Athenaeum for the Artist

Mama Bear Card

2012-01-15T09:09:00.000-08:00

Playing with making more Stationary/ cards. This one is aimed at pregancy announcements/ baby showers. I like the original best.

(original)

Wolf

2012-01-04T21:58:00.000-08:00

Done drawn me a wolfie. Per a few people's request, but the original artwork is for my grandfather.

Been in Alaska these past couple weeks, and it was definately a trip that will impact me for years to come. I hope to get back there someday. Nic and I had a great time with his mom, and I took tons of photos. Here's a few.

DINO-SAWRS

2011-12-10T01:43:00.000-08:00

Nic and I went to the Natural History Museum in LA yesterday! It was unplanned and wonderful. These are the only two drawings I did while I was there, unfortunately. Since it was my first time, I just sort of ran around ogling and crying over how awesome everything was. I seriously teared up when I entered into the first dino-room with that Mamenchisaurus--- GIGANTIC and breathtaking.

I just kept thinking-- I'm in front of Dinosaurs!!!

So many that I didn't know, too! I was totally dissapointed, when I was 5 I knew 'em all!

Huesera Gallery Updates

2011-11-22T11:49:00.000-08:00

So about two weeks back I put up the show I've mentioned before! I have some documentation of the event, so I'll share it for you here. Don't mind the Bone Mobile video...I idiotically turned it sideways forgetting the video wouldn't right itself. Ha!

But First, More Process for Huesera's Death Mask casting

My whole set up: Bone Mobile and Burial Mound, Animation Loop, and Shadowbox Deathmask.

The Bone Mobile.

Death Mask Shadow Box: cast in wax, broken apart, then reassembled.

And here are two videos to share with the good folks at home.

Post-its? Spring Design

2011-11-08T01:00:00.001-08:00

Thinking about making some post-its.

Seasonal? Sounds fun to me.

La Huesera- Death Mask

2011-10-17T23:07:00.000-07:00

Natural Terra Cotta clay. Total time 3ish hours. 10.5x6.5x3.5 (roughly) life size piece.

Preparing for my part in the upcoming MFA Thesis Exhibition. I've got a 3 part exhibit I'm planning, with the death-masks being one part. Taking my character and bringing her to "reality". Not going for hyper-realism here, but a feeling/ translation of the feel of my character if she would be "alive" in the real realm.

Here's a sneak peek at something else planned for the exhibit too:

The Bird Wife

2011-10-08T20:11:00.000-07:00

(last image based upon the super talented Eyvind Earle's work)

I'm working on a small 10 page comic. Sneak Preview of "The Bird Wife"

Coming in the next coming months.

Character Design of myself

2011-09-19T14:01:00.000-07:00

So, I'm going to try sitting in on a Character Design class with Andy Suriano . This is a hack at myself, which is the first assignment. I tried to go in a different direction than how I usually character myself for my webcomic. We'll see.

Wild Woman Returns

2011-09-16T18:19:00.001-07:00

La Huesera sketch

2011-09-14T11:42:00.001-07:00

Up and Running!

2011-08-05T22:33:00.000-07:00

Finally! My webcomic is up and running once more! No more problems! A month has gone by...and I am still no where close to making it prettier...which was the cause of the crash.

Anwho, go visit the webcomic at Veeblesaurus! Updates Fridays!

Randomness

2011-07-22T19:56:00.000-07:00

(gouache on watercolor paper)

(Ink on watercolor paper)

(Ink, Watercolor, and Nail-polish on Bristol)

Yellow Yellow. Sweet Fellow.

2011-06-28T14:21:00.000-07:00

Something pretty I made. It's so yellow I took it outside and got blinded. HA. Picasso had his Blue period, I have my yellow.

More Life Drawing

2011-06-27T10:07:00.000-07:00

Share share share. Pretty ladies.

Cats

2011-06-18T16:54:00.000-07:00

I have a cat, back in Pennsylvania. I've recently started thinking about her...and all the ridiculous things I've seen her do....

more coming soon...oh yes...

gasp

2011-06-17T16:05:00.001-07:00

Foxes, Gouache and Polish Patternmaking.

2011-06-14T12:50:00.000-07:00

So recently I've been thinking about patterns a lot. I mean A LOT. William Morris, Klimt, Polish Paper-cutting etc etc. I also decided I wanted to try my hand at some more things I've never done before. I like these foxes I've been making, share a couple with you here. I still have a bit to learn when it comes to gouache I think, but it was a fun start. My first two attempts went smoothly, but then a third ended in mush. I always do underdrawings as well, and I find that the gouache isn't quite thick enough to cover over the pencil line (at least as I'm using it) But hell, those colors are vibrant and beautiful. I'm going to keep playing around with it... UNTIL I HAVE A ROOM FULL OF FOXES. Haha. yes.

(gouache)

(watercolor )

Threadless Travel3 Competition!

2011-06-01T12:13:00.000-07:00

Hey Folks! I just wanted to do a bit of shameless self-promotion. I've submitted a design to Threadless's Travel Competition-- If you take the time to sign up/sign in and vote you could help me win a four day trip to London! The piece itself is up on their website, and will be approved for voting within a couple of days! So please check it out and vote for me if you have the time, I'd greatly appreciate it!

here's the original art

And you'll be able to vote here when it's ready! If the link below doesn't say "pending approval" then you are good vote!!

Studies at the Getty Museum

2011-05-24T17:01:00.000-07:00

So this past weekend I got to take a trip to the Getty. Love that place. A few overly studies done of some sculptures and paintings there. I got obsessive about the emotion portrayed in faces. All original artists are mentioned, and you can find pictures of them here at The Getty Center's Collection Site. Simply type in the name of the art! Pretty awesome for looking up specific artists as well.

Henry Weekes 1859- Bust of an African Woman

Jean-Baptiste Stouf Bust of Belisarius 1785-91

Giovanni Lanfranco "Moses and the Messangers from Canaan"

study of Moses

TMNT progress

2011-05-24T16:44:00.000-07:00

(rough layout photoshop) (linework on watercolor paper)

(first pass watercolors)

(second pass watercolors)

Final pass

AHHHH!

2011-05-11T23:11:00.000-07:00

SO I'm always slow on the bandwagon. Just found out 2011 Cartoon Network and Warner Brothers studios are bringing back the THUNDERCATS!

Tribbuteee timeeeee.

