NICOLE KOZAK

Space Frog Scene Test

2012-01-16T22:52:00.001-05:00

A test scene from my film-in-progress:

Collab Sketches

2012-01-08T21:49:00.004-05:00

Collab sketching with Eva & Kathryn @ Artisanos. (More to come - check back soon!) :)

Froggy Color Tests

2011-12-23T12:16:00.000-05:00

Long time no post! Here's what I've been up to lately: A few color tests for froggy film - I'm personally leaning towards the last one. Let me know what you think!

(The final look will be more refined these are just helping me to narrow down a color palette)

BONUS:

a quick little something I did for part of a group Christmas card

(Happy Non-Denominational Holiday, Everyone!)

People Who I Normally Draw Naked Wearing Costumes

2011-12-03T15:43:00.001-05:00

I haven't posted in a while. Whoops! These are some life drawings that I used for my final portfolio. How sad am I that I won't have this class next semester? (or next year, even) Very.
Hope you like theeeeese!

Plan-cepts

2011-11-09T17:44:00.001-05:00

Film Film Film. That's basically all that's happening. Here are a few planet concepts !

Little Life Drawin's

2011-11-05T19:20:00.002-04:00

Some shorter poses / scribbles / fun things from life drawing class . . .

Froggy Film Concept Art

2011-10-31T19:55:00.001-04:00

Hey everyone!
I'm in the process of making a short film. Here are some character concepts. Frogs! Astronauts! Space!

Let me know what you think!

(maybe full-view these bad boys?)

Harpoon Man

2011-09-30T16:11:00.002-04:00

Matt and I did a quick sketch-off last night. The topic: "Hairy Harpoon-Thrower". Here's mine:

You should head over to Matt's awesome blog because his is hilarious and makes me die laughing, a little.

ColourBucks People

2011-09-03T12:33:00.002-04:00

Playing with colours. Sketches from Starbucks, Halifax. Weeeeee.

Also - an accurate portrayal of our sketching times:

HEARTS

2011-09-02T21:19:00.004-04:00

I just realized that I never posted this . . .

Noam and I collabed on a 24 Hour Film for Ashlyn's MANIMATE challenge! Yum.

More Halifax Sketches

2011-08-21T13:04:00.001-04:00

I've been slow to update. Here are some more sketches:

starbucks guys

starbucks families

some of my favorite people on teeeveeeee

more to come!

The Doctor . . .

2011-07-17T14:11:00.001-04:00

Noam and I had a sketch-off. The topic was Tit Doctor, basically. Here's mine:
(his is so cool so def. check it out!)

Sketchies !

2011-06-30T20:10:00.000-04:00

In Halifax, I have to bother Kyle to use his scanner . . .so I don't post sketches as often. So here is a heaping pile of them!

the one with the hat and the hoodie was the creepiest preteen boy i've ever seen. Complete with rat 'stache.

I didn't actually see Joan Rivers. Just a woman who looked kind of like her . . .

some really quick, ridiculous glee sketches.

somehow babies frequently come up in conversation, here.

FATHER PUSSYCAT!

Noam and I each did a sketch. The topic was Father Pussycat. His is much cooler and in TECHNICOLOR! so hopefully he'll post his.

Emma Pillsbury

2011-06-09T20:14:00.000-04:00

I like Glee. A lot. and Emma Pillsbury is so hilarious and endearing. This piece definitely involved stepping out of my comfort zone but i had a lot of fun! Don't be surprised if I make some more.

(*also: I'm working off a laptop so I'm not 100% sure how accurate the colours are / contrast is . . dont hate me if it looks like shit on your screen ) :(

Brittany - Dr. Pepper

2011-06-04T23:10:00.002-04:00

I love Glee. Perhaps too much. Here's a quick lip synch I did the other day (you can tell it's a quick one because it could def. be better).

Bouncing Face

2011-05-30T14:07:00.001-04:00

Animating is funnnnn

Moon Walker Man

2011-05-28T23:28:00.002-04:00

Another animation done during some down time at work. i love doing this.

Another Dog

2011-05-20T09:10:00.001-04:00

When there's down time at work I animate little dogs. Here's a mini cycle.

