Electric Arboretum

toodleoo

2011-01-25T21:55:00.001Z

You know, I really don't post on this blog anymore, so just in case you ARE checking to see if i'm updating... look here instead. And tell all your very best friends about it too!

got well fast and happy anniversary

2010-08-06T10:11:00.001+01:00

I made this as a card for my ma and pa for their 36th wedding anniversary.

I also double sided it and made a belated get well soon card for my mum. so belated she has since recovered from her broken ankle. You put your fingers through and pretend they are legs.

Doodle Bug Competition

2010-08-02T16:53:00.000+01:00

I found this competition on the guardian website and thought it might be a fun thing to do. Plus I needed to practice a bit of scenery/ backgrounds. I do so hate drawing backgrounds, and those leaves took bloody forever to do.

caged

2010-07-07T17:43:00.001+01:00

plants

2010-07-07T17:40:00.000+01:00

trees

2010-05-28T19:20:00.000+01:00

Hello

Umbrella tree is pretty naff but i thought i'd put it up anyway. I was having a blank day. I like the other one, it is alright.

ME: I'm alright. bored mostly and a little uninspired but not particularly unhappy. This is a pretty meaningful blog post, isn't it? mmmm I've fixed my other blog (natashapollack.blogspot.etcetc) for more sensible stuff, meaning I can be a little sillier on here. Not right now though, I'm not in the mood.

tree surgeon

2010-05-10T16:29:00.000+01:00

I had a belated 'Heart Beat' moment a few weeks back when a picture I drew was posted on the 6 music website.

I can't quite remember why but the theme of the drawings were 'Freelance Whales' so mine was a free lance tree surgeon whale. Naturally.

leeches

2010-05-10T13:57:00.005+01:00

Some drawings I have done for a business card

(for a doctor)

red fruit

2010-05-10T13:55:00.000+01:00

Show Keepin' it Reel, aiit?

2010-04-23T12:02:00.000+01:00

Showreel 2009 from Natasha Pollack on Vimeo.

Wildlife

2010-04-23T11:54:00.002+01:00

A colleague from work asked me whether I could do a picture for her photography portfolio of someone taking photos of wildlife. I said yes, ok.

here it is.

I have a thing for squirrels.

For Sale, Fore Sold

2010-04-23T11:50:00.002+01:00

Sadly I had no scanner before these were put up and no time/ motivation to set up decent photos but you get a fair idea.
The fence one were sold. woohoo!

Fuckface

2010-04-23T11:47:00.004+01:00

The cover for 'So Long, Fuckface' The brand new super snazzy Norwich independent magazine as created by mr N. Flower

This is old age, isn't it?

2010-04-23T11:44:00.002+01:00

After hours, literal hours of trying to swap my accounts on this blog thing, I have FINALLY done it. I swear I managed before, back in my youth, last year.
It's a good thing I don't have a VCR. or a television for that matter.

Tom

2010-01-19T23:02:00.003Z

My scanner is still broken and I can't afford a new one just now but I have been doing bits. Bits and bobs.
Might have a little exhibition space lined up too. might keep you updated, might not.

The Return to Onlineland

2009-05-19T10:39:00.006+01:00

Hello!
I have been in a shed for just over 5 weeks! Not just a shed though, a shed cramped with gardening equipment and lots of my stuff which, unsurprisingly, was disorganized and all over the floor/surfaces. This made for troublesome navigation in the dark, and the dark was a prominent feature of the shed as all the windows were blacked out for continuity sake. But now that it's all over (and I mean everything) I find myself almost missing the gloom of the one spotlight, the burr of radio 1 and the comforting wiff of plasticine. It's time to move on and hopefully up! Degree is over and I now have to figure out what to do with myself. I suppose, if I were the pollyannaish type I would proclaim the world is my oyster, and run off into the dawn, arms flung wide ready to embrace the world. however I am far too sensible to have such optimistic fantasies and shall continue sculling above the waves of doom which are lapping round my neck whispering questions such as 'what exactly are you planning on doing with the rest of your life?'

sneak peak

2009-04-16T20:35:00.002+01:00

dolly stuff from Natasha Pollack on Vimeo.

Me

2009-04-08T13:30:00.003+01:00

...because i do requests

2009-04-06T00:39:00.005+01:00

A test frame

what's been going on in the shed?

2009-04-04T11:07:00.005+01:00

If you squint enough to fuzz out the gardening junk, I've set up what actually looks like a studio in the garden shed. I am fully equipped with camera, mac, set, light, backdrop, model and radio2 for company.
Aside from only having one light*, my lovely mac currently trying to take its own life, phantom cats breaking into the house at night and waking me up by fighting on my bed*, not actually having the film's protagonist finished and running rapidly out of time... everything seems to be going OK!
Here are some photos:

note the mirror that's playing the role of a second light!

