Back to School.....

Well it's finally that time of year again..... The past couple of days have been spent packing, driving, and unpacking once again in preparation for the big senior year. The last few weeks of the summer were spent on basic color designs for my senior film, as well as putting the Volvo through it's paces to prepare for the 640 mile trip to Savannah, GA. Also, my '74 Nova (currently under heavy restoration) has had all the metal work completed and is waiting to be soda blasted to get the old paint off, thanks to the wonderful help of my brother. I wouldn't have even touched the Nova this summer had it not been for his help. Now it's just time to try to get settled in before classes start on Monday. 3 studio classes for the quarter should keep me plenty busy/ stressed for the quarter, not to mention working on my senior film. Hopefully, it will also yield a few reel-worthy pieces in the process. Anyways, here are a few very rough color sketches, just for some ideas. Back to unpacking!

Final Character Design and State Inspection

Phew! It's been a long week. Most of the week, I ripped my hair out trying to get my character design finished for my senior film. For the most part, the design is finished thanks to the help of many opinions from friends and family. I got to the point where I was drawing practically the same face over and over again, but they were all different. I went through quite a few renditions but finally got what I wanted. I still have a good bit of development to finish up, like color keys, set designs, aesthetic discourse, etc. It's a good bit, but hopefully I'll make quick progress. My parts did arrive for the Volvo, as well. As of now, I've only replaced what was absolutely necessary, since my car failed MD state inspection the first time around. Fortunately, it PASSED! I thought replacing the rear shocks would've been the hardest thing to tackle that day. Turns out, it was replacing the front license plate brackets instead, which required dismantling a good portion of the front of the car and a few extra hours :( I also have to continue maintenance with the rest of the parts I have, which could be a couple days of work... Then I need to begin gearing up for the trek back to school in a couple of weeks. Until then, here's the final character design!

Characters and Car Parts

Haha! Success...kind of... I haven't forgotten about my blog quite yet! Well, more character development is at hand. I've gone through a few designs (not a ridiculous amount by any means) and I've got a reasonably close idea of what the character might look like in the end. Again, I won't reveal too much yet, but the designs I posted hopefully will convey the proper ideas without explanation. That would certainly prove whether the designs are working or not! They're still not finalized but they should give an idea. I've gotten some opinions and I believe I may be on the right track, but who knows...
On another note, tomorrow, a slew of car parts will arrive on my doorstep, for a serious tune-up to my "new" '87 245 Volvo. She's not a sports car by any means, and I didn't buy her for that reason, but I'd be surprised to find anything more practical. Yes, when I called this blog "Tinkering with Motion", it wasn't strictly animation related. My gearhead side occasionally comes out to say hello.