Day 31 - Proko Bean Torso

30 Nov 2013

Spent some 40 minutes practicing the bean after watching Stan Proko's lesson on simplifying the torso using the bean! It makes so much sense, and I really needed to get this right. My basics feel so weak right now! :'( But I'm getting a really good idea of how the torso twists, leans, turns and forshortens. Proko's videos are absolutely great!

Proko: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0660Fuih7qo
Gesture drawing tool: http://artists.pixelovely.com/practice-tools/figure-drawing/http://artists.pixelovely.com/practice-tools/figure-drawing/

The Mailbox update!

5th Nov '13

So far my film 'The Mailbox' has been selected and screened at Chitrakatha '13 and it was a wonderful experience! I guess it's my first screening outside my comfort zone (MIT) and after it got over, it got a lot of cheering and hoots from the crowd, which I presume was mainly MITians. I saw all the flaws all over again. Something about the projector or the burned copy made it look much more florescent and saturated than I'd like. :( It was quite disappointing honestly, and after seeing all the other wonderful shorts from different countries, I felt my film had no place to be there.

That night I didn't ask anyone about anything. I shook a few friendly hands, and that was that. The next day I showed it to a really awesome faculty and friend there, Priyankar Gupta. I got some really good criticism and feedback from him and Dawameren Imchen (faculty) who was on the selection committee there. I recently I sent it to Prosenjit sir and Vaibhav sir, and they gave me some good inputs as well, so I hate it less now. ;)

After that I soon sent it to Asifa India, and it's been shortlisted for screening there as well! So I've decided to invest in a festival run. I did make a lot of mistakes with this film, and it's definitely not my best, but it's the first and it should get a viewing at least for the 1.5 years of blood and sweat that I poured into it.

I hope you guys get to see it asap! I'm really eager to hear all your criticism and feedback, but I cannot put it online during the festival run. Here're some screenshots and two posters.

Storyboard Quickies

4th Nov 2013

Wish I'd spend more time on my boards. This one's about Akshay's homophobia. More episodes to come on NashikTimes.

This next one is when I was hopping off trains to make it to Ahmedabad in one piece, trying to continuously call Alok with low battery.  I think it could become a Vodafone advert. -__-

Incomplete concept sketches

4th Nov 2013

Some of the first sketches inaugurating the new sketchbook! <3 p="">

I thought I should start with a dream of a beautiful home, a comfortable cane swing, a good book,
 and a dog by a window.

Tried to sketch a good in mad love, but Akshay said it doesn't come through coz she's not facing her phone. I guess he's right. 

A traditional stereotypical sketch of what is Indian. This was the result of attending a beautiful panel discussion on 'What is Indian?'.

Made up an imaginary character called 'The Himalayan Kuqua'! :D Seems cute enough to hug!

Akshay's 'aur kya chahiye' moment. Headphones and a good book. Couldn't survive without him in Nashik.

That's the end of this sketchstream! Until next time. Cheers!

Sketchbook Scans - October!

4th November 2013
Hello!! After forever I have been able to come home and scan all my october sketches! It's been the most diffucult and challenging month I think I've had yet. I have been working at a nice studio called Regh Animation and Design in a small town called Nashik in Maharashtra. There's been so much happening that I get no time to make full fledged art, but I've been trying really hard to keep up the pace with my sketching and gesture drawing. So here're some pages from the October sketchbook. Bought a new awesome book when I attended Chitrakatha at NID, Ahmedabad!

As usual it's one of the best Indian Animation Festivals I've attended. It was a great collab and we got to hear many big names from India and the world talk about their work and their approach to art. My film was also shortlisted for screening there! I got some great genuine feedback from a lot of artists and animators, and I'm gonna strive to not repeat the mistakes in the coming films. I was honestly thrilled, but I wish Alok's beautiful film had gotten some love too! It's absolutely painstakingly beautiful and meaningful. Alright so here're the sketchy updates.

gestures done at Nashik Road station before leaving for Ahmedabad.

sketched in the NID Auditorium while listening to this awesome simplistic animator named 'Francois Chalet'. Some great work!

Poor Rhutu had lost his sketchbook somewhere. I guess that's where his mind was. I tried to convince him to go search for it, but he insisted he'd stay till the end of the talk. It was a conversation in sketches. The second drawing belongs to him.

Rhutu replies in sketches again. The second drawing is his. His sketchbook gives people complexes. o_O

More fun stuff. Clothes are interesting me a lot lately.

My weird cool version of Santa.