Ted witnesses the apocalypse while Natasha tries to figure out 'sunset' mode on the camera.

stuff you probably won't even see in the film...

*which I thought was broken, took back, demanded it to be fixed and was told there was just no bulb in it.
*Oh how I wish I was just writing that to be quirky- it's actually true.

Business Cards and Babies

2009-03-28T13:46:00.006Z

Got a unit this semester called 'destinations' which involves setting us up to be able to sell ourselves to the industry. or something ominous sounding like that.

So far I have a show reel which is a bit too short, a CV which sounds like I really want to work in a book shop a VERY unfinished (or even started) website and... some business cards! Print them out, give them to your friends. Especially if your friends are publishers or illustration agencies.

In other news, about a month ago Keith, my housemate and African Land Snail, dug himself to the bottom of his tank, deposited about 50 eggs, crawled (do snails crawl? come to mention it do snails dig?) back out and went back to munching on his cuttle fish. SO I pose the question, now that there are no longer any eggs, anyone want a pet snail? They are very cute and easier to look after than fish. Plus, unlike a fish, you can cuddle them, albeit very gently. They also probably make pretty good eating, if you're that way inclined, just don't tell my landlady.

Puppets

2009-03-24T09:47:00.004Z

Naked Robots are so weak and vulnerable in my giant hands but no worry, I shall keep you safe and love you like my children.

ah hahaaaa eat the children, Alan!

Quick! hands, a cup of tea and a white sphere will save us

ahh the gift of some lovely comfortable slippers. oh and a head.

Ted looks disheveled but menacing. Where is dolly?

The photographer, on the quest for Dolly, has become distracted by some accidental art she has created.

Ted gets a new head. mm hot thumb action going on here.

Ted is pretty close to completion. eye brows and cigarette and a mac

Hello Ted

Silly chain smoker, even going out in the rain for a drag.

wretched quintet

2009-03-11T00:39:00.004Z

This is me doing my dissertation.

2009-02-10T11:59:00.003Z

(I'm doomed)

Lazy Ladies

2009-01-26T11:30:00.010Z

I've been in a bit of a funk of late, the kind of funk that involves not getting up when itunes wakes me up with 'Needle In the Hay' or 'Video Tape', rather turning over and going back to sleep for the rest of the morning because there is-just-no-goddamn-point! Then having nightmares about my tutor going on a murderous rampage with a pair of gardening shears. No really, it was very gory and quite, quite unsettling.

But that was a couple of days ago and now, with the help of biscuits, tea and apples I'm feeling a tad chipperer. Last night I drew some very lazy old ladies, well the ladies probably aren't lazy but my drawing style is. I am usually quite pernickety about my drawings, especially observational ones and even more so when they are of people but last night I thought I'd just go crazykookybonkersmad and draw without caring for the outcome. Predictably, they look pretty crap but hey, for you, I'll put them up anyway.

Animatic

2009-01-24T11:22:00.004Z

wobbly crapply drawn guide for the animation that will hopefully be done by May.IfIhaven'tshotmyselfbeforethen

A Flock of Doodles

2009-01-16T12:12:00.002Z

A mishmash of potential characters for an upcoming music video.

Post Crit Stuffs

2009-01-14T22:24:00.003Z

Now that I have handed in my animatic , storyboards, treatment and God knows what else I have a collection of images I'd previously not bothered to scan/ upload. So here they are! Kudos to my dear ol' Daddio for the shed and chair.

2009-01-14T22:00:00.004Z

Now that's all out of the way I have two weeks to knuckle down and write my dissertation. Just the word makes my skin go all goose pimply, I am probably just misinterpreting the reaction as fear, really it's excitement and tomorrow I shall dive face-first into it whooping 'yahoo!'

Tomorrow though, not today because I have had very, very little sleep and as a result almost made intimate acquaintances with the pavement a little while ago. Whoops, better go be horizontal for a few hours. Cheerio!

Tiny Sandwiches

2009-01-06T21:58:00.009Z

My animating muscles seem to have turned to fat in the few months I haven't used them but being as this is just a test I don't mind too much.

Happy Birthday, Blog

2008-12-31T10:17:00.006Z

Actually it's happy belated birthday which is a shame being as it was the first. Yes, Electric Arboretum (which is such a poncey name, I'm sorry) celebrated it's first birthday on the 26th of December...

...This would have been (and briefly was) a very long and boring post about nothing in particular had I not felt a little uncomfortable about it.. and done a big deletey edit.