Tributes and Prop Design

2011-05-02T16:46:00.000-07:00

Prop designs- Lights...and some humor.

Tribute to the awesome Witch Hazel. Fun times with ink to be had today.

Messing around with programs

2011-04-29T22:05:00.000-07:00

omigosh TvPaint is my new love. Really quick, simple animation i did.

Hurrahhhh for new things.

Also please feel free to check out my home-boy Darrell T. Watson's and Tiffany Ford's short experiment "RAD and the Sword of Dreams". I got to do some animation for this thing, because let's face it those two are a power-house of design and story. Check out their blogs, yo!

Drawing with ink

2011-04-14T19:25:00.000-07:00

Drawerings: Menlies and Behrz

2011-03-14T00:13:00.000-07:00

Watercolors and wild dogs.

2011-03-08T18:52:00.000-08:00

I busted out a whole bunch of these one day last week. Wild dogs and Coyotes, some reference, some not.

Dark Crystal

2011-02-28T16:41:00.000-08:00

Messing around. Dark Crystal-- watercolors and ink.

Dying Emeror and The Chamberlain

Dying Emperor

Jen (favorite)

Aughra

Garthim

Time to get out of your seats, ladies and gents.

2011-02-26T01:12:00.000-08:00

NY times

Oh...Georgia...

WHAT THE HELL HOME-STATE?!

Dig it, California

DN!

Petition

A new Discovery

2011-02-23T15:03:00.000-08:00

Copics! They are magical. Also, I've been drawing/ painting fish alot recently.
This is my first time playing with copics, decent enough. I wanted to play with them before I did any serious work with them. Fun times, four colors.

These few are from a week or so ago, watercolors. Done from life, Frank (orange) and Ollie( black...purple...)

La Loba update

2011-02-19T20:07:00.000-08:00

More model sheets-- La Loba updated. I wanted to make her more corpulant...so I did! Her eyes are still going to remain closed most of the time...but its surprisingly difficult to make a face feel stretched and still have its eyes closed.

Veeblesaurus!

2011-02-18T04:13:00.000-08:00

Thought I'd share with you good folks::

I launched my webcomic! (a couple weeks back...woops)

Check it out when you get the time, I've also added it to the sidebar too! Updates Fridays!

Aaaaaand...more illustrations.

2011-02-17T21:59:00.000-08:00

yeaaaaa colors.

Illustrative Figure Drawing- Aliens

2011-02-10T20:40:00.000-08:00

Advanced Figure Drawing: Illustration with John Mahoney. Fun class, I enjoy ideation. 3 favorites from that day.

"La Loba "-- Harmony Sketches

2011-02-03T23:12:00.000-08:00

Thinking about interiors...

More Harmony

2011-02-02T02:18:00.000-08:00

LA LOBA-Sketches

getting into it alot.

some inspired by people I know.

Harmony

2011-02-02T00:22:00.000-08:00

Okay. This open source drawing tool is AWESOME. I have quickly fallen in love with this thing, because it offers -no- ability to "fix" your mistakes. It's helped me to forget line and what I think I see, but instead focus on form and volume, which is something I'm striving for in my own work. The limitations are apparent off the bat, so have

Granted, it's also easy to see its failing points too. It's very addictive, and I guess some could call it an "assist" in drawing, filling in shade easily if you know how to use it. But- a tool is a tool. I'm liking the trickiness and immediacy of the "line"/"form" I'm creating, there is no room for second guessing.

I dunno-- It's less of an assist for me and more of a "Let's try this with a pencil that has a mind of its own!" Anyway, too much of a rant and rave. Here are some drawings I did using the tool, in ascending order from first to last.

I'm takin this bitch for a test drive in life drawing for a week.

La Loba sketches

2011-01-31T22:22:00.000-08:00

et cetera designs for my film "La Loba"

SURPRISE!

2011-01-19T18:49:00.001-08:00

Test/Short Shot Film Surprise from Vanessa Buldowski on Vimeo.

First two weeks of the semester we have practicum-- schedule wise I had only one choice in classes, unfortunately. Yet, down I will not be! The next two weeks I'm devoting to making a short film-- cranking out shots and storyboards and collaborations to the gills already. Deadline feb 4th.

Hells to the yes.

Character Design to come will be done by the incredibly talented Sam King !

drawerings from life

2010-12-18T16:03:00.000-08:00

Here's some life drawings I did of this great model called Ehrl. Sakura brush pens. Ascending order of what i like best. Legs are an issue.

Another Testy-test

2010-12-06T07:39:00.000-08:00

Test Shot- Paint on Glass "To Moss and Stone" from Vanessa Buldowski on Vimeo.

here's a test I did this weekend for my film. Still applying the paint on glass. I can't get the gold to work, which has me very frustrated. The "gustav klimt" element is almost entirely gone, and will be if I can't get the gold to work. I'm much more drawn to textures now, which i think works, because of the black-paint texture.

Very short-- the character model is a mock up, she needs finer details, and secondary action. Some issues with artifacting still, with the paint and not being able to get a super clean line. MUCH better second time around, though. all about keeping it clean beforehand.

(still)

And..

2010-11-16T03:11:00.000-08:00

... I am in love.

And being a really big nerd about it.

Tests and Nonsense.

2010-11-09T11:12:00.000-08:00

Screen Test-- Bear from Vanessa Buldowski on Vimeo.

You thought I was slacking off. Prove you wrong.

and an oil pastel drawing I did for fun last night, along with a close up. I don't have a good handle on them yet, but I'll keep at it.
(Oil pastel painting based on Gustav Klimt's Water Serpents )

Oh my Wild Woman, all is well.

2010-10-20T15:59:00.000-07:00

Even MOOORE developmental stuff. Trying to open her mouth/ give her not simply seductive looks, since we need to get over that part of her. Yes-- she is inherently supposed to be sexual. But gosh darn it if she doesn't have a personality to boot! (I think I'm funny sometimes)

I'm still having fun with that hair. Although I will admit drawing in blue and making "happy" images was hard to do. She kept on wanting to be depressed, dangit.

The colors I animate in influence the moods of my characters. Hmmmm....

