Calliope Animatic

This was a group project to digitally illustrate one of Neil Gaiman's Sandman stories. Our team was called "The People" and it consisted of Francois Hebert, Phil Sheather and Steve Milne...well and myself of course :)

The process for making this animatic was first to brainstorm on the style that we wanted to convey. We decided on Film Noir style, as we felt it reflected the mood of the story and we also found it visually inspiring. This was followed by storyboarding, image sourcing and production hours. The last bit was to add music, which Steve handled beautifully. Production was done using AfterEffects.

Semester 2: "Form and Object Studio" with Toby Whitehead

Are you well hung?

The Brief
Pick a typography rule out of a hat and design A3 poster communicating the rule. The copy limitation is 300 words, and the post must have a hand-rendered element to it.

Design Outcome
I originally pulled out "headers and sub-headers," but the caveat was that we could trade the rules amongst ourselves, and I finally ended up with "hanging punctuation." Yes! I've explored a few ideas, such as "hanging here does not mean death by suspension, but failure to use it could be fatal to your design reputation." But I keep hearing that sex sells, so I went with "are you well hung?"

I actually cut out the woman shape, the letters and boxes with a scalpel, and the top part is a pattern made of felt (I bought it, hehe). There is also a string of jewels at the very top to add dimension. Much of the inspiration for my Semester 2 work came from paper crafts and scrapbooking, including this one.


Semester 2: Typography with Jodie Richards

Crow & Fox: re-discover wisdom through poetry

The Brief
Pick a children's story and illustrate it with 4 spreads, and design the book cover for it. The goal is to make the illustrations interesting for children, colourful and fun. The medium for the work is line and wash.

Illustration Outcome
I selected to illustrate a Russian fable that I memorized when I was a kid. It's called "Crow & Fox," and it explores the cunning power of flattery. Of course, I needed to translate it as well, which I did during my morning runs by trying out different lines in my head over and over again. I've also brought the fable to Aussie context, cause I am in Sydney after all, and I've used Snowgum trees as the setting.

Well, here it is, my creation.

How many times the world was told,
That flattery is cunning art,
But all in vein, and to the person's heart,
The flattery is solid gold.

One day, God sent the Crow a slice of cheese.

The Crow flew up a snowgum and picked a comfy stick.
Preparing to eat the cheese with pleasure.
But clever Fox too smelled delicious treasure.
She tracked the snowgum, and then thought up a trick.

The Fox spoke sweetly to the Crow,
"What beauty! If only you could also sing,
We would select you forest King!
Please sing for us, give us a show.

The Crow lost his head with such intoxication.
To be a King, now that's a worthy goal!
With all his might he made a loud "Caaaww..."
And cheese fell right into the Fox's teeth.

And here is the original Russian version, just for a good measure :)

ВОРОНА И ЛИСИЦА
Уж сколько раз твердили миру,
Что лесть гнусна, вредна; но только все не впрок,
И в сердце льстец всегда отыщет уголок.
Вороне где-то бог послал кусочек сыру;
На ель Ворона взгромоздясь,
Позавтракать было совсем уж собралась,
Да позадумалась, а сыр во рту держала.
На ту беду, Лиса близехонько бежала;
Вдруг сырный дух Лису остановил:
Лисица видит сыр, -
Лисицу сыр пленил,
Плутовка к дереву на цыпочках подходит;
Вертит хвостом, с Вороны глаз не сводит
И говорит так сладко, чуть дыша:
"Голубушка, как хороша!
Ну что за шейка, что за глазки!
Рассказывать, так, право, сказки!
Какие перышки! какой носок!
И, верно, ангельский быть должен голосок!
Спой, светик, не стыдись!
Что ежели, сестрица,
При красоте такой и петь ты мастерица,
Ведь ты б у нас была царь-птица!"
Вещуньина с похвал вскружилась голова,
От радости в зобу дыханье сперло, -
И на приветливы Лисицыны слова
Ворона каркнула во все воронье горло:
Сыр выпал - с ним была плутовка такова.

Semester 2: Form and Object Studio with Gail Rogers Perazzo

Sea Creature

The Brief
Choose any sea creature and create a short animation of the creature swimming around. The animation must include Action Script controls and two buttons.

Animation Outcome
I am fond of turtles, so I made a cute little turtle swimming around. It's inspired by my scuba diving experiences and colorful cartoons.

NOTE: to stop/restart the animation, please refresh the page!

Please install Flash plugin

Semester 2: Internet Technologies with Dawn Pugh

The Wolf - texture & line

The Brief
Working from a B&W photo with high contrast, we were to re-create the image and mainly the texture of the animal using technical pens. I used a set of four Staedtler pigment liners sized 0.1 mm, 0.3 mm, 0.5 mm and 0.7 mm respectively.

Rendering Outcome
After about 8 hours over a period of 2 days, I produced this drawing.


I am happy with the way it came out, and most importantly I enjoyed the process. A lot.

After about 10-15 mins you go into a zone where only lines and marks exist. It's like a form of meditation, when the mind is quiet and only shapes matter.

Semester 2: Form and Object Studio with Gail Rogers Perazzo

Perspective Wash

The Brief
The goal of this assignment was to learn the rules of perspective using two vanishing points, as well as observe the effects of light at different times of the day. We were to paint a night scene and either a rainy day or a sunrise/sunset.

The base of the drawing was done at location, after which I refined the lines and composition at home. I returned to that street a couple times more to photograph it in the evening. For the sunrise, I just used my imagination, lol.

Painting Outcome
Both paintings were done on Arches Watercolor Medium 185 GSM paper. Great to do wash on! It holds water for a long time, and it's pretty forgiving with re-wetting if I decide to change my mind on the color. Best part, this weight of paper can be put in the printer for a quick transfer of the image lines.

Here is the early night with some lights in the windows. They bring comfort and interest to the night.


And here is the early morning, when lines and colors are soft and the sky is just starting to light up with warm pink.


Semester 2: Form and Object Studio with Gail Rogers Perazzo