David's Sketch Blog

Animated Carr-nage

2009-01-25T17:37:00.002Z

So, the two animated sketches at long last!

Jimmy Carr 'In Concert' - Will You Marry Me? from David Gray on Vimeo.

Jimmy Carr 'In Concert' - Racist from David Gray on Vimeo.

I don't think I did too badly for six weeks of evening and weekend work. Kept the animation key to key mostly, with lots of smear frames to smooth the movements out and add a bit of 'bite'. Had to leave out lots of little things, like eyes blinks, just as way of making time to spend on other things. Many gripes, naturally.

The colours of the characters and the props became less saturated when I imported them from Illustrator into Flash (something to do with colour profiles or some such bollocks), so I ended up losing that sharp contrast between the characters and the background. I was never happy with the design of the bride character either - the face, mostly. Those eyes just don't read very well and the nose sort of disappears into the flesh colour of the face. She did the job though.

One problem that I didn't have time to sort out was the way that the arms/hands of Carr (and the other characters) melded into eachother and got lost when they overlapped -some clarity lost there, and it looked messy.

The lipsync (which was a complete BITCH to do) kind of falls apart near the end of the Racist skit and I put that down to sheer bloody exhaustion and fatigue. I got it to a point where it was passable. Just. There's actually a bit of lipsync missing right hear the beginning too, but I never registered that particlular line of dialogue on my copy of the audio. Weren't me guv.

Still, I was pleased with my little racist bloke (even though the design doesn't really match the voice). He was definitely more tied-down design-wise than the bride, but he certainly wasn't as malleable. The props in this one were lots of fun to do - I even managed to squeeze in a little homage to Duck Dodgers. The Racist sketch was my favourite, I think and definitely the most fun to do.

So there we go. Fun project, that.

Jimmy Carr

2008-08-31T15:29:00.002+01:00

Around May time, I took on some freelance animation work. I had to design, direct, draw and animate little under four minutes of animation in Flash, based around some recorded dialogue from Jimmy Carr's new stand-up show. The whole project took around 6/7 weeks, working only at evenings, weekends and even using up a weeks holiday to get it done. It was exhausting, but very fulfilling and enjoyable work. The above image is the original drawing I 'pitched' to the producer. I hope to post the animation up at a later date.

Finally...

2008-04-20T19:37:00.002+01:00

...got round to scanning some sketch book work from the past few months. I've been having trouble with my scanner for a while now - everything I scanned seem to just turn into a grainy mess. The black ink lines survived, but the grey brush shading seemed to disappear.

Then about 20 minutes ago, right after I'd scanned all of the above, I found the problem. It's called 'Auto tone' and it's been winding me up for over two years now. I clicked reset and shed a tear.

Some quiz night tomfoolery here. I always make a note of the questions because it makes me look clever.

Stuck on a re-routed train from Bristol to Exeter with nothing but my crayons and a copy of daft women's magazine 'Company'.

Chronic Sketch

2008-03-03T21:46:00.002Z

Talented Beardy-man Mark Thompkins has started a new Sketch Challenge Blog. Along with Mark, Talented Blonde Lady-woman Tori Davis and myself will be contributing weekly. This weeks challenge was Space Cowboy Celebrates his first catch in months. This is my effort:

I think I just about scraped the brief. Barely.

BACK WITH A BANG

2008-01-14T23:40:00.000Z

New flat.
New year.
Hurrah!

The days plod on...

2007-07-24T21:43:00.000+01:00

...and so do the drawings.

Work Doodles

2007-06-19T22:57:00.001+01:00

I doodle in my little pad whilst I'm waiting for renders to finish:

NB: I do not work for The Independent.

More Exeter People

2007-05-03T22:12:00.000+01:00

I love riding the bus and train to work because it gives me time to do draw.

Happy Anniversary!

2007-04-02T21:09:00.000+01:00

My nan and granddad celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversary recently and I drew this for them.

The rough drawings:

The Man of Peace

2007-01-12T18:40:00.000Z

This is an illustration I did for my dad's 50th birthday. That's how he dances in real life.

And sometimes that's how I dance, too.

The People of Exeter

2006-12-17T17:50:00.000Z

They are glorious things.

Ian Hislop doesn't like you...

2006-12-03T22:43:00.000Z

Graduate!

2006-09-15T03:01:00.000+01:00

I am no longer a student and therefore no longer entitled to a 10% discount at HMV which, to be perfectly honest, doesn't usually amount to much. I won't miss it.