More Wild Woman

2010-10-12T14:53:00.000-07:00

With this film I've been really interested in and pulling inspiration from Rackham, Dulac, and Gustav Klimt. I'm thinking of ways of working/ replicating the gold foil-look in animation/ visuals in the animation. Paint on glass is a large possibility, working both with the female and the bear. I'm also trying to seperate from the story a little bit, to allow myself to actually make it a better piece, even if it means giving up on lovable characters (ie- characters that I love)

Life Drawer-ings

2010-10-11T19:39:00.000-07:00

I'm digging it.

More of the Wild Woman

2010-10-03T22:49:00.000-07:00

Some doodlin's. Her hair has been really fun for me, just thinking about this huge graphic and trying to capture her mood/personality with it. The foxes are providing a much more difficult time to design, but yes. Still nude. I'd rather her nude, it feels more natural-- though I expect arguments to ensue in the future class-wise. Who knows? WOOSH-- back to drawings.

Wild Woman

2010-09-29T17:28:00.000-07:00

She's been haunting my dreams lately. More so than I thought-- A friend brought up a dream I had about two weeks ago, that I had mentioned in passing. I'm sort of feeling her and think I'm going to go with the flow-- possibly base my thesis off of her. This is all just doodling and drawing-- not designing for the actual film. But it's all good fun. And yes-- foxes.

Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog

2010-08-19T21:55:00.000-07:00

I pretty much love that short film. I think it's hysterical, and the song's are catchy. So, I made this little poster-type thing, trying to test out a few things in photoshop. Ehhh. Not 100% on it, but i'll keep myself working in photoshop till I'm happy.

Finished Kiki

2010-08-03T00:35:00.000-07:00

So here's the finished piece. I tried out a few new painitng techniques, which in essence means I was trying to do everything like I've never done it before. Not so sure about how I feel about the image as a total, because of it, but I'm somewhat pleased with one of the brushes I made, and the overall mood of the piece.

More j-popping -WIP

2010-07-20T18:43:00.000-07:00

So here's some images of my WIP for the J-Pop culture show for The Autumn Society. Watching Kiki's on repeat isn't so bad, since it holds a special place with me (First Ghibli film I've ever seen) I'm feeling pretty happy with the colors in general-- it's all just blocked out color right now, for direction. It'll be more defined, but I'm going going to keep that no-outline Flash look (thought I'm creating this in Photoshop) I'm sure the pro's can tell, and right now you can't see some distinctions in her form (hands and knee) but they will be defined.

More background elements to come too. a little too barren right now. I like the clouds...but I'm not sure if they fit with the rest of the image... I'll keep working.

Lastly, greyed out borders to let me know where the cut-off is for my image. final dimensions are 11x17

J-Pop Culture

2010-07-14T22:45:00.000-07:00

So. Yeah.

Here's a touched-up with photoshop picture I took of a drawing I did. Working on the Autumn Society's Japanese Pop-Culture piece, watching some ghibli and getting ideas. I think I've settled on some Kiki, if not a couple tribute pieces to Ghibli.

Don't ask what the original, horribly yellow photograph looked like. Besides yellow, no matter what I set it to. Gah.

Lacking

2010-07-13T21:28:00.000-07:00

So, while I've not had access to a scanner, I've doodled and drew to much listlessness and to a building sense of inadequacy--which,as artists, we all face from time to time. I've recently taken to watching movies and reading, instead of pursuing what I most desperately wanted to-- which was creating art and improving myself. That being said, today I found again one of my many sources of inspiration, the artwork of Nico Marlet and the animation of Mike Surrey.

(Mike Surrey)

(Nico Marlet)

Many people probably know of these artists, so this time, I will not drone about them. Let me just say, I am thankful for amazing artists, for they are those who inspire me to be better than what I am.

Nico Marlet

Mike Surrey

Updately

2010-07-03T11:11:00.000-07:00

I made this little dude about three weeks back, and posted it up on the Autumn Society website. Check the site out, many awesome artists.

I've got a bunch of work to upload, my only problem is I need to find a decent sized scanner that actually scans correctly. Otherwise, I'm thinking of starting to work digitally for the remainder of the summer, so that I will actually have something to show you folks at home.

About the above image-- I used about 12 textures in compinations. I'm actually fairly happy with the end result of the earth itself-- some texture manip, and then matte paints over it, and some regular painting ontop (in photoshop).

Anywho...

-- edit--
Just tacking on that the image is a tribute to the Cartoon Network show Adventure Time by Pendleton Ward.

weeeeert

2010-06-06T10:39:00.000-07:00

Oh, how I pine for a scanner. Er... a better scanner. Or..a hooked up scanner.. since.. I have .. a scanner here... but.. I'm being lazy.

BUT ITS SO TINY. DONT JUDGE ME WITH YOUR JUDGING FACE.

Updates coming soon. I've been working on several things, including setting up a webcomic site, so things have gotten all jumbled. It takes a while. Since I had to install, uninstall, then reinstall it on a different site, so I'm redoing everything.

I'll post up more magic when it gets there, dang it!

= >

2010-05-24T18:13:00.000-07:00

My friend Gina taught me how to knit yesterday... AND IT WAS AWESOME. Darn it all if I wasn't so confused for the first half hour though. She may have had to explain things a ridiculous amount of times. BUT MY FIRST CREATION WAS A COMPLETE SUCCESS. No holes. Take that, girl side.

2010-05-18T14:40:00.000-07:00

Just an update on the happenings and magic.

As of right now, I'm continuing to finish up my film "Silica" which is slotted at roughly 3 minutes even. The film will probably get slightly longer, with better credits and a few tweaks to timing between shots, to give some breathing room.

I'm ready to wash my hands of it and move on, but I will stick with it, and the film is scheduled to be finished in its entirety come December 2010.

That being said, I've placed it that far back because I am starting pre-production on my next film, my thesis film, already. This is an idea I've been keen about doing for years, and is my first film that I've not just "thought up on the spot". Therefore, I want to devote as much time as possible to this baby, but I know I've got commitments to finish "Silica" first.

She's got about 16 shots left to color, and two shots to tweak for better timing. That's a little less than half the film to color. Eek.

She'll get done. For now, hang in there with this very tiny, insignificant teaser scene.

Scene2 Shot 4 from Vanessa Buldowski on Vimeo.

Ehhhhh

2010-04-28T08:57:00.000-07:00

So. I could update with some stuff from my film.
BUT INSTEAD I AM GOING TO DENY YOU THAT.
Because I'm more interested in this chap here.

