check it out!

The Making of Obstacle Illusion from claire fouquet on Vimeo.

short documentary for Obstacles & Barriers, by friends Sarah Schwartz, Claire Fouquet, and Patty Smith. this was an interdisciplinary project completed a year ago at the University of the Arts, involving printmaking, dance, and music. a wonderful collaborative effort, and these two continue to work together, mining the vein of interdisciplinary, cross-cultural elements and taking full advantage of a well-populated cast of talent.

it's (too) late.

gosh, it's so late and I decided to write a post about nothing, here.

coloring ogres bit by bit, aiming towards getting all done so we can move on to waves and clouds. animating seems like fun, but the reality of sitting in front of the computer for hours with a tablet just doesn't have quite the thrill of working with paper, or puppets (though I'm not really a stop-motion type). sitting in front of the glowing screen, you don't really feel like you're "making" something, you know?

maybe it's about the storytelling. but it doesn't take this long to tell a story. it can to make one, though.

next film's gonna be short and quick.

and otherwise there's the guitar, trying to take it out to the public even though the level of playing is not where it could be right now, but that's part of the ruse of playing outside - get better.

in high school, you could stay up late and have someone else be in charge of the world. now it doesn't make a difference, and it's all up to you. but I discovered that years ago.

this is just a moment of blank space before getting up to brush the teeth and hit that hay.

hey.

a blip between beats.

on to the next thing...

greg lytle

junior collaborative workshop received a visit from freelance animator greg lytle this afternoon. greg introduced himself to us and showed a few examples of his work. he grew up in philadelphia, moved to new york city to attend sva, started working in animation while still in school, and, after a couple of years in the big apple, moved back to the region of his roots.

he works mainly in digital drawn animation, although we did see an early stop-motion piece, a music video, that made use of fish. projects he has worked on that you can view on his website include:

 "I wanna play," a music video for bill harley

"and then we were jumping," based on a poem by eve ensler

"words of love," music video for the beatles.com

the class asked him several questions about life as a freelance animator. greg's answers were honest and telling, and I hope the students gained a few new insights into the path they may choose after graduation.

it was great to meet a recently-relocated local animator - thanks for reaching out, greg!

a visit from a yellow submarine.

sunday afternoon at the cake

september gig at cake and the beanstalk. we played surrounded by plants, med students, and our small clan of faithful supporters.

On the menu in the solarium:

Duo pieces:
• Danza Paraguaya (Barrios)
• Dolly Berceuse (Fauré)
• Milonga (Cardoso)
• Invention #1 (Bach)
• Toy for Two Lutes (Dowland)
• Salamanca (Traditional)

Solo pieces:
Sean
• Prelude (Brouwer)
• Etude in D Major (Sor)

Chris
• Choros (Pernambuco)
• Afro-Cuban Lullaby (Marshall)
• Canarios (Traditional)
• Waltz (Barrios)
• Canço del Lladre (Llobet)
• Soleares (Turina)
• Sheep May Safely Graze, Cantata #208 (Bach)
• El Negrito (Lauro)
• Vals Venezolano #2 (Lauro)

more ottawa

dumpster diving, poster in background

this year's poster: more underground comics

mama bourgeois

interesting evaporation

ottawa 2014, friday

 animator's picnic today in ottawa at the festival. as usual, I didn't get my hands dirty, but the uarts students managed a 2nd place showing, with their exposed brain pumpkin.

this little ice deer spent time slowly melting while hobnobbing animators made the rounds, plate of food and cup of beer in hand.

 the 2nd place pumpkin getting a brain massage.

 pumpkin art on display before the judging.

 the canals next to parliament. I love the river path.

wide-angle of the ottawa river, with gatineau in the distance. I had a good lie down on a boulder in the late afternoon sun.

ottawa, day two

day two here in Ottawa, just finished. Sitting on the bed, eyes bloodshot and head full of animation. A bit chilly here this year, but it's always nice to be in Canada. The films are strong, especially the graphics, which, with a lot of computer expertise in creating hybrid images that combine textures, color, and line, both organic and digital (but mostly digital).

attended a history of manga and anime lecture this afternoon. Was interesting to hear a professor and a journalist talk about medieval roots for these forms, Hokusai always seems to be involved in discussions concerning Japanese graphic arts, and some discussion of monsters was also part of the talking. The Japanese themselves didn't do any talking - just the Canadian experts. I was wondering what the Japanese present thought...

off to bed...

images of ottawas past, before heading into the present...

time for the trek northward for several days of animation screenings with our student and faculty gang, enjoying canada's crisp air, clean river jogging path, and quebec-over-the-bridge.

animated documentary...an interesting discussion

"When docs get graphic..."

Persepolis