So my last day at Ko Lik was just over a week ago (23/01 to be precise). The current production was wrapping up, but hopefully this won't be the last chance to work with them! It was such a great experience to be working there with a bunch of great people. I learned a lot about working on a real animated production, improved my storyboarding (draw faster! Draw clearer!) and even learned a totally new skill in compositing. Going to have to wait a bit before I can show off any of my work at Ko Lik though.

Last week I used as a wind-down - tidying up the flat, getting some things in order that I've felt I haven't had the chance to while I was working (looking back at my previous post, I sure did whine a bit about lack of time!). Now is the time to update and polish the CV, look around for some new opportunities and work on some personal art. I'm excited to get to work on something I've neglected - digital painting! Cracking out the old issues of ImagineFX and going to just go for it. Also finding that listening to art and animation related podcasts and videos is really motivating and inspiring right now - right this moment I'm going through Stephen Silver's Youtube videos.

Cheers for now ^_^






 

Been having a great time working in Edinburgh at the studio Ko Lik since mid-August. Started in the storyboarding department, and have since moved on to compositing, with a few storyboard revisions here and there as required.

Learning to composite for stop motion animation has been an interesting experience (especially for a complete novice!). I think I'm getting the hang of it, mostly with the help of the patience of my co-workers and a wee bit of Googling. 

Now that I think I can safely say I've settled in, I'm more aware of my lack of personal drawing time. Or to be more specific, I haven't been factoring that into my time management thus far. It's a bit of a bummer, so I'm going to make an effort to draw on the train, during lunch and give myself doodle breaks.

The commute unfortunately takes up a lot of my time. I get home just before 7:30pm, and eating dinner (Tom's been in charge of making dinner, which is a massive relief), showering and drying hair takes me up to my  10pm bedtime. 10pm! That hasn't been my regular bedtime since primary school. But if I don't, getting up at 6:30pm is torture. With dark eye-circles. Time aside, I just straight up don't have the energy to do much other than doze on the couch watching TV (Mythbusters is the current favourite). 

Animation-wise, been enjoying watching Steven Universe, Teen Titans Go!, Wander Over Yonder, Gravity Falls, Haikyuu!! (surprisingly compelling volleyball anime) and Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun. Looking forward to the new and final season of The Legend of Korra.

Anyway, that's all for now. Hopefully will be updating with some personal drawings soon!