Shedding Art - Art Blog of Polina Radtchenko

Hobo & Demo

2011-06-15T17:04:00.000-07:00

Here is a demo I grabbed from work. Finally, I am starting to get used to the new markers we are using.

This kid was awesome. He asked me to draw him as a hobo. Most fun I ever had with a b/w (uncolored) body.

Happy Birthday in German

2011-06-02T12:41:00.000-07:00

SketchBook Project

2011-02-17T11:27:00.000-08:00

One of the pages I completed for my Sketchbook Project this year. Fun experience overall and a great idea. I encourage everyone who likes sketching to give it a shot.

So, now my sketchbook is going on a long tour across the U.S.

If only I can make it out to the gallery at some point.

Check out their website.

http://www.arthousecoop.com/projects/sketchbookproject

The Star: Holiday Cover Contest

2010-12-14T14:43:00.000-08:00

A christmas cupcake

done in photoshop

Eyes and Ears on English

2010-10-28T22:51:00.000-07:00

I`ve been working on some caricatures for a show in Taiwan called "Eyes and Ears on English". It teaches people of Taiwan modern English.
They asked me to do a few full body caricatures for their DVD.

Sneak preview on my work:

Inked and colored in Photoshop CS5.

Heat wave surfing

2010-07-05T08:48:00.000-07:00

It has been really hot this week and I have been working most of it.
My "ArtstiX" are melting.

GRR

2010-06-23T08:15:00.000-07:00

This one kid had a strange perception of a smile the other day in Wonderland. His mom kept asking him to smile, but all he could do was make a GRR face. Then if you actually make him laugh, he smiled adorably.

Sculpture project

2010-06-15T07:54:00.001-07:00

Here is a project I finished recently. A good 3 weeks of work.

From Temaxa - anything is possible with a FUNd!

Demo Reel

2010-05-19T06:49:00.000-07:00

I didn't want to post my demoreel on the blog just yet, because it is not quite there yet. However it's not correct to leave the blog is silent.

I've heard positive and negative comments towards the music. Please, leave your opinions. I will greatly appreciate it.

Also, I went subway sketching on Sunday and eventually found my way to a band rehearsal.
Here is what I've got:

Sunday Subway Sketches

March

2010-04-04T11:04:00.000-07:00

March Drawing

Life Drawing Feburary 2 - Gestures vs. Long Pose

2010-02-23T12:04:00.000-08:00

Still working on it.

Life Drawing Feburary

2010-02-17T21:40:00.000-08:00

It has been hard to make it out to extra life lately. Not as often as I wish I could. I am so focused on my final projects that very little brain power goes towards life drawing.
Moreover, my demoreel is technically focused, which means I've not animated in a while. This makes my gestures clumsy and crummy. Gesture and proportion is my general weakness to begin with!

LifeD Feb

Although, I hope you enjoy my longer poses which include the background and rendering.

My Texturing baby

2010-01-13T09:27:00.000-08:00

Here is one of assignments from last year. Initially it was supposed to be a fruit bowl, but I went a little crazy with it and remodeled everything (except for the grapes). Now it's more of a veggie bowl.

Here's what happened:
Plums became potatoes and eggs (it all started with the potatoes)
Cherries -hazelnuts
Orange - avocado
Pear - turnip
Apple - eggplant
Banana's - chili peppers.

I feel like a magician.

Lipsync

2009-11-29T17:40:00.000-08:00

Scene that drove me crazy. I didn't like it in the end.

Drawing Helen

2009-11-22T09:31:00.000-08:00

Nov18 2009

Caricature Con Sketch

2009-11-22T08:54:00.000-08:00

Polina the REnderER (think Bill Nye the ScienceGuy tune)

2009-11-18T17:46:00.000-08:00

Not only do I love to render light & shadow, it has been showing in my work! It was a pleasant surprise.
I've had a long history with rendering the crap out of vases and fake fruit.
This process also makes the eye identify the form as shapes, which is kind of helpfull to my proportion issue.