Say hello to Grant, the heroin-addict drug-overdose ghost who towers over Logan at 6 foot 5 inches. He's got a penchant for schemes involving anything with hamsters and has a bit of a paranoid side.
He's very touchy-feely. Logan does not approve.

great friends

2010-04-17T03:25:00.000-07:00

Birthday rendering

2010-04-13T23:27:00.000-07:00

Slowly. But surely. I am conquering understanding Maya.

I've still only got down animating in the program, but I'm finding it easier to do things I want to do, and navigate to certain aspects in order to fix the hooza-whatsits with the thing-a-ma-bobs.

Hobnoberry.

FlourSack from Vanessa Buldowski on Vimeo.

I have 31 minutes left to my birthday. =) It has been an amazing day, unlike any I have had in a very long time. THANK YOU EVERYONE! for being so wonderfully kind and sweet to me, and giving me loads of hugs! Good bye, April 13th! =) Come again next year! haha.

HTTYD

2010-03-27T00:13:00.001-07:00

GO SEE IT NOW.

(edit) Okay. So I have been dying to review this film for a couple months now. Then I got home, my mind buzzing, and breathless from spewing out a stream of incessant praises to a more than patient friend on the car-ride home at quarter to 12 in the morning. Finally I sat down to write a review, and nothing but the above statement could be written. Nothing. So, upon calming my geek-freak-out down a bit, I have returned to reiterate this:

GO SEE IT NOW.

Folks. I can sit here and tell you the finer points of why the lightning and atmosphere is wonderful, about the moments in this film which ensnare you, but no matter what I say, whether you go see it or not is up to you. But this is one film, that if you go see, you will never want your money back.

I will relay this, however. I had a moment, well several, but one in particular that I found myself just clutching at my mouth, astonished, fear-ridden, hopeful, and immersed entirely in this film. And around me most of the audience, adults and children alike, held that same expression. And that is exactly what a film should do: Capture its audience.

Some Links for you folks.

2010-03-15T19:21:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to drop a quick word about a few websites that I'm adding to my sidebar because of their downright usefulness.

Animationmeat, ThinkingAnimation, and Don Bluths Animation Academy all have really, really wonderful pdf's (except the Bluth one, copy-paste, folks) on just so many topics regarding the more technical aspects of animation. The Nine Old Men series featured on both Thinking Animation and AnimationMeat is one of those gold mines you don't want to miss!

They've even got a great pdf on Planning and Timing your animation by Glen Keane- not that I have the seven essentials taped to my desk, or anything *ahem*

Also- DON GRAHAM NOTES! His Action Analysis classes were a huge factor behind Disney's characters becoming more solid, more believable in weight and volume.

I might be a little bit on the late train in posting these up, I usually am the last one to realize what great resources are available, but better late than never!!!

Feel free to send any more interesting finds to me, I'm always looking for more of these great tidbits!

<3
Vee

Glass Woman Style Frames

2010-03-14T21:57:00.000-07:00

I should probably wait to post these, but I figure, to catch up to all the posts I've been missing, I'll just put up more frequently.

Style frames from my film. Progressions of color--

Scene 1:
Scene 2:
Scene 3:

Spring Break is coming up soon. I'm excited- 7 days to kick butt, take names, and get back on track with this film.

Updates- Sort of!

2010-03-14T15:39:00.000-07:00

Wow hey folks. It's been almost a month since I posted last! Not very cool, on my part, especially with my promises of the "Reflecting on Greatness" series falling so far behind.

I've actually been feeling really tight and generally having a bad spell with my animation, but I'm pulling myself out of it, with the help of the great support and wonderful friends and artists I have here at CalArts. Plus some good old buddies, too! (Audrey you rock my socks).

So, in lieu of all this bad-feeling-ness, I decided to share two pretty awful pencil tests I've done on the side, to try to loosen up/ feel better. Sometimes, just messing around and allowing yourself to make the mistakes helps you feel better, because the pressure for perfection is off.

This girl started out fun, then I got too serious on her, and I ended up getting too tight with the drawing and the animation, and stopped paying attention to really what the feeling is... which threw my proportions and facial construction out the window! Haha. Well, it's bad, but I learned. Live and learn!! ^_^

Colette Keys and BD's rough from Vanessa Buldowski on Vimeo.

And this guy has his own timing problems, but it was fun, because I was just loose. I forced myself to be loose-- Had a stack of papers on the floor for every tight drawing I did, to get thrown away. This one's a straight ahead, which is a little different from what I usually do. I usually straight ahead the keys and Bd's then pose-to-pose the inbetweens, with a straight ahead pass on any flow-y bits. It's a nice change of pace.

Straight ahead fun from Vanessa Buldowski on Vimeo.

Soon there will be more bits of my film up. Style frames will probably be posted sometime tonight, or Monday.

I'm working on a research project /paper too, which is keeping me busy but has been a blast. Basically it's about character personality animation at Disney, exploring the pathos of those characters. I've always been a huge nerd and factoid, but delving into acting, narrative theory, and the animation of these people who inspire me is enough to just blow my mind. Intimidating, yes. Inspiring, heck yes.

Being Busy...

2010-02-18T06:26:00.000-08:00

...As I generally am these days. Here is a test/ complete shot that helps to define the look of my film. The only thing that might/will change will be the unsteadiness of the pastel-water as it drips. I'm going to try experimenting with pastel-pencils to keep within the original lines and intentions of the animation. It frustrates me how much it flickers, because the rough animation is actually smooth, but once I played with the pastels and got them everywhere, that was the end of it.

I'm liking where it is heading for the moment, and I'm starting to be glad I didn't decide to go with the flat, more generic cell shading I was thinking of.

Pastel Shot Test (completed shot for GW) from Vanessa Buldowski on Vimeo.

Here are some samples of my backgrounds, too.

Monkeeyy

2010-02-05T13:50:00.001-08:00

Monkey pass 01 from Vanessa Buldowski on Vimeo.

the first pass on my little monkey dude.

2010-02-02T13:31:00.001-08:00

Dear my blog,

Do you miss me? I miss you. I miss posting things in your easy to use interface. I miss inflicting the world with my animations and animation-related finds. We'll start hanging out again really soon. Don't you worry.

Here's a teaser

Monkey flash from Vanessa Buldowski on Vimeo.

Also. Everyone (or nearly so) knows that I've been tossing back and forth doing a webcomic for a while. I'm still tossing it around. Maybe you'll see some work of it up soon.

