Finished Zine

I printed more copies than I needed to - for MEFCC maybe.. or to sell on my Etsy shop. I'm happy with the finished product! I want to make the guys version now.

More UK Animation Studios

The animation studios I looked at previously were mainly based in Bristol and London. Below is a list of more animation studios (not just Bristol and London based) that I'd like to get in touch with as well:

Arcus Studios

Mummu Ltd

Red Knuckles

Cloudscape Studios

RJDM Studios

Young

Studio Distract

Snipple Animation

Animated Magic

Moth Collective

Emily Hughes

At the beginning of 3rd year I said to myself that I would try to save up as much as I can so that I can travel after I graduate. BUT! I just couldn't resist myself with this cute, cute print from Emily Hughes! I really love her work, its so charming and I love the aesthetic of her work (it's quite the opposite to mine, so it's quite fresh to see something different!) She also drew an original pencil sketch for me! I gotta get these framed asap! She is such a lovely person, I feel like I should contact her - though I wouldn't know what to ask her as most of the questions have already been answered through Big Heads! - I don't want to make her repeat things - I'm sure she gets asked the same questions again and again, I don't want to annoy her haha 

Collaboration

I would like to collaborate with animation student(s) again this year, as I think that it would benefit me a lot, with me wanting to go into the animation industry.. the work produced from it would especially be perfect for a portfolio for the career that I am aiming for. I've created a poster, inspired by sophie wright's own poster that I will post on the animation notice board - if I do get any responses, and depending on how big of an animation project is proposed, I want to make this my Big Kahuna brief for OUIL 603 - but I want to check with Fred first if this is a good idea..

Plein Air Painting

(in reference to this post.)

Went plein air painting with friends from illustration and animation first year yesterday - so much harder to do it outside! so cold, got frozen fingers and runny nose by the end of it and went straight to the nearest cafe to warm ourselves up. But it was really enjoyable! I really liked it! we're planning to go again next week - going to make it a weekly thing and might even invite some of our other course mates.

 Below are my other paintings that I did in bed of the view from my bedroom window - the left one was my first one from the 17th; I wanted to go outside and paint around the neighbourhood but it was just way too cold for me. The right was from this morning - the sky was such a pretty colour around sunrise time and I just had to capture it! I had to work fast with this one as the sun was rising pretty quickly and changing the lighting and colour of the sky pretty quickly. but all of these paintings were done in less than an hour - it's really good exercise and a good way for me to document my last year in Leeds. I'm looking forward to next week's painting sesh (maybe with a lot more people too)!

Fashion Show Backdrops

(in reference to this post.)

Backdrops all complete and sent! I was told to keep pink as the main colour since its for Breast Cancer Awareness, and to keep it feminine and light. I didn't want to make the backdrops too full on as there will be water and grass elements around the show but I still wanted it to have some impact! So I started playing with simple shapes, layering them up and came up with this, which the client really loved! I'm really excited to see how it will all look once it's all set up! Hopefully they will have photographers at the event (6th Nov) so I can have nice pictures for my portfolio since I won't be there!

Response: A Productions

Ahhhhhhhh! I got a reply back! really surprised how quickly they responded as well! My heart was beating so fast when I read the email they sent back ahaha - I'm so happy!

"stands out by a country mile"

"Your illustration work is strong, with a great use of colour and composition"

"stylistically it looks fantastic"

Are you kidding me right now?! I could cry, really. hahaha. Here's what I replied with:

I really hope that we can work something out soon - it would be soo good!

ayasoBoutique Fashion Show

ayasoBoutique are working with Pink Polo (polo match for Breast Cancer Awareness) and I've been asked to create some fashion show backdrops for them, who I previously worked with to create their logo. I've asked Fred if I this would count as a brief for OUIL 603 but he said that if its just me reapplying the things I've already done previously then it would go into PPP. But if I end up making something new, then it could be considered as a brief for studio practice.. we'll see

They're having it over a swimming pool for heavens sake! I cannot miss the opportunity to be part of something this awesome and crazy! hahaha. Below are the things that they want from me, which I recon I can do in a day if I use the day solely for this. I'm planning to do this tomorrow!

