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.

Sketchies

edit: Aug.2.07 - quickie post-it sketch doodle.

Here are some sketches from the week, the last one was done during subway commuting time, and the other two were done while fiddling around on my tablet pc. The first sketch is some character designs for another potential film idea I have...the second is trying a paint-only sketch in Sketchbook pro and the last is a colored drawing of a girl on the subway as I was going to see the Simpsons movie (which was really good by the way, I suggest you go check it out).
-R.

Just so you know....

moleskine sketchbook...

one of those little sketches no one is supposed to see...

Just so you know I'm still alive. I've been busy working hard on the film, I've posted some doodles I did at work while taking a break from using the computer - inspired by a stack of post-it notes sitting by my desk, and looking at James' blog what with his infinite inspiration and my knowledge of people doing things on the subway after seeing them day after day. These were the doodles I liked, a stack more went into their new home, the trash can.
The sketchbook page is from my iDea book, which I've been writing tons (and yes, that is my writing, and yes, I've been told repeatedly that I write like a girl) I've blurred some of the stuff, just because the story is constantly still evolving and I didn't want give it all away yet.
The last drawing is a VERY QUICK inspirational doodle/idea sketch that I did the other day (one of many) to allow me to figure out possible directions that the story could take. It doesn't really mean much, but eludes to a possible backstory.
That's all for now, post more as I get the time - I have a whole sketchbook of subway drawings and characters that I have waiting to be scanned...hopefully this weekend. Also, thanks VERY much to everyone who has been commenting, it is greatly appreciated, and great to know that people actually look at this thing. Thank you.
Till then.
-R.

Zbrush

Sorry again for not posting for a while, I was out of town in Montreal and then ran into some arm/hand issues...prevented me from drawing for a bit, still taking it a little easier, but getting back into the swing of things. I've been playing around with zBrush a bit, in fact, this was pretty much my first foray into said program - I used it as digital clay and sculpted a bust of the cab driver character. I'm not really happy with the way the ears are from pretty much any angle, nor the eyes (especially from the side view) but it's as much an experiment into sculpting as it is an experiment in the program. It's not much, but it'll hold up til I get some drawings on here. Hope you like it. C&C welcome.

-R.

Story sketches & research.

I have a ton of stuff I keep meaning to post, but everytime I look at it, I want to color it and make it look all spiffy for the interweb...and there's never enough time to do so! So, in the meantime, I did get around to quickly coloring up some story sketches I've been doing for the driver idea, as well as him in his original uniform, some location sketching, thumbnail boards and character body type exploration. There's a bunch more, subway sketches and the like to come, I've been sketching like mad; one of the upsides to a long commute down to work in the mornings. If it starts getting too long before the next post, I'll just post whatever I have, colored or not. In the meantime let me know what you think of this stuff, thanks for all the previous comments, much appreciated.

-R.

More Driver stuff...

Sorry for the lack of posts lately, been incredibly busy and had a few personal things to take care of. I'm at work right now and am just posting a doodle I did in photoshop while watching the phones using the lasso tool, just like I used to way back when (read: last year). This is just a quick image to feel like I've actually posted something, I have a bunch of things waiting to be colored, so hopefully I'll be doing that today or tomorrow, time permitting. Thanks for the visits and thank you all SO much for the comments on the last post...I'll be starting to post a few thumbnail boards and stuff as the idea progresses. As always, it's great to hear what you guys think!

-R.

Passengers

This woman was on the bus on the way home, definitely seemed like she knew what was going on. She was carrying a TON.

This one was done REALLY quickly as I realized that the subway was pulling into the final stop. Sometimes you neglect to hear these things when you have headphones on.

First off, thanks so much to the people who commented on the last post. I really appreciate it. Now, on to this week. I realize I missed a week in posting. Sorry. These drawings are all in the theme of passengers, all of them are pretty much from the subway, except for the first old lady. She's part of the cab driver story and ends up having the unfortunate luck to be in the cab on the wrong day. Most are done in pen and then colored in Photoshop, some were cleaned up and colored in openCanvas (which I just started using) .
C&C welcome and appreciated.
-R.

The Driver & the Guitar Player

Just a quick post as I'm forcing myself to post every week (at least) with the amount of stuff I've been doing...
The first is a character for a possible story idea I have about a cab driver, and I tried my hand at painting it - not sure how well it turned out...
The second, was a guy I saw one day after work as I was getting off the subway. He was holding a Tim Horton's cup, with his shirt wrapped around his waist, playing the air guitar to high hell...with no sign of music anywhere. Whatever music he was hearing, must have ROCKED!
The third is just a girl I saw on the subway, standing in various ways.

-R.

Zoo and Cafe Drawings

lion-tailed Macaques

Golden-lion Tamarins (if ever I was to get an exotic pet, this would be it)

Tapir and Orangutan

Grizzly Bears
Drawn in pen, colored with watercolors

More Golden-lion Tamarins

Cafe Sketches

"A mime is a terrible thing to waste"

Last week, Cliff, Emma, Matt and I all went to the zoo - it was a real refreshing day after months of solid work at school. Lots of fun. This past week, I've been enjoying the time off just cafe sketching and drawing up some characters - I've been experimenting with some coloring as well. Most of the drawings here are drawn in pen and colored in photoshop unless otherwise indicated.
Also, I'm going to Montreal this weekend to check out the "Etait une fois...Walt Disney" (Once upon a time...Walt Disney) exhibit at the musee de beaux arts, if anyone is going to be there, leave a comment, I think I'll either be going on the Friday or the Saturday.

-R.