SABRECAT » scad

Illustration class

Meredith — Tue, 17 May 2011 14:47:32 +0000

I had the benefit of taking a graduate-level illustration class this quarter. My ideas about composing a picture and conceptual thinking have improved greatly through the exercises we’ve done in class. Below are two of the assignments, a music gig poster (MTB is from my hometown and one of my favorite bands) and a spot illustration for an article about mental illness. I know, I’m a bit of a style chameleon. The MTB poster is the closest drawing so far to the direction I would like to go with my artwork. I really had fun with both of these assignments though!

-MDR

Duel

Meredith — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 20:21:06 +0000

I’m finding it hard to keep up with the blog even though I’m on a school break until next week. Large tasks get put off until school is out and then they dominate my time. But I found this (very) old drawing of Serik and Cam and I thought you might get a kick out of it. Next quarter I’m scheduled to take just one class at SCAD, Drawing for Sequential Art, with the infamous Tom Lyle. I’m looking forward to it as it has LOTS of drawing, and he’s promised to record his individual critiques for the whole class! BRING IT. I’m also signed up to take Don Bluth’s 5-week online animation class, which I’m looking forward to and highly recommend! You could not ask for a better teacher or mentor. I expect to be busy drawing next quarter but I’ll try to take some time to do some posting too!

MDR

Maquette

Meredith — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 20:33:52 +0000

I just wrapped up summer quarter at SCAD and I’m doing some catch-up on my blog posts. I’m not posting everything because there are some things I’m saving for special projects that I don’t want to share just yet. But I’ll share a few…here’s the maquette I did for the character design assignment. This is my first time working with Super Sculpey. It isn’t perfectly smooth, but still, it took a long, LONG time to get it to this point. I’m not sure I have the patience to be a sculptor! The design is the fun part for me…the smoothing and perfecting…mmm…not so much. Still, this is a handy skill to have. I’m looking forward to making one for fun, for me, instead of for a grade.

Update: I wanted to add a few notes about how I baked this maquette, as it baked well without cracking. If you scour the internet on information for baking Super Sculpey, you will find scores of conflicting ideas. I will admit that since this is the first time I’ve done it, it doesn’t guarantee that this is the best method, but I thought I’d pass on the information if anyone else wants to try this system.

The first thing I did was estimate the thickest area of the polymer clay at any one point. This figure is 8 inches tall, and the inside is well padded with foil around the armature. I estimate at its thickest it could be no more than 1/2 inch. I also assumed that cracking while baking is most likely related to rapid temperature fluctuations (that’s why sidewalks crack, right?). So I put it in the cold oven and decided to use a “ladder” system of temperature changes to try to minimize any cracking. Here are the times and temperatures I used (note that 170 was the lowest setting for my oven): 170 degrees for 20 minutes + 200 degrees for 20 minutes + 225 degrees for 20 minutes + 200 degrees for 20 minutes + 170 degrees for 20 minutes = 1 hour, 40 minutes total baking time. I then let it cool down with the oven door closed for about 4 hours. The color changed to a slightly darker flesh tone from the unbaked color, and it has the look and feel of plastic when baked. I’ll probably try the same method when I do this again, and I’ll be sure to report on the results. One last thing: the oven definitely had an odd chemical odor after I finished, so I gave it a thorough scrub with a foaming oven cleaner before I cooked anything in it. I’d suggest having a can of oven cleaner on hand if you plan to cook anything afterwards, as you don’t want to use the self-cleaning cycle for this cleanup. Happy baking!

MDR

Airport Scene Layout

Meredith — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 14:32:55 +0000

So here is the first layout for my animation class…I used photo reference but only very loosely. Perspective is very challenging for me- I did try to design it so the eye is drawn towards the characters though. What do you think?

-MDR

Character Action Poses

Meredith — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 03:11:57 +0000

Here’s the character I’m using to build the maquette for my character design class!

And coming soon: Details of an amazing workshop I attended last week with the legendary Don Bluth!

-MDR

Character Designs 1

Meredith — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 20:44:47 +0000

Here’s the first assignment from my character design class: design a set of four characters from a live-action TV show. I’ll bet you children of the ’70s remember this one! Grizzly Adams was one of my favorite shows back in the day.

MDR

Video Game Concept Art

Meredith — Sat, 29 May 2010 01:53:22 +0000

Posts were thin this quarter because there wasn’t much drawing required in my classes. These drawings are concept art for a video game I designed for my final project. Here’s a short synopsis:

Jillaroo: Homebound is a puzzle platform game with a strong storytelling component. In it the player controls Jillaroo, a kangaroo separated from her family on an Earth facing imminent destruction, who must make her way through hostile environments in order to reach the final shuttle to her new home.

I REALLY enjoy making little drawings like this! They were a lot of fun to make!

MDR

Super-Secret Portfolio Site!

Meredith — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 04:27:21 +0000

Okay, it’s not really super-secret! This is the website I created from scratch in Dreamweaver in my computer class last quarter. I added a little GIF animation to the homepage for fun! I will definitely be doing more in Dreamweaver later! The portfolio itself is due for an overhaul, and I hope to get to that soon. In the meantime, Enjoy! (click on the image to go to the full site!)

MDR

Cleared for Takeoff

Meredith — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 15:34:26 +0000

Update: “Cleared for Takeoff” minicomics are now available for purchase! I will add them to the online store soon. Currently you can buy a copy from me personally for $2 each. I will also have them at the CH-46 ILSMT in San Diego this April, find me and let me know you want a copy! Buy a copy for that special pilot in your life!

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Here’s my final project for Intro to Sequential Art: a 5-page “ashcan” (mini-comic) with a color cover!

After Effects-Bouncing Ball

Meredith — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 03:51:05 +0000

We had to create a bouncing ball animation in After Effects. It was really fun! The illustrations were done in Photoshop. Click on the image below to see the animation in Quicktime.

MDR