Animation Dump Post

2009-11-17T11:55:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the tiny size. I still have to figure out how to upload it to YouTube. For some reason it won't work.

Cube and Ball - 10 sec

Demon Cube Leap

First Character Walk (Lady with Purse)
I'll need to practice my walks.
This project was cut short on time because of the Caricature Convention.

More character stuff coming up.

Cariactures in one week

2009-11-16T20:54:00.000-08:00

Voila, some caricatures I've done this week for a special occasion. These are family friends.

The sketches were something between portrait and cartoony and I couldn't figure out how to color them.

Seems like they work quite well without it.

I need to work this out.

Skull Study

2009-11-01T21:53:00.000-08:00

Ottawa Animation Festival. First Time.

2009-10-24T08:08:00.000-07:00

An organic approach to visual effects animation
OR
A classical approach to hand-drawn visual effects animation (this was the initial title which had to be revised because the producers were afraid it won't sell)

Great energy in this presentation.
This presentation was concerning the visual effects industry today and it's one BIG flaw. It strolled away from "the classical cartoony way of animating" to "photo realistic and live actiony". It may work well in live action, but the same stuff in cartoons? Surprisingly enough VFX animators (mostly) are only taught the software today and no drawing theory. The physics make sense, but there is still something missing: energy, character, design.
Strangely enough, even fire or water splashes need it.
After watching various examples on screen, I was convinced. In order to create beautiful FX you need to learn to push them. You need to use the effects to help compose your shots. You need to do research.
Hand draw FX differ from CG because they tend to be more organic and spontaneous.
In CG the programs are mostly based on programing particles and tend to be very hard to learn for an animator. They are also very hard to tweak and control in order to get the right effect. That is why often a combination of drawn and CG is used (like Lilo & Stitch). A revelation movie for CG animation was Ice Age 3. After many talks with the author of this book, they have developed a way to make effects more cartoony and playful. Check it out and compare it to FX in Incredibles. Big difference.
"You need to animate the energy"

I am not sure if this theory would apply in life action films as well. Perhaps to some extent - Yes.
Inspired to investigate into this book and field.

An Eveneing with Don Hertzfeldt

I really want to see who this guys is. Strange, but I imagined this bald guy in his forties (maybe his name just sounds professor like)He is a young guy in his 30s. Good looking and can be mistaken for Johnny Depp if had longer hair.
Has a monotone-ish, quiet way of speaking and uses gestures quite often.
Humor inspiration - Monty Python
Just like the old black and white films, he prefers "long takes".
Big interest in psychology. Very intelligent.
Studied film, yet chose to do animation for his projects in school and was well supported by his teachers and peers.
Done Rejected right after finishing college.
Has not worked out in the work field since then. Only works on his movies.
Thanks Mom & Dad a lot in his credits.
Works by himself 7 days a week. Animation. Shooting. Compositing. Sound design.
On the topic of media and cg vs. classical : " There is a hundred years worth of equipment we have developed. Why throw out old stuff and only embrace the new. Let's use all the toys!"
He is currently working on more films and they are getting deeper and stranger.

Making of Pixar's Up

Told by one of the storyboard artists at Pixar.
The stroy crew actually went to the location and climbed the mountain.
How the little boy's voice was cast

It felt to me that the development of this story had a very organic nature. It did have deadlines and cut off dates, but nevertheless the story artists were looking for pieces of theirs story out of their lives. There was personal contribution from all

In order to portray this Lost World, they had to personalize and experience the feeling for themselves, the story crew set off on their own adventure to Venezuela . They got to this "natural table top ground" that was a mile high! I still can't wrap my brain around it.

The presenter spoke of storytelling.

Quotes:

TRUST THE PROCESS. = i took it as, "don't give up and keep going no matter how many revisions you may get"

Put your heart and soul into it. Present it to others. Let it go. = no matter how perfect YOUR story is, it is never good enough because only YOU put your ideas in. You must learn to give it up and allow others to put themselves into it, too.

