Trying to stay productive

So starting to get close to my Mid Point review for my thesis project. Trying not to freak out, but that's who I am, a worrier. Along with the requirements for midpoint, I need a reel with all my school and professional work on it. So I still need to get my roto work for my reel on this, but here's a school only reel.

I'll be posting there soon with a little bit what my thesis is about and the organization I'm working with. But right now its tea time with self picked lemons!

Here's the New Year and New Challenges!

So I got some super awesome stuff for Christmas this year! I've become more and more interested in motion graphics and type recently. I've based a lot of the focus of my senior thesis on creative motion graphics and compositing, partly just so I have an excuse to take some motion graphics and graphic design classes. Anyway, for Christmas I got some awesome books for inspiration:

haNdmade 3D, Handmade Graphics, and Fingerprint

I asked for these specific books because I'm especially interested in combining physically handmade work with digital media. As probably many other artists of the digital age, I often find myself missing the traditional arts. There's something about hand creating something that really gives you a feeling of accomplishment. Not knocking the digital though, the undo command is the greatest thing since sliced bread. So it mades sense to me to try to utilize my traditional background in, hopefully, some new creative ways.
I really response to a lot of the work in these book with a new found clarity. Not only did I feel a kind fascination for this work that I haven't felt in a long time, but I felt like it was an answer to question I've always struggled to answer: Who am I as an artist? What's my niche? It finally dawned on me that all the work I really admire always has an element of design to it despite whether its commercial or not. I think that somehow "design" is the answer I've been searching for. I'm not sure how to elaborate on that yet, but somehow I feel thats key.
I've always kind of felt like a fine artist trapped in a commercial body. Not that I dislike being a commercial artist or have anything against it, but I like doing art for the sake of a personal concept and vision instead of creating the visions of others. But I noticed that in at least one of the books much of the work was labeled "self initiated" under clientele. Most of the artists are designers working commercially, but who also show in galleries around the world and therefore are blessed with a dual artistic career. That's really inspiring to me because it means I didn't choose one over the other after all. Yes its hard, but if possible I want to be both and have substance and ethics in all my work. I'll strive to be "self initiated;" to create my own projects outside of any jobs I have and to take it a step further by taking chances on entering shows and really trying to show my work. I often fear my own lethargy, I can be extremely lazy and I hate how I have repeatedly fallen into a pattern of static slumps. It will also be a challenge because I find when I have one major project to focus on I feel guilty using energy on side projects and therefore choose to goof off during times when I could be working on personal stuff (not constructive I know).
But in the new year resolution style, I pledge to do my best to become a more go-getting and dedicated artist. I really really want to finally "find my voice" and hope that with the new experiences of the coming year I can get closer to it. However, I do feel that I am close to a personal and artistic epiphany and hope I can finally have a clear image of who I truly wish to become. Maybe 2012 will be my year... here's hoping!



A look as some of the talented people I look to for inspiration:

Julien Vallee
                      

Jenny Holzer



Bryony Birkbeck

The Id

The Superego

Semester Projects

So I haven't been keeping up with posts as well as I had hoped. But the semester's over and I can post my projects. This was my first Nuke class, so these are a little rough.
Midterm: Keying, layering, roto, and other simple functions in Nuke


Final: Green screen key and tracking


Overall I'm happy with their turn out. If I could have I would have reshot the green screen with a better camera and used a more interesting angle (especially for the long shot). But sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and get it done.

As for my thesis project, I finally have a solid idea and plan. There will be a post coming soon to concerning this :)

Return from the World of SIGGRAPH

So it’s a little over week now since SIGGRAPH ended and once again I have the post conference blues. It’s always such an amazing week and this year was no exception. Got to meet up with some old friends, make new ones, chill in Vancouver, and enjoy all the special events the conference has to offer. I always especially love the Studio/E-Tech/Art Gallery area where the workshops, demonstrations, and interactive art and technology were located (this year's Studio theme was steampunk, so extra exciting).

I was totally inspired by everything and everyone and was so ready to get working on concept art for my graduate thesis.
But after some painful farewells and reality checks as I returned home, my desire to get to work is back to neutral. I did force myself to do a couple of character concepts and I’ve started a reference library, but it doesn’t feel like I’m doing enough to get the jump start on it. My classes don’t start for another 2 weeks and I’m not expected to have everything ready already. So maybe I’m stalling because I’m not sure of all the requirements that will be placed on me. But I really want a solid idea base going to cut down on my work load this semester, especially if I’m working as well.
The good news is I’m setting a new goal for myself: to get a piece accepted into SIGGRAPH’s Computer Animation Festival (CAF) at some point (hopefully my thesis). I got to see a lot of student work this year at CAF and in the spirit of being more determined and confident in myself, I don’t see why I couldn’t make an awesome piece for it too.

New Demo Reel ;)

Candice Weber Demo Reel 2011 from Candice Weber on Vimeo.

Introductions, IMDb, and SIGGRAPH

Welcome to my first ever blog! I created this blog as a creative outlet for evolving as a digital artist and I hope to continual update as my professional, personal, and school projects progress.

                    So to start off with some exciting news first, I now have my own IMDb profile!

                                            http://www.imdb.com/name/nm4526773/ 

I’m pretty happy about it even though I only worked on a very small portion of these movies as a stereoscopic roto artist (for more info on what a roto artist is you can watch there: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8919488847467249846# ). I hope to continue to add more titles in future J

So moving on to more pressing matters, SIGGRAPH is next week and I will be attending as a student volunteer for the second year in a row. I am very honored to be chosen to work at the conference again this year. It was an amazing experience last year and I’m looking forward to this year especially since it’s the first year the main conference is being held outside the US. I’ve never been to Vancouver before but I’m told it’s a beautiful city and hopefully I’ll have enough free time to explore a bit.

 At this point, my main focus is on getting everything ready to go. I just got my new business cards in the mail today and I’m putting my finishing touches on my new demo reel (which I will be posting there as soon as I can). So be on the lookout for my reel in the next few days!