Finding the roots

It’s been a while! SOOO I haven’t been updating my blog for such a long time now. I missed writing down my thoughts about art and animation, learning new things, challenging myself. It’s been really difficult to stay motivated lately; so I came back here to find my early inspirations. What used to keep me ticking?

I found a lot of those Artists along with many more whose work moves and entertains. I want to get back to basics, back to learning, and take it one step, one challenge at a time. I want to get as comfortable with drawing as I used to; draw for myself more, not just to do better work. So I thought I can start by posting here more frequently, be it art or artists who inspire me; so that I can always come back to it when things seem flat.

Some of my latest inspirations are Alberto Mielgo, Patrick O'Keefe, Tarun Lak, Shiyoon Kim, Anand Babu, hongsi84, Krishna Chandran, Rudy Hill, Djamila Knopf, Danielly Romero, Rebecca Sugar, Caio Martins,
Amongst the old favourites I want to revisit are Nathan Fawkes, Tom Bancroft, Glen Keane, Goro Fujita, Toby Shelton, Claire Wendling, Normand Lemay, Paul Briggs, Barukuri, Boulecorp, Frank Frazetta, Carter Goodrich, Peter de Seve, Chris Sanders to name a few!

I have been turning to Bobby Chui for his amazing content on Chuistream whenever I need motivation!
One of my favourite interviews is of Paul Briggs, who keeps reminding us that Story is King, and we should never forget to communicate through our drawing. Hope you enjoy listening to the stream too.

J

Update

13th March 2014

Hey guys.
Well it seems like forever since I posted any of my work. I have been busy with a hell lot of personal issues and massive motivation problems. Tonight I watched a TED talk by Nick Vujicic. I'm not generally so emotional, but I guess it was just the timing of it; when it was over, I was like a fountain of tears, crying uncontrollably and feeling more miserable than ever. If you need hope, you should watch it. I have been in a lot of self-doubt and loss of confidence for a really long time. To top that, I feel apathy very very often, which can get ridiculously scary. I just hope this weird dark phase moves off quickly.

So once it does, if it does, I will soon share all the stuff I've been upto. Maybe tomorrow will be a brighter day.

Travel Update

12th June 2013

Sooo, I have been travelling a LOT. One gets pretty tired of sitting at home and procrastinating work once one graduates. Life is very uncertain after graduation, and there's avoid you have to fill or you get depressed quickly. I was dying to go to Leh Ladakh, Kashmir for a very long time. Finally my family and I decided to go north where it's a climate we're not familiar with (being Goans and living in the South with the heat and rain and humidity). It was an adventure. It was not what I expected, which made it an adventure all the more.

 Besides having motion sickness and severe migrains thanks to the low Oxygen levels there, I got to enjoy the most gorgeous senery and be with nature. It was wonderful.


After we got back to Delhi, I left my parents and went on a trip to Ramgarh, Uttarakhand where my friend Prachi recently built a house. That trip was just what I needed. After Leh these mountains were nothing. Ramgarh is a place in the hills, very close to Nainital. We plucked apricots, peaches and plums right from her orchard and got to see clouds passing through us! It was beautiful, and I got to spend it with my two awesome college friends Prachi and Madhuwanti.


 I got back home yesterday, and I feel so fresh and have a new wave of eagerness to work and produce some magical stuff. :) So that's why I've been explaining what I'm upto.

On the work front, me and my friend Laskhmi have decided to take up the MAGNIFICIENT! the CHALLENGING! the DAUNTING! the EXCITING - 30 DAY ANIMATION CHALLENGE!! >:)

Hells yeah! So yesterday was day one and we decided to animate blinks. I managed to finish 3 and realized how rusted I am! I really need to get my shit togetha! Today, weight shift. :/ Hope we last till day 30!

And lastly about my film, I am getting back to it and not giving up. I am more determined than ever to see it through.

Rock on guys! \m/

Help StoryCorps!

If I was rich or even moderately well-off, the first project I would fund would be StoryCorps. I have been watching their animations from the very first and they are so beautiful and so moving in their style and narration that they totally deserve the money from us. We're ready to pay so much money for funny entertainment like Dick Figures, but StoryCorps has just collected over 2K of funds. It's really sad. If you can afford it, please contribute atleast $1 to their amazing 1/2 hour production.