"If you are not prepared to be wrong, you won't do anything right."

"You could be wrong" - and most of the time, you are. but you can still get some things right!

Get an idea and then sketch it down, not sketch and then get an idea. This puts the carriage in front of the horse. If you are constantly sketching your ideas, the drawings may look sketchy but they will have a lively quality to them AND you will fall in love with you sketchbooks.

Drawing the Head

2009-10-06T21:33:00.000-07:00

LIfe Drawing the Head

2009-10-05T18:52:00.000-07:00

Drew two models last week and was not sure of which to pick.
I stuffed the detailed skulls onto the same page as the simplified.

Different Views on Me

2009-09-21T06:25:00.000-07:00

From To Left: Mary, Matt, Oliver, mystery person, Freddy, Juan, Alexandre, Ed and the two big ones by Freddy and Matt.
Me and Stas, by Juan and Freddy.

Some caricatures

2009-08-07T07:36:00.000-07:00

Recent Caricatures at Wonderland

2009-07-28T22:39:00.000-07:00

My first body playing hockey. Proud of the line work on this one. It required extra effert because the order was b/w.

Layouts - pencil art - Semester 4

2009-03-08T14:57:00.000-07:00

Sometime in January...

2009-02-21T14:30:00.000-08:00

A mix of twos and tens I believe.

Seneca Design Poodle Sculpture

2009-02-21T14:20:00.000-08:00

Here is my sculpture. It was made for Seneca Character Design class.

Sculpture Seneca 6 - Details

2008-11-17T15:46:00.000-08:00

Life drawing - Nov 14th

2008-11-16T19:05:00.000-08:00

Life drawing after driving class gave me interesting thoughts. The two are similar.

Life Drawing - Nov 12

2008-11-16T19:01:00.000-08:00

Storyboards Seneca

2008-11-12T23:13:00.000-08:00

Character designs for the sotryboards assignment.

Polly and poodle

Father, Alex and Kat.

Sculpture Seneca 5

2008-11-12T22:29:00.000-08:00

Test 3: Poodlishios. is that right? Anyhow... we are growing some heavy duty hair!!!

Sculpture Seneca 4

2008-11-12T22:27:00.000-08:00

Test 2: Fixed and happy with it. Main forms are blocked in. (the hat.. I am planning to re do)

Sculpture seneca 3

2008-11-12T22:25:00.000-08:00

Test 1 : Yeah... REALLY long.

Sculpture Seneca 2

2008-11-12T22:24:00.000-08:00

Where it all began. ( This, actually, I had to fix. The torso and neck turned out too long)

Lide D - Gestures after warm up

2008-11-06T20:35:00.000-08:00

Need to figure out how to put the energy and life into the long poses

A spoof on So You think you can dance judge

2008-11-06T20:26:00.000-08:00

2008-09-27T06:46:00.000-07:00

I was playing around with Picasa 2 today. What a program. It allows you to create quick collages and instantly post them on your blog!
:) I will be posting more often now!!!

Say hello to my little ball of fluff that governs my house territory (and the backyard). Keesa is her name.

For those who have not seen...

2008-04-09T06:12:00.000-07:00

L'homme qui plantait des arbres

The man who planted trees. By Frederick Back.

http://www.karmatube.org/videos.php?id=295

Life Drawing - The Gesture

2008-02-14T19:09:00.000-08:00

I was working towards grasping the pose as a whole and keep my proportions consistent.
While doing so, I came to the realization that being able to see in gesture is highly interesting.

Gesture
It is a simplistic grasp of everything. All the beauty combined into a limited set of lines.

