Years End

Here's to another year of making movie magic!!!

Life Drawing

I did some life drawings to try to counter the anger I feel at being too sick to go to work today.

New Work

Mr. Popper's Penguins was released on dvd yesterday, which means I can post my work from the show! =D

Ice Age Trailer

Awesome news, part 2 of Scrat's Continental Crack-up has been released! Check it out:


The shot of noodley Scrat swimming over to the acorn is fantastic!!!! =D

Wrapping Up

Well, today was my last day at Rhythm & Hues. It's sad to leave friends behind but I'm confident I'll see everyone again in the future. The industry is small and people are always running into each other. Now it's just a matter of packing up the rest of my things and heading over to NY to begin my next adventure. =D

Work In Progress

Learning

After spending over three hours yesterday attempting to ink and paint my drawing of Robert, one of my friend's offered to help. We discovered that you can show two desktops at once via skype (which was awesome) and she showed me how to properly ink in Sai Painter. Not only was it super fun, it was also a great earning experience. I feel like that enforces the importance of speaking to/sharing with other artists since you never know what you'll find out! =D

Catching Up

Hey guys,
It's been a while since my last post and have a few things to share. My time at iAnimate is coming to an end in the next week or so. I'd like to continue on to workshop 4, but it'll have to be at a later date. If we're going to do any OT on Alvin, it should be starting soon and there's no way I'd be able to work on my assignments while doing 12's. So I'm going to take this term off rather than risking not being able to get anything done from overtime and hope to return for their next semester. In the meantime, I want to polish/finish up my workshop 3 assignments. My second one is much closer to being done than my first since it's shorter. I'll see if I can post that one once it's done.

In other news, a new trailer has been released for Alvin 3. I don't have any work in it this time. The shots I have aren't on the cruise ship side of things. =P



In other, other news, I'll be heading back to the east coast in the fall to work on this awesome movie!

Becoming An Animator

Over the years, I've received multiple emails/notes asking for various levels of advice on becoming an animator/getting into the industry. I've answered this questions as best I can, considering that I've only been animating professionally since the fall of 2009. I found an article on cgtalk.com that was put together by someone working in the games industry who has over 25 years of experience. I think it would be very helpful for anyone who's interested in becoming an animator to read it and replace "game design/er" with "animation/animator". I think it will answer a lot of questions while also giving MUCH better advice than I ever could.

Career's in "perfect land": http://www.sloperama.com/advice/lesson55.htm

Words of Wisdom: http://www.sloperama.com/advice/lesson47.htm

Do A Barrel Roll!

Cats

Hey guys,
I was looking through some of my Claire Wendling books last week and got inspired to draw some cats. Jubilee was thanked for being such a gracious model with hugs, kisses and treats, lol. Anyway, one of these days I'll be able to draw their heads correctly. I don't feel like I have a solid understanding of the structure beneath all of that fur. When I have more time, I'll do some serious skull studies to help remedy that.

Mr. Popper's Penguins Review

The LA Times gave Popper's a nice review! Here's a bit from the article: "But the-impossible-to-upstage stars are the penguins, a combination of real Gentoos specially trained for the film and some computer-generated counterparts. The special effects gurus blend the two seamlessly, making it easy to believe there was no digital wizardry involved, which is perhaps the niftiest trick of all."

It sounds like people are unable to tell the difference between the real and cg penguins which is a huge honor in vfx. Congrats to everyone who worked on the show! =D

Pokemon!

New Stuff!

Hey guys,
Rhythm & Hues has a new website that went live today. It's really cool and has reels for the studio's various departments. I think the website team did a fantastic job, the new site is much better than the old one and gives a better idea of the kinds of work the studio does. Feel free to check it out here: Rhythm & Hues

They've also released more trailers for Mr. Popper's Penguins! =D

Penguins!

