Class of '08

Taking the idea from the graduating class of 2005, I thought it would be neat to have a poster, sort of a "class picture" of our entire year's characters. This is a poster that Alan Cook and I put together the other day. Alan's been good enough to update it as more characters come in. He's also posted it up in convenient wallpaper sizes, for both regular anamorphic and widescreen. I can honestly say I'm extremely proud to be in a year with a ridiculous amount of amazing talent. Can't wait to see how great the talent is in the years proceeding us!

Progress on the film is going ahead. I can't say for sure at this point whether it's on schedule, as one day it's going great, the next day I'm slightly ahead of schedule and the day after that, I'm two days behind. Gotta love the film making process. I'll post up some stuff soon.

R.

Thumbnails!

As a result of a life that is comprised almost entirely by the short film, I've been neglecting this blog quite a bit. Here are some quick thumbnails for a scene in my film, some of which were done at my desk, and some of which were done during a lecture by the great Charlie Bonifacio.
Special thanks to Matt for helping scan these as I was line testing a scene, and the broken gentleman for linking me as well. If you can, check them both out, very inspiring and insightful stuff.

R.

Quick Sketches.

Just decided to post something to keep this blog alive. I was having lunch with a friend last week and was doing some thumbnails for a scene as well, and decided to do a quick cafe sketch or two while I was thumbnailing. So, here it is.
Will be back to normalcy eventually.
R.

Character Designs.

Holy crap it's an update!
I never knew what my friends last year meant when they said they were so busy working on the film that they didn't have time to update their blogs...until now. I've been pulling ridiculous hours, hopefully they'll pay off.
These are some character design model sheets (boring...) of the characters in my film. They were done for the first and second years who are helping me out (so, so thankful). The second years who are helping me out are (in no particular order) Boris Maras, Amanda Zima and Amir Avni; all super-talented individuals. I'll post up the first years as well, once I get their blog addresses. Anyway, here they are, hopefully it won't be a month til I update next. The clean-up drawings were a test of the style of cleanup I wanted, however, I've gone with a different and somewhat 'rougher' approach to attempt to retain the life of the rough drawings in clean-up as well.
Also, special thanks to Monsieur Ugo, for being a huge inspiration for the woman and giving me some concepts to work with.
Back soon.
R.

Random sketches

Just wanted to post something up as I hadn't for a while. The first is from the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto, which happened in November. I'm a bit behind on the scanning front. The second and third drawings are done on the Via train just 2 weeks ago, I took a little trip to Montreal to visit some family and friends. On the way, on the subway, I saw a woman dressed in a ridiculous faux fur leopard print coat, and didn't have time to draw her while I was there, so I drew her once I got on the Via...I guess you could say it was a memory sketch. The third drawing is a random character I drew and the girl beside me, who's name was Kim, remarked that he looked like an evil toy shop owner. Hence the little caption.
Also, I just found out that today, my blog has been up and online and consistently updated for a whole two years. So thanks to everyone who's visited and commented on here in the past two years, you're all helping in my goal to become a better artist. Thank you.
R.

Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays everyone! All the best in the new year.

R.

Old Guy

My friends and I went out in downtown Toronto last night. We were at a club and I saw this guy there that I drew today, he stood out like a sore thumb but was really enjoying himself. I busted out the ol' watercolors and tried to paint him...
More soon, the break is coming up so, updates! Huzzah!
R.

Haircut

I went for a haircut on Friday and while waiting, I found a piece of paper beside me and decided to scribble something down because I was bored. I ended up drawing someone else who was waiting. Sorry I haven't posted much, but soon, the reel is almost done.

-R.

Girl

Based on a girl I met this weekend, late night doodles after working on boards for hours on end. Just had to let loose and have a little bit of fun.

-R.

Jean.

It's been about two months since I posted anything on here. I've been extremely busy working on the film and haven't had any time to scan things. It's pretty much been 3 months of boarding and constant reboarding, on a weekly basis - but I'm getting to a point at which I think I may be, perhaps, could almost be happy with what I have (barring a few necessary changes). I did happen to find someone to compose and record with the accordion for the soundtrack to my film (I love downtown Toronto) and he's been doing an awesome job. I thought I would just post a really quick character study of the driver now known as Jean.
Also, I recommend everyone go over to Spline Doctors and listen to a podcast of the man who may be one of my new heroes - Dr. Ed Catmull. If anyone is ever thinking of starting up their own company, is curious of the way Pixar works, or the philosophies, both for filmmaking and for business principles, it is a must hear. There is also a video of Dr. Catmull as the keynote speaker to the graduating class of the Stanford School of Business. It is one of the most interesting talks that I have heard, and he speaks extremely candidly about some of the issues that the company has faced. Thanks to Robin for pointing that one out to me.
I also bought the Ratatouille dvd, and was really surprised at the lack of bonus features in the single disc. Myself and two friends bought one of our other friends the Blu-ray disc, which has 2-3 hours of extra bonus material, including Brad Bird's animation critiques, a whole making-of featurette, a tribute to Dan Lee, and some hilarious extras which I won't elaborate on. Target in the States is also giving a special second disc with specially marked packages. Kind of infuriating.
Anyway, I will try to post more often and post more development work. Hard to believe Christmas is just around the corner...and our final storyreel screening.....oh boy.
-R.

Back at it.