More sketch book work.

Coming Soon...

2006-07-28T18:10:00.000+01:00

Just awaiting sound effects and a final polish!

Vector me!

2006-06-24T00:18:00.000+01:00

I did this when I should've been making business cards.

Not that I'm vain or anything. I've not used Illustrator much, so this was a pleasing result. I'll have to sort out the line work and make it less rigid and dull.

Andreas

2006-06-23T18:46:00.000+01:00

Poor old Andreas is having problems with the autofeed scanner.

Fortpolio Time

2006-05-12T18:26:00.000+01:00

We've been preparing portfolios at college because we're not allowed to come back next year. We have to get jobs apparently. Selected highlights:

Still alive!

2006-04-09T01:02:00.000+01:00

Action!

2006-01-28T19:57:00.000Z

I'm currently in the midst of directing my graduation film. The film is a two-and-a-half minute animtion about a young school boy who, upon waking up from a suggestive daydream about his teacher, finds himself bulging around the waist area. Embarrassed by his visible thrust, he shoots off around the school looking for a way of escape. Below is one of my keyframes from the daydream sequence.

My friend and fellow third year Bjorn is working with me and doing some wonderful stuff including backgrounds, colour keys and animation. He's a force to be reckoned with!

More from the Broom Cupboard

2006-01-14T18:43:00.000Z

Our life drawing room seems to be shrinking.

Two 2-miunte poses, one 5 minutes and then 20 minutes with good old Trish modelling. A 2B graphite stick on animation paper.

Last Minute Rush

2006-01-10T22:18:00.000Z

I left finishing my dissertation to the last minute.

Whoops.

Another Drawing

2005-12-15T23:55:00.000Z

Cock and Balls

2005-12-04T15:21:00.000Z

Here's a little drawing I did for an Illustration Challenge I set up on one of the forums I visit. The theme was 'Cock and Balls'.

I hadn't tried anything like this before and I was quite pleased with the results. But look at the ball! No squash or stretch. And I call myself an animator. Disgraceful.

Life Drawing! Hurrah!

2005-11-23T20:26:00.000Z

We've finally got the evening life classes up and running! The room we have has now officially been dubbed the 'life drawing cupboard'. It's the smallest it's been in the four years I've been at this college.

Top-left is a 10 minute pose, followed by some 1 minute poses.

Two 25 minute poses.

It feels nice to get back into the swing of things. Third year animators don't get timetabled life sessions, so we rely in these evening classes.

More to follow!

Lost

2005-10-30T22:37:00.000Z

I'm utterly hooked to this programme. It's the highlight of my week.

Various Zoo Trips

2005-09-22T15:47:00.000+01:00

Here are a few quickies I did at Marwell Zoo down here in Dorset, and Colchester Zoo in, erm, Colchester funnily enough.

I can't remember for the life of me what birds these were, but I was dead chuffed with the brush work - something I'm not particularly good at.

A quickie of what must be a warthog. I was pleased with the energy in the lines, although I'm not sure if you can tell what he is doing. He's meant to be lying on the ground.

Sad Old Gent

2005-09-09T02:36:00.000+01:00

Not much to say about this charming chap. I caught him on a National Express coach to Bournemouth.

I liked his little hat.

The life and soul of the party

2005-09-06T13:41:00.000+01:00

Me and the family went to visit my great-grandmother in the old-folks home a few weeks back. They were having a lavish garden party with music and everthing, but there seemed a distinct lack of enthusiasm.

I find heads very hard to draw, but I was pleased with the character in these faces.

A Day Out In Bournemouth

2005-09-04T20:57:00.000+01:00

Some sketches from my afternoon out in Bournemouth.

The hotdog vendor's ladyfriend. I've never spoken to her, but her hubby is very friendly.

People on the beach. Why do people suddenly lose any sense of self-awareness they have, whilst on the beach? It worries me.

Two old folks look out to sea. The chap on the right was an odd one - he carrried himself very awkwardly, and his clothes were tight and worn haphazardly.

2005-09-04T17:56:00.000+01:00

Hello.

My name is David and I am an animation student from the UK. I started this blog as a way of tracking the progress of my 3rd Year graduation film, and as an incentive to keep me drawing each and every day. I'll do my level best to post something as often as possible. Feel free to critique my work. I need all the help I can get.

I'll get cracking as soon as the dust settles and I work out what all these buttons do.