I now have a new blog for just pictures and stuffz. http://natasha-pollack.blogspot.com/
Happy New Year!

Storyboard Finally!

2008-12-18T12:48:00.004Z

***

Animatic still on it's way but this will do for now. (they read downwards btw)

culinary creativity

2008-12-09T12:55:00.004Z

I have nothing much else to add , I just wanted to document that I do occasionally do things in the kitchen that don't involve copious amounts of black smoke and wails of angry frustration.
I have also decided to start a new sensible blog with just my pictures and stuff, being as having photos of mince pies, melted mugs and somewhat whimsical prattle isn't awfully professional. At some point I'll actually put pictures on it too.

Earthenware Mugs and Deco Radio

2008-11-29T00:54:00.008Z

Lets start with the two mugs- for this you will need to crouch obsessively over tiny bits of brown squishy fimo poking and prodding and starting again and rolling and cutting and squishing until about 3 hours later they vaguely resemble something close to slightly wobbly but acceptable miniatures. go away, have a bite to eat, return and very quickly realize that although they are only about 2 centimeters tall, they are in fact far too big. spend another few hours making them smaller and once again mug shaped.

Put the little mugs aside but do not forget about them, as you spend the next 5 hours or so obsessing over a miniature radio continue to poke and fiddle with them too.

Make the radio and yes, feel pretty damn proud of its sleek curves, perfect buttons and neat little grill. finish then continue poking all items for another hour or so. fall slightly in love with the wonderful little radio, take tie to wish you were only 9 inches tall so you could appreciate it even more in its full size.

heat up the oven and place creations very carefully on a baking tray

place all lovely creations in oven and become instantly distracted by the model you were making the previous night while they sit roasting.

Realize all too late that they are supposed to bake on a low heat for 7 minutes, not full blast for 10 . Run into kitchen, open oven, become enveloped in a cloud of acrid black smoke, fumble, coughing at the back door then swirl oven gloves around like a propeller while groaning 'oh no oh no'. At this point it is also prudent to remember how it has almost been exactly a week since the last time you filled the house with smoke*. Sigh remorsefully as you take out the pathetic little mugs and thoroughly miserable looking radio. let them cool, take photos, rant miserably into blog, go to bed smelling strongly of oven smoke and try again tomorrow.

Goodnight

*this was the 'popcorn incident', prior to this was the very similar 'quinoa incident'. My Land lady is getting new saucepans for Christmas.

my and my sisters

2008-11-25T23:30:00.004Z

I'm pretty shoddy when playing on Photoshop but I make up for this with my powerful skills of procrastination.

I really do talk about procrastinating far too much on here but really, I suppose, thats what this blog is all about.

storyboard pt1

2008-11-24T11:27:00.004Z

Every now and then I fall apart...

2008-11-19T20:20:00.007Z

Turn Aroooounds

Briiiight Eyes

I.. ah.. ooh no

2008-11-14T22:36:00.003Z

oh no. see, I was going to do a bloggity blog blog post about some stuff maybe with some interesting drawings but then, then just as I was about to write the title I realised that would be a big procrastinasm (a word I have coined meaning 'a very sudden, unexpected burst of procrastination') from what I am supposed to be doing. I now want to go on to tell you what I am supposed to be doing but that would also be taking up valuable minutes of my very limited time to do it in. and.. ohno, just telling you that and now telling you that telling that is also taking up that time and on no og god whats happeningmyfingersarepossesedandican'tstoptypingthoughforsomereasonhavestoppedpressingthespacebar.

What's the writing equivalent of verbal diarrhea?

ooh ooh look a random image saved onto my desktop!

Dolly & Ted circa 1945

2008-11-07T14:03:00.007Z

Dolly and Ted

2008-11-05T00:27:00.016Z

I think that is what they're called; Dolly and Ted. It's what my mum and dad call old couples. In fact, I've heard them refer to these generic geriatrics as 'Dolly and Teds' so often I thought it was a commonly used nickname.

So, just some doodles. A slightly more pleasing Dolly, in fact, until about 12 minutes ago I was pretty settled on her design, then I had a quick flick through my sketch book and suddenly realized that no, no I HATE her too.

And just after writing that and really meaning it I've changed to the opinion that actually I quite like her. Though dumpy Dolly is so much more pleasing and sweet. Plus she looks like my favourite fairy in Sleeping Beauty (I watched it the other day- I was hungover). then again I like the interesting angles of Crooked Dolly and her face DOES work, it's just harder to get right. gah, I need to make these people in 3D.

I'm so damn fickle.