Animation Challenge! The Dog!

2011-05-16T22:18:00.001-04:00

I was at work and Matt challenged me to animate a dog jumping and grabbing something in 10 minutes. We went over the 10 minute mark . .but it was still a really quick animation (as you can tell). wweeeee! also - lurk Matt's Blog for his awesome version!

H I MATT

2011-05-09T23:50:00.000-04:00

It's summer and i feel like it's crucial for me to keep animating so I'll be prepared for my grad film.
Here's an animation I've been working on. Clearly much effort went into this. I Animate Good.

HALIFAX

2011-05-07T12:27:00.000-04:00

I\m spending my summer in Halifax for my animation internship. Here are some sketches and a weak attempt at a small comic. Also . .i swear i'm not narcissistic! i apparently just draw myself when i can't think of anything better. :)

COWBOIZ

2011-04-26T21:11:00.000-04:00

characters made from life drawing model/poses

this last one was drawn by me, colors by NOAM SAUCE MANN!

Sketches and Drawrings

2011-04-22T12:15:00.000-04:00

beach woman - life drawing

golfer man, also for life drawing

I had more drawings of the aladdin-esuqe man but they were on a huge piece of paper that I was too lazy to scan.

Also, I went to Green Bean with some friends . .and then I drew some of them.

A Bird . . . with Music!

2011-04-18T21:41:00.000-04:00

A little leica made from Music class. We could only use a limited number of boards and stuff. I made. . a bird, a worm, and a hobo. Yum.

ARTISANO FRIENDS!

2011-03-30T10:13:00.001-04:00

Artisano's is a cool place to draw your friends and eat cannelloni.

here are some cool kids: Ashlyn, Scott, Laurel, Cheyenne, and Dylan (Dylan wasn't actually naked that drawing just kind of ...happened..or maybe i'm lying?)

SKETCHES - LISA KAT !

2011-03-05T23:38:00.004-05:00

I wanted to post these with my other sketches but I didn't get them in time. Anyway, here are some doodles of Lisa Kat. She has long eyelashes and she's very short! :D

this is an older sketch - there are no obnoxious eyelashes :(

but there is an obscene amount of gatorade to distract you from that.

these are things that lisa loves.

some of them are people.

and some of those people don't reciprocate.

SOME SKETCHES

2011-02-26T18:48:00.001-05:00

Wow! If you look at the dates of these things, apparently I haven't posted on my blog since December. Sorry about that :(

Here are a few little sketches to liven things up.

some people. eva is my favorite person.

this is how i felt most days this week

a couple of sketches during one of our group meetings

ACTION ANALYSIS: REDUX

2010-12-21T12:51:00.000-05:00

I made a few changes to my action analysis. Probably not even noticeable (other than the background). So, here it is! You can play a game where you try to find the things i changed :)

Also - the audio isnt really synched in the right place. I don't know what's up with that...oh well! Just press mute!

BLACK SWAN APPRECIATION POST

2010-12-20T18:41:00.000-05:00

Anyone who knows me knows I cannot stop talking about Black Swan. (Sorry!)
Without any spoilers I just want to sum it up with: great performances, beautiful cinematography and editing, great music and sound design, and gorgeous costumes. If you haven't seen it - DO IT! at least while it's still in theatres and preferably before the Golden Globes and Oscars!

Leave awesome comments about this film if you want! I dont want to write too much because I've already been hyping it up way too much so...here are some awesome stills for you to lurk!

(p.s. I can't wait for this to come out on Blu Ray!)

ACTION ANALYSIS

2010-12-19T12:04:00.000-05:00

Here's my action analysis. Time is something not a lot of us had, and I really wish i had more of it so that this final scene could look a lot better. I may revisit it, i may not. So here's what i've got for now!

ROYAL WINTER SHEEP FAIR ANIMALS WINTER CHICKEN FAIRS HORSE

2010-11-18T00:16:00.000-05:00

Hey here's some animals , mostly sheep, that i drew at The Royal Winter Fair!

