more drawings by heinrich kley

new acquisition, a second volume for the library: a wonderful line, a great feeling for pose and gesture, and a sense of the cynical absurd fit for contemporary times...heinrich kley.

workspace

yellow submarine in collingswood

So what do teachers do when school is out, anyway?

Actually, I did just get the most recent version of "Yellow Submarine" on DVD - each frame cleaned individually - apparently it took four months to do that. It looks great, although I'm hoping to seeing it projected on the wall rather than coming out of my secondhand tv at some point.

Finished another stagehand walk cycle for the film, ploughing through Sequence XVI, the second to last. Lots of revisions to do after XVII is done, as well as in-betweening with Janelle, but it's possible now to start thinking less abstractly and more practically about coloring and environment animation (waves and sky).

The weather changes (every day). That's what weather does, I suppose, but it's heavy hot humid alternating with nippy cold breezy these past few days. Transition before the Big Bad Nonstop Humid here in the swamp.

These images were taken in a co-working space in Collingswood called "The Factory." Growing trend, these days, with individual artists breaking free of their homes to separate work space from living space in an economically feasible manner, and also to rub elbows with other artists. Also, American culture can be lonely sometimes, compared to some other places. I like The Productive, though I haven't been there - the owner seems very motivated, and it's grassroots, not corporate.

Tomorrow, the search for forest items for the backporch. A parasol for friendly shade, a folding chair to read in, and some woodland sorts of plants to suspend all disbelief so that I may feel I am reading in a forest.

and the guitar calls, but first, to sleep...

today

today I:

watered the plants.
drew some drawings.
played guitar.
vaccumed the floor.
bought some food.
ate some yogurt.
didn't go anywhere near school.

and tomorrow I would like to go to a café and think about everything.

end-of-year school pbj sandwich

So it's show season at school - senior animation screenings tonight and tomorrow, and the junior/sophomore presentation on Wednesday.

And then there's grading, commencement, and all that jazz.

And then...the Great Big Blue.

aloha interns 2012-2013!

amanda, chris, shannon, giselle, matt

chris is a very easy director to work with.

not much can bother him.

and giselle has her own style.

animation action shot with Matt

love them candid shots, eh. bye-bye, intern Matt! good luck with finishing up your junior piece, thanks for your good work on "The Ogre and the Mermaid," and have a very good summer!

it's rare when I get to eat a meatball sandwich.

...and that's probably a good thing.

most "ogre/mermaid" posts I leave on the ogre/mermaid blog, but the addition of a revised animatic is an infrequent, larger event, so here it is, the April 25th update of the ogre/mermaid animatic.

this represents the efforts of janelle, eric, amanda, shannon, matt, and giselle. Sadly, we are losing our interns at the end of the semester, but I wish to thank them for their efforts, and hope that they gained from the experience. your work is much appreciated, and of course will appear in the credits! thanks to Eric and Janelle for soldiering on. : D

Motion Heads WIP

a convivial time was had at Chez Nous last evening as colleagues and friends gathered to reveal their secret (or not secret) works in progress at Motion Heads' potluck lasagna fest "This is What I Am Working On or Finished Not So Long Ago."

Ellen showed a short piece with Mona Lisa trying to get a date, but having no luck amongst her male painter suitors, John gave us his gritty, organ detective story, Marie screened a short piece based on a story her father liked to tell about taking the sun to Canada, Karl offered bits and pieces of projects involving photograph-based animation of natural elements (and other things), Michael shared and demo'd examples of games he's worked on/is working on, and Motion Heads played the pencil test animatic for "The Ogre and the Mermaid."

pretty neat to see what other folks are doing, and thanks to all who got up the gumption to participate. it can sometimes be lonely or stale creating in a vacuum, and this was a breath of fresh air, and the interested feedback gives new insight into something you've been staring too closely at for weeks or months.

many appreciations to all, and I'm taking suggestions for the next gathering!

a day well spent

15 of us hopped on the bus and headed to the Oversized Apple to tour animation studios (see below). It was a friendly experience, with familiar alum and studio folk faces at these places, and we all got to catch a glimpse of what the post-school future might look like. Studio owners/founders were welcoming, and not afraid to tell it like it was, in terms of what it's like to run your own place - the highs and lows, the rewards and the costs.

we headed back home just in time to catch the beginning of a little thunder and lightning, our heads filled with visions of Cintiqs and serious adults making cartoons of political bent, kid themes, and overgrown kid stuff.

a cheerful gang, and I hope we all took something from it that will inform our future actions.