I think I have finally found out why I do what I do, or at least where to take it from here. With the website almost done, and plenty of illustrations left to finish before I head back to school, I've been pretty busy this break. I finally decided to take a break and sit down with my new Pixar DVD. In the 2nd disc of Wall-e, special features, I found a wonderful film called "The Pixar Story." About halfway into it, something hit me, like running into a brick wall. I paused the film and sat up straight, uttering to myself. "What am I doing!?"
All this time I have been so concerned about learning new tricks and processes. I've been focused on the physics and the technical aspect of animation, and all this while I had forgotten why I was at art school, why I draw. It's because I love it! Animation isn't just about making things move, about how they move, it's about telling stories and getting emotion and empathy from your art. I feel great now. I know what I have to do, what I want to do, and what will make me happy.
I don't need to move the character perfectly if I can still get an emotion from it, to make the audience feel for the character. Learning tricks is for when I get into the industry, now is the time for me to focus on telling stories, on acting and getting emotion out of my artwork. This is why I have felt my art lacked that extra punch all this time, now I finally know!
Just wanted to share that with you. The website is going well. Tomorrow I will head out to my old elementary play ground and film myself climbing and acting out scenes for my film. Wish me luck.