Edit- I can't fix the formatting of this post. I'm tired and the irrational behaviour of the image arrangement is making me want to cry. I'm going to go to bed instead. good night.

spot the difference

2008-10-26T08:41:00.007Z

This morning, as a treat for my many followers, I have for you an exclusive spot-the-difference puzzle as made for Waterstone's.

And now I have to go to said book shop where I shall be spinning blindfolded children for pin-the-tail on the cat, reading them 'spooky' stories (if I rack up the nerve) and slyly eating the sweety prizes behind the counter.

cheerio

Old Man

2008-10-18T23:33:00.008+01:00

I'm being painfully lazy at the moment, especially regarding my blog. Actually, more significantly- especially regarding my work and everything important in general. I DO for the first time ever have a fully formed idea/ film in my brain and a little bit on paper... so it's not all naughty procrastination. saying that I have recently taken up knitting and spent far far too long making a Halloween Puzzles! sheet for work the other night. ooh I'll put that on here too if you like... you can't win the prize though.

So after my half-arsed post of naked old ladies, here is my two thirds-arsed post of grumpy old men. I MUCH prefer him to her so far, in fact she has been causing me great angst and much teeth gnashing. Although I like her bent up body, I wanted to give her a sweet face... but for me sweet faced old ladies are all mochi-cheeked and crinkled smiley eyed, which doesn't really suit a skinny waspy (or praying mantisy- oooh) old body. hmmmmm. well I'll do some more sketches tonight while watching my new dirty pleasure on iPlayer and post them in a couple of days.

Can you think of a good old couple name combination? So far I've got Rosemary & Dick and Peter & Joyce but being as they are both old couples I know and both very nice I probably shouldn't use them. Plus 'Rosemary and Dick' sounds like and ITV cookery porno.

nothing like naked old ladies

2008-10-05T00:48:00.002+01:00

Television Debut

2008-09-18T20:08:00.004+01:00

Yes Lady and Gentleman, I have made my first leap into the world of television. I can now reveal an exclusive image from the extremely popular and publicized BBC1 series, 'Mutual Friend'.
As you can clearly see from the photo below I am playing a very important 'commuter' standing on the grassy verge of a train platform.

I do in fact go on to walk along the platform being extremely convincing on my phone. However this is all behind the head of the chap in the foreground. Never mind! got a free lunch out of the day anyway.

I am back at Uni now and actually doing work. Unfortunately there is a big pile of stuff on my scanner and I'm too damn lazy to move it so can't possibly show you anything.

electric arboretum

2008-08-21T16:46:00.005+01:00

First stages. Sketchasm.

Rosie

2008-08-13T12:07:00.007+01:00

I actually remember drawing this picture in the living room of my parents house in London. I had just recently been presented with a little black and white kitten, Rosie after being promised her if were a good girl and slept in my own bedroom. Well, bribery works.
I had just set down my medium of choice, biro, and my mum was looking for scissors to cut it from the pad and frame it. While she was out of the room I decided to add the paint, which was actually just dirty paint water. I remember my mum being upset that I’d 'ruined' it, personally I like it with the grey splots. Adds movement.
I also remember my dad looking at it, chuckling, and asking whether the tail was a poo. I was four.
Anyway, this is a genuine early Pollack (not like the magical unicorn) and possibly one of my favourite drawings I have ever done.

(Rosie only died two years ago)

Happy iCal Day!

2008-07-17T23:49:00.003+01:00

I would just like to take a moment to celebrate something I have unconsciously been counting down to. Every morning the love of my life (my Mac) wakes me up with a tune by using a combination of Scheduled Tasks and iCal. The little icon for iCal is a calendar page and on this calendar page is a date. I don't know what the significance is, it's just a number and a month- probably the programmers birthday or something. Anyway, when ever it is clicked on it changes to the actual day and month... only today, today it IS the very same date that is on the icon all the time! today is 'Jul 17' I don't know why, but the fact I got to click on it and...and see that it didn't change causes all kinds of strange joy in me. now I have to post this fast cos it's nearly the 18th thus rendering this post silly for even more reasons than it has to be. so. thats all really.

Hoorah for Jul 17!