I've got a couple ideas on reserve in my brain. My huge comic still isn't ready to air, though. So...I think I'll use this web-comic idea as a testing ground/learning ground for the bigger piece. Check back on that larger comic in like...twenty years.

Meet the Monkey King.

2010-02-02T00:54:00.000-08:00

Well? Go on. Say hello.

Edit approx. 2 minutes after posting:
-Lawlz. He's defying gravity with his pose.

(this is one of my favorite monkey-king takes. Jamie Hewlett meets Sun Wukong.)

Concords.

2010-01-28T04:06:00.000-08:00

Several people have allowed me to watch flight of the concords this week more than necessary. Curse you. I've been drawing them non-stop.

Reflecting on Greatness 02

2010-01-22T17:40:00.001-08:00

Hey there boys and girls! So the holidays hit me pretty hard, with illness and with overbearingly awesome family fun time. So I'm back to formally announce my apologies for the hiatus, and to introduce the second installment of REFLECTING ON GREATNESS!!

BILL TYTLA

1904-1968

"An animator is basically an actor...He would probably go stiff, if he has to talk to anybody, because he can't act... talking to anyone else... But on paper!" -1967 interview with Lousie Beaudet as found on Didier Ghez's Disney History blog.

(Image referenced from the ASIFA Hollywood Animation Archive Website)

Take a moment to think a bit on these films, and see what you come up with: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinnochio, Fantasia, and Dumbo. Now ruminate a while on more specific characters filled with such personality as to make them memorable throughout the years: Characters like Grumpy, Stromboli, Dumbo and his Mother, and Chernabog. Each of these creations was brought to life by one Vladmir (Bill) Tytla. He was a man who felt everything strongly, and let all those emotions find outlet into his animation. In their seminal book, Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston described Tytla as having a " big mop of coal black hair, heavy black brows, and very piercing dark eyes. But more than that it was what was under the surface that made him stand out. He had great feelings churning around inside of him and tremendous nervous energy."

In a 1968 interview conducted by George Sherman, Tytla reveals some of his personal history. He was born on October 25th, 1904, and by 1920 Tytla started his career, claiming the nickname "Tytla the Titler" at the Paramount animation studio in New York City, and by 19 he was hired to work for Paul Terry, Brother of John Terry, at Terrytunes Studio. He started at Disney in 1934. He attended the 1941 strikes against Disney when Art Babbit joined in, and though he eventually returned to work for the studio, his assignments where less challenging and he left the studio in 1943. He moved back to New York in 1944, spending the next 25 years of his life attempting several businesses with his farm, and his own studio in 1958.

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( Directed by Bill Tytla)

Frank and Ollie also comment on how "Bill loved and believed in the characters he was creating, but he was concerned whether he would animate them as well as he should. He need not have worried, for had the sensitivity to understand his characters' motivation in terms of acting, and the ability to interpret that into drawings and staging."

In the interview with Sherman, when asked if there were any special moments he remembered from working on Pinnochio, Bill responded " I had to do one sequence in Pinnochio, and I gave it everything I had. I showed my animaiton to the other animators and they all said "great" or "nothing else is needed"... I felt pretty good about it. Walt came to see it... we ran the sequence, the lights went on, and we all waited.. He said, 'That was a helluva scene but- if anybody else had animated it I would have passed it. But I expected something different from Bill.' " He goes on to say how though nothing mean was meant in what Disney said, he was still crushed by the weight of falling short of what Walt had expected. It was weeks before he could pick up a pencil, but when he did, it hit him and he just started drawing the scene again, naturally different. " This time when I showed it to Walt, he said, 'Great. Just what I was expecting!' He never did explain what was wrong. It was as if in some magical way, you would know [what was wrong]."

In his book on the master animator, John Canemaker notes how Tytla's time in Europe taking classes, exporing cities like London, Bologna, and Nice, and simply creating painting after painting helped to hone his already superb draftsmanship.

Some wonderful drawings/ frames of Tytla's work can be found on Michael Sporn's Splog-- here, here, and here. These wonderful posts are so incredibly helpful, and I highly recommend them to any animator out there-- I don't know how many hours I've spent scouring the tests on his blog, stepping through them to try and glean some of the genius within.

Here are a few tests David Nethery has posted. Wonderful stuff.

Bill Tytla - Stromboli Pencil Test from David Nethery on Vimeo.

A quick update

2010-01-22T00:10:00.001-08:00

I'll give you a little sneak peek.

Here are some thumbnails for layouts of my backgrounds for my current film. =)

Reflecting On Greatness 02 will be posted in a few hours.

Vivi the Bat!

2009-12-19T05:32:00.001-08:00

Hey All!

It's been a little bit since I've posted! With end of the semester here at Calarts, I've been a very busy little veebs. I'll be posting the next installment of Reflecting on Greatness soon, so "Stay Toon-ed" .

For now, here's a little dude I've been working on, in After Effects to get used to animating in it more extensively.

I designed and animated all of it- it was really enjoyable! I hope to develop this into a small animation, a ten-second self contained film similar to my 10 Seconds of Fun.

Enjoy!

Vivi So Far from Vanessa Buldowski on Vimeo.

Glass Woman

2009-12-11T13:10:00.000-08:00

Most recent test. not that fancy. Charcoal and watercolor. I'd like to go back in and fix some things. Because of the shimmer on the drawings (which happen because there is no way you can make watercolor drawings without them being inconsistent) I think there should be a shimmer on the seashell as well, since its an element she is interacting with.

Glass Woman Test 02 from Vanessa Buldowski on Vimeo.

Shere Kahn

2009-12-10T06:57:00.000-08:00

Here's a Shere Kahn test I did, to try to capture a preexisting character successfully. There are a few issues I take with it still, like the mouth closing at the end needs an inbetween. Pops a little. I'm slowly getting better! Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, swimming swimmming.

Actual voice is from "The Traitor" where George Sanders plays a bad-guy. Same voice actor. Voila.

Shere Kahn Test-Ruff from Vanessa Buldowski on Vimeo.

Logan Ruff Animation Fun

2009-12-04T18:10:00.000-08:00

Logan Ruff Animation from Vanessa Buldowski on Vimeo.

Just some random good natured fun. Inbetweens and BD's added in. Working on cleaning it up now, taking my time on it because its on the side of all the other stuff I'm doing. Gah.

