Asian Dress #5 - Yukata

Finally. The Japanese Yukata. The summer kimono.

While kimonos are made of silk, pretty much impossible to put on yourself, and expensive, yukatas are made of cotton, are easier for one to put on themselves, and much cheaper than kimonos, which is part of the reason they are still popular today.

-the word comes from "yu" (bath) and "katabira" (under clothing) -the yukata was originally worn after taking a bath. Today, they are still seen at public baths, summer events, and in the streets as casual wear.

-traditionally, yukatas came only in white, gray or indigo blue. Now.....they are as varied and as colourful as Hawaiian shirts.

"Through the centuries, reams have been written about the whiteness of the neck above the indigo-dyed blue of the yukata collar, the thin cotton almost, but not quite, revealing the outlines of the body. Yukata stood for demure eroticism, and a subtle style of sexiness that belonged only to the Japanese woman."*

....Yay for Yukatas!

------

So this little project that I should have finished way earlier comes to an end. Here's some extra stuff:

A line up of the girls complete with dress names in the native language for extra asian-ness - I hope I got Sari in Devanāgarī script right!

And here are the sketches that hide behind the paint. I don't have the Ao Dai because I accidentally saved over that one as a flattened image.

*Freed from tradition, Japanese dress is sexy and fun : The kimono goes summery [International Herald Tribune]

Asian Dress #4 - Sari / Saree

A simplified attempt at the Indian Sari.

-The sari is a rectangular piece of cloth ranging from 4-9 metres in length, usually worn over a petticoat, and a midriff-baring blouse known as a 'choli'

-The loose end of the fabric that is often tossed over the left shoulder is known as 'pallu' and usually has extensive designs and embroidery.

-The sari beautifully emphasizes the curves of the female form - bust, waist and hips

-It is very versatile; the pallu can be used as a shawl or scarf in cold weather, and the variety of styles of wearing a sari permit the wearer to perform a great range of activities.

-The sari here is draped in popular Nivi style - the cloth is tucked into the waistband of the petticoat; wrapped around once, pleated a few times, and tucked in at the front. Wrap around again, and up over the left shoulder.

Asian Dress #3 - Hanbok

Hello. numbah trois is the Korean Hanbok (pronounced "han-bo"), which probably hides the female form the most out of the five dresses I`m painting :(

Though cut from flat cloth, when worn the hanbok takes on a voluminous three-dimensional quality. With its simple form and generous fit, it is flexible enough to accommodate any body shape and comfortable to wear while sitting on the floor, as is usual in a Korean house. Its ample folds impart an air of elegance and refinement to the wearer. For all its simplicity, the way it is worn determines its shape and produces creases that can also become an aesthetic element.

The beauty of hanbok can also be felt in the harmony of straight and curved lines that shows a deep respect for nature.
(source)

Asian Dress #2 - Qipao / Cheongsam

The popular traditional Chinese dress, Qipao (aka cheongsam).

-Pronounced "chee-pow" / "chongsam"

-Influenced the style of the Vietnamese Áo dài

-Like the Áo dài, the Qipao has a male variant; it adds some pants (Sofie Fatale in Kill Bill vol. 1 wears a male Cheongsam)

-Chun-Li's classic outfit in the Street Fighter video game series is a modified Qipao for greater range of movement. Spinning Bird Kick!

What serves as a worthy testament to the beauty of the Qipao / Cheongsam is, however, it does not require the wearer to pep up the look with accessories like scarves and belts. Designed to show off the natural softness of the female form, it also creates the illusion of slender legs. The overall picture: practical, yet sexy.
(my-qipao.com)

Asian Dress #1 - Áo dài

As a little painting project, I've decided to paint 5 traditional asian dresses like the Vietnamese ao dai I have right here.
Dresses to follow: Qipao, Hanbok, Sari, and Yukata.

Some interesting tidbits from Wikipedia:

Pronounced 'ao yai' in the south, and 'ao zai' in the north

The costume has faced countless modifications throughout the centuries but its basic form consists of a long flowing gown with a slit on both sides, often with a high fitted collar, worn over long silk pants.

