.the illusionist

 Saturday, I went to see the Illusionist. Been waiting a long time, and I wasn't disappointed. Really just a masterful presentation of pantomime and style. Every character on the screen was completely unique and you could tell them apart just by their personalities even while completely silent.

Tatschieff himself is a great character. From the very first scene, we can see the world no longer has a place for him. He doesn't fit. Literally. Everything is so brilliantly crafted to tell the story of wonderment leaving the world, and I can't imagine a medium better-suited for such a story than the waning art of traditional animation. If the movie plays near you on its tour, please go check it out.
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Been practicing more with sumi-e ink during life drawing. Still barely getting the hang of it, but I'm enjoying it immensely. It's great for training control with a brush, though I'm guessing my posture is terrible because my shoulder is quite sore now.

Also listened to this great lecture from Doug TenNapel about his art and what it means for him to be an artist. The guy is basically turning into my hero. Since I can't figure out how to embed vimeos, you can find the lecture here.

Signed up for a storyboarding workshop by Louie del Carmen. It's something I've always liked to learn, and as a layout artist, I've become accustom to reading A LOT of them. Very cool to be able to see an entire movie before any front-end production. So yeah, it's been a pretty good day for inspiration.

Rounded off the day with some gesture doodles and sketches in the sketchbook with a sharpie and models courtesy of the Internet. Trying really hard to loosen up. I can feel myself getting trapped into the idea that doodles need to be polished or "finished" when that isn't the point. The sumi-e stuff and the sharpie definitely make it easier to get loose with the lines.