Reflecting on Greatness 01

2009-12-02T05:41:00.001-08:00

I often sit back and think about the great artists and animators that have come before me, and what I can learn from them. I've found myself gathering as much information as I can about these great men and women, so I've decided to do something pro-active and share it with you folks! So from now on, I'll post twice monthly these little blurbs about such great animators. Enjoy!

MILT KAHL

I decided to start this series off with none other than Milt Kahl, the well respected Disney animator who was, unquestionably, the animator who defined the Disney style. He is most famous for his work on Pinocchio, Madame Medusa in The Rescuers, Shere Kahn and King Louis in The Jungle Book, Peter Pan, and Merlin from The Sword in the Stone (among many, many others).

Milt started at Disney in 1934 at the age of 25, when he was hired as an assistant animator on classic Disney shorts like The Ugly Duckling. It wasn't until Pinocchio was under production that Milt emerged as the tour-de-force of Disney studios. His decisive mark-making and excellent draftsmanship earned him his renown, and his drive and passion for his craft kept him striving for the excellence he demanded of everyone who animated under him. Veteran animator Jim Hill speaks fondly about Milt's explosive personality, remembering the first time he met the man, "Behind me was a door that led to the adjoining office, though it remained closed. I didn't need reminding who occupied the next office, because suddenly we heard the crash of a fist slamming hard on a desk. "Dammit!" shouted the artist. "Doesn't any %#*$!?# here know how to draw!?"

Milt was known for his explosiveness, but as Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston point out," He was honest to the point of bluntness. Unlike any irascible temperaments who have filled the halls of history, Milt had a very sweet helpful side, when he chose. He gave unstintingly of his time and talent when it was to help the picture, and almost as often to help a fellow artist who had a problem. However, he expected anyone coming for help to have worked hard and tried everything-to have done his best before coming."

In Richard Williams' famous and amazingly helpful book, The Animator's Survival Kit, he often mentions wisdom passed on by Milt. Within the first chapter, Dick Williams provides the reader with the following first lesson-a-la-Kahl...(Unplug, folks!!)

Milt really was an amazingly astounding draftsman. His linework has remained unparralleled, I believe, at Disney and any other studio out there ( But there are certainly MANY MANY animators, even today, who are just as dedicated and have superb draftsmanship). Milt's greatest strength was said to be from the fact that he believed animation drawings were truly two dimensional and should stick to that plane- thus he is famous for his concise, posed drawings (and pose to pose animation stlye!) where everything was clearly readable to the audience.

Here's a great example of some of Milt's work. I watched this film recently, and was blown away by this section, so you can imagine my delight in finding the actual drawings online as well! Look at how clearly you can read every action. Nothing is hidden, nothing is obscure.

Milt Kahl (Mowgli) from Victor Ens on Vimeo.

Milt Kahl - Mr. Snoops Pencil Test from David Nethery on Vimeo.

Milt was a great asset to the industry, and his legend still continues in the many artists who pull from his work, freeze-framing and stepping through frame by frame to glean some of the genius away from it.

gulp...

2009-11-28T05:41:00.000-08:00

those of you who know me well know this guy. I'll give you a cookie if you can figure out what he's saying.

Keys only. Maybe I'll actually flesh it out. It was just a pose-test for fun.

Logan Keys from Vanessa Buldowski on Vimeo.

CTN ANIMATION EXPO...

2009-11-22T21:20:00.000-08:00

...was awesome! There is not enough time to go into how great this expo was! Amazing panels by top people in the industry, an exhibit floor filled with awesome artists and book shops and information, and DID I MENTION PEOPLE FROM THE INDUSTRY!? Here's a quick overview of what I did!

Friday night I got a small tour of Cartoon Network Studios, and took this picture of the stairwell up. LIGHTSABERSSSSSSS. This made me giggle with glee.Friday the expo was already hopping. Here's a a shot I took of Tony Bancroft, Disney animator and Director of Mulan, working and talking about animating. That's a drawing of pumba he's working on, in china marker. He gave me a really great critique on my portfolio on Saturday, and some great tips about how to approach drawing animals.I did my rounds of the exhibit floor a billion times on friday, and was finally brave enough to take a snapshot of Gary Goldman, producer and animator on all Don Bluth Studio films. I wasn't brave enough to meet the man, or Don himself, yet.Friday was a pretty good day. Then Saturday happened. AND IT WAS CRAZY AWESOME. I thought it was busy on Friday, but the weekend was hoppin!

I got to meet and talk to Andreas Deja!!!!! And he looked at my portfolio and gave me his wisdom. Gotta push myself to get better! Push my drawings skills to the max!
Joe and I met up with Valerio Ventura, an amazingly talented artist who worked on many, many things including Class of 3000, Hercules, Mulan, and many others! He's super sweet and down to earth, with a wicked design sense to boot! BUY HIS BOOK!!!
I went to a panel about Ronald Searle, an amazing artist, to support Manny Hernandez, a BFA 1 here at CalArts who got onto the panel. He got to sit with world renowned animators/artists John Musker, James Baxter, and Matt Jones. Manny is the young one with the hat. Haha. Sitting next to John Musker, the lucky dog!
Seeing this great panel gave me the courage to finally go to talk to Gary and Don! And they both were happy to look at my portfolio, and feed me golden knowledge. Don was so eager to teach me something, it was refreshing and exciting. He told everyone this piece of information-" You know when you make a drawing you like, then three hours later you hate it? Ever wonder why that is? It's because when you made that good drawing, your brain expanded, your knowledge expanded, and you conquered something." Oh man.

Then I asked them for their picture, and I was content to have the two of them in it, but they pulled me into the shot! Once Gary was satisfied with teasing me with bunny ears, Don said "Now this is a serious photo, everyone act like we've known each other for years!" Some of the most sweet and down to earth people I met at the show! I really appreciated their advice and guidance, as well as warnings for what to do. AHHH!
After this, I stumbled out of the room to find Andreas Deja giving an animation demonstration! SO OF COURSE I listened in, and asked questions to my hearts content. It was great hearing his approach to animating, and when I asked him where he thinks new animators are lacking, he said "Performance!" I found this answer to be a running theme with all the top animators I asked.So now it was time to see a screening with Joe! And guess what it was.
Heck yes. HECK.YES. It was totally Brendan and the Secret of Kells. And my mind was blown. There were certainly some issues with the film, and some things didn't work together, as well as a very anticlimactic ending with a patched up resolution....but... it was freaking such a visual smorgasbord. There were scenes where I got the chills, from the designs elements and the unique character animation. Check out this clip, when scene in context with the whole film, made me freak out and break out in goosebumps.

