My first attempts at doing caricatures

                                  
The drawing above is my caricature of the lovely Lynda, and below is the the photo I used as reference.

       

The Drawing above is my interpretation of the beautiful Miss Evans! And below is the photo I used as reference.             

 

I have always been facinated with how cartoonists can capture someones essance with the caricatures they do. I have read that a good caricature is not achieved by trying to do a 'style' of caricature, but rather, observe particular features that define the person you are drawing, then your own style will come through. I don't think I have done them cartoony but at the same time they are not so realistic. I think with more practice I will be able to pick out and exaggerate more features so the drawing has more depth to it.

Stop Motion Traitor

http://vimeo.com/32754318

Here is the link to my attempt at animating in 2D.... I was fed up and doing this made me smile. The fox character will be the one I use for my main film next year. I just wanted to test if he could be a drawn character rather than a puppet. It's all good practice. :) Enjoy!

My sketch of John K...

It has been a while since I have done any quick portrait sketches, and as John K. did a picture of me... I thought I would do one of him :) All good practice.

Bristol Encounters Animation Festival 2011

Here I am with one of the characters from Aardman's latest animated film 'The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists'. I was really lucky to attend this workshop with Aardman's Amanda Darby, one of the lead model makers, as there were not many tickets. It was a real eye opener to see the amount of hard work and skill it takes to make these puppets. The film is a mixture of traditional stop frame animation and CG animation. I was so happy to find out from Amanda that they were thinking of doing it all CG but scraped it because Peter Lord (Director) thought it didn't have the same appeal as the stop motion look they are so well known for. The film is nearly completed, so I look forward to seeing this little pirate working his magic on the big screen!

The photo above is of myself and John K. Animator and creator of the crazy cartoon 'Ren and Stimpy'. I just managed to get my caricature done from him as there was such a demand for them. He was a really nice guy and I think he caught my 'pixar smile', as he put it, perfectly.
I remember a few episodes of Ren and Stimpy when I was a kid, but I have to say they really grossed me out. But the comedy element to them was fantastic. There was a viewing of the cartoons he had made and they were completely discusting yet extremely funny. I was in fits of giggles. The talk John gave on his love of the old cartoons was amazing and so valid. I completely agreed with him that the cartoons of the 30's, 40's, 50's and 60's were at their best. I grew up on a lot of them myself watching the re-runs or the videos. He really inspired me to think about my animation as creatively and as imaginatively as I can before someone else has all the say in the creative input. He is a very funny, talented and inspirational man with loads of character.

These are the caricatures John K. did of myself and my fellow stop motion ladies, Emma and Lynda. We had a fantastic week!

Talking with Children's Illustrator Matt Buckingham

Today I had a good chat with the talented children's author and illustrator, Matt Buckingham ( http://www.mattbuckingham.co.uk/ ) . He gave me some valuable advice about how to become an illustrator. He was good enough to look through some of my own illustrations and give me constructive feed back on what I need to do to make them suitable for my target audience. One of the key things Matt mentioned was that illustrations for children tend to have a traditional look about them, even if they are done digitally. He suggested that I try incorporating more traditional mediums within the colouring process of my illustrations, that way I can add more texture and depth and then mess around with the colours in Photoshop . I really like this suggestion as I love traditional media and it is nice to be told that I don’t have to feel like computer images are always the way forward. It was wonderful talking with him and I now feel more clued in with what I need to do to be in with a chance of being successful as an children's wirter and illustrator.

This illustration was the one Matt liked best out of the images I showed him. He said that the colours and textures were lovely and added depth to the image.

Quick draw!

This is a quick 2d animation I did to test how I could animate my character for my uni animation. I enjoyed doing it but I think that for the time frame I have she will be better in stop motion cut out. I will come back to drawn animation to do some experiements in my spare time.

May it Be acapella cover

I did an acapella cover of May it be (by Enya) I do not own any of the copy right this is something I did as a practice for voice work...and I just enjoy messing around. Have a listen and I hope you enjoy!

Thanks,

Chloe.