PUPPET SMASH

2010-11-15T20:51:00.002-05:00

in-class stop motion puppet smash! I wish i had time to do one more take so i could have made a better one with better posing...oh well :)

INFLUENCE MAP

2010-10-31T12:01:00.000-04:00

I made a more ghetto version of this map back in the summer but never bothered to post it. After seeing my friends DYLAN, KATHRYN, and NOAM post their own maps i realized how cool it is to see what influences your friends art! Maybe some people will think it's cool to see mine? Who knows! Either way, here is my influence map, redux. I know I've probably forgotten many cool things. Oh well. Enjoy!

DAVID FINCHER APPRECIATION POST!

2010-10-29T16:27:00.001-04:00

   Last night I saw THE SOCIAL NETWORK with some friends. I went into the movie a little biased because I'm a fan of David Fincher's films. I did like it. It was definitely a very surreal movie-watching experience...seeing a film about an idea that has impacted the way society - both individuals and businesses - function. Sometimes I'd get so caught up in the film that I would forget that the site they were building on screen wasn't fictional...and that after seeing the movie I would probably go home and login to facebook. (and I did).

   Aside from that, and the reason for this post, really, is that I just enjoy David Fincher's filming techniques. There is one scene, the boat-racing scene (if you've seen the film), that was really ground-breaking, in my opinion, in terms of cinematography. One of my friends that I saw the film with enlightened me about this "Tilt-Shift Photography" business. (definitely google it to see what I mean!) It makes everything infront of the lense appear as though it were a set of miniatures. I'd never heard of this technique before and it produces such an interesting effect both in stills and motion picture! The music in that scene was great (see also: the music in the entire film) and there were some really nice shot choices so, all together, a really stand-out scene. I don't know if any other director has incorporated tilt-shift filming in their films before Fincher? I tried to find out but didn't have much luck. So if you know of any other films / scenes that have used Tilt-Shift let me know!

   Back to David Fincher! Again, very interesting and effective shots as usual. Fincher also has, in my opinion (or just stating the obvious), a nice use of lighting in his films.

   I write posts like these with a lot of humility because I know I'm no film critic, director, writer, or anything. So to take the focus off of this semi embarrassing, rambling post - enjoy some amazing screen caps from some of my favorite Fincher films!!

STORY FANATIC

2010-10-27T13:40:00.000-04:00

I recently came across this site - STORY FANATIC - the other day. It's a great resource for anyone who's into film & animation. Jim has some wonderful articles covering many aspects of story structure and he has a great collection of reviews that are very to-the-point about character development and story structure. Definitely worth checking out! I could easily spend hours reading these articles. I hope you enjoy this page as much as I do. I've also added his site to my LINKS page. Enjoy!

STOP MOTION MAGIC!

2010-10-20T21:31:00.000-04:00

We had a ton of fun in Stop Motion class last week!

GROUP FILM CONCEPT ART

2010-10-17T18:14:00.000-04:00

Here's some concept art for a group film idea...

ANIMATION GRAVEYARD or POST #100

2010-10-17T17:55:00.003-04:00

the following are animations that i never thought would see the light of day. But I caved and somehow...they're here now...

FIRST - lip synch; 2D and cleaned up. Completed last year. (Audio: Willy Wonka)

SECOND - Expression change done for a second year assignment.

THIRD - A muzzle lip synch (second year assignment) (Audio: Back to the Future)

LIFE DRAWING - YEAR 03

2010-10-17T16:28:00.003-04:00

Here are some life drawings. mostly from this semester, and a few are from the tail end of the summer. One of the pages is virtually all Ed - one of my favorite models! I am hungry.

Also - here's some zoo drawings from last year. Wallabeeeeeeez!

STOP MOTION

2010-10-04T19:58:00.000-04:00

I've finally had the chance to play ...Stop Motion Animating! Intimidating, nerve-wracking, but so much fun! Here are a few of my first-ever attempts at making inanimate objects move via straight-ahead animation:

Car Crash Assignment:

On friday we did a lighting workshop. We had fun playing with the lighting after completing an in-class assignment:

I know lighting is important and can definitely add a lot to (or even take a way from) a scene but i think if it weren't for this workshop - and playing around with different angles, gels, etc. - I would definitely under-appreciate the value of good lighting.

