learn how to be more efficient with my time and work. As the lecturer said during the research and epistemology lecture- fail harder and fail quicker, so there is more time to improve. I want to get used to working under pressure and how to meet higher expectations, because I know that so far I can crack easily when it comes to those things.
Practitioners that demonstrate my interest in animation
Andrea Femerstrand also knows as Noukah, character designer, illustrator and concept artist. I love how every character she draws has so much life and personality in it. Her work is really bright and dynamic. She also does drawing tutorials and they are really benefitial-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JU6CWUnll4
http://noukah.blogspot.co.uk/
Robertas Nevecka Lithuanian illustrator and animator. Even though he is from the same small town as I am (Klaipeda) where everyone knows everyone, I have never met him personally but it is really inspirational to me that I share a similar background to such an artist. In an ideal world I would actually love to collaborate with him. But for now here is some of his work-
http://robertasnevecka.com/
Tadas Vidmantas another Lithuanian practitioner whose work I follow. He is mainly based in London now but quite a lot of his work is still for Lithuanian television and media. Animation wise his work field is quite narrow and the animations them salves aren't anything special, but the reason I love his short films is often times they are funny in an ironic way and the characters are easy to relate.
http://tadasvidmantas.com/
Chris Sasaki, I have started following his work since his visit in uni. I like how he talked about research being 90% percent of any project, and I think I could use that more in my practice. His website provides a lot of insight into his projects, for instance his character design work for Inside Out.
http://www.csasaki.com/film/
James Roper artist from Manchester. "My work explores a variety of subjects from the heightened realities depicted in Baroque art and modern media to the restraint and release of energy found within complex structures such as the human body. I work in various mediums including painting, drawing, sculpture and film."I love his work because it heightens your senses, it is pleasurable to look at and there is also this weir aesthetic in the chaos he creates.
http://jroper.co.uk/film/outside/index.html
Websites and online resources that demonstrate my interest within the industry
Behance
Tumblr
11Second Club
Animation Physics
Cartoo Brew
Motionographer
