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Lookiing for advice

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Lookiing for advice

Hi Im studying 3d animation and its now the summer break. I was looking for intern work but dont really know were to start but I was thinking about either getting a few friends togither and working on a game mod or short animation OR working on improving my 3d skills i.e. rigging, modeling. Im doing ok since I have self taught myself maya because my uni teaches lightwave and I prefer maya, plus I've only started doing 3d work this semester. heres me stuff

http://www.youtube.com/user/SteveN2525

I have another question, I would like to improve my drawing skills, Im ok but it takes me a long time just to do an exceptable drawing. I was wondering if any 2d artists could tell me how much time I should spend on it per week. I want to develope my drawing for character/vehicle/architecture consepts and do better storyboarding.

any advice would be great

cheers

any advice? ok. Where do you live? NY? - if so, call an animation company and ask if you can come over get their coffee, make copies, answer phones, ANYTHING for no charge. Live in LA? same thing. Live elsewhere? Look on the net and see what is near you. Good luck.

I have another question, I would like to improve my drawing skills, Im ok but it takes me a long time just to do an exceptable drawing. I was wondering if any 2d artists could tell me how much time I should spend on it per week. I want to develope my drawing for character/vehicle/architecture consepts and do better storyboarding.

any advice would be great

The amount of time varies from person to person, typically whatever amount of time you can comfortably spare.

Spend the amount of time needed, with intensity/focus, until you get the results you seek.
If you are approaching the drawing half-heartedly and occasionally, you'll get mediocre results. If you commit yourself to focused study and application you get faster, likely better results.

Two things will work in your favour, that I suggest developing:
One being learning to see--to be able to draw precisely/accurately, what you see. That will help refine your neurology for drawing from memory and imagination, because you will have a pattern of established aesthetic "history" in your drawing to tap from.

Second being to not just draw the same thing over and over again, hoping you'll learn something new from it.
Repetition, though the mother of skill can be boring. If some advise you to draw nothing but hands, in order to get good at drawing hands, it'll become tedious JUST drawing those hands.
Tedium will lead to apathy and that leads to not drawing enough.
Why try to re-invent the wheel from scratch every time.
Every artist is "good at something"--each of us has what we believe to be our own expertise.
Capitalize on that.
What I mean is take what you already know and can draw and ADD to it.
If you are good at drawing people, but lousy at backgrounds, for example--keep drawing the people, but add in a small background behind them.
Doesn't need to be fancy, just needs to be based off of your studies about settings and perspective etc.
Each new drawing you do, diminish the importance of the figure a bit, and add to the complexity of the new backgrounds.
Even if your BGs suck at first, at least you still have a successful drawing with the figures you can do well--and that will KEEP you drawing more.

This method is what I call adding to your "visual vocabulary".
You add a bit each time, and use what you have learned a bit more each time increasing the sum of your drawing repertoire.

If you constantly focus on challenging yourself, and studying how others solve drawing problems and apply that to your own work, you'll progress at a satisfying pace.

"We all grow older, we do not have to grow up"--Archie Goodwin ( 1937-1998)

Hi thanks for the advice. first off I forgot to say Im from scotland UK. I had a life drawing class this semester and can draw the figures quite well for a 10minute drawing. But after that I tend to ruin it but I think its down to lack of experience. I have definitely improved my drawing this year in semester one my drawings were quite crap but they got better this semester and I was focusing on how shadows fell across the body.

My main gripes is with faces I cant draw the models face likeness at all, the rest of the body is actually quite good but the faces I cant do. I think the computer has spoilt me, when working in 3d if something is out of proportion you can easily move vertices to correct it but with a drawing you may need to erase half your drawing to get the proportion right.

Anyway this is my plan for the summer.

1 hour minimum 2d drawing
1 hour minimum 3d
1 hour minimum exercise (cos sitting infront of the computer for 2 semesters isnt good for you fitness)

cheers
steve