INCEPTION

2010-07-17T11:24:00.001-04:00

I've always enjoyed Christopher Nolan's films so I might be slightly biased when I say that I really enjoyed this one. There isn't much I can say to those who haven't seen it. It's really something you have to experience yourself and hopefully without any preconceptions. For those who have seen it I'd like to know: Did you like it?

How do you feel about Inception?

HOW NOT TO INK

2010-06-28T14:50:00.001-04:00

Today I picked up my india ink & nibs for the first time in a long time. I. Am. Rusty. Not that I was ever flawless and masterful with inking but, wow, I think I made a mess of this. I love when people share their progress / trials & errors so I thought I'd do the same for you :)

This is the piece I was working on:

Notice the splatter at the top and the pool of black on the sleeve (not to mention the not-so-clean lines in general):

Hopefully I'll have better luck next time.

SUMMER LIFE DRAWINGS

2010-06-07T10:32:00.001-04:00

An update - as promised! I've been doing life drawing at Sheridan over the summer and these are some of my drawings. I can never finish a complete pose in 30 seconds which is something im working towards being able to do. You can probably tell by disembodied torsos or headless figures, etc. in the first page of poses. :( Some of these are done in ink, some in graphite, and others in colored pencil. Most poses are 30 sec - 3 min. The drawings with ink + marker are 5 minute poses. Enjoy the weird green girls, too!

I still have a lot to improve on but I hope you like!

Costume Life Drawings

2010-05-20T17:54:00.000-04:00

It's been a long, long time since I've posted anything new up here. I hope the few people who follow this blog are glad to see something new! Below are some costume & creature life drawings from the final semester of my second year life drawing class. Also - I've given the blog a much needed makeover. I like it. Hope you do too. Expect more updates soon and more content to be added!

Hopefully these drawings will tide you over until the next post. I'm taking an open life drawing class this summer so I should have some more drawings to post soon.

thanks for lurking :)

CS4 Color Wheel

2010-01-08T12:53:00.008-05:00

If you like to paint in Photoshop and also happen to like Painter's color wheel/picker then check out THIS post over at Concept Design Workshop for an awesome little plugin! :)

from the crypt . . .

2009-12-30T13:33:00.004-05:00

Here is something i never posted: the business card I made last summer for a freelance job that I started. pandas.

also: check out this cool tattoo studio!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T21:33:00.002-05:00

This Christmas break seems much busier than last year but I didnt want to NOT make a christmasy piece of art! So here you go - a purple christmas kitty. :) enjoy! and Merry Christmas / Happy Holidays etc. meow.

Old Digital Gems

2009-12-08T19:48:00.002-05:00

I am cleaning up my hard drive and I found these lovely gems from my Digital Tools class last semester.
I wish I still had the Monster Cutout file because I would love to re-animate the jump. bummer.

Grab some popcorn, sit back, and enjoy.

Ramble Ramble Sick Sick

2009-11-24T19:15:00.003-05:00

I am sick. Nearly a week of being sick is pretty drastic in Sheridan Animation land. My walk-run assignment will be brutal. i know it. So much to do. so little time. So why am i writing on blogger? because my little brain cant function/focus enough to do any 'real' work. Perhaps I will doodle.

Enjoy this irrelevant post of nothingness.

Royal Winter Fair - 2nd Year

2009-11-15T19:11:00.001-05:00

My 2nd annual attempt at drawing farm animals. Gesture sketches + Studies. enjoy.

Life Drawrin'z

2009-11-14T22:10:00.008-05:00

I just realized I rarely post actual life drawings. maybe it's my lack of self confidence. Here are some 30 sec, 2, and 5 mins for you (plus a bonus muscle-bum) Enjoy.

A Couple of Things to Gawk at

2009-11-14T13:37:00.005-05:00

Here's a tiny update for you:

A drawing of a marmoset skeleton from the ROM. (The scapulas were positioned in a very unnatural way so . .ignore that).

And some character designs to be used in my walk-run animation (stay tuned).