Fruitloops in Farnham

2008-07-16T21:47:00.011+01:00

With so much time on my hands, not being in school, not having any friends around and only having a part-time job, one would think I'd have managed to get a great deal of creative stuff done. ah ha, not so! Actually, you know what's weird? I find myself avoiding doing even things I enjoy if I decide to do them. it's like- I have to surprise myself into doing things. if I say to myself 'I am going to do some drawing in a minute' the minute suddenly becomes an hour, taken up with lots and lots of very unimportant, but time consuming, things- like making cups of tea, walking to and from town or having long showers. Which is absolutely ridiculous because I really like drawing. like just now while I was waiting for something to download I did a little doodle and quite liked it.
Here it is, I call it Portuguese Dog of War

And then, when I do sit down and say 'just.. for fuck sake! just do something that isn't nothing! DO IT FUCKING DO IT NOW'* I come up with other stuff. Actually, I've been writing a kind of script recently. It's quite fun to do too- I'm taking lines from different audio books and mashing them into one story. It's a little daunting because I'm pretty much making it up as I go along and when a direction formulates it often gets turned around or stopped because I just don't have the dialog that would fit... or I do but it means listening though about 72 hours worth of books.
Here is a possible character, I call him Holden---->

And this is a fat naked man in a hat.
That's all from me I think. Might do some script stuff or maybe some more characters. Though I do need a shower...

*yep, walk past my bedroom some time and see me with my head in my lap, pulling my hair, screaming this into my thigh.

FootHead

2008-07-08T13:56:00.006+01:00

This is yet another art animation with many subtle (some so subtle they are almost undetectable) emotional levels.

Click To Play

kalkhoff

2008-07-02T22:09:00.003+01:00

To my bike,
Three times you shed your chain while we cycled into town, twice I thought was bad enough but by the third time I was hot, covered in black grease and extremely frustrated. I marched you straight into the bike shop and was told you’d need a thorough going over. I was angry and upset that you had become an expensive liability and were potentially a danger to my health.

You were a joke, “look what I got as a result of my car failing its MOT’ I would scoff to my friends, “It’s even older than me!”
I said you were ugly, I said you were slow and loud and made my legs go to jelly.
I said I hated you.

I said and did things I regret now. I should never have left you over night; I was stupid not to put a lock around your golden frame. I suppose I’m also stupid for believing that, because I would never take someone’s bike, no one else would. A naive trust in Other People aside, I shouldn’t have left you.

Do you remember the times we would cycle down the hill really fast? The time we cycled through the woods in the snow even though you had no grip, suspension and your handlebars kept going the opposite way to your front wheel? I remember. I miss the way your bell would jingle over every bump, how your back wheel would skid round corners, how your gear changes sounded like robots coughing.
I hope you are happy, wherever you are, and your new family look after you and give you the love and affection I so rarely expressed but always had. I shall look for you every day whether I mean to or not.

You were a Good Bike. I miss you.

Prattle

2008-06-27T22:55:00.008+01:00

It's my grandmother's birthday on the 1st of July, which is Tuesday. to celebrate her Nonagenarian Century my family are throwing a small but no doubt delightful party on Saturday. Tomorrow is Saturday and I only realised this about 3 hours ago. Since then I have been thinking "what would Nanny like for her birthday?" so far I have concluded that although Wayfarers are cool, they are probably more likely something I want... and that no matter what the train of thought I'm supposed to be on, I can jump off and become horribly distracted. Hence why I am babbling into my blog.
So, what would a Nanny of 90 (or 91) like as a birthday present? Everyone else is getting her chocolates and flowers so I really don't want to do that. I got her flowers last time I visited and anyway, why should I conform to awkward family gift-giving traditions? I'm a good Grand daughter- not only do I care but I also am creative and occasionally have an imagination (I automatically typed Animation then, how depressing) What else then? although she used to love to read, she can't anymore, she doesn't watch tele anymore, doesn't bake, garden, knit, canoe, sew, paint etc, etc I could go on and on but I'm becoming increasingly depressed.
So anyway, I soon decided I'll draw her a picture! hoorah! thats a good present. but then, then comes the dilemma of what on earth to actually draw? All the stuff I normally doodle is morbid, strange, vaginal or grotesque. I can't possibly bring myself to drawing a puppy or a kitten, also because Nan, with or without marbles, has enough taste recognise poor illustrative subjects, so what does one draw for ones grandmother? I'm pretty sure she wouldn't really appreciate something 'conceptual' either, though to be honest I don't think anyone would given I just can't do that shiz. So what does that leave? hmm hmm, I'll tell you what it leaves- God Damn Flowers.

In other news I am a terrible shop assistant. I made lots of people angry with my incompetence today, both customers and colleagues. A fine example of my ineptitude was while chatting to a lady over the phone regarding something silly like books. She casually mentioned that the number for the Farnham branch of Waterstones was rather hard to find as it was not in the Yellow Pages, I instantly brightened at the opportunity to flash my Customer Service and offered to relay the number to her. I didn't even catch myself, she had to point out that the fact we were currently in telephonic communicae was due to her dialing said number. ho hum. I'm not cut out for other people, I'm an animator, I should be locked in a dark room with no concept of time and only a kink in my spine for company.

