1 Year Animatatoes Anniversary + Personal Updates
Ok so I COMPLETELY missed this. I was getting all geared up at the beginning of the month knowing that the 1 year anniversary of this blog was coming up, and I completely forgot about it. I mean it's so common during this time of the year. This quarter is going by SUPER quick. I can't even keep track of the days anymore. I mean mid-terms are next week! That's INSANE.
[I think a lot of the reason it's going by so quickly is because I've been having so many late nights. Most nights I'm lucky if I can get 5 hours of sleep. That seems to be my max though. I haven't gotten any more than 5 lately. ]
But yea, April 13th I made my first post to this Animatatoes blog and although I don't have anything really significant or special to "celebrate" that, I really just wanted to acknowledge it. It's hard to believe that a year ago from now I was taking my MOME class and had just made the decision to switch back into animation.
The anniversary of this blog is important to me and me alone. It signifies to me the commitment and just how far I've come. It has motivated me and kept me accountable. I just always want to keep updating it.That was the whole purpose of this blog, and I am just so pleased to see that It has done that. I've been relatively consistent (as much as I can be with my school schedule) in keeping up-to-date. I have posts every month. This blog is most significant when it comes to the summer and I have to come up with my own projects to keep me motivated. It's way harder than it sounds.
Seeing my progress, no matter how slow it may be, is so incredibly motivating to me. In fact, it's even more motivating when it's slow just because looking at what I have done when progressing seemingly slowly, it makes me feel a lot better. It's so easy to want to give up when you don't feel like you're improving even when you are. I've said from the start, this journey to becoming an animator is a long one. And it's going to go on forever. The road to improvement never ends. There is no destination.
In really only 1 year I feel like I have learned sooooo much. I can't believe it. And it's even more mind-blowing to think that 1 year from right now I'm going to nearing graduation. Yikes!
I am hopeful though that if I have learned this much in one year, another year is going to push me even further and as long as I work hard and stay motivated, I will make that much progress and more in a year's time.
I do not expect to walk into my first job straight out of college, but I hope to have the confidence that I've never had before to feel like I can work my way there and keep improving. It's going to be a struggle no doubt. I'll need to work my animation hours around my making-a-living-so-I-can-eat hours. But of course, I can't worry about that right now. I need to focus on my current goals and my plans for the near future.
There is so much that I am wanting to accomplish in the summer and I can only hope that life won't interfere too much. I want to continue brushing up on my gesture drawing and drawing in general. I want to be able to put more time into it since I will have that time more. I've actually gotten into the habit now (except for on nights where I just need to go to sleep immediately) of drawing some quick things in my sketchbook before going to bed. It's a good way to ease my eyes after staring at a screen all day and it's also relaxing. Last night I was actually making some not-too-bad doodles. Perhaps it was because I was so tired and it was nearing 4am. But usually my being tired makes me draw worse so... I don't know. But I've found that drawing is a lot like acting: you always do a better job when you're loose.
Acting... another thing I NEED to get better at and plan to study more this summer. I'm finding it's a lot more to do with reawakening that inner child. I honestly believe that I was a far better actor as a kid when I wasn't suppressing my imagination. Even when I'm filming reference alone I feel uncomfortable with myself and so I tense up and the results aren't great. But I'll talk more about acting in a different post. But basically, I just know I need to work on it.
Something else I'm interested in trying over the summer is learning programming in Python. I've always wanted to learn to program, but I was also so intimidated by it. It seemed too technical and scientific for me, but really there's no reason I can't try to understand it. It's like anything else where it may seem impossible at first, but sticking to it, you'll get it. Python is supposedly an easier scripting language to understand for people just getting into programming, but also it's relevant to Maya things and animation, so all the more reason to try to learn it.
As I'm going through 3D production right now it's reignited my interest in 3D modeling. I was admittedly getting quite discouraged as I have in the past, but in the end I come to satisfying results and I end up being really pleased that I stuck to it. It was worth the effort and the struggle and because of this feeling I really want to keep taking jabs at it. I spent most of last summer just learning the interface of Zbrush, but now that I have a fuller understanding of texturing, it's inspired me to try modeling again. I have all these new ideas now for things I want to try making. Texturing is the really fun part to me as it's the far more artistic part. But if I can get more comfortable with modeling, I'm sure the whole process will become more enjoyable. I don't want to give up on the 3D modeling interest still. It's not what I want to specialize in, but it's definitely something I wouldn't mind dabbling in.
And even rigging is starting to become clearer to me and as an animator is probably even more important that I understand.
It's all really overwhelming sometimes when there's so much that I still want to learn and yet it feels that I have very little time to do so. The future is scary, but it's exciting all the same.
I've continued to listen to Animation podcasts and watch/listen to the AnimState Animation Exchange 2018 stream on Twitch. These resources have all been so inspiring to me and I love listening to them while I work.
Not to mention, I've been on Twitter a lot more following animators and artists in the industry and saving tons of useful articles and resources.
Sometimes I fear that I do not have a life outside of animation. I live it and I breathe it. It's all I talk about anymore. When I'm not making animation/working in Maya, I'm watching animation. I'm studying film and stories and psychology. I feel that perhaps it isn't such a bad thing since this is what my career path is all about. I think the fear just comes from the thought of burning out. But I suppose that if there's ever a time to get super or even over enthusiastic about animation, it's now while I'm still learning and I need that as fuel to keep working and improve. Although I've been enthused about film and animation for 21 years now, I can't say I see myself getting tired of it any time soon or ever really. Regardless of whether or not I become tired or frustrated in the learning process, I can guarantee that I will never be tired of watching, studying, and loving the art form. And I think that promise for that passion is what's going to continue to reignite my interest whenever I need to pick myself back up. (ok, i'm getting cheesy and wordy and not making sense because I haven't gotten a full night's rest in 2 weeks and I'm still on here typing when I could be going to sleep finally).
Happy 1 year of ANIMATATOES!