Thought Bubble Zine

I've decided to go with the sports idea as previously mentioned here. I've titled it Game On: 'Gurlz' because I might make a 'Guyz' version in the future haha!

I'm really enjoying drawing in this way, its quite different to how I would normally draw - focusing more on line rather than shape and colour. I'm using this as an exercise to practice my lighting as well, as it is one of the many things that I said I would like to improve on this year and be good at! I think I've also really improved my figure drawing skill! I'm really having fun trying to push the postures making them more exaggerated and full of energy!

Cover Letter: More Personality

Selena Dehne of JIST Publishing in CareerBuilder.com stresses the importance of showing hiring managers that your value is more than the data points and punchy phrases on your resume.

“You’ve got a personality, passions, goals and career experiences that make you unlike any other candidate for the job,” she adds. “It’s up to you to share this information in your cover letter in a way that dazzles employers and strengthens your resume.”

The cover letter needs verse, sparkle and finesse. A cut-and-paste retread from your resume is redundant and squanders a prime opportunity to stand out from the crowd.
“A lot of people write cover letters as if they were paragraph-form resumes,” notes writer Seth Porges in Forbes magazine. “Instead, use your cover letter to show personality, curiosity, and an interest in the field you are applying to work in.”

Should you write like you talk in a cover letter? Some experts believe that an authentically personal, conversational tone is more effective than formal business writing style. The safest approach is to be clear, concise, and businesslike without being stilted. Be yourself, but avoid colloquialisms and clichés.

I talked to John today, about my pack and cover letter before sending them off. The pack was given an absolute green light and the only advice he gave me was to bring more of my personality into the cover letter. So here's my second attempt:

I'm not quite sure if this is any better, but I've tried to put in more of me in it and also I've tried to make it more personal for each studio by adding in what I saw on their websites that pulled me in (the above example is for 'A Productions' in Bristol). I can't tell whether I'm coming across as passionate or cheesy though? hahaha, I'll ask John again. It's a little longer than the previous letter, but what can you do eh? I'll be folding this in half and putting it in the pack like that, if I get a green light for it.

edited 17/10/15:

Letter has just been approved by John! Posted 4 of them today, but they won't even get picked up 'til monday anyway so no rush I guess. Also I decided to stick my stickers on the back of the letters so they'd stand out from other mails! (also to keep envelop secure because the sticky part is not very sticky.)

Cover Letter: first draft

I tried to keep it casual and short and sweet, so not to make them reluctant to read it. I'm not sure if this is too generic though. Should I try to engage them more at a personal level like mentioning something I liked that I saw on their website or something? it might show that I've actually made an effort to research the company - which I did. But I will leave it like this for now and get it checked out with John before I send it off. Also I tried keeping the design of the cover letter in the same style as my pack/CV; hopefully they'd be able to see my efforts and illustrate my understanding of branding.

This will be printed in A5, in case you were wondering. 

MEFCC 2016?

This morning I received a message on our group chat; Somaya (Ka May) is like my big sister, mentor, and everything - she's literally the best! She also happens to be the project manager of MEFCC and girl boss and designer of ayasoBoutique, and she's invited me over to Dubai again to take part in MEFCC 2016 in April! 

Last MEFCC was such a huge success for me and a very very very good experience indeed so I'm really quite excited! Also, unlike last year, I have months to prepare this time and could make more work for it, which I could set as a brief for OUIL 603 maybe?

AAAAHHH DUBAI HERE I COME AGAIN!

Updated Pack

This is my updated pack; a simple A5 presentation folder - it'll have a folder pocket on the inside, bottom right, which will have slits for a business card (I'll be making that separately). Pocket will also hold samples of work. I will also include a cover letter (or just a little friendly note) within it, just to state my intentions for sending them a pack. and then I will send to previously mentioned studios and hope that they respond back! Planning to print 8 copies tomorrow..

I ended up printing 10 copies. As usual, the printer's can't get the colours right, but it's okay I guess, still looks pretty good to me. Total cost added up to £5.44 because I used the laser printer and brought my own paper - so not too bad!