Enjoy!

Some more Iron Giant lovin'

2009-10-29T22:59:00.006-04:00

Hey guys,
I wasn't 100% happy with my last iron giant piece for Labyrinth's Iron Giant Project so I figured I would make another one (especially since I learned that the deadline was extended).
Hope you enjoy this one, too!

I might do a few minor touch-ups before submitting. let me know what you think :)

Iron Giant Love (BANZAI!)

2009-10-19T20:12:00.006-04:00

EDIT: I'm so dumb: as I was about to submit this I just read on the project site that the deadline has been extended. Bummer. Since there's an extension: Critiques, anyone?

I'm not going to lie - I had to whip this up in very very very little time. This is for the Iron Giant Project. The Iron Giant being one of my favourite movies, I just had to make something. Too bad school's so busy :( I would have loved to spend more time on this or make multiple pieces / experiment with different techniques, etc.

Well . .maybe I'll make some more iron giant fan art some day .. .

enjoy!

Painting Assignment

2009-10-13T19:57:00.002-04:00

Finally, an update involving art. Here is a painting assignment done for school. enjoy

Piano Stairs

2009-10-09T08:04:00.002-04:00

Saw this on Designverb and fell in love:

Big & Graceful - Chiu Stream

2009-10-08T07:50:00.005-04:00

Hey guys,
I know - long time no post. Why? School.

Anyway,
Last night I participated in Imaginism Studio's (Schoolism's) Chiu Stream since Bobby Chiu was interviewing a great artist: Peter De Seve! We had just shy of an hour to do a quick sketch using the theme "Big & Graceful"

Here is my entry:

I don't know how this goes down but either by votes, or by the mighty decision of Peter himself, one lucky person gets an original sketch from Peter! Imagine? Amazing. I can only hope. . .

Enjoy :)

Update: didnt win but still had a great time. It's a very motivational experience for anyone who enjoys drawing/painting :)

PENCIL TESTS

2009-09-13T10:33:00.002-04:00

Animation friends, or anyone who enjoys animation,
If you don't follow Mark Mayerson's Blog then you may not have heard about the new and amazing Pencil Test Depot!
Definitely check it out.

wow!

Batman Today . . .

2009-09-07T11:29:00.002-04:00

. . .School tomorrow. A quick sketch. I wanted to play with textures. and batman. enjoy :)

The Princess and the Frog

2009-09-06T11:52:00.001-04:00

Preview (not a trailer) of The Princess and the Frog :)

thanks, Character Design Blog!

Ponyo drank my elixir!

2009-08-31T19:46:00.001-04:00

New header. like?

Sketchbookery

2009-08-26T11:35:00.004-04:00

A sketch dump. Please ignore the fact that my blog is in the process of a makeover. enjoy the sketches instead of my blog layout :)

Don't Mind the Mess

2009-08-25T20:46:00.003-04:00

I found a really sick blogger template . . .

. . .and then got way in over my head and decided to ditch that idea.
Going to keep things simple for now. Still in the process of adding / editing the layout but I must go see Inglourious Basterds so the blog can wait. :)

Don't mind the mess!

Waking Sleeping Beauty

2009-08-23T10:35:00.001-04:00

a documentary.

Young Artists Among Us Exhibition

2009-08-19T10:43:00.006-04:00

I was in Hamilton on August 9th for the "Young Artists Among Us" Art Exhibition joined by my talented friends Kasia (who organized the event), Celia, Colin, Jeremy, and Miranda. Here are a couple of pictures from the event. To see / read more head over to their blogs. Though you should also just check their blogs out, anyway, for the sake of seeing some cool art :) enjoy.

A quick painting done at the exhibition that will apparently be part of a mural somewhere in Hamilton.

Hanging out with my lawnmower man, looking haggard. (and in the background you can se some lovely paintings by Kasia and Colin). My other painting that was on display can be seen at Celia's blog :)

Purple Haired Guy?

2009-08-15T11:28:00.000-04:00

A quick digital sketch. Enjoy.