So it's been about a month since I posted. School happened. It's been a good but busy first month back. I've decided on the film idea, and I've chosen the Driver. Its going to be a busy bunch of months, so I'm buckling up for the ride. Getting back to life drawing has been refreshing also, seeing all the familiar faces and meeting a bunch of new ones has been fun.
I'm posting a cafe sketch, just to post something, and a guy that I designed while sitting in my Philosophies of World Religions class (also pretty interesting stuff). Hope you like them, and as always comments and crits are greatly appreciated. I'll be posting more stuff from the film (working on props and layout/background styling right now, as well as the story) very soon. Also, I'm just tossing this out to the blogosphere and seeing if anyone can help...does ANYONE out there know how to play the accordion and is willing to mimic/score a track for the driver film? Anyone...? Bueller...?
Thanks in advance!
-R.

More film stuff

Here are some more development drawings for the films - some more spaceman designs, followed by some select toned boards from the rough story reel of the as-yet-untitled spaceman film (trying not to give away the story just yet) and some not yet toned boards from the driver story reel, which is still in the process of completing the first draft, tentatively titled "C'est La Vie". All the boards were done entirely in Alias' Sketchbook Pro.

EDIT: Mark Kennedy over at the Temple of the Seven Golden Camels blog has posted some advice for students who are making their own films this year. It's a MUST read for everyone who is doing so - go check it out.

Also - Spline Doctors has an awesome podcast with director Pete Docter (directed Monsters Inc.), it's pretty awesome, go check it out. Also CartoonBrew posted this awesome youtube video with legendary voice actor Mel Blanc on Letterman - it's interesting to watch as he's still funny long after he's gone, as well as it being really odd when he does the voices - it almost seems as though they're dubbed over because he's such a natural at them as well as the fact that the characters are so ingrained into our minds as the cartoons. Really cool.
Thank you everyone for the comments and critiques, I really appreciate them. School starts on Tuesday in full force, so we'll see what happens - I'm sure there'll be some snags along the way. I'm sad to see summer go, hanging out with great friends, befriending the Starbucks Staff and of course, the great internship at Red Rover Studios where I not only got to meet some awesome people, but helped my skills and changed my focus altogether. Hopefully this will be an awesome year and I'll try to post as much as possible especially with the progress of the film(s).
As always, comments and crits are greatly appreciated!.
-R.

Heartbreaker and A Blast from the Past

First off, thanks to everyone who's been commenting. It's very much appreciated.
Here's a random character page I did based on this girl I saw on the subway, who definitely looked like a heart breaker. She obviously wasn't smoking on the subway (it's illegal) but she did have a cigarette in her mouth, ready to be lit as soon as she stepped out.
The second...at the risk of endless humiliation - on the left is a drawing I did in 2003, just as I was starting at Sheridan, straight out of high school into the Art Fundamentals program, as I was cleaning up my computer and its hard drives, I managed to stumble upon this drawing (among many other absolutely atrocious pieces) and decided to see what I could do with a similar, more correct pose now. The sketch took a total of about 10 minutes now with another 10 to color, and the one from 2003 definitely took WAY longer than that. It's funny to look back at where you were, makes you feel good until you look at where you have to go...then it's right back to the drawing board.
Also, apparently Gobelins isn't the only French animation school, this one called "La Poudiere" seems pretty cool too, although perhaps a little more "experimental" in it's film making. You need to be at least 23 years old to get in, unless there are "special circumstances". Clay over at the Animation Podcast has posted a new podcast of stop-motion pioneer Ray Harryhausen. I haven't heard it yet, but it should be good.
Anyway, let me know what you think of this stuff, I really appreciate the comments!
-R.

Film Designs

These are some designs I've been working on for my two film ideas, the one about the Driver and the one about a Spaceman. The first three here are for the spaceman film, reflecting spaceman designs and the damsel in distress. The last two are research drawings for the driver idea - some cab designs and learning little details about Parisian streets and the interiors of cabs and such.
I've also posted a new link under "web sites" for Inspiring Reels a site which someone has created with links to animators of all kinds and their respective blog/websites. Pretty cool resource for all animators.
Edit: a GREAT interview with the great Andrew Stanton at AICN.
I'll be posting more soon. Comments are much appreciated!
-R.

More Subway sketching.

At the food court of St. Bruno mall in Montreal, QC.

Outside on the patio of a Second Cup.

Some more drawings, mostly from the subway unless otherwise labelled. I may be changing up my story idea to a little gag idea about a spaceman, as I've been talking to a few people who've said that the driver idea is much too elaborate to pursue as a finished animated film by one person. I've also decided that my focus is going to be storyboarding, so don't worry, the driver film will be finished, in the form of a completed animatic, so expect to see some boards here shortly for both. The first pass of a very, very rough thumbnail animatic is actually done for the driver film, but I haven't decided if I'll be posting it up here yet.
Also, on that note, to all those making a film (students especially) in the (near) future, please do yourselves a favor and check out Spline Doctors for a podcast (also downloadable via iTunes) featuring the incomparable Ted Mathot and Mark Andrews, story artists at Pixar who delve deep into the story process at Pixar and discuss the common mistakes made by students making films among other things, and it's also hilarious to hear the soft-spoken Mr. Mathot with the outspoken Mr. Andrews.
Another huge inspiration of late has been the amazingly talented Deanna Marsigliese whose new book "The Art of Deanna Marsigliese" shows off an amazing new talent. If you haven't seen any of her stuff, I suggest you check out her blog and book. Definitely worth seeing.
After SDCC, Andrew Stanton has been doing interviews all over the place - check out his audio interview at ComingSoon.net
Lastly, thank you so much to everyone who has been commenting on the last few posts, your encouragement means a lot.
-R.