All there is to do is print work samples!

Signature

Today in our PPP group tutorials, John mentioned something about creating signatures to put at the end of our emails. Since I'm planning to email some people, I thought this could be a good way for them to get a snippet of what my work is like. Also to make me appear a little bit more official/professional. Above is something I created pretty quickly but I kinda like it! I could also see this being made as stickers! psssst.. can you tell that teal is my favourite colour?

Also I am planning to send out some promo packs to the animation studios I've picked out before, but I want to re-design it a little bit; make it so that its more compact and money friendly (trying to save up to go traveling next year hehehe).

Elsa Chang

3 years ago (my last year of sixth form) I contacted Elsa Chang through Tumblr, who at that time was celebrating her first employment at Disney. She had a massive following of aspiring Vis Dev artists, like myself and after announcing that she had made it into Disney, she had opened up her ask box where she answered questions (based on her opinions and experiences) related to Disney.

As mentioned many times before, I've always had my mind set to work within the animation industry; at this time I was in the process of looking at uni courses. I didn't really know if there were courses that were really specific to what I wanted to do so I decided to ask Elsa what she did before she landed herself a job at Disney (you can really hear my enthusiasm in the question, its almost cringey lol):

 She answered with:

Daaaamnnn, she took a lot of classes right? In the end I decided to settle with Illustration because it was the closest thing they have in the UK (there's animation too I guess, but I wasn't as interested in the actual animating) and also I thought that with Illustration there's more of a creative freedom to explore what you wanted to explore. so that's the story of how I got onto this course..

Elsa now works at Dreamworks TV Animation and I think I might contact her again, but through email next time, so I could ask her more specific things and maybe even get more of a detailed response and advice!

Etsy

I've finally opened up an Etsy shop! Put up all the left over prints from Comic Con and the Art Market. I listed them all at a discounted price because right now they are just sitting in my cupboard and I feel bad, they need new homes! and I want to put up newer stuff as well.

feel free to browse around: amardiyahart.etsy.com

I also did some advertising on the Leeds Indonesian Student's WhatsApp chat hahaha.. since there are like 88 people in the chat and they're all so responsive and chatty, I thought it would be a good way to promote - gotta make use of everything am I right? Not everyone in the chat I personally know, and after linking my work to them, one of them wanted to get to know me better since he's also studying something design related, and another one wanted me to set up a workshop for PPI (Perhimpunan Pelajar Indonesia a.k.a Indonesian Student Association) Leeds, which was quite overwhelming to be quite honest, but I'll give it some thoughts - would make an interesting experience.

Also then did the same on my Instagram to increase those views!

Plein Air Painting

En plein air is a French expression which means "in the open air" and is particularly used to describe the act of painting outdoors, which is also called peinture sur le motif ("painting of the object(s) or what the eye actually sees") in French.

I'm going to do everything I possibly can to learn and improve and since Kristy said that its crucial to go out and draw/paint from life, to study colour and lighting from reality, that is what I am going to do! I always see people I follow do this, so it must be really good exercise, and since their work is really good, it must also really work in improving your colour and lighting skills too - which I really need to do! Also I'm quite comfortable with digital processes but sometimes I feel like I need a good balance of digital and traditional skills, so this would be a very good exercise indeed to improve my traditional skills.

I'm thinking of making this a weekly brief for OUIL 603 too - I've talked to other students from first year illustration and animation if they want to come along with me, as I think it would benefit them as well, and we've decided to meet up every weekend to paint/draw - starting from next weekend! (anyone else who wants to join in, just come along. The more the merrier haha) I'm excited. Maybe I should actually run a weekly open air painting/drawing for the college. lol

Kristy Kay

Kristy Kay is a Visual Development artist currently working for Sony Pictures Animation and worked at Laika/ House and The Dam Keeper. I follow her on Instagram and she's really great! She did an interview (below) with CGMA 2D Academy and she talks about her work process, what its like working on an animated feature film etc. and it is sooooo insightful!