Airport Sketches

2009-08-08T14:15:00.002-04:00

As some of you may or may not know, I went to visit family in California this summer which involved a few connecting flights and a lot of time spent in airports. Here are a few pages of airport sketches! enjoy.

Giiingerrr

2009-08-08T14:00:00.000-04:00

A quick digital sketch of a red-head. Enjoy!

Name That Celebrity!

2009-07-10T16:41:00.001-04:00

Hello friends,
a pretty fail gouache/ink painting. 10 points if you can guess who it's supposed to be. (This is my 2nd attempt and I keep feeling like I'm botching the likeness). Enjoy?

Yawn.

2009-07-08T23:40:00.002-04:00

I am very tired. I am having a very downer day. Here is some art for you to lurk. And I have to thank each and every one of you who pops by and takes a look at what I do. It really does mean a lot to me. Here are two samples I did for a 'client'; two different styles to determine which 'look' we will move forward with. enjoy.

School Boy

2009-07-03T12:53:00.003-04:00

Something fun in gouache and ink

Paranoid

2009-06-28T12:02:00.004-04:00

Hello friends,
Here is something creepy for you to feast your eyes on:

(P.S. does anyone else think of darth vader and/or anakin when they see this?)

Sloths for Brandi

2009-06-27T11:46:00.003-04:00

Here is a quick update: This is a small gift i made for Brandi Milne to thank her for the lovely gifts she sent me :) It is a bookmark. with dancing sloths. dance party. Enjoy!

Sketches, as promised!

2009-06-23T19:21:00.007-04:00

Hello friends,
Here is a (mildly) heaping pile of sketches that I thought I should share with you (so you have something cooler to look at than my failed digital painting attempts). enjoy!

Don't Worry. . .

2009-06-20T17:11:00.002-04:00

Traditional art / sketches coming soon! (I've just been too busy to scan anything).
Also, who doesn't absolutely love Natalie Portman?

GIT-R-DONE

2009-06-20T17:05:00.005-04:00

A painting / caricature of Larry the Cable guy for my dad (fathers day).
I am not too sold on the likeness and am thinking i might touch it up / re-do before sunday. But i like to post even my worst work so i have something to compare future pieces to (to see if i am improving).

enjoy :)

Grumpy Sci-Fi Man

2009-06-13T13:45:00.002-04:00

Hello friends,
here is a painting of a space man (not to be confused with an astronaut). I think of him as a grumpy scientist and/or doctor . . .in space. enjoy!

cool as a post-it note

2009-06-11T21:08:00.003-04:00

saw this cool video posted on DesignVerb!

take a look, love it, share it.

DUDE-L

2009-06-10T21:43:00.005-04:00

here is a sketch. or a doodle. or a dude-l.
just a quick little painting of an angsty man. (and by quick i mean an hour).

enjoy :)

Sketchles.

2009-05-27T11:44:00.010-04:00

I realized that I dont really post sketchbook work on my blog.
Here is what i've been up to, sketchbookly speaking, so far this summer. enjoy.

(click to enlarge)

stay tuned.

Rock Study

2009-05-25T14:35:00.004-04:00

Just a quick update before I take a nap.
Here is a . .somewhat. . quick digital study I did of a canyon/rock (from photo ref).

enjoy!

approx. 2.5 hours (i could benefit from being faster / more loose. a lot to learn, still!)

A Little Boy

2009-05-22T14:57:00.001-04:00

Here is a drawing for you to enjoy:

Consists of: Marker, Ink, Effort, Love

Good vs. Evil

2009-05-21T12:57:00.002-04:00

Hello friends,

A digital painting for Wacom's "Bring your Vision to Life" contest where the theme was Good vs. Evil.

It's obvious that I still have a lot to learn but I dont mind posting the not-so-good attempts - one day I can (hopefully) look back at my progress.

Observe. Enjoy.

Ecstatic!

2009-05-18T19:17:00.003-04:00

I WON I WON!

What am I talking about?
The lovely and talented Brandi Milne put together a giveaway for pair of twos playing cards (seen HERE) in exchange for comments about things that make people happy.
I was very fortunate to have been chosen as one of the lucky recipients!

Check out her art, she's super-cool!

