Spring Bus Stop
This Illustration was fun too because it is part of another series (can you tell I like doing series?). For this series, I wanted to do the same environment but in different seasons, seeing how my characters react and interact with each other. I think giving each character personality it was I enjoyed for this illustration, and also figuring out the lighting and trying to show that the sun was rising on a cool spring day.
I think around this time is when I started to relax and get ready to graduate. It was hitting me that I would be graduating in 60 days! I think the change in mindset also came with the change in season, which I think fit the illustration for this month very well. The beginning stages of spring always bring me so much joy because of the change in the plants, and in weather. The chill from winter still lingers, but the sun starts to set later, and the bird's come out, and all of a sudden people start sneezing.
Around this time as well I had to make a pitch for one of my classes, and I remember I prayed, and I felt to develop my characters and their story. And I was so nervous because the story was so blatantly about Christ and how we view Him. But that pitch was probably one of the best things I ever did this whole semester. It eventually turned into a mini production, where I served as the director (my first time truly leading a live action production)
Animation: Walk Cycle
This animation I got a little nervous about once again. But as all things in life this was another learning process. A Walk Cycle in animation is a fundamental lesson, because you not only learn about basic principles like, arcs and follow through, but you dip your toe into more complex topics like body mechanics and character personality/acting. Doing a walk cycle is a chance to show off your character and how they move about in the world!
I did a Walk Cycle once before a few years ago but something about it felt off when I did it. So I put it off until I learned more about animation. This time I started out by researching walk cycles in the "Animators Survival Kit" which served so useful in understanding why people walk the way they do, and the key poses that communicate a walk cycle. The problem was, the key poses shown in the book, were general and over exaggerated and I couldn't use them on MJ, and my art style which leans more towards semi realistic.
So after my first pass, Holy Spirit led me to the perfect reference of a young woman walking, and I could use that as my reference. I think I still need more practice in capturing the personality of a character and really experimenting with how one character walks vs another. So as I continue learning animation beyond college, I'm definitely going to revisit the Walk Cycle.
