The best way out is always through.

So then, interview... At Sunderland University... Not going to lie... I was pretty terrified. It's a big deal y'know? I'd really like to pursue a third year in education and leave with a bachelor of arts qualification, it's what I set out to do 4 years ago... Jesus Christ... Has it really been 4 years!?

Anyway! The preparation for the interview, such as print out's and wallet's cost me near £60... That's a bit of a dick when you think that really, £43 of that money went towards the print out's... Mind you, I had in total about 20-30 sleeves so my portfolio was anything but bare.

I added a fair bit to the portfolio, it was pretty much filled with screen shots of previous work.
Not going to lie... I cried allot when composing the sheets... I hate the majority of my work, especially 2.5D...

Allot of people liked this, it was my 2011 life draw... Yeah... Life draw...
Anyway, I took a snappy-shot with my camera, brought out the contrast more and stuck it in my portfolio...
The sheet is what... A2? And the image is PACKED with detail so I doubt I'll ever be able to produce a digital image which shows EVERYTHING!

Finally, my showreel, I wasn't particularly pleased with it considering it was produced at 2am on the day of my interview (but it's our little secret). Honestly, I hate the work I had to put into this... And I was even told that I'm far too modest and that I don't sell myself, I just find it hard to be arrogant, I hate arrogance. Sunderland seems all right though to be fair, sure, I'd like to have known more stuff on the tour but I got to ask questions in the interview and that was good enough for me. 

It took me over an hour to get there... And an hour to get back... My MP3 player ran out of batteries and I was sat there, with a stinking bad head ache... And a back, knotted with tension. What's worse, I've found out that the Dr. Carbonate model I made...

Is none existent...

Great...

I was pretty pleased with that model but the truth of the matter is, if I've done it before, I can do it again, and most likely better than before. What I'd like to do is make his design more reminiscent of a Playstation 1 polygon model, much like Crash Bandicoot.

But one thing I have promised myself to do is go ahead with my Cancer idea at some point, preferably next year, I've begun doing my own research, mainly taking inspiration from Batman since the context is similar and I'm sure some purist will knock me down because of that. What I've learnt however, is that no idea is ever truly original, nearly everything that can be done, has been done, it's about taking such a premise that has been done and put a spin on it and that's what I'm aiming for.

TenNapel

Doug TenNapel, an animator, musician, author, essayist, Eisner Award-winning artist and full time Christian is someone who, for the most part of my later years in life, is someone who I've aspired too.

Most people know Doug through the iconic character, Earthworm Jim a series which started off as a game and soon became a 90's Saturday Morning cartoon which shared allot of traits with that of the game itself, both were never too serious and completely out there in terms of creativity, character designs were also outstanding and unique, comprising of different body types, structures, shapes and exterior personality, what's interesting to note is that the character's of Earthworm Jim, Psycrow, Evil the Cat and almost every other character, was that Doug produced all of them within an hour or so and that in itself is worth bragging about. 

What am I getting at? To be honest, I wish I knew. This is just a student showing his appreciation towards an animator who offered something, idea's, inspiration, style and technique, too often people people aspire towards the well known, I won't deny that I've praised the work of Chuck Jones, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera until I was blue in the face, but I praise them for a reason and it's the same reason I praise TenNapel, because what he offers is a form of escapism, world's which are so alike yet abstract that you can really delve into them and explore them whether it be the world of The Neverhood, Gear, Earthworm Jim, Creature Tech, Zoo, which ever one you pick up, granted it will be different from the other, even in the slightest detail. 

What I particularly love about TenNapel's work, both old and new, is the use of colour and how it's applied, with the conceptual art of Earthworm Jim in particular, TenNapel portrayed his character's beautifully through means of simplistic cartoon shapes with impeccable attention to detail with colour giving a two dimensional character, that sense that it's in three dimensional space. The use of colour in general is, I think really well done in anycase, vibrant, bold but easy on the eye. Nice. It's TenNapel's work which has for a long time, inspired the exterior creation of my character's, making a character speak for them self instead of it consisting of big eyes, spiky hair and another generic Eastern culture voice but that's a rant for another time. I may add more to this little article later on and definitely will do more consisting of other artist's which, well, I aspire too. 

If by some weird turn of events Doug DOES read this... 

I love you. 

My week so far!

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu-ll of good times.

Also I like cheese!

Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.

I stressed out a fair bit over work and in doing that put a massive strain on my body, I really need to learn that life isn't all about work but then again, if I don't try, I won't succeed. My back is knackered along with my chest and honestly, I feel broken. Marvellous.
With word of interviews coming up, I've begun producing piece's to add to my portfolio, this piece was what I originally wanted to pursue in the first place instead of "Standing Up for the Little Guy", it's a more personal piece but its undertones and general premise were classed as, "too touchy" which I highly disagree with, that aside I feel it has potential to get somewhere so I'm going to stick at it, not to mention, it was fun to do.

With this, I have also began producing an animation test or two, just to, well, experiment, it's been fun too! I'm starting to flesh out the world and its people, myself and a very good friend are bouncing idea's back and forth and it's really working wonders! The more I work on this idea the more I wish I had been granted access to work on it, like I said, it's a personal piece but one which I feel could be justified, it certainly isn't malicious, nor does it fall under my usual sadistic humour, it is what it is and what it is, is something i'll explain in more detail once the ball gets rolling. 

Furthermore, I was informed of some competition sites, so it doesn't hurt to keep note of them...

Watershed Call for Entries

AOI Comps

Future Lions

D&AD

YCN

Eyeka