Hello everyone~! My all of five visitors! Haha, <3.

I’ve started second year of animation and I’m absolutely thrilled to be doing what I’m doing. Although I’ve yet to fall into a routine, I’m definitely digging the fact that we have desks this year. Ask anyone; I’ve gone completely overboard in decorating it. [But I maintain that there are still a fewwww blank spots I can fill. Gwen, send me stuffff already, <3!]

Also, for anyone interested in character design, I’m hosting a little contest over on dA [though I guess it’s not affiliated with my dA at all, I just posted it there for maximum exposure.] If you’re curious, you can read more about it here: [link!]

Over the summer, I kept myself busy with artwork, as I previously mentioned in this infrequently updated blog, both online and offline. And although holding down two low paying jobs didn’t leave me much time to complete what I wanted to before the school year started again, I’m quite proud with my progress, regardless. It’s been a tough summer, including losing my grandfather suddenly. I loved him dearly, and he made me my animation desk - he even carved the circle by hand. I’ll cherish it forever, and certainly make good use of it, especially this year!

So anyway, enjoy, and as always, click the thumbnail for a larger view!

Art of my original character, Suds. Her backstory is complicated, and there’s no such creature as her, but she can be described as a rainbow hamster-lizard with antenna and the ability to curl up like a potato bug. She’s cute and naive and everyone loves her~!

Miscellaneous works. Left to right: character portraits of some of my OCs, a damn complicated commission for Gaia, and myself as an artsy robot drawn after seeing Wall*E!

Hiccups related art. Click the link down and to the left, on the sidebar, if you’re super curious about my Hiccups project. These are toddler and child artworks I did for the project, for various people, including myself, yay. Oh, and the shapeshifter lady is in there too, just in case you think I think children have boobs. Hahaha.

My three main characters. I love them to pieces! So, finally, I found them deserving of full body artwork, especially since I need accurate references if I want to get people to draw them for me. [Hint hint, nudge nudge! ;D..] Anywho, no, these are not the only outfits they will ever wear, they are not those kinds of characters. And yes, for Ink, the last one, my influence was totally and completely the actor Joe Anderson; I’ve had the character for six years and only now have I found the perfect visual reference!

I’ll wrap up this incredibly massive art post by sending my love out to all of you for stopping on by, <3.

Love and limes,
~Phoo!

Hokay, now time for a serious entry!

I’ve bit my cheek and mulled this question over in my head, gaining nothing but a headache from it. Catherine posted the same thing a number of entries ago on the topic. “Why are you interested in animation?” And, synonymously, what got you interested in it? Why do you do it? Why? Whyyyy?

I don’t think I can come up with a solid answer besides.. what else would I be doing? Certainly, I could have fallen back on something with English, or general university courses, with my marks. But that, I know, would not have satisfied me. No, I have felt more personally connected to the characters I’ve created, the ones who live in my head and evolve into more complex beings, more so than I did anyone in high school. It was college that brought me out of my metaphorical shell - perhaps a TMNT-esque one, hehe - and revealed the person I might have written or drawn, but never imagined I could be.

I essentially taught myself how to draw humans after drawing animals for years. I just felt them easier to formulate. It didn’t hurt that Neopets was my main source of entertainment. I was awful at humans. Not that I was much better at animals, but at least I could fudge their anatomy. Humans.. we’re used to looking at them every day and therefore know all the flaws associated with them. I could imagine them fine in my head, but the biggest heartache, one that remains to this day, is that I can’t put them to paper as beautifully as I can picture them and their scenes in my head.

I’ve strayed from my point, and into a self-demeaning rant. How like me to do that.

Animation. It’s bringing life to still images. It’s putting me on the same playing field with others who supposedly strive for a similar goal as mine: to bring to life the images in one’s head, to share with others what is wonderful, what is perplexing, what is downright strange.. that which is art come to life. Living, breathing imagination.

I suppose that is my driving force. I’m disheartened that I don’t have an epic spiel of the life altering events that led me down the path of becoming an animator. Perhaps the actual animating isn’t even what I’ll end up being best at, and instead I’ll find a calling as a storyboard artist, layout artist, design, lighting, or, hilariously, a concept artist. Whatever happens, I’ll never forget those who were with me in those darker days, the ones who are, for the time being, nudged into the shadows of my thoughts, cast aside in favour of school work and all that entails. I speak of my beloved characters, from the tips of April’s skull-pinned black and orange hair to the scuffed bottoms of Ink’s boots to Dare’s stickered guitar case and Suds’s ever cheerful laughter.

I’m not sure what else there is to say. Have I answered my own question? No, I feel as I did before; confused and slightly disheartened. But, mayhaps, a faint bit lighter.

[Crossposted from my LJ, but I figured it was relevant.]

Love and limes,
~Phoo!