Banjo the Woodpile Cat was screened right before it as well, and AHH such good animation! Old school done on cells awesomeness.

And on Sunday, I met Eric Goldberg! Here's a picture of him going over someone's portfolio. I didnt get the chance to ask him to look at mine, unfortunately, but I did ask him waaaay to many questions about his approach to animation, and what he felt about the industry now. He didnt seem to mind, and shared his story about Ken Harris when he was working for Richard Williams on Roger Rabbit, and even did his impression of him, too! You can hear the story also on The Animation Podcast, where you'll also get lots of wisdom from other artists too!

So much happened. More than ALLLL of this. I don't know if Glen Keane was there, but if so I wish I could have met him and picked his brain some.

Ever have one of those days?

2009-11-19T20:05:00.001-08:00

Can you tell I like teal?

This is a reformatted image I made for this post-card things that I wanted to print out for this weekend... but I dont think I'll get a chance to. I need to find a CVS, then maybe I can. Maybe tomorrow morning.

So yeah. CTN ANIMATION EXPO! I will be attending from tomorrow till sunday, learning alot, hopefully talking some to some awesome artists. I got together a portfolio of my work...and it will improve with time. I have issues with it, but hey, we've all got issues.

I got some great advice today about portfolio making from the fiancee of a classmate of mine- Eric Favela , who is an awesome, super modest artist. Check out his blog!!

The end. I must work now.

Maggie the Monster

2009-11-18T09:12:00.000-08:00

ehhhh.

I like her. Possibly next year's film. First success with pastels.

Bird Cycle Ruff Animation

2009-11-12T12:19:00.000-08:00

This here is just a pencil test of a 12 frame cycle I had to do for one of my classes. Done quickly. The non-loop on his chest and head feathers blowing in the wind bugs me. Thinking of going into it and doing some clean-up practice to fix it. I might even make it a cell-painting excercise for fun, and slap it on my demo real with a flash background or something.... Hmmmmm....

Bird Cycle from Vanessa Buldowski on Vimeo.

HOLY MIND SLAP AT 7 AM BATMAN!

2009-11-11T07:07:00.000-08:00

THE FRENCH KNOW HOW IT IS DONE!!

BAIDIR from slimane aniss on Vimeo.

please. please please. Let America get a slap to the face and start making animated televison show's like this one. Teaser trailer for Baidir.

Adventures in Calartia 02

2009-11-10T03:45:00.000-08:00

So here's a little update on fun times recently. On mischief night I attended the Calarts Halloween party as this flapper. I had fun confusing people who already knew me, since none of them recognized me at first. Sweet.

This is my desk again. I know you've seen it. I dont care. You're getting another picture of it because it's beautiful.

Just this past Sunday I WENT TO THE ZOO. FUN TIMES WERE HAD. DRAWINGS WERE MADE! Lots of drawings were made. a fourth of my sketchbook, to be exact. It was AWESOME. We also met a Disney employee there, who work in the Imagineering section of Disney now. The Calarts Mafia is everywhere. Zoe and I were sketching, and I hear "You guys are animators, right?" Other animators recognize us, it's like a scent or something. Or you know. furiously scibbling pencils.

This is Zoe. Lookit how happy she is at the zoo.

And this is a perty sunrise. Please enjoy it. Yet another sunrise from the balcony of B3.

Ideas floating in my head

2009-11-07T08:41:00.000-08:00

So I drew this guy at work on Thursday, off of a very Al-Herschfelt-like drawing that was lying around of a crow. And then yesterday, I got a little involved in his existence, so I drew him again... and spent way too much time on one drawing. Which is nice, every once and a while. His legs look a little wonky. More than a little.

Finally here's a close-up of his face, because he's pertyful. I might take this into photoshop and play around with it some, adjust the colors. Who knows?

So how's your day been?

11 second club "finished"

2009-11-06T17:26:00.000-08:00

Ruff v.02 11SecClub Oct. from Vanessa Buldowski on Vimeo.

So the results are in for this month's competition! And of course I lost, I was expecting to lose! The one I voted as my ultimate favorite won, though! ITS SO GREAT!! Watch it here!

I did, much to my surprise, place 33rd out of 213 entrants. Which is like woah! to me. I'm going to keep working, take the feedback I got from commenters on the site, and work hard on the November entry!!

You can call me Vee.

2009-11-05T17:10:00.000-08:00

Remember remember the fifth of November, the gunpowder treason and plot...

...Happy Guy Fawkes day.

Bears

2009-11-04T12:54:00.000-08:00

Bears. I've grown very very fond of them recently, and its not because people told me my animal was a bear. Several people.

I just like them. I animated a bear earlier, you can see the post here.

The sunbears and the grizzlies where most fun to draw. You can tell.

Panning Animals

2009-11-04T07:35:00.000-08:00

So recently I've been pining over the fact that I never get any chances to draw any animals. In the morning and when I eat I specifically make myself do figure drawing, but there is NO TIME devoted to animals. I also believed that Calarts was devoid of them. I, however, was being foolish as everyone and their mother has a dog here. So, I am taking it upon myself to draw any dog I see if I have the spare moment.

Dog's aren't the only animal out there though. I've been trying to plan out a trip to the zoo for a while now, and I decided come hell or high water I'm going this weekend. Alone or not, I'm going dog gawnit. I'm sure someone will tag along, which will be massive fun.

A short explanation- The fish is Tomy, a beautiful little Koi owned by Zoe's housemate. Russell is the entirely cute little dog you see there, who these are 10 second drawings of because I've never seen a dog who fidgets so much while lying down. Lastly is a thumbnail sketch-layout of a pan I will be shooting sometime Thursday, after I create the rough sketch on actual panning paper, which will eventually be transferred to nice Ingram panning paper to be watercolored for my film.

yes and thank you.

Glass Woman update

2009-11-03T23:24:00.000-08:00

Glass Woman Raindrop Test from Vanessa Buldowski on Vimeo.

playing around with camera moves and getting to know my glass woman some more. A rough shot from my film, first take on it. Match cut on the action of the raindrop, which needs to be resolved because it feels like a jump cut.