Here's their channel on youtube, you can watch all their films HERE (for free).

Alina chau's commencement speech

Hi guys,

I read Alina Chau's commencement speech today and I was very inspired. I think every animation film maker or art student should read this before graduating. If you're ever down and you get lost in your work, and what you did once for fun now becomes work, this is what you need to be reminded; to keep both separate and always do art for yourself as well.

Happy reading!

In hungarian countryside!

It's been long!

I'm on vacation with my family here in Hungary. We visited Vienna as well and they're both beautiful cities, Vienna and Budapest. I am now in Hungarian countryside enjoying peace and quiet, playing cards, sleeping and eating! It's hard to be so cut off from work. There are so many funny moments I want to board but I don't have my buddy wacom here. It was too big, so no artwork from me for a while.  I am dying to watch a huge list of movies (prometheus, great gatsby, batman beyond, snowwhite and the huntsmen, madagascar III, brave, shanghai) and cook and eat a bunch of things when I'm back.
Lot of plans! Until then, peace and quiet for me.
  
*sounds of birds chirping in the background*

Goro Fujita's Speed Painting Gyaan!

TREASURE! TREASURE!!!

Well I'm a big fan of Goro Fujita's work. I've been having a lot of trouble painting my backgrounds and coming to terms with myself regarding the look of the film. Anywho, I was about to request Goro to put up a digital painting tutorial, and then I stumbled upon this! I can't tell you guys how useful this was. It makes everything clear - and as long as you practice it, you'll keep getting better. One major mistake I made was I always kept the bg color white - which doesn't allow me to set the mood or play with the values!
Enjoy!!

http://chapter-56.blogspot.in/2006/11/speedpainting.html

And here's another one on the making of 'the hunt' another one of his works - stepwise.
http://www.cgsociety.org/index.php/CGSFeatures/CGSFeatureSpecial/the_making_of_the_hunt

Keep it togetha!

22nd March 2012

Most of the time these days we're more like this:

 Animation takes up your time, patience, it tests you and your will, your determination. It is hard. But we gotta keep it togetha! :)

What the disney princess' would look like in real life

Found this randomly today - it's an interpretation of what the disney princess' would look like in real life! The artwork is by artist Jerika Väätäinen. My personal favourites are Jasmine and Jane, but I loved all the others as well, including Ursula! Jerika is a Finnish photographer and designer who is currently studying Graphic Design in Bournemouth. His series on Behance called, Envisioning Disney Characters in "Real Life"has been a clear favorite even on his Facebook page with 14,582 thumbs up.

Enjoy!

Mulan (Mulan)

Esmeralda (Hunchback of Notré Dame)

Pocahontas (Pocahontas)

Jane (Tarzan and Jane)

Rapunzel (Tangled)

Alice (Alice in Wonderland)

Ariel (Little Mermaid)

Tiana (Princess and the Frog)

Snow White (Snow White)

Aurora (Sleeping Beauty)

Meg (Hercules)

Cinderella (Cinderella)

Belle (Beauty and the beast)

Jasmine (Alladin)

Ursula (Little Mermaid)

On staging and animation

An awesome post on staging for storyboarders! Answered a lot of questions for me! I feel like changing my storyboard again, but I guess I won't now. I'll probably never come to a conclusion.
Happy learning!
http://sevencamels.blogspot.in/2012/04/flat-funny-and-depth-dramatic.html

Another amazing interview of a wonderful animator Cameron Fielding. He's reel is mind blowing!
Hope I can pick up a few tricks from him. :)
http://www.animschoolblog.com/2012/04/animschool-interview-animator-cameron.html

Psycho Review - Spoiler Alert!

