Christmas Watercolours

For Christmas I've done my friends and family some watercolour cards, it's been very fun and enjoyable to experiment with watercolour which I haven't used in years. I've posted these to show my development in using this technique as I plan to extend this into my production art, inspired by watercolour art by Hayao Miyazaki.

These were for my friends: classmates and housemates...

From left to right:

Jessica's Mollie and Babbit http://arabbitcalledbabbit.blogspot.com/

Robert's Alex and Knitted Dragon http://knitteddragon.blogspot.com/

Claire's Stag http://clairespiller.blogspot.com/

Paul's Direwolf 'Snow' (Game of Thrones)

Zara's Roberta and Emileena http://thezukineework.weebly.com/

Bryony's Pond Creature http://utopiaofthepond.blogspot.com/

Victoria's Ballerina http://dancingshoesfinalyearfilm.blogspot.com/

Dale's 'Zommer' (Moshi Monsters)

These were for family:

From left to right:

Alex's Link and Zelda (Nintendo's Skyward Sword)

Grandparent's Giraffes

Eleanor's Babbits, Ebony and Eddie

Emily's Cloud (Square-Enix's Kingdom Hearts)

Dan's 'Wookie the Chew' James Hance homage http://www.jameshance.com/

Sarah's dragon-esque My Little Pony

Uncle and Aunt's African Lion

Mum's old dachshund, Pippi

More watercolours to come soon! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! :)

Character Sketches III

More character sketches of Amber I've done over the past week, the first look at story scenarios for my new animatic as well as younger versions of Amber, then after my feedback, I went back to her proportions to make her look like a 5 or 6-year old. Finally there are sketches of different ways to draw her eyes and then costume design for Autumn/Winter/Spring/Summer.

I've been using family photos of my sisters and I growing up in the 90's for clothes reference and the compilation of films/styles I put up in my last post for inspiration.

My friend Jess suggested I go with the 'dots for eyes' approach that is used in Winnie-the-Pooh, Lost and Found etc. I particularly liked the 'circular' dot designs in my eye comparison tests, so I tried them out in the next pages to better success I feel. My favourite drawing is the black and white drawing of Amber looking over her shoulder in the top-left corner. She looks very innocent and vulnerable which is what I need so that the audience see her as a relatable little girl who is just ignorant than a mean-spirited one.

The proportions keep changing between drawings as I am used to drawing her older, but I will keep honing this down so that she is about 3 heads tall, like Lilo in Lilo & Stitch (2002).

Finally, my costume changes depending on the seasons. She is not a typical "I Love Pink and Dresses" girl, although I feel a cute dress is appropriate for spring; she will also wear big, bright raincoats; oversized wooly jumpers; and leggings and trousers. Again, these designs aren't final but are tests to see what works best.

Storybook Inspiration: Natalie Russell / Kristiana Parn

I found another author with a lovely storybook too, this one about a little white rabbit.

"Moon Rabbit" by Natalie Russell

I love the style, I think it's adorable and the simplicity really lends itself to the story and cuteness of characters, even without expressive faces.

Because of this, I stumbled upon another artist (Kristiana Parn) who paints on wood using acrylic. She paints lovely little woodland critters!

Kristiana Parn - http://www.kristianaparn.com/

I think they tell such poetic tales of passing seasons (through the use of the trees and colour) and the relationship between animals and nature. I find them very beautiful in their use of shape and colour and will be referring back to them in the creation of my film.