I need to think of a name for my film, and a name for her. I feel like "Glass woman" is too...i dunno. but I feel she's so unique I almost despise naming her anything. A Charolette or any other name wont do. She's a goddess, beautiful and carefree. Naming her feels like claiming her, or a lie. At least Glass Woman is honest, because that is exactly what she is. Its not labelling, its just stating.

Conundrum.

October 2009 Entry 11 Second Club

2009-11-01T17:51:00.000-08:00

Hey folks! I submitted my clip to 11secondclub.com! If you want to see it and vote, click here!

You do need to register to vote, and also, you cant decide which video you get to see, so if you only want to vote for mine, just press the "Next Animation, Please" button. THERE ARE SOME AMAZING ENTRIES this time around. Alot of 2D work, surprisingly. One in particular blew my mind and I hope it wins.

All in all, this was a great learning experience, and I want to keep working on them!

I'll post the actual animation up here after the contest is over on the 5th.

One rant of many about Glen Keane (and I am surprised that I haven't ranted before...I dont think..)

2009-10-30T01:25:00.000-07:00

So anyone who knows me knows that I am a huge fan of Glen Keane. Well, more than a fan. Mr. Keane is one of the major reasons I animate today (as well as several other AMAZING ANIMATORS) and I want to learn from this man, so every opportunity I get to inspect/dissect/study his work is taken to my inner most core. He's got a great drive and power in his drawings, and I would love to develop the emotion and acting he creates in his characters in my own.

With this gushing aside, here are some videos of pose tests and pencil tests by Glen. Pleases to the enjoys.
This first one is of good old Rattigan. Such great stretch in his face!! AHHH!!!

Glen Keane - pose test (Rattigan) from Alex Petreski on Vimeo.

Everyone who knows about my love for Keane's work also knows that I hold his work on Tarzan among the epoch of the best animation known to man

Glen Keane- rough penciltest - TARZAN from Alex Petreski on Vimeo.

Lastly- this clip of Glen flipping IN TIME to a scene from Aladdin was new to me today, and made me squeal in glory. I also thoroughly appreciate that he says " This twenty second scene took me a MONTH to animate". Makes you feel good knowing these guys are taking their time. But hey, they can afford it!

Oct. 11 Sec RUFF animation

2009-10-28T15:47:00.001-07:00

Ruff Animation Oct submission 11 Second club from Vanessa Buldowski on Vimeo.

'Ruff' animation fluctuating 2's and 1's. The hand is floaty. GAH. I don't have time to fix it. >_<

Will post finished animation soon, =P

October 11 Second Club Keys

2009-10-26T00:51:00.000-07:00

11 Sec. Club Oct Keys and BD from Vanessa Buldowski on Vimeo.

Here be the keys and breakdowns for my upcoming submission for the October 11 Second Club. Will be inbetweened by Saturday, where I will post in on the 11 Second Club website, so please vote for me when the time comes! (If you like my piece, that is) You do have to register to vote, but its free and you get to see all the other entries as well!

Just a couple of friendly Lions...

2009-10-25T03:32:00.000-07:00

... and character poses of myself when I was seven years old.

This perturbed looking man with the floating goldfish is none other than Kevin Cooney.

Animation Test

2009-10-23T16:38:00.000-07:00

Here is a simple walk cycle look at my character, the Glass Woman. I was doing the test not really for her action, but more for the style of doing the clean up. I'm not sure which feels most effective, but I'd love some feedback.

The color pencil and normal graphite clean up were very fast, by my standards, but the watercolor one took significantly longer (and I was using water color pencils for it). Any feed back would be great.

Though this really wasn't to show the characters actual attitude, I was thinking of her personality and it is "reflective" of her in a way. (I like my puns). She is a strong willed person, vivid and unfettered until she realizes the fragility of her own self. So, this is more in her "innocent" stage.

Glass Woman Test 01 from Vanessa Buldowski on Vimeo.

"Reality leaves alot to the imagination"

2009-10-20T02:28:00.000-07:00

OKAY SO TODAY I HAD AN AWESOME TALK WITH ADELINE ( a bfa in experimental) ABOUT JOHN LENNON. I made her a drawing. Then she slammed me with this amazing one.

And then I colored it. Horribly. in like 10 minutes just now because I was so excited. I will attempt more awesomeness soon. For now, John Lennon returns to the surface of my desk to inspire me.

MOAR LIFE DRAWING

2009-10-18T17:16:00.000-07:00

As you can see, I've gotten really lazy about the color quality in the pictures I've been taking anymore. Well... I'll work on it. I dont mind taking snapshots of things I'm going to post here. But I'll take better pictures for the drawings I'll put in my portfolio.

Don't judge me.

Actually. No. I'll force myself to take better pictures from now on.

These are two drawings I did today at the latter half of Steve Brown's / Corny Cole's Figure drawing sessions. I didnt get to stay for long, but I'm glad I pushed myself into going. Figure drawing is always worth it.

Need to gesture animals. Must go to zoo soon, or else. Please build me a jetpack thankyouvermuch.

Character Gestures

2009-10-17T19:19:00.000-07:00

So today I went to the first student-run class on Walt Stanchfield's gesture drawing technique. I was so excited when I heard about this, because I truly enjoy and learned a lot from his books.

Dave, a sophomore in character animation, ran the class and he really did an exceptional job of following the heart of what Stanchfield taught people. He had us gradually try to incorporate the "character" that the model was creating for us, as well as what we were feeling from the model. These pictures are some of the drawings I did in the second and third part of the session.

2009-10-16T08:37:00.000-07:00

Did this for a class to get used to the Canon50 DSLR. Which are pretty sweet and take amazing pictures, but I wouldn't use as a downshooter again. There was problems with the lens- it was so heavy that it couldn't stay zoomed out, so unfortunately I had to work around it and be zoomed in the entire time, with the camera MUCH farther away from the sand than it had to be. Color is slightly off on purpose, the way I shot the images. I let the Whitebalance be off purposefully.

life drawing goodness.

2009-10-16T00:09:00.000-07:00

some 5 minute drawings. unfortunately they had to get cut-off because I had to take photos, and the set up wasnt great. Will take better photos soon.

Wednesday Morning Fog

2009-10-15T00:50:00.000-07:00

It rained for two days here in Valencia. Wednesday morning I walked out my door to this amazing sight. Chiaroscuro baby.