Birds

2008-06-24T23:19:00.004+01:00

This is me trying to be productive and creative over the summer holidays, I seem to have a thing about drawing little birds at the moment.
I actually have an idea for an animation and right now I'm trying to decide whether i'm taking it slow and enjoying the preproduction or whether I'm just being a lazy bastard and should really get on. Given I watched tennis and played on MSN all day today, probably the latter.

finished

2008-06-19T12:46:00.000+01:00

ta daa

Meh

2008-06-07T11:10:00.002+01:00

Things here at animation HQ are the kind of gloomy where one is only half joking about wanting to take an industrial nail gun to the face but, I suppose, the sun is shining above the clouds and all that shit. I'll be putting this theory to the est tomorrow when I go on an aeroplane bound for Geneva. Exciting stuff, I really need to pack. Actually I really need to finish my main project but music editing is SO so hard and after far too long it still sounds awful.
Anyway, enough of this, I'm going to start moaning. Here is sound and image- it's shit and I'm disappointed etc etc.

Sand and Emerge

2008-05-18T22:25:00.005+01:00

Finally finished my sound and image animation... it has both of the key elements and isn't just random pictures of smiling old people put to a kelly clarkson song so there is a possibility I might pass. However, I am not awfully happy with it so I can't possibly actually show anyone. which is moronic, insane, weird and many other colourful adjectives but that's just the way I tick... and twitch and roll around on the floor salivating.

I do quite like this image though-

Call back in a few weeks when I have stopped freaking out about this animation and so no longer give a damn about people watching it. Or rather, people hearing the awful music I made to put it to.

Unicorns are beautiful

2008-04-25T01:16:00.003+01:00

I'm quitting animation and becoming a professional illustrator.

grr

2008-04-16T08:46:00.003+01:00

A very rough test as to what my sound and image will look like. VERY rough though. it's amazing how much time and effort goes into making something that looks so shit.
Though of course I'm not trying hard enough, not with my mad social life and exciting adventures. You'd have to expect me to be locked in my house day after day to get my work done. pish.

(I'm over tired and a might peeved)

Bored of noses and magpies

2008-04-08T21:08:00.011+01:00

All I want to do is get into bed and watch educational tele doctorwho from my pillow but I have to draw lots of little magpies and cut them out.. then I have to draw a load of other stuff and cut that out too and oh God I can' be bothered. I really want to do this, really, but just not now. I need a kick up the arse or maybe some crack cos I'm just feeling really lethargic and uninspired. Anyway. two doodles to break the monotony.

one is me.

Crit Animation

2008-04-01T23:28:00.002+01:00

This is what I am showing for my crit, none of it is probably going to make it into my final film but, yeah. this is a rough idea of what I want to do. oh and it's FAR too dark but thats a mixture between rubbishy lighting when I recorded the recorded bits and more to do with Youtube naughtiness.
No, I don't understand me either.

gadzooks! moving images?

2008-03-22T19:51:00.005Z

I could write a day long speech going into every conceivable aspect of how crap this is, and it actually takes quite a lot of restraint not to, so I shall just say this- I know. It was just a practice. Please forgive me.

Who am I kidding? Man oh man, I hope UCCA make a banner for me too when I win an Oscar!

rough storyboard

2008-03-22T01:02:00.006Z

I really need to get over my reluctance to share my storyboards/ ideas/ anything animationy with the world so here, here is my second draft of my storyboard (the first one would have given me about a years worth of work)its very rough and stuff has been changed already but I have yet to, um, update it. Gosh I'm sleepy. what was I going to add? probably just a silly thing like; 'ha, should be easy'. or maybe I was going to say 'I cycled to town today and did not collapse, hooray!'

Last night

2008-03-21T10:04:00.004Z

.. I made a quick rubbishy test scene. it looks poor but thats a good thing- means I can learn from it.

I'm going to cycle into town now, cycle because a bike is now my only mode of transport. OH NIPPY!

In memoriam

2008-03-15T16:27:00.006Z

Little car, you heart so true,
patches of rust, emissions of blue.
Lacking exhaust pipe, suspension and breaks,
you took us to festivals, pub lunches and lakes.
Tired out engine, one less key
you shall be missed, my dear old Nippy.

the other animation

2008-03-11T00:49:00.004Z

This is a bit from my other animation, the one for Sound and Image. I'm going to do a Terry Gilliam style cut out loopy doobry and this wee magpie is going to be in it. I just finished drawing it, and like an enthusiastic child with her first pasta portrait, I wanted to hold it up in my chocolatey hands and say look, look, look what I did!
I think it looks a bit pigeony in a couple of drawings but I am too sleepy to care right now, I'll fix it later.

noses and my sexy face.

