Inspiration, motivation, etc

Seasonal depression kicked my ass a few weeks ago. I was in a super post-project slump after releasing the doll babies into the world and it felt like cloudy weather hit NYC really fast and really hard. It felt like summer switched off and fall came on instantaneously…

I’m back to being motivated which is why I appear before you. I wanted to talk about some things that keep me on my toes and keep me going. First off, some anime.

If you have time at all and you like weird shit, try Sonny Boy. It’s a show that really pushed the envelope for what anime as an art form could be. The 12 episode series aired last season (it finished like 2 weeks ago and I impatiently waited for each Thursday for new episodes). These students are in middle school and right off the bat, their whole school is drifting in the void. What is this void? How did they get here? What happens next? Pretty much nothing is answered conventionally as the story is told in an extremely non-linear way. My absolute favorite thing is they also use really sick experimental animation tricks (like satoshi kon would be impressed) to really describe what’s happening because sometimes… it really can’t be described with words. Also the OST… is fire.

This season however, I’ve already started Blue Period. I’ve been looking forward to it since Spring when I found out it was happening. It’s airing on Netflix so it’s really accessible. It’s about kids in highschool who get into painting and really pursue the craft. It starts off a little slow but I have high hopes for it. I usually don’t gas up a series until I’m done with it but I love the manga and how they really follow the studious path of art instead of making it appear like a savant-like talent from birth. Art is work! Work requires practice! I respect practice. :)

Sonny Boy really threw me in for a loop though, and it got me started on mapping out a full comic again. It’s really scary since I haven’t even tried to write anything in… 5 years but I’m getting started on this new app called Miro. You can use it via a web browser but think of it as an unlimited whiteboard. You can write notes anywhere, throw in photos, easily drag arrows inbetween things, create sticky notes, etc. I cover a little bit about it in Thursday’s part 3 of the motion tracking series videos but I figured I’d go over it here as well so everyone can see it’s magic. Here’s my board for the motion tracking project:

I decided to show you guys this board because the comic board… is a whole mess. It’s a sprawl of just text theres not a single picture but THIS board I got a bit more fancy and used pictures, arrows, and even a timeline :) seriously an awesome moodboarding app!

Next on the motivation list, the Gobelins school of Animation in France. It’s where I wanted to go when I was 18 because well, they’re kiiiiinda the best animation school out there IMO. I ended up going to the Academy of Art In San Francisco because I didn’t have the guts to take that leap of faith to France but! I still dream of attending the school before I die because there is no shame in attending college late (some of the best students in my college years were 30+ bc they were ready to be there vs feeling forced to be there). Let’s be real though, my 18 year old portfolio would NOT have been accepted LOL

These guys kick ass and they’re all student made projects. Every year I look forward to the school of Gobelins to make me feel so small HAHA this one’s my favorite so far (released 2 weeks ago):

GOLDEN HOUR 

Plus these 2 from their submissions to the International Annecy Film Festival are… absolutely incredible.

GUGUGAGA - Annecy Festival 2021

PON PON PARTYYY - Annecy Festival 2021

So yeah! Nothing from the 90s/2000s this week because there is always great stuff happening in the present :) I know I share a lot of older works but I don’t want ya’ll to think I ONLY like old shit. I think it’s become a hive mind thing to assume that oh if it’s Y2K it’s automatically a better design and I strongly disagree.

Also pic 1 in the slides is a 3D scene I’m kitbashing together in blender, pic 2 is my IRL desk, & pic 3 is the miro screenshot again in case it shows up way too small inline with the post. 😸