Hey guys,
Sorry for the lack of posts! I was expecting to show the progress of my iAnimate work but they've asked us to keep things under wraps. I do have something to show though. There's a new trailer for Mr. Popper's Penguins and part of one of my shots is in it! It's the two penguins shot towards the end where one is farting in a blue tub. =D



In other news, this is the end of my first week on Alvin 3 and I'm having a ton of fun! I'm really enjoying this show so far. I've been lucky enough to get the shots that I wanted and am working on a consecutive sequence of them which is awesome! I feel like I should get some really nice pieces for my reel from this show. =D

Color!

Caricatured Life Drawing

I saw this woman while walking over to the NG cafe. I found her proportions amusing and used Brett Bean's method to remember enough of her to be able to do this drawing when I got back to my desk. I'm rather pleased with this drawing and feel like it's a peek of things to come.

Painting pt. 2

I tried keeping things simple this time and stuck with focusing on one body part. I used this tutorial as a guide: http://thundercake.deviantart.com/gallery/6353569#/d1w2et3 I think it was extremely helpful and I'm much happier with this than last nights attempt. I still have a ways to go though.

Painting

One of my friend's announced that she had discovered new things about digital painting. She sent me the image that helped her and I was inspired to try some painting of my own. Here's a look at my wip image. I'm not happy with it. I'm in a constant war against my work looking like it was done digitally despite the fact that it is (since I dont know how to use physical paint >_>). I think it has to do with the fact that all of the edges are blurry and fuzzy. All of the images I like have distinct, specific edges to everything. I'll continue working on this tomorrow night. We'll see how it turns out.

It's Official...

I'm starting in workshop 3 at iAnimate next month! I can't wait!!!!!!!!! =D =D =D

Meet the Tangled Animation and Production Crew

I miss you guys!!!! Thanks for putting this together Claudio!

Winter 2011 Demo Reel

Hey guys,
Tangled comes out on dvd tomorrow/in an hour!!!!! Which means I can post a more up to date version of my reel. =D It's still kind of old since my work from Hop isn't on there but its much more recent than the previous reel I had online.

Jocelyn Cofer Winter Demo Reel from Jocelyn Cofer on Vimeo.

And So It Begins...

It's time to don my own fighting trousers and get to business. I am unhappy with the level that my work is on right now. Yes I'm better now than I was this time last year, but that's not good enough. To remedy this, I was going to work on personal tests in the little free time that I have. Instead I've decided to go back to school! What better way to improve than to watch lectures, do assignments and receive feedback? I'm planning on applying to iAnimate for the term that starts in May. Overtime should be over by then so I'll be able to start rested and fresh. It will be difficult doing classwork and working 10-12 hour days once OT starts up again, but I am determined to make it work. I've been at this level for far too long and its past time to kick things up a notch.

In the meantime, I need to finish the shot I've been working on for my friend's senior project Test Flight. Once that's done, I'll start coming up with ideas for a simple personal test to work on between then and May. I've been talking to one of the guys at work who's enrolled in the program and he said there are two assignments per class. At that rate I'm aiming to have at least four new personal shots for my reel along with my production work.

Let the quest for improvement begin! o_o

Oh, and in the meantime check out the trailer for the movie I'm currently working on. =D


Mr Popper's Penguins by teasertrailer

Yogi Reel

Hey guys,
Yogi Bear is out on dvd, which means I can post my work online! Now if only the 29th would hurry and arrive...

Get To Know Carlos

Man, I wish I got to have a Carlos shot or two. His design really fun and his personality must have been a blast to work with! =D

Looking For Work?

Hey guys,
Are any of you looking for work? If so, head over to the Rhythm & Hues website and apply for the upcoming apprentice program! =D You can find all of the info here: 2011 Apprentice Program Good luck!

More Hop!

New tv spots for Hop have been released! =D

They're Here

My Tangled maquettes have arrived!!!! They're my first (in what will hopefully end up being a nice collection) Disney maquettes ever! =D I really wish I'd gotten all of them now...even though that would have cost over $1800. >_>

Now I just need to figure out where to put them. I don't really have any free surface space that Jubilee can't get to. I'll look into one of those glass display units. Hopefully they wont cost an arm and a leg. XD

Well Lookie There

I believe I know these fine young folk...

