Bouncing Balls and Walk Cycles

So, last week I was set a task to take a few video shots. The first one I had to study was the movement of a bouncing ball across the screen. I took multiple shots so I could capture different arcs of movement of the ball, and used these videos to trace over and review the action on paper. You find that as the ball slows down towards the top of it's arc, there are more frames in that section. The more frames, the slower the action. As the ball descends due to gravity, there is a lot more space between the balls in each frame.

I was also able to capture a few videos like this one. I think I'll need to consider observing some more exaggerated movements, but being able to go through a walk cycle frame by frame is very useful. I'm excited to be able to put this knowledge to good use when I learn more about the software I will be using. Below is a diagram I'm sure a lot of people have seen before, but it's simple and a good place to start.

 (Williams, Richard. 2009. The Animator's Survival Kit. London: Faber and Faber Limited)

Toy Adventure

The first project I was set as part of my course is a small study of a toy in various environments. It gave me the perfect chance to explore my new area and also got me back into the swing of observation and sketching. My toy was a rather small raccoon/red panda plush, although for the sake of this mini project, I've turned her into more of a character in the scenes I have chosen, thinking it would give a little more life to my drawings. I have a couple of examples to post here

It was a good opportunity to try out a few different perspectives, which I think I've managed to achieve in a few of my sketches. I could have probably investigated a bit more with mediums, as I stuck to pencils for these, although I did enjoy adding colour to he second one.

Returning to Life Drawing

I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to life draw three years ago, but returning to it now is like having a fresh start and it's so far been fun to pick up again.

Our first session didn't go as planned, with the model calling in sick. That didn't mean we wasted time though, and we tried to make the best of a bad situation by drawing other students and also the resident skeleton. Looking at the skeleton really gave me an insight into the structure of the body, especially when looking at the 3D shape of the chest cavity.

(20/09/16)

I attended a second session today voluntarily to get some more practice. The three hour session meant we were given four seated poses and then two reclining poses to draw. Here are a few of my pieces.

Proportions and depth perception were key for the scenes I was trying to draw. On the bottom right, I created two seperate drawings of the same scene after finding I had shortened parts of the models body. This told me I need to pay more attention to distance and measuring so I can draw an accurate form. Today I learned that I should also try drawing larger, as many of my pieces are small and I might find it easier to get in the necessary detail if I work on a bigger scale. On the bottom left, I found it quite difficult to find the correct positions for the feet, but with charcoal being quite forgiving, I was able to keep trying until I managed something that looked more correct.

A Little Introduction

   I guess the first thing I should do after starting a new blog is introduce myself. My name is Eloise Gardner, and I'm currently a first year Animation and VFX student at Falmouth University. I've always been interested in art and storytelling, and having the opportunity to combine my love for both through this medium really is exciting. I'm bound to learn a lot and gain new skills over the coming months and years, and hopefully I can put that to good use.

(Here's a little self portrait of me, so you have an idea of the face behind the blog).

Thanks for visiting and hopefully I will do a good job at documenting my progress here!