While its cousin the Qipao is a tight fitted dress (in its modern reincarnation), the Áo dài is a looser tunic, which even in its tight-fitting form is still left wide and flowing at the bottom. Furthermore, the slits of the Áo Dài extend above the waistline, revealing a slight glimpse of the sides of the midriff.

The most popular style of the Áo dài as we see it today is tight-fitting around the wearer's upper torso, emphasizing her bust and curves. For this reason, the Áo dài, while it covers the whole body, is said to be provocative, especially when it is made of thin or see-through fabric.

Have a nice day

A different shot of the stairs leading to French Fort Cove as seen on mah MiramichiKats blog. I made this one a wallpaper for my widescreen laptop to make me feel like the weather is always pleasant, like it was that weekend. It's back to rainy and cold this week.

[edit] It was actually rainy and cold for the first 2 days that week, then it was pretty nice weather. My wallpaper has changed.

A Catbird Seat

...specifically, something that looks like a diving board. No further questions.

The soundtrack of my life

Yes, a common blogger post:

If your life was a soundtrack, what would the soundtrack be?

So, here’s how it works:
1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every question, type the song that’s playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button
6. Don’t lie and try to pretend you’re cool…

So I searched around the net and the categories differ a little, but I went and picked the best ones that would describe an epic life.
Also: when doing this, I decided that I would use my favorites playlist (instead of using my main playlist that has lots of non-interesting BG music), and take the test 3 times, and pick the best soundtrack. 3rd time's a charm.

So here's my epic life soundtrack, with links to the songs on youtube, if they are available:


Opening Credits:
Wake Up - Rage Against the Machine

Waking up:
Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) - Green Day

First day of school:
Good Luck - Basement Jaxx

Falling in Love:
Twilight (A. Piano Version) - Densha Otoko soundtrack

Fight song:
Chanto Tsukandemasukara - Densha Otoko soundtrack

Breaking up:
Smack My Bitch Up - The Prodigy

Prom:
Layla - Derek and the Dominoes


Life's Ok:
Sally's Song - The Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack

Mental Breakdown:
Dies Irae (Requiem) - Giuseppe Verdi


Driving:
Good, or Don't Be - Neon Genesis Evangelion soundtrack

Flashback:
Champagne Supernova - Oasis

Getting Back Together:
Bran-new Lovesong - the pillows


Wedding:
Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger - Daft Punk

Birth of Child:
Go the Distance - Disney's Hercules soundtrack

Final Battle:
Twilight - Electric Light Orchestra

Moment of Triumph:
The Legendary Theme (album) - Gitaroo Man soundtrack

Death Scene:
Night Skies - Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire soundtrack

Funeral Scene:
Air - Bach


End Credits:
San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair) - Scott McKenzie

I couldn't find online versions of my triumph and death scenes, which is unfortunate since they're 2 nice fitting songs. Legendary theme is an electric guitar duet, and night skies includes the sweet Imperial March and Force themes from Star Wars.

The songs that probably don't fit their categories are my fight, life, and wedding songs. And my mental breakdown song is 37 minutes...

All these songs are favorites of mine (thus in my faves playlist duh), but if I had to pick the songs that fit their categories best, I'd have to say the falling in love, flashback, getting back together, final battle (because I can't get enough of Twilight), and funeral songs.

New and Improved

I learned how to colour stuff in Flipbook thanks to A Rotten Habit, so I decided to try out the skillz on an old animation. Didn't really feel like making it a complete piece with a panning BG, an object and dust fx, but I'm satisfied with this final version. I had this ready before I came to Miramichi, but since I was putting in sound fx, I thought of getting a voice for her as well, and I just got the final track today. I thought it'd be cool to employ a voice actress from the net, and I knew a big flash submission site like Newgrounds would have plenty of talent.
And 'tis there that I found Rina-chan to be a sweet french maid voice. Check out her demo of the soul calibur girls if you're interested; she has a great range.