Drawings From Today

Now that the majority of the studio has finished with Hop and is no longer in crunch time, life drawing has started up again! I'm less happy with my one minute drawings that I am with the five minute ones though. I feel like they would have been better if we started with one minute poses and worked out way up, rather going from fives to ones. I was much faster at the start of the fives and slowed down towards the end of them. I think that messed me up on the first few pages of ones. It's amusing though to watch their progression as you go across and down the page.

Test Flight Art

I've volunteered to work as an animator on a friend's senior project, Test Flight. I'm excited about learning how to animate a puppet in Flash and cant wait to get started. Her characters are super appealing and the story is cute. This is a drawing I did of one of the characters, Mabel Lawson. If you're interested in Test Flight, you can find more information about it on the Test Flight Production Blog.

New Brush

Messing around with a new chalk brush that my friend referred me to. =D

Lots of Life Drawings

Hey guys,
I have a bunch of new life drawings to post. I went to the weekly model session at the Nucleus last night. It was fantastic to draw from a live model rather than photographs. I think I got some nice drawings out of the session and hope I can go again. I just wish traffic in LA wasn't so horrible. It's pretty impossible to get from work to the Nucleus by 7 if I leave at 6.

I also went to the zoo today and left with some bird drawings. I haven't spent much time drawing birds and really enjoyed doing so today. I made friends with the HUGE Andean Condor. He spent most of the time preening but at one point he came right up to the fence and watched me draw. He stayed there until some fool came by and made kissy noises at him. I'm always amused by the fools who show up at the zoo. While at the tortoise exhibit, some zoo keepers stopped by with a bucket of mulch. A guy who was watching the tortoises noticed them and blurted out "They eat dirt?!". That's really sad. >_>

Today's Drawings

Things are winding down on Hop this week so I was free to spend the day drawing. It was awesome! Here's a look at the things I did today...

Second Hop Trailer

Hey guys,
Great news, the new Hop trailer was released today! This was a really fun film to work on despite the hectic schedule. The characters are adorable and I got to animate the awesome Pink Berets! In fact, the part in the trailer where they jump out of the bushes is the first section of my shot. =D

Anyway, I hope this film does well. I don't actually remember any animated or partially animated movies about the Easter bunny, so this might just be the very first. Congrats to everyone who worked on Hop. There are some really nice shots in this movie and you guys should be proud! =D

Awesomeness!

I cant wait! =D

New Website!

Hey guys,
Sorry for the lack of posts. We're REALLY busy trying to finish up on Hop. There is some good news though. The film has a fun website up. The falling candy is very well done!

http://www.iwantcandy.com/

Brief Downtime

Hey guys,
I finished my shot today and had a few hours of downtime before I was assigned another one. I drew these while waiting. =D I was trying to push the facial expression in the running one but I don't think I did a good job since it still looks really similar to the one beside it. >_<

Hello Old Friend...

I've missed you! Man, it feels great to draw again. I'd still like to do a 2d test with this guy. I just need to time to do it in. I'm not too happy with the girl drawing. I hadn't used charcoal pencils in over a year and feel like I'm back at level 1 with them. I think it looked much better before I slapped some shadows on there. Afterwards, I realized I was using a hard pencil which would explain the nasty roughness. I'll have to pay more attention to that next time. Reference used: Miss Mosh

First Drawings of the New Year

Happy new year everyone! Here's a look at the first drawings of this year. All of them have proportion issues but I'm the happiest with the last two faces. I was trying a different method with them and like where I seem to be headed. I was reading through part of Henry Yan's book when I saw his quick facial studies. I decided to give his workflow a try and these three faces are the result. The first one looks horrid but the next two show significant improvement.



I've signed up for the mailing lists of various figure drawing groups in the area too and hope to be able attend some of them. I really miss life drawing and know the practice would be excellent for me. It'll all depend on the schedule at work though. I've been away visiting family for the past 10 days but I'm guessing things have gotten pretty busy while I was away.