Julian - work in progress

 

 I watched four documentaries today while drawing this and most of them were about our impact on the planet which left me thinking that I want to move in a secluded place away from it all...

This is probably going to be the main character of the interactive comic I want to create with a friend.

Yoga love

It's windy and it's raining outside so I'm still in bed watching yoga videos and thinking about what to cook for lunch. I haven't been able to practice yoga as much as I would like to since I twisted my ankle and overstretched  my left shoulder. I find it hard to know when to stop sometimes and even harder to just rest when I have an injury.  I'm learning though...it's all part of the process!

MAHAHULA: The giant rodent of happiness by NOMINT

This was one of the short animations screened at Pictoplasma 2012 that really caught my attention. I really like it's magic atmosphere and vibrant glowing colours. It was made by Nomint, an award winning animation-production company based in Athens and London.

Giant series Episode Two - Sun!

Created by Celine and Yann. Visit their blog and see more of their beautiful work here. This is Episode two of a their Giants series. According to the creators the idea behind the series is to travel through the world of the Giant and discover the untold truth about them and their conflicts with humans. Great story and looks lovely too!

Been doing 3d Max tutorials pretty much all day today...it takes me ages to do something and I still find the navigation really tricky. Also preparing some ideas for an interactive comic I will be making with a my developer friend! Too many technical issues to overcome but I'm sure we will make it in the end! I want to incorporate a few 3D elements in it as well. Will reveal more about the project soon!

First by Peppermellon

I like the story of this animation by Buenos Aires Animation/Design studio PepperMelon.

Nearly finished my animated type project and will reveal it once the project is published. It was nice to work on a small project for a change. I'm also working on my showreel which is trickier than I thought since a lot of my animations are different sizes and some are interactive. I'm excited though, it's nice to see the best bits of my work put together.

I also started reading Murakami's 'A Wild Sheep Chase' yesterday. I haven't read a novel for a long time mainly because I find it hard to concentrate on one thing. I want to do everything at the same time.

Some time ago I decided to concentrate on practising Ashtanga yoga and now I miss running and since watching the London marathoners yesterday I've been feeling this urge to train for a marathon. But then again people say you can not be a serious runner and yogi since your joints need to be superflexible for yoga which is not ideal for running. My knees are already beginning to complain when I run but maybe they'll get used to it.

Anyway that animation is cool!

Florentijn Hofman

Florentijn Hofman's talk at Pictoplasma was really fun. He even brought an inflatable rubber duck (not as big as the one in the photo) and threw it in the audience. Check out his temporary massive sculptures here.

Animation for a magazine

I am working on a commission for a magazine and this is just a rough of the work I've done today. The letters will float in space so I will add a space-like background...I'm looking forward to animating it.

Pictoplasma Character Walk

So I am back in my studio in the UK and finally have some time to look back and realise what a crazy amazing experience Pictoplasma Berlin 2012 was. Appart from the screenings and lectures there were a lot of small exhibitions around the area where the festival was taking place, where some of the speakers where exhibiting their work. We were given a map and had to look for the orange/pinky fluorescent flags in the city. My feet and poor hypermobile yoga knees where killing me by the end of the day.

I don't know who the artist of this cardboard robots is but I was really impressed that something as cool as that was made from such a simple cheap material.

Mark Gmehling's shiny Cinema 4d masterpieces. It was nice to see some actual 3D sculptures next to his prints. Really fond of his 3d type...makes you want to touch it and feel it's texture!

And of course Mcbess' very detailed ink illustrations always amaze! It was great to see a video documenting the whole process of him painting a mural. 

Crazy character by Berlin based artist MYMO.

Flags around the city.

The map!

Free time euphoria

Pictoplasma is over and I finally have free time to walk around Berlin. I went for two long walks today and had a break in between at a lovely cafe where I ate this delicious chocolatey thing that I have no idea what is called and had some tea. I enjoy walking alone in the city.

I will post more photos and information about Pictoplasma once I get back in the UK. I met some very interesting people and I will definitely go to more Pictoplasmas to come.

Pictoplasma begins!

Today is day two of Pictoplasma. It's crazy how full on it is...I had my lunch (and dinner combined) at ten in the evening yesterday...and there were still things going on at .HBC, one of Pictoplasma's venues. So I will post photos with more comments once I get some free time.

Animation = done !

You can watch my animation and vote here. Will upload an HD version on Vimeo as soon as the competition finishes. I hope you like it :)

The Young Creatives feature

Read about me and my work here. A big thank you to the young creatives for the feature on their blog.

I have just arrived in Berlin! I just got back from a walk and I'm getting ready to go to bed. I've never been here before so I'm looking forward to tomorrow. I am very happy I decided to come here in the end and go to Pictoplasma...I definitely needed a break!

Lovely 3D animated type

There is something really nice about 3d animated type. The first and last screen grab is from 2veinte's showreel (a Buenos Aires motion graphics studio) and you can watch it here. The middle one is from Glitch's trailer and you can watch it here. I'm inspired!

Animade's animated button

This animated button by London based animation studio Animade made me laugh. Check it out here.

Can't wait to see them at Pictoplasma in Berlin next week!

Simian Mobile Disco - Cerulean

My brother sent me a link for this impressive animation by Jack Featherstone and Will Samuel for ISO studio. I love the combination of simple shapes with complex animation. I wonder how much of it is done with coding...it is a celebration of movement and really compliments the music...amazing!

Etsy shop

I made a shop on Etsy some time ago but did not promote it at all so I'm working on that now. There are so many tips on how to make your shop found that can sometimes get a bit overwhelming. I will be adding new work on it soon. Check out my shop here.

I feel a bit weak today...to yoga or not to yoga?

Group hug by Sehnsucht

and the making:

What an inspiring animation by Sehnsucht! It is part of a new series of international MTV idents. Makes me want to start using my newly acquired 3d studio max knowledge. Enjoy!

I'm rendering my animation in After Effects at the moment which is taking a very very long time...

David Hockney exhibition

Last week I went to see the David Hockney exhibition at the Royal Academy. I had already watched a documentary about it on iplayer which was a great introduction to the show since it showed the actual landscapes and the artist in action. I think it made the whole experience richer since it gave an insight to the thinking behind his new work.

I was lucky enough to go before it was open to the public so there was a lot of space to enjoy the work. I thought the exhibition was 'good for the soul' since it mainly consisted of paintings/drawings/ipad paintings of beautiful landscapes in different seasons. I particularly liked the room with the nine screens for each season (there were eighteen screens in total since there was footage for two seasons shown simultaneously next to each other) in which I felt that I was actually in nature and not just watching videos in a gallery. I left the exhibition feeling calm and inspired to paint trees and nature more since living in the city makes me miss it a lot. I was also amazed by the massive queue of people waiting to get in and relieved I got to see it when it was quiet.