2008-03-07T23:18:00.007Z

I have been making noses, well, attempting to but unfortunately, like many things in life, it's all been rather a lot of trial and error. Only there seems to be an awful lot of error.
Fully loaded with all the suitable equipment I go about making moulds and casts and more moulds then casts from those moulds, all the while getting various liquids down myself. Note to you all- liquid latex never ever comes out of trousers.
After making a great mould of my nose with this stuff called alginate, then casting it in latex , I decide that the next logical step would be to cast my whole face. this isn't for my work, this is because it would just be damn cool.

A very important thing to do when casting ones bodyparts, is to liberally apply plenty of lubrication to the area to avoid sticking- Vaseline is very good for this. Being the sensible person I am, my face soon becomes very shiny. Shiny like bauble. Bauble doused in Vaseline.
Alginate needs to be sieved, mixed with water then applied like paste to area of interest. it sets really fast and when you don't sieve it, becomes super lumpy. I learn this the hard way, leaning forward over what I think is my desk but is actually the floor, unable to see what I'm doing because I have, as Vida has just pointed out, handfuls of sticky grey scrambled egg allover my face. It is at this point where uncontrollable laughter sets in. I ingest quite a bit of goo as I try to calm my sniggers but this only exacerbates the situation, I start weeping behind my squishy mask, creating little face pockets of hot tears.
It's no good, the mask is doomed and so satisfyingly ripped off. However, I am foolishly undeterred and decide to try again but this time with modroc, this being the stuff you get your limbs cast in if you are unfortunate enough to break their bones.
Thankfully I've done this before and so have no particular trouble applying the strips of soggy plaster to my eyes, nose mouth etc. While waiting for it to set Vida and I 'watch' trailers for bad films like Witless Protection. The time comes to do various gurning exercises to loosen, then remove the mould. After a little persuasion I can feel the plaster giving way, there is also quite a lot of it not giving way and this is because, boys and girls, I did not reapply the Vaseline.
Pain. Much angryredskin pain.
These are actual eyebrows, oh and look, an eyelash too!
After making my face I got the need to do it out of my system, that and the raw skin on my face rather deterred me from trying it again soon. Still, the result is ace and quite good for freaking people out.

Jon

2008-03-05T00:00:00.002Z

Rambles

2008-02-19T12:26:00.005Z

I'm sitting in the school library and, in an attempt to look busy, writing in my blog.
I've convinced myself I have pneumonia. I woke up yesterday with a hurty back and after 5 minutes of contortionist stretching I rendered myself a cripple and the only way I could stop the agony ripping through my back and chest was to lie still in bed. SO that's what I did for a bit until I thought I was well enough to sit up. on discovering I couldn't actually do that I left panicky messages on my parents phone, sent expletive text messages to my housemate and wept down the phone to my friend. After a little while, I had a bit of a cough, a miraculous thing happened as a result of this splutter; i could suddenly, not only sit up but get up with only minor pain noises.
I phoned NHS direct and had to convince the operator lady I didn't need an ambulance and that there were no shooting pains down my left arm or any other heart-attacky symptoms. The nurse said I might have a chest infection and that if I start coughing up anything gross I should go to the doctors. Not feeling my better by the afternoon I decided to take her advice. After staggering to the college medical surgery I was told to go back tomorrow, which is today and which is why I'm in the library wasting time instead of at home, lying in bed, wasting time. I'm bored of writing now, I'm going to go read- which apparently something else these libraries are good for.

Bird (the person, not strange legged animal)

2008-02-18T13:55:00.001Z

This made me chuckle.

Jelly

2008-02-15T20:07:00.004Z

I drew a jellyfish, not only because they are cool, but also because I might like to do something jellyfishy for my animation. I'm tres pleased with the translucency, mildly irked by the dark blue bits but thats just the way it goes. I did it 'negative' first so I could make it positive... by making it negative in photoshop. though really it just looks negative which is odd because that's like of how jellyfish look anyway. Less blue though, which is annoying.
Here is how it looks in my sketchbook->

Eggs and Alan

2008-02-14T14:31:00.005Z

On my quest to be the greatest procrastinator known to man, I have been making figurines to adorn my friend's wedding cake. Well, cakes, they are having 3 tiers of cupcakes and these little models shall stand among them.
They are supposed to be eggs, by the way, which explains their oval nature, it's not just me being too lazy to make heads.
I took the picture using my posh new fartooexpensive camera which I am learning to work every time I pick it up, unfortunately my natural photo-taking skills shall probably take a little longer to hone.

