Back to School

School started again and is in full swing.  I'm really excited for my classes this fall.  I'm taking a color theory class, a comics class, and a web design class (which will make this blog look even better!).

Here is my first assignment for my comics class.  We had to make the best comic we could.  I did my best considering I don't know much about comics.  I know there are some things I need to work on, but I'm excited about improving over the semester.

RISD Big Book of Dragons Submission

This past summer my friend Leo had an idea to have our friends create a picture of a dragon and make a book.  It would be a great opportunity to see everyone's talent and interpretation as well as be a fun activity because most of us are starting our senior year.  Here is my submission to the RISD Big Book of Dragons.

Summer Reading

Summertime is great time to do some reading that usually gets set aside during the frantic school year.  This summer I have been reading a few books and I'll share some short thoughts.

Walt Disney Imagineering: A Behind the Dreams Look at Making More Magic Real by the Imagineers

This is my favorite book in my summer reading group.  It shows all the behind the scenes, creative, and innovative work the Disney Imagineers have made around the world.  There are stories, wonderful images, and information about creating the Disney parks around the world as well as the cruise line.  It's such an inspiring book for me because I would love to become an Imagineer someday (although I'm open to many other possibilites as well).  

Artistic Anatomy by Dr. Paul Richer

This book was part of my 3D Kinetic Anatomy class I took this summer and helped me make my écorché.  It has great pictures of bones, muscles, tendons and more.   This book has given me a greater understanding of human anatomy and I will definitely reference it in the future when I am drawing figures.

The Art of Ratatouille by Karen Paik

I love everything about Pixar so I decided to check out this book.  I really enjoy it because I can see and learn about the processes that went into making the movie.  Such decisions that were made in character design were really insightful (such as how Remy's nose points down so he can smell the food better and is more friendly looking).  The research that went into the movie was also really inspiring.  The crew got to visit Paris and see the sewers as well as go into kitchens of the finest restaurants. 

The Art of Toy Story 3 by Charles Solomon
Again another Pixar "Art of" book. This book has a few pages of art from the previous Toy Story movies so that the rest of the book within the right context.  My favorite parts of this book are the color studies by Dice Tsutsumi and Robert Kondo as well as the color keys.  There are also a few places in the book where they show a setting and arrows with the order of events that happen during the scene, such as the canyon opening scene in Toy Story 3. 


Dracula by Bram Stoker
I haven't started this book yet, but am very excited to at least start it before summer ends.  I have heard a few great reviews from people lately that it's a great book.  This book was never part of my reading curriculum and thought it would be great to catch up on a classic because as an illustrator it is always important to know about stories.


The Imagineering Way by the Imagineers
This book is filled with short 1-4 page stories and insights about the Imagineers creative process.  While it doesn't talk too much about specific attractions it does say important things to say about the creative process.  Some of these things I had already learned, but didn't know how to put them into words, others I had never thought about.  One of the many things I took away from this book is to never make anything just "good enough" because everything should be great.  This book is also written towards the non-creative non-artistic person and is very welcoming.


The Imagineering Workout by the Imagineers
I haven't started this book yet either but it is the sequel to the Imagineering Way.  This book is interactive and has exercises to get the reader to think creatively.  It covers how to create and execute ideas as well as making concepts better.  I'm excited to use this book and see where my creativity takes me.


The Pixar Touch: The Making of a Company by David A. Price
I'm almost halfway though this book and am enjoying it very much.  I already knew a basic history of Pixar though various readings and videos, but this book gives much more depth and insight into how this company became what it is today.  For example, I never knew that basically all the geniuses who invented computer graphics were interested in being animators at one point in their lives and saw the potential computers had for creating animation in the future.  It's inspiring to hear about how people were so inventive and adamant about trying a new medium while they were struggling to get funded for their projects. 


That's all for my reading reviews for now. I should also mention that my RA T-shirt design won the competition!  I'll share photos of the shirts once they are made. 

Final Week of 3D Kinetic Anatomy

I finished my 3D kinetic anatomy class this week.  I learned so much from both my completed écorché and model.  I'm going to spend some time during August making some figure drawings based on what I learned in this class.

RA T-Shirt Design Contest Entry

My school had a t-shirt design contest for the RA (Resident Assistant) t-shirts for the staff to wear on move in day this fall.  The theme of this year is Harry Potter.  I decided to mix RISD ideas and Harry Potter ideas since going to RISD sometimes feels like a magical world.  Here is my entry for the contest.

This is the front design I made.  

It is based off of the Hogwarts crest, but with the symbols that represent the four areas of the freshman quad: the Homer shield, the Nickerson narwhal, the South squirrel, and the East beast.

This is the back design I made.  

My friend suggested something really bold so I decided to fill in a lightning bolt with imagery.  I chose Carr Haus (our student run café that also has important school offices) on top of college hill, which sometimes feels like a cliff.  I added an owl because receiving the acceptance letter to RISD was magical (which is what I think it would feel like to be accepted into Hogwarts).

Below are the ideas I submitted for placement and color choices. 

I hope they pick my design!  I worked really hard on it! 

Écorché Rib Cage to Humerus Bone and 3D Kinetic Anatomy Week 5

For homework we worked on the muscles from the rib cage to the humerus.  I know I have the trapezius muscle on top of the lattisimus dorsi in these photos, but since then I have changed it.   I also added more to the pectoral muscles so it doesn't look so dead.

 Here is my progress of my sculpture of the model in class day seven

Day eight

Hand detail

One more week of class to go.  It's going to be really exciting to see both pieces completed! 

RISD Summer T-Shirt Design

This is a design I made for RISD summer students to screenprint on sweatshirts.  It's a play off the phrase "Summertime and the livin' is easy."    
                   

Overall I am satisfied with it, but after it was completed and screened I realized the kerning (adjusting the spacing between characters in a font) of the text could have been more uniform.  

I have learned that is important is to look back at completed work and reflect what could have been done better.

The design

The design on a sweatshirt

Écorché Pelvis to Rib Cage and 3D Kinetic Anatomy Week 4

For our homework on our écorchés this week we needed to make the muscles from the pelvis to the ribcage.

Here is my progress of my sculpture of the model in class day five.

 Day six