New sprites

Heelo. I bin working on some new game sprites recently for a game called Ninja Squirrel. I came up with it a while ago with someone else, and now I just felt like picking up the batton once more. Who knows if it'll get finished, but it's good practice nonetheless.

I'm still doing it very much in my own way, there wasn't a whole load of theorizing behind the animation when I began this - but now little bits are seeping in to my working method. For example the sketches beforehand of the characters next pose have become a lot more dynamic and extreme. The new ones are the punch & the throw ones. Before hand my drawings would very much stay more 'static' and not differ the pose to much but they are starting to moreso now.

another interesting thing, is that for a long time i've found it hard to do flash, as when I load it up, lay down the first brush stroke, my mind just says 'Nah..' and I close it. It's to much of a ordeal to start over I guess and because i've got so much unfinished things, i'm geared towards not finishing, so why bother?
So now what i've started doing, is sticking a record on my record player, and listening it all the way through till it needs turning over (every 20 minutes or so). I keep myself working until the side needs changing, then if I want a five minute break, I can. Working like this is seeming to keep me motivated so THANK GOD I may actually finish some things.

:: LINK ::

Whats the craic?

Haalo there. Been a good crimbo, spent it with me girlfriend relaxing and what not. It's wicked to have snow again. I have been drawing over the hols, no animation though, unfortunatly. constantly tryin' to learn new bits and bobs - not nessecarily in regards to animation but just things in general, been reading a bunch, that's all I seem to spend my money on at the mo, books and train fares... Got my rough guide to Italy at hand, Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac, 'Easy Riders, Raging bulls', 'Mr.Nice' by Howard Marks & this book by the Dalai Lama off me dad for crimbo - 'Ancient wisdom, modern world' - it's been a good read so far, but I gotta say after a 3 hour reading stint on the train, then to get off and pass people in the street and really think about the practicalities of putting it into practice ... it's possible, but is it worthwhile, can you influence the man in the street as you pass him? Either way an interesting read and the right ethics to make the world a lovely place to live.

Christ what else have I been up to? Time flies I guess, new years was a blast - better than last year... better to sleep in a bed and not a cell, 'ey? Went out as chimney sweeps with my buddies.
My last day in Torquay with ma woman was prob the best day to mention. In the morning she needed to take some pictures for uni, so we got down the harbor and got snapping. After a while, I remembered I knew the code for the tenders(the little oar-boats you use to get out to the boats) in the harbour, so I asked Fran if she wanted to go out onto the runway bit in the harbour, and.. to my surprise she was up for it! Nice one. We bought an oar, and rowed out way out and ran up and down like idiots on a cold, sunny winter day with everybody watching off the harbour walls. Then that night we went to the pub and watched the pig racing. I tell you now, pig racing is bloody brilliant. If you see it advertised, GO SEE IT.

So now the cold is setting in, and its time to get back to good ole' Fal where my heating doesnt have to be turned down low because it's unlimited. Time to not leave the flat and pretend it's summer again me reckons. Time to take the brain off standby and do us some learnin.

Here's some photgraphs

The missus'

Torquay harbour tender robbing

 

PIG RACING OH YES

Very serious business

New years chimney sweeps. Geeet ya knees up step in time!

Happy Two-thousand and Ten.



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New years flashback

New years eve '08

New years eve '09

New years eve 2010.

Happy new year people ~

(browny points for guessing the correct dress codes)

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Nobody told me there'd be days like these

"Everybody's talking and no one says a word,

Everybody's making love and no one really cares,

There's nazis in the bathroom just below the stairs.

Always something happening and nothing going on
There's always something cooking and nothing in the pot

Everybody's smoking and no one's getting high
Everybody's flying and never touch the sky
There's Ufo's over New York and I ain't too surprised.

Strange days indeed."

Listen to it here

Pop life

Hello. I am in Guildford right now with my girlfriend. We came up to see an exhibition at the Tate Modern yesterday called 'Pop Life'. It was an exhibition about Pop art -  so was interesting for me as i've had a flaking interest in it since I was in school and when asked to research an artist - decided I liked Andy Warhol.

It was interesting, it explored Andy Warhols' vision that 'good business is the best art' by looking at subsequent artists to follow his scheme. The most interesting revelation for me, was half-way concluding my ongoing war with 'what is art..?'