Blogging from NB

So I'm in Miramichi now. Updates will be even less frequent here, and somewhat more frequent at a dedicated blog for the 5 of us down there (4 of us have laptops): http://miramichikats.blogspot.com/
Should be a Flashtastic summer.

Toooooooth Fairy?

Here 'tis, very likely the one and only work by Studio10:

I whipped up the intro slides and the first three scenes, as well as drawing up and painting a layout:




We had this cool idea to include symbolic objects from everyone's films, so I made sure to get them all. That is until someone from The Buddha Funk group threatened to ruin my animation career since I forgot their film :P






So the objects and groups, starting from top, going left to right:
Electric toothbrush - Studio10
Monster Backpack - The World Changing Scallywags
Camera - Buddha Funk
Scavenger Robot - Soldier Monkey
Bunz the Robot - Aisle-6
Sword - Repo House
Star - 24/7 and Blue Lemon
Paintbrush - Studio REDRUM
Hairy ball-thing - AV8
Spotted Underwear - The Line
Goblin King doll - Black Rabbit
Fish - Rats From The Lab
Leaf - Funeral For A Fern
Spray that kills 99.9% of Germs - The Visual Factory

And the culmination of this year's 3d class, Mr. Postman:

Twilight crawling through my windowpane

It's been a busy week. As an animation student, I'm no stranger to screwing up my sleep schedule so that I can see night turn to day, but this week I had to capture this orange glow that was flooding the apartment. It was very cool.
Speaking of twilight, here's a closeup pic of the new iPod I got to replace the one that got stolen from me:I know that the dirty thief has to be someone from Art Fundamentals or Animation, possibly in my year (which irritates me the most) since the iPod was stolen while charging at a line testing computer while I was sitting within view (but obviously not paying attention).
Anyway, the stolen iPod had the zen saying "The reverse side also has a reverse side". My new iPod has "Am I awake or do I dream?" Which is a lyric from Twilight by Electric Light Orchestra. Ever since hearing to it as the opening song for Densha Otoko, I can't stop listening to it. It's one of the catchiest songs I've ever heard. Am I wrong?

(this player is from radioblogclub.com, pretty cool site for streaming songs to yer blog)

So, about A Rotten Habit: she's done. I wouldn't say completely done (a possible soundtrack fix and some extra sfx can be added), but all major work has ended. This image comes from the intro sequence, the last thing that I worked on:

Honestly, all through the compositing stage, I was getting really sick of the film and I didn't think it would turn out too well. I didn't even think we'd finish everything. But we did. And once Rye and I started putting sound fx in, and the excellent soundtrack that John Suh composed, the film really came together. It's not awesome, and the story is probably about as effective as our older animatics, but we finished. yay for Studio10!

Here's a Persephone's Flight image that I forgot to post last time. I actually put this one together with the yearbook in mind. I hope we can get them before the end of the year!

So only a few things remain to do in the school year before I can relax for a short while.....and then begin worrying about moving to Miramichi, New Brunswick to intern at FatKat. It should be a fun summer though, since I've never lived so far away from home before, and I'll be going with 4 other talented friends:
Rob Bursey, Stephen Hinds ,Phil Rodrigues , and Dave Tran

Tonight I'm going back to Oshawa, in probably the first time since Xmas to celebrate my grandma's b-day. I think I sketched this one when I was back for the Xmas break:

I call her "ba ngoai" which sounds like "bah why" in English.

Man I wish I was fluent in Vietnamese. As well as Japanese.

ja ne!

The end is nigh. Nigh I say

Here's a shot of the Fairy in the process of being coloured in Flipbook. This is the final week that we have to work on our films. Much sleep will be lost, unfortunate realizations will be had.


Here's a design I cooked up last year for the animation t-shirt contest, which never went anywhere. So I refined it for this year's contest, and my design got rejected before the voting process even started, which was pretty cool if I say so myself. I don't know the reasons, but perhaps the design is too complex and thus unsuited for t-shirt wear. Maybe it doesn't properly convey the idea of animation. Or maybe it just lacks text that says "40 years of animation at Sheridan! HELLZ YEAH!".
I'd get it printed for myself, but I can't seem to find a place that would print just one shirt for under 25 dollars.

