My Obsession With Pandas Has Finally Come Out

I started a new sketchbook yesterday. It is big and intimidating, but I'm sure I'll tackle the beast before the semester is out. Oh yeah, school starts on Tuesday. I still don't have a solid pitch for APS, but I have been working on it (more on that later). So while you wait, here are some of the pandas I have been sketching and a random ladybug.
I'm sure there will be more pandas soon. So, stay tuned...

Developing...(5% complete)

Story development is definitely one of my weaker attributes when it comes to animation. I start my animation production studio class in about a week and a half and I feel like my story idea is still too weak to pitch in class. When coming up with ideas for stories I have no clue where to start. I often come up with vague ideas and have a hard time polishing them into a decent story.

What I have so far…

The main character is a young boy who can travel between the three-dimensional real world and the two-dimensional world of graffiti art.

So really, it is a rough concept with no real story. I did a few sketches after doing research on different kinds of street art. Here they are.


Critique is encouraged!!!!

More pretty soon. So, stay tuned...

Some of the Sketchyness I've Been Up To

Being the procrastinator I am, I haven't really been doing any of the stuff that I said I would be doing. So here is a bit of the sketchyness I have been up to instead.



More to come. So, stay tuned...

Vacation

Some friends of mine and I went on a short camping trip this past weekend. It was a nice short vacation. I really did not have to think about much and I did not really draw either. I did escape for a minute, though, to do a quick sketch of our little tent. There were so many stars out; it was cool.



I colored this when I got home. I did not take my good pens camping out of fear that I would lose them.

It was a nice little escape. I am not sure exactly what I needed to escape from though. All I have done this summer is…

...tutor (This was one of my students, Devon. I drew him when he was not looking.),


...watch flapjack,



...and secretly sketch my roommates when they are not looking.

So my summer has been fairly uneventful, but fun. Since I do not have a job until school starts, I plan to buckle down and get some stuff done that I have been planning on doing. I need to finish animating the credits for a production 2 film, I need to develop the idea i came up with for my animation production class (concept stuff coming soon), and I need to finish my Teach for America application. So, stay tuned...

So, This is a blog...

Today I start my blog. I suppose this is a long time coming. I have thought long and hard about whether I should even create a blog. Then I decided, “yes, yes I should”. The reason I am doing this is to show people what I can do, let them know what it is I want to achieve, and invite them to join me or just watch me screw everything up.

I am an animation student at Columbia College. In a year from now, I will be graduating and joining the real world. For a long time now, I have been working as an English tutor. I tutored during high school and then when I came to Columbia. Most recently, I worked at UIC tutoring for their Upward Bound summer program. Therefore, along with my dream of being an animator, I also want to continue being an English tutor and fighting adult illiteracy. I am passionate about this. After I graduate I hope to continue tutoring. I am currently applying for Teach for America. If I am accepted, I will spend two years teaching kids in an inner city school. Do not misconstrue the “Teach for America” thing for a substitute to being an animator. I plan to use my time outside of school to continue animating and drawing. My long-term dream is to create animated PSAs and do something meaningful with animation.

Oh yeah, about the blog… So, on this blog I plan to post my artwork and continue to update you on my journey into the real world. So, stay tuned…