I often find myself looking at things on gallery walls and asking why is that there, does it deserve its pride of place? Is that art? etc. In the exhibition, in the room displayed like the 'Pop Shop' I looked up and saw T shirts on the wall. I looked up at them and asked the questions - why are they there, what's the point and so on; but then I realized that I actually thought they were pretty snazzy t shirts.
So its not good enough to be on a gallery wall  - but it is good enough to be on a t shirt? Well that just tells me that my ongoing problem with art then is not so much with art but with the environment that it's exhibited... I may not like Damien Hurst's cow model... but if a friend had created that I would be bloody marveled.. again the environment constricting my opinion of the art.

There were some questionable things at the exhibit... a pornographic pic of Brooke Shields as a child had been taken down before we went which shoulda told us what to expect. Jeff Coons... forever I will remember you as the smiling face of 80's porno, unfortunately.

There was this other lady whos work was - literally - she would find a gallery owner, have sex with him & record it, then that would be exhibited in the gallery. Now the exhibition didnt have plaques explaining the intentions & motifs of the artists unfortunately because it would of been interesting to dig deeper on this estranged woman. My view is that she's pushing boundaries - sure - but in the direction no one cares to follow. What was her point?

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I don't know what art is - but I dont care to call anything I do art - if I can find a better suited namesake I will. I do drawings, Biro's & HB's. I do animations. Im no artist "I'm just a song and dance man".

Hello, my names Terry and i'm a law abider

'And when the weekends' here, I excersise my right,
to get paraletic and fight.
Good bloke fairly,
but I get well lairy
When Geezers look at me funny,
Bounce 'em round like bunnies.

The thing I mentioned before

Here we go all done. My pal Nick was here earlier and we recorded the guitars for this, now it's done.



The idea behind it is how Che Guevara has now become just an icon.. rather than the iconic bloke i'm sure he was. I say 'am sure', because I myself am one of the ones who bought this work on... I have had his poster on my wall since I was about 13, but have not yet looked into him. So here this is to all the people like myself who need to scratch beneath the painted surface and find out just who this guy was, not just a pretty face.

I don't know what kind of animation you'd class this as... Stop motion? I did it by stenciling out the image and then painting it on my shower wall in acryllic paint. It's the first time i've used acryllic paint outside the secondary school art room (where it was used more for flickin on peoples clothes rather than painting with...) so I didn't know how well it would work, if it would run down the wall etc... well, it didnt run, but it did come off easily, which was perfect for the project because I could spray on a little water to dampen it, scratch a little paint off, then add some below. It didn't take all that long really, about 3 hours to finish the animation, about 20 minutes to put the stencil on in the first place? Cutting it out was the longest part.

Anywho enjoi

"We're just two lost souls swimmin' in a fish bowl" TA RA.  ~

Update

I think i'm repeating myself, but since I bin at uni, i've been drawing alot. One a day atleast. I find whenever I draw a picture, it's usually the best picture i've ever drawn. So I find i'm always getting better which is why I guess I keep going. I wonder when i'll hit the roof n' my drawings will start to become worse than the last...?

Anywho, keep optimistic. There is no roof.

I bin hanging out with my girlfriend in Swansea over the last weekend, and am going up to London to see her in a couple of weeks when she gets back from Cuba. This information means nothin to you i'm sure, but you gotta love your girl!

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Here's some drawings from the last week or two.

Ralph Steadman & Hunter S Thompson. This is the first Ink i've ever done

so I thought it'd be fitting to draw Ralph Steadman.

Answers on a postcard as to who the first and last are please.

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Last night I had this idea when I was in the shower(the place all great ideas come from) to make me a stencil and have a go at trying something out with it. Well, 24 hours later the stencils cut & the animations done. It's a bit of a test really, i've never used acryllic paint before & I've never painted on my shower wall before either... so a learning curve. I'll update tomorrow with the finished work, I'm gunna play some guitar to it & get my flatmate to play violin on it too (Hopefully...).

While talking about ye ole guitar, I got me mate Nick down this weekend for a good ole' jam. My last night before uni me n him stayed up till 5, got drunk and jammed our little socks off. The weekend calls for a repeat. Back to the old 16 hour jam sessions that fly by.... TIME FLIES WHEN.

Ciao ~