:)

that is all.

Spaceman, Oh Spaceman

2009-05-16T17:22:00.004-04:00

Hello friends of the blogger persuasion,
Last night I started a little vector-esque digital piece and since today was a rainy, lazy day I decided to spend a lot of time experimenting with various illustrator/photoshop techniques. I have very very very very much to learn in many areas of art & design and I feel like today was a very rewarding practice/experimental session.
Enough of my blabbering.

Enjoy this little spaceman:

It's just an astronaut doing his 9 - 5 like everyone else.

Spoon on Speed

2009-05-05T18:52:00.002-04:00

Jimmy and i discussed how sad it would be if Wizards of the Coast ever got my hopes up:

"Nicole, we would like you to illustrate one of our Magic the Gathering Cards!"

And then tore my heart out:

"We want you to illustrate . . .a spoon"

how sad.

here is a quick little painting of the spoon that could be, and some little creatures lurking it. lurk lurk lurk.

enjoy.

I'm aware that it's pretty brutal, but I can only get better, right?

Nuclear Lawnmower

2009-05-05T16:51:00.004-04:00

may 7 - EDIT: I changed the photo of the painting to one that I think is much more colour-accurate.
It took me about 2 million shots on my camera to get something decent.

Hello blog friends,
Here's a painting i've been meaning to share with all of you:

Nuclear Lawnmower
Acrylic on canvas
12" x 12"

I haven't used acrylic in a long time so this was pretty rough to do at first.
(Im not too good with photographing paintings but i think the colours are decently accurate).

Also,
I call it nuclear lawnmower for the simple fact that I feel if my painting teacher, Tim, saw this he would say "The sky looks very nuclear" or something to that effect.

Enjoy!
(p.s. if you are good at photographing acrylic and/or oil paintings... let's be friends).

Lemur, nothing but a Lemur.

2009-04-28T12:46:00.002-04:00

I love summer.
I finally had time to finish my lemur painting that i started oh so long ago

I can only hope that my digital painting skills will improve.

Enjoy!

leem leem leeeeem.

Year One Finale

2009-04-24T20:01:00.008-04:00

Hello friends,
My first year of Animation officially ended today.
This means I finally have the time to upload a bunch of artwork and animations that I've been meaning to post.
Brace yourselves and enjoy.

My flour sack interacting with some (used?) dentures.

For this assignment we had to choose a passage from a novel that described the interior of a room and then complete a painting of said interior. This painting was based off of a passage from Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in which they describe his "Laboratory + Dissecting Room".

Character poses and expressions. no need to elaborate.

And now for a few things from one million years ago that I completely forgot about:

Pink Panther walk cycle

A painting of a a Utopia / Dystopia. You can choose which one's which.
I had a ton of fun experimenting with the colour swatches! I want to do a painting of only swatch squares. Maybe I will. keep your eyes peeled.

I hope you enjoyed this tremendous update.
Stay tuned 'cause it's summer!

P.S. Congratulations to all of the 3rd and 4th year Animation students. I attended the screening (4 hours, was it?) of the films and there were a lot of funny, creative, unique, and enjoyable films. Great job everyone and good luck with your future endeavors, 4th years. I am now even more nervous / excited for 4th year.

Illustration Grad Show 09

2009-04-24T07:51:00.002-04:00

Last night's illustration grad show was great.
Some very interesting and inspiring work; Sheridan is full of some very talented students.

This is just a quick post to say that I really enjoyed what I saw.

Post Number 3 of the Evening - Character Design

2009-03-11T22:54:00.004-04:00

This is my last post of the night, i promise! I'm sorry for bombarding you all. I have just been slacking with updates and right now I have a little bit of free time so im making the most of it. Enjoy these character designs - they may be the last ones you see from me for a few months.

Our most recent assignment - Character Sequence

An assignment from what seems like decades ago (but really just the end of last semester) - Character Expressions

P.S. Good luck to everyone who is applying to animation/illustration for the 09/10 school year :)

Post Number 2 of the evening - Painting

2009-03-11T22:34:00.001-04:00

Here is another post for you.

