Personal Portfolio

Hey, I finished my first assignment for my web design class! Here is a screen shot showing the Home page. I don't have a whole lot of experience with web design, so I was proud with what I was able to accomplish. I especially like the links buttons that I created in photo shop.

A New Beginning

Hello! It's been about a year since I've updated this thing and now I'm starting it up again for another class: Web Design. The blog topics will be expanded to include web design along with the theme of animation. I finished the projects I wrote about previously and I should probably post pics/videos of my final work! I will write about my new projects as well. Look forward to more posts, I will be writing about once a week!

Ahh finals!

This week is the start of my finals so I wont be able to post much. I just want to quickly thank everyone for posting their comments. I have really enjoyed reading them! This blog has turned out to be a fun way to learn more about something I love, animation, and it was overall a neat experience. I'm not sure if I'm going to keep posting after this semester or not but thanks for reading!

Call Me Crazy...

So now I have only a week left to finish my entire animation for my class (if you remember, it's the room with the giant glass in the center that I posted images of earlier). There is still much work to be done, mainly adding sound effects and improving the camera movements. To add to the madness, I've placed another element into the scene that wasn't in the original painting: a doll. My narrative for the animation is seen from the perspective of the character as she walks around the room feeling confused by the oddly sized objects. Only at the end does she realize that she's a doll inside of a doll house when she looks into the mirror on the dresser. I've posted an image of my model next to the picture that she is based off of. It looks good for a start but the hair and the apron are giving me trouble. I hope I can get everything done before it's due next week!

Women Who Rock in Animation

A couple weeks ago I talked about Mary Blair, one of the first women to hold an influential position working for Disney. Now I want to talk about some of the women who work in the industry today.

As far as opportunities in the animation field, we've come a long way from the Ink and Paint department. As an article from Women in Animation (Education First, Travel Next: Tips From Some of the Pros) points out, "In an attempt to engage more viewers by capturing another point of view, women are even being sought out." A few examples of women who have recently worked in management positions include Jean McCurdy who ran Warner Bros. Animation during its golden age and the creative team of women behind Nick Jr.

For girls especially but also anyone interested in an animation career, I recommend reading the rest of the article for tips about getting into the industry. Also, see the Women in Animation blog where you can find a bunch of blogs created by professional female animators.

Getting a Head in Modeling

For the past few weeks, I've been working on my character's face in Maya. Her head started out as a simple block that became more complex as I extruded, shaped, and added edges. You can see the edges, or green lines, in the first image that looks like a blocky c-3po from star wars. The next image is a smoothed-out version without the edges. Being an anime character, she will need much bigger eyes and her nose needs a little work. Nevertheless, I'm happy to see the shape of her face start to emerge!

Mary Blair: Disney Animator

Going with my previous theme of women in animation, I want to write about the Disney Legend Mary Blair. Most women who worked for Disney animation in it's early years were confined to the Ink and Paint department where they had little influence on the overall look. Mary Blair, however, was one of the exceptions. She joined the Disney team in 1940 and was named art supervisor for the Three Cabelleros the next year. Her unique style came to influence several films, includng Song of the South, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, and Peter Pan. I recently learned that she also contributed to the design of the It's a Small World ride in Disneyland, which clearly showcases her art style. She is inspiring to me because of the impact she has had on animation despite the limitations that were present during her time. Here are some screenshots of her concept art.