People Watching: Midterms Edition

Hi again! I’m not sure how much this drawing counts as “people watching”, but who says “people” has to mean “strangers”? I’ve been spending a lot of time this past week opposite my friends just studying and I think today’s post portrays that rather accurately. Drawing on notebook paper instead of my sketchbook felt particularly fitting. The top image took place in the LSA building (where I spent six and a half hours today), and the bottom was in my friend’s apartment. I loved noticing how much stuff we surround ourselves with while studying: laptops, tablets, water bottles, my two indispensable pens, so many notebooks, planners, and… a french press? I suppose caffeine is a must. Good luck to everyone taking exams this week (I know I’ll need it)!

Frame by Frame: Scene 2

This week I started the second scene of my animation. I wanted this scene to feel distinctly different from the first one. I thought a contrasting color palette would be a good way to show this. For the first scene I used a dark red color palette to feel ominous and heavy, so I decided to use primarily blues and greys to create an atmosphere of isolation/melancholy in the second scene. In both scenes, I wanted the yellow light to stand out. Not only to emphasis its importance, but also to indicate that it is the same light and the same person in both scenes. When drawing each frame by hand, especially over a long period of time, I find it’s difficult to maintain stylistic continuity. I’ve tried to combat this issue by keeping a list of what brush I use for which lines, and frequently referencing previous frames for consistency in coloring and shading. Below are the first two backdrops I’ve created for the second scene, as well as my entire piece so far:

Capturing Campus: October

Eyes

I’ve always had a thing for eyes
The bulbous ones that pop from their sockets
The ones that aren’t there but should be
The flat ones– sagging or deflated (minding the pus)
The tired ones after too much Netflix
The red ones burned from a heartbreak or two
The closed ones–either dead or will be
will be eventually

 

Bonus poem:

When it’s all over (and I’m in a manic mood)

How was I so blind to the world
to not know its beauty?
Oh, how beautiful the world is
when every feeling falls upon my flesh
and brings a tear to my eye
and many more when I think of the enormity of it all
I shall cry when it is all over
when I shall say goodbye
to this place, I only knew for a short time
I was so blind
for there is suffering, but the beauty keeps me here
To live and to breathe, only to lose it all
I love this life; I am not blind, and it is beautiful

TOLAROIDS: Halloween

Spookiest gallery you’ve seen this weekend