Today is a day of celebration... because

2008-02-13T18:16:00.004Z

I DIDN'T FAIL!

Because

2008-02-10T14:20:00.002Z

Here are a couple more sketches for the sake of putting stuff up. I have been really lazy and left all plans and ideas in my brain, at some point they shall leak through my hand into a pencil and make their way on to paper but for now the are warm and cosy within my squishy grey matter

I am now toying with a couple of other ideas rather than just the nose, one involves the plight of Coral and their Zooxanthellae and the other, well the other I just fancy taking lots and lots of photos and doing something creative and animational with them.

u knose it

2008-02-04T20:27:00.001Z

ooh look, a picture involving a nose!

Frank's pedophilic uncle.

2008-02-02T00:51:00.000Z

I can't say I've been looking very hard, I suppose it's just luck... but I have successfully fallen upon the most disturbing, sinister and damn right creepy film ever created.

Mr. Horatio Knibbles

Toes

2008-02-01T22:00:00.000Z

Some more sketchbook goodies for my blog... because there is a possibility I am now mildly addicted.

May I also add a fangirl swoon towards Derren -will be my husband- Brown. I have your book, I shall read at LEAST two chapters, you will be mine.

wee beasty

2008-01-31T11:46:00.000Z

I had a story I rather fancied doing with this chap, well an idea, the fact there was no story made my brain start to ooze. so, to save myself, I moved onto something I already had a plan for.

This beasty is made of plug-hole hair, dust, scabs, nail clippings, hanky juice and other stuff she can collect- like fish eyeballs. Her one purpose is to be accepted by her 'mother' that being whomever the discarded bits came from...

The character is in very early stages, in fact these are the only two images I have. I might peruse it but for now I need to focus on other stuff.

Birds

2008-01-27T01:32:00.001Z

This has nothing to do with noses but it's about time I put some work up.

I wanted to animate these characters but I'd have to compromise the prettiness (or lose my mind) so they shall probably remain illustrations.

of noses

2008-01-23T12:15:00.000Z

I have an idea! oh thank God! a vaguely well formed one too. This might just be a post for me, which is cool considering I'm the only one who frequents this arboretum.

Think Noses.

Thats all I need to say, character sketches coming soon.

Fruitloops

2007-12-29T18:50:00.000Z

There are crazy people in the world and a couple of them work at WHSmiths. There is a girl of about 16 who you can just tell isn't 'all there.' I'm not one to comment on how people present themselves, but she just looks slightly neglected. The customers appreciated the withering look of bewilderment I gave her (and them) as she rang her bell only to tell me it was 'all right now' and then continued asking the man at her counter: 'howareyoutodaysirwouldyoulikesomehalfpricefoxeees? in one slightly American, entirely monotonous drawl... mouth open, eyes unfocused slack jawed, hand waiting for change. We* don't even sell Foxes Glacier Mints anymore, sold out last week some time.

Then at the other end of the scale is this tiny ginger girl who is in charge of Books. she is the most terrifying person I have ever had to work with. Although she is 'with it' she is also unbelievably highly strung and gets incredibly worked up over the smallest things. I am so scared of her, she is beastly and I am a large wuss. She will just tell you you're moronic and slow and be just generally spiteful for no reason! Total attention seeking hypochondriac too, she tried to get one of her colleges fired for pointing a bar code scanner at her. In a fight I could probably clobber her, being about twice her hight and, well, body weight probably but my GOD she'd bite, kick and scratch.

How do people become crazy though? I know some people are just born that way- lack of oxygen or wonky brains but then there are the slightly more subtlety nuts people. Is it the environment they are brought up in? Poor diets? Lack of mental stimulation? Traumatic experiences? or are some people just plain loony?

* This being the Royal We of WHSmiths, and I

Aubrey

2007-12-28T19:48:00.001Z

Rather than tackling the mountain range (no, not just one mountain- that would be easy) of animation work I have to do, I spent most of yesterday copying an Aubrey Beardsley drawing for my cousin as it is her birthday and I have been a lame cousin these last 24 years and given her nothing.
Pen and ink. ooh and it's really small, the white lines made me weep.

Actually the process of hunching over one detailed illustration for hours it SO much more pleasurable than hunching over hundreds of rushed simple ones. I'm pret-ty sure I'm doing the wrong degree.

Origins

2007-12-26T23:17:00.000Z

When I am not particularly focused and have not recently listened to any memorable music, I find myself muttering words pleasurable to the pallet- such as; lobster, vindictive, arboretum, verisimilitude, eclectic, donkey and dirigible. While I was tempted by 'Vindictive Donkey', I decided to go with 'Eclectic Arboretum'.
And now it is late and I need to go to bed.