Here's an animatic I did for music class, to the tune of Volière by Camille Saint-Saëns:



Here's the watercolour beatboards for my upcoming 4th year film. A more realized, yet less colourful version of the story is in the previous post.























Here's the end of this post.

And now for something completely different

I had this old folder of clippings laying around so I decided to post up my faves....

My pal Adam Medley is the creator of these inspiring little pieces of art, and he describes them as "...mini-collages consisting of one part image and one part text, cut from old magazines and fixed together with packing tape. The rule is that the text and the image must come from two seperate contexts and cannot be significantly altered by way of cutting out undesired words, parts of image, etc."
I believe I assembled these in his basement in the summer of 2005...or was it 2004?




































J-Drama
My interest in anime has spread to an interest in nearly anything Japanese - so it was only time before I watched a live-action Japanese tv series. I recently watched 2 series that I enjoyed, and that were both based on true stories, so I'm gonna give 'em a small plug here.


Densha Otoko is the story of a heavily exaggerated, clumsy otaku that finds the courage to defend a beautiful woman from an aggressive drunk on a train. From this event, they slowly develop a relationship. The hook is that he is so completely hopeless when dealing with women, that he turns to an anonymous message board for single men for support. I especially liked how they humanized the other posters, giving each a different personality, and even backstories in some cases. This one is a kinda feel-good romance-comedy. And the movie version sucks.


1 Litre of Tears is a sad story of a 15 year-old girl that is diagnosed with Spinocerebellar Ataxia, a disease that progressively atrophies the body, making basic things like walking and talking difficult to impossible, even though the mind is healthy. The series follows the girl as she struggles with the worsening disease while trying to stay optimistic. This is one of those series that can change the way you look at life. And just like the title implies, the series is known for making viewers cry, and I must admit I was no exception ^_^

...so there ya go. If you're interested, check em out, torrent-style.

Persephone's Flight

Here is my top secret 4th year film idea, hiding at the bottom, in a very non-hidden way. Anyway, as the title suggests, the story is based on the Greek myth of Demeter and her daughter Persephone. I want the story to appeal to a universal audience, but I would like that extra kick in there for those who do know the myth. So far I know that the birds need to be designed so that they clearly read as mother and daughter. People may mistake the frolicking and the hearts at the beginning to be the dance of a male and female couple; but I couldn't think of any other way to quickly establish that they were close, and needed each other in that mother-dependent way.
Comments and suggestions very much appreciated.

...And in the evening it's girls

I sketched this out during the break and half coloured it, and just finished it today. I had been looking at lots of Katsuya Terada (character designer for Blood: The Last Vampire) women at the time.

Studio10: Ever since our Original Reel, many members felt that the story needed more work, myself included. I thought the pacing was much too fast and flat, and it was already 2 and a half minutes! After our first 2nd semester meeting, I decided that I'd quickly reboard the entire story, with my main goal of slicing off as much time as possible, while keeping the story intact. I knew that my ideas would have much more weight if they were presented in a complete, timed out reel that made sense, instead of tossing about words in a meeting.
Now we begin with the viewfinder sequence , which we had been talking about before. This act probably saved the most time.

Here are my tiny rough boards, followed by the animatic:



I did change the magic toothbrush a bit - this time the rotten fairy comes in as the Kid is reaching, but this surprises him and he loses his balance, and the toothbrush comes tumbling down with him. And instead of the deus ex machina floating brush, I went back to the magically enhanced toothbrush. The coloured glow is supposed to indicate that the Tooth Fairy is secretly helping him. It's kinda the same.......but it feels better to me. Maybe the Holy Toothbrush will be changed again....

Finally.....[I had a video but YouTube has been crackin' down....lots of things (tv segments, music vids) are being removed]