update

Updated website!

| larisaskai

It’s been a long while. A really long while. Stuff happened and I’ll give a quick run down of the important stuff:

  • Switched to WordPress. I found that the platform helped me achieve what I wanted better than what I was using previously (blogger) and gave me more of a variety of what I can do. Not only that, it’s ending up to be cheaper all together. So… win!
  • Been doing quite a bit of freelance graphic design with some awesome people. So that’s been a plus.
  • Signed up for Digital Tutors because there’s a lot of stuff I’ve either forgotten or want to learn. That’ll be my free time taken up productively right there when I’m not part-time working or other shenanigary.

And I guess that’s it for now…?

I’m… alive?

| larisaskai

Wow, blog… long time, no see! It has been a whirlwind of adventures since last I checked in!

The later half of 2013 had been a busy time at my part time job which, I am sad to say, no longer exists. But I do have to say that working at a small toy store brought out my fun side quite well and has shown me the best and worst of sociological trends in parenting and how adults treat children. Which is a topic for another day….

Anyway, in my off time, I have been trying to maintain, even improving, on my animation skills. I found a few lists online suggesting what kind of actions an animator should work on. I compiled them and started to mix and match actions and scenarios, working on several at a time. With this latest exercise, I went with standing up, sitting down, and changing emotions.

It was an interesting exercise. Something new, something challenging. I will definitely partake in more of these.

In the lines of doing more of things, I’m hoping that this year I can expand and solidify my knowledge on processes within the animation pipeline that I did not get a chance to fully explore like texturing and modeling… things I should know how to do and do them pretty well.

And with that, I leave with a reworked demo reel because deep down… I still want to do animation and I am going to still persist in my life quest.

Persistence

| larisaskai

I’m going to be a little truthful in this post. Right now I feel a bit frustrated. It has been a little bit over a year since I finished my Graduate program and I’m nowhere near to what I want to be doing (3D Animation). Not for a lack of trying, of course. And that frustration has slowly seeped into my creativity quite a bit. I’m sure a ton of artists go through this phase where they end up doubting their abilities, nothing is “good,” rather, everything they make is “okay” at best no matter how hard they try.

But the thing is, I keep on trying. Whether it’s “okay,” “good,” “a complete failure,” or even “spectacular,” I keep on trying. Something’s bound to come out good, right?

So there’s been a lot of soul-searching going on. And the bottom line is this: I think I’m a fairly good animator that if thrown in the world of film, tv, or games, I would do well despite my lack of “professional” experience. (Okay, fine. I haven’t released at least three AAA games or put out a top grossing film.) I don’t want to give up on this dream. And if people don’t want to see that side of me and put it into consideration, then that’s their loss, right? I work hard. I want to make good animation. And I believe I can do it.

Speaking of dreams, I’ve started some things that I’ve always wanted to do. I recently got into digital painting (see: the Doozer image up above), which I’m still getting used to because of paintbrush vs. tablet way of doing things. AND I’m learning languages like French and brushing up on my Spanish because they’ve been on my to-do list for a long time.

So here’s to good stuff coming in the future.