10th April 2012

Wow, I'm speechless. Another brilliant Hitchcock film and it stood up to all I'd heard about it. I love the good old classic cinema. Besides the absolutely brilliant staging, lighting, color or black and white, there is a ton more to learn from it. I feel like pausing it and soaking everything in. It's becoming harder to watch good films for the story now. Animation makes you so sensitive to framing, continuity, lighting, acting, and all the other 1000 technical aspects of a film. Coming back to Psycho - the story was absolutely gripping. I was at the edge of my chair at all times. There's this thing I noticed Hitchcock does in all his films - he fools you into believing that something is very important (in Psycho, let's say the money she steals in the beginning), and then he just makes you realise that that wasn't important at all! (the money gets drowned in the swamp with her body). He seems to do this a lot in all his movies - he confuses you, misguides you, but all these sub-stories guide you to the bigger picture - and the end unravels everything so beautifully that you're mind puts all the pieces together. It was sheer creative brilliance. Actors of that time were so charming - their dialogue delivery was so grand and theatrical, your ears would pay attention to what they said. It's true - they don't make them like they used to.

Another thing I would really appreciate is the staging. It completely stood out. Every scene was so planned, so crisp - yet it didn't reveal the story completely. Here are some of my favourite screenshots.

Did anyone notice the stuffed birds in the background and foreground, adding to the strange personality of our newly introduced character?


Vertical lines suggesting anxiety, nervousness. The composition guides your eyes towards him.



Amazing lighting, creating so much suspense! As the detective climbs up the staircase we see this door opening very slowly.


More suspense! We see the body of a person in a gown, and we see his/her head, but we can't see the face! Throughout the film, there has only been a suggestion of her.

The almost haunted mansion.

Sharp lines and foreground elements guiding us towards her - almost as if someone is watching her.


Well composed 3 shots and 4 shots. It's not easy to place so many characters in one frame without it looking artificial and staged!


The film ends with the Rule of thirds, with our subject on the golden point. I don't know if all his shots were intentional - maybe all the rules we know are rules based on movies like his that managed to communicate the story so well! :)

Ummm....

29th March 2012

Haaahh!! I am so out of schedule on the mailbox. Anyway, the reason I write is because I finally showed it to Gayatri ma'am. She's been taking a class for the juniors on Maya - so she came where I sat and asked me where I was. I looked like this:


Lately my answer to everything has been "Ummmmm......"
Dad: Nikhi, what about your portfolio? What about intership?"
Me: Ummmmm......

Mumma: What've you thought about your job??
Me: Ummmmm......

En: Where do you wanna go for dinner?
Me: Ummmmm......

And the worst one happened today:
Gayatri Ma'am: Where have you reached with 'The Mailbox?'
Me: Ummmmm......I'll just show you.

So I showed her the layers of the psd files that I took approx. 4 hours to save as Jpgs. The reason I could 'automate batch' them was that I had to manually hide/unhide what was to be shown in every frame. So she liked it! And thought I'd made a great deal of progress. The worst part is, premier is acting b***hy... It hangs every 5 minutes. I've tried everything, emptied cache, temp files, transferred my data to my HDD - it's STILL b***hy. :| Oh heck, I guess I'll just take a few days longer.

*Sigh*
Well. See u guys.

Update and progress!

17th March 2012

It's a quiet Saturday morning in the computer lab and I 'm currently on the BG stage in pre-production. According to my new safer schedule, I was supposed to be done with them on the 9th of March, and today's the 17th! Well anyway, I learned a LOT on the way, esp. about line, thickness, inking, depth, composition, and how WONDERFUL Maya is when it comes to taking a reference. I've become super hard in modelling. Of course it's just blocks, but it helps a ton to figure out the placement of objects. A huge inspiration has been the backgrounds of Triplets of Belleville. I wish I could get that kind of look in my film, with Goan backdrops. I really hope it looks pretty after the coloring. Hopefully I'll finish the remaining BGs today, and start with the character design. I have no idea how I'm gonna animate the characters in the backgrounds that have such dynamic angles. And the cycle! :-s Anywho, I've got a lot of great references.

Here's a peak at the great pen I bought from the stationary, really good for inking stuff since it has a really thin nib. Helps give the handmade look I want for my film:


Alok's been in a tense fix. He can't visualise his movie since the world of his film is upside down in an anglo indian house! I'm trying my best to help him as well. That's all for today morning.