This one is of Still Life and Oil Paints. Enjoy.

Life Drawing

2009-03-11T22:16:00.009-04:00

I realized that I have yet to post any actual life drawings.
So to fix that here are some life drawings that Mark Thurman particularly liked from my final portfolio of the 1st semester.

(I actually find these kind of embarassing after looking back on them. I will post more recent drawings once we get our portfolios back from this semester).

Enjoy :)

30 Second Pose

1 Min Pose

3 Min Pose

5 Min Pose

Darryl Kee is my hero!

2009-03-03T17:04:00.003-05:00

Darryl helped me solve the mysterious problem of why my photos were not resizing when you clicked on them!

Thank you so much Darryl - you are a life saver!

Enjoy larger, clearer, exciting photos everyone :)

Something to wet your palette

2009-03-02T21:57:00.005-05:00

I have been meaning to post a lot of things but have not had the time. (either that or the internet was not cooperating when i needed it most).

Here is a digital painting that I have long forgotten about but thought some people may enjoy seeing. Perhaps I will finish it now that it's been rediscovered.

Something to tide you over until the next post.

Enjoy!

Help Me

2009-02-14T14:52:00.003-05:00

If there is anyone who is particularly Blogger-ly inclined and knows why a lot of my pictures wont let you click them + enlarge them I would love for you to share your secret knowledge and help me fix this :(

Sometimes certain pictures let you, other times they dont. (even though I usually save them all at the same size/ resolution)

Help.

Please.

Your friend,

Nicole

What is . . .New Post?

2009-02-14T14:24:00.007-05:00

Friends, Family, Fans, Cult Followers, etc.

I apologize for my lack of updates.
Here is something new to look at:

A painting done for class. 'Night and Day on Planet J' These are 'J Grazers' they eat glowing plants and then, at night, glow around and float around. (If you read Lisa Wang's blog you will see that she hates Sheridan's scanners for their lack of good colour representation. I completely agree. I tried adjusting curves, colour, and brightness to get this image as close to the real version as possible but it is still pretty far off). oh well. Enjoy!

COKE HEIST

2009-01-31T10:34:00.003-05:00

This wonderful commercial was posted on RAWLS' blog but I thought I should post it here for my Sheridan friends to see.

So thank Rawls for exposing us all to such a great commercial.

(I guess since the superbowl is on sunday we'll be seeing a lot of intelligent/interesting/ridiculous commercials soon).

Underground Garage Sale

2009-01-16T19:13:00.006-05:00

Tomorrow is the Underground Garage Sale!

These are some pieces that i made / i will be selling prints of tomorrow:

ZOMBIE YETI PIGGYBACK

the original was done in india ink on illustration board I am selling five 4" x 5" prints and ten 8.5" x 11" inch prints of this one

I really wanted to make a few T-Shirts using this design but . . .there was no time :( Maybe in the future

BFF BOTS

The original was done in gouache on illustration board for my best friend

I am selling five 5" x 4" prints of this tomorrow

EXIT EROS

This is an oil painting i did in hopes of bringing to the garage sale / selling but it's currently friday night and the paint has yet to dry. So look for this at any future show / event where i will be selling artwork. The piece measures 16" x 20"

~~I may also paint a few inanimate objects or do some more paintings or possibly framed sketches for tomorrow since the night is young.~~

edit:

A new piece has been added to the roster:

ROCK POWER

Acrylic on Record / Record Case

Beware giant rocks.

Enjoy!

If you are interested in buying any of the prints (or even the paintings) show up at the Underground Garage Sale tomorrow or contact me via e-mail: n.contemporary@gmail.com

Thank You, Readers

2009-01-13T20:26:00.003-05:00

Thank You!

I just wanted to let you, the people who read and/or unintentionally stumble upon my blog, know that I really appreciate the fact that you read the things that I post and even take the time to leave me lovely, motivating comments. I try to reply to everyone and if I don't, please don't feel that your comment(s) goes unnoticed. So thank you for making me happy especially in these cold, snowy, Canadian months.

More things artsy / animated to come in the very near future .

Stay tuned.

Your friend,

Nicole