Interesting points:

• The Dam Keeper (Dice Tsutsumi and Robert Kondo Oscar Nominated Short Film)
• each frame on the project had to be painted individually
• As a painter she (along with other painters) was responsible for painting backgrounds as well as painting each frame of the character animation.
• Sometimes she would have to paint backgrounds of different times of the day
• how she got involved - they sent out a post on fb asking for intern-like artists, then they asked for portfolios.
• all painting was done on photoshop - each frame was separated as a different file, and then they'd load them onto photoshop and paint them separately, and used adobe bridge to see if they were animating correctly - without bridge it would've taken a lot longer.
• used 3d for some of the background and some of the camera angle.
• Full production took 6 months
• Once a week they would get up at 6 or 7 and do still life paintings - they'd set up a still life with natural lighting and study the still life
• or they would go out - plein air painting

What she learnt from doing the project:

• the importance of studying - going out and studying nature, doing plein air and still life paintings - its something that she still do a lot of, she tries to paint everyday.
• important to constantly practice - If you want to be able to paint a scene with natural, realistic colour or lighting, you have to go outside and paint often. or just study from real life - "it's crucial."

• Hotel Transylvania 2
• Her role was painter
• she would be given a drawing, rough sketch - she'd get notes of what they want e.g. red eyes, white tips on ears etc. she'd get references (photos) to refer to when painting.
• she did a lot of the design work, background paintings - props, outfits etc. needed to produce colour keys to pass onto the lighting department.
• role as painter - focus on materials, painting ambiently so that you could tell the difference between materials.

Advice:

• Copying someone else's work - Helpful to study artists/someone else's work that you admire - By doing that you pick up on what is successful in their painting.
• for example, if someone else is good at colour, to study and copy what they're doing is good.
• to copy and try to make it the same - maybe not so helpful - but to really study it and to observe how they're using colour, how they're using lighting to make the piece work is okay - really pay attention to what decisions they're making and why.
• Do film studies, film stills and paint from them - if you're heading towards working within entertainment or film, its helpful to study from entertainment and film - for composition, colour and lighting, its helpful to study film, even if its black and white movies
• you want to study what you hope to work in - film, animation etc. so that you would have more of a knowledge of what you hope to create yourself.

Helpful exercises:

• figure drawing, even if you're not a character designer - improves your observational skill.
• be observant - study from reality - so you can recreate your own worlds.
• The more you do observational studies - e.g. with light - the more easier it will be to recreate some type of a lighting situation when you need to than when its from your mind.
• she usually spends 20 mins - 1 hours on these studies.
• Figure drawing: she spends 2-5 mins usually. get the gestures/pose down first. anything longer is a different type of drawing - its just drawing.
• iPad drawings, 20 min - 1hr study - get an iPad, its more convenient - sketch club app.
• how to overcome creative blocks: refuel inspiration - go outside, see a movie, music show, see friends, museums, refresh yourself - take a break from creating.
• Favourite reading materials:
• James Gurney, Colour and Light. 
• Richard Schmid, Alla Prima.

IMPORTANT! How did she get job as Vis Dev artist at Sony?

she went to ctn expo - showed portfolio at sony animation booth they told her lets keep in touch - she was still in school at the time - after she graduated, they called her about job opportunities.

InkTober

Every October, artists all over the world take on the InkTober drawing challenge by doing one ink drawing a day the entire month. Jake Parker created InkTober in 2009 as a challenge to improve his inking skills and develop positive drawing habits. It has since grown into a worldwide endeavor with thousands of artists taking on the challenge every year.

I decided to take part in this, this year because I actually don't draw unless I have a project to do - which is really not ideal for an illustrator, in my opinion. INKtober is about growing and improving and forming positive habits, so the more you’re consistent the better and I want to be better!

I've been drawing characters - children mostly (so far) because this is one of the things I want to get better at, and for someone who wants to place herself in the kids industry, I actually don't draw a lot of kids! I am also using my Instagram to post these to generate more audience views for my drawings; hopefully will generate a larger following for me as well hehe. I am actually really enjoying this, because I'm not thinking too much - just doing and its fun.

I'm thinking of changing my zine idea and just use these drawings for my zine for thought bubble now. I'll scan, clean, enhance, print and voila. yup.