As I practiced it, I noticed that my eye had to constantly move around the model without stopping for longer than half a second. (not only it's good for the drawing as a whole, it is also a good exercise for eyes - trust me, i read a few of books about vision improvement)

To take it a scoop further, I wondered, if could I practice seeing the gesture (or the whole) of my life. Let me explain. Instead of focusing on minor details and blowing them out of proportion to each other, could I try to see the good and bad all together in a beautiful union?

Snow - A bouquet of assosiations

2008-02-06T21:31:00.000-08:00

I was pretty happy about the weather today, and some people were really surprised by my reaction. It is a snow blizzard! It is nothing like we have had before! I just want to go deeper into my thoughts and feelings about days filled with white like today.
Here I am sitting with my crappy hot chocolate (it is not sweet enough) and warming up after an evening two hour walk in the park. It was crazy outside at first, but then the gushing wind disappeared leaving just a blanket of snow. First thing is first, I was born and raised in the cold part of Russia which can be called Siberia. It is the land with taiga forests full of firs and pine trees. The winter there doesn't last three months, it drags on and on for about six month at least. Those winters are not easy to live through. The cold reaches up to -35C at times, the wind blows the snow around the cities and there are no sudden temperature changes which cause the snow to melt in a week. If snow falls it will probably stay there for a couple of months.
At least this is how I remember the place where I grew up. Things may be changing with global warming or my childhood memories could be missing out details.
Every snow fall reminds me of holidays. Throughout most of my life the winter holidays where my favorite. The joy of not going to school and waiting for presents is a unforgettable combination when you are a kid under 10 years old. Even my own birthday could not compete with that holiday spirit. All I remember are endless games in the snow with friends. Your parents clothe you in 5 layers of sweaters and off you go! You can barely bend you arms at that point! The best part of it all is returning home after a good game, all covered in snow, mittens icy, face pink and a giant smile on your face. This is why cleaning the drive way is fun to me. I volunteer to do it most of the time if I am not lazy to dress well. It's another excuse for me to go out into the snow and not look like an idiot rolling around or doing something else crazy looking.
There is also a mystical almost magical feel to every snow fall. It is too beautiful to see everything around you suddenly become pure white like an empty canvas. Many Russian poets wrote about the beauty of winter and I think I know exactly what they meant. It is a beauty that can not be captured; it can only be seen and felt. It fires up you imagination and makes you see the world differently: simple, vulnerable and beautiful.
I was also in a play once that was performed several times here in Toronto. It was written by a modern Russian writer. The setting was in a winter forest. Two soldiers freezing to death on a mission and their entire life flashes by. I played an interesting character there: a snow girl or goddess of some sort (a classical character of many Russian tales). It was a magical experience and it proved to me how much I am in love with falling snow.
There is a strange quality in falling snow that I can't help but appreciate. When one watches it fall, it is as if time stops, and everything around it is still. Everything still, but the falling snowflakes. They have the power to dazzle and hypnotize any pair of eyes with their way of dancing in the cupfuls of wind.

What did I do over the weekend? Hmm... got creative and extra energetic.

Yup, you guessed it! That's me and my brother. I think I am six here.

Norman Rockwell

2008-02-03T09:51:00.001-08:00

Who would have known that the famous illustrator was painting me!

Actually it is simply my face blended into this painting (Digital Tools assignment). Fun.

It snow's again

2008-02-01T06:45:00.002-08:00

It is like we are back in December when there was a huge snow storm during Grave's Sketch Jam.

Here is the image I drew out of my window that day.

The story behind it is simple. I was sketching the houses outside my window when all of a sudden almost everyone piled outside to clean their drive way. I remember it being 2:30 pm, just after lunch. So the sketch turned out surprisingly interesting.

Also another thing I would like to share with everyone is this wonderful Russian animation done by Alexander Petrov. It is called "Moia liubov" or My love. It is 25 minutes long and completely in Russian, but the craftsmanship is stunningly beautiful. I think it was done with water color...
Thanks to my friend Alex S. from Sheridan for sharing it with me!
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8806222576169789099&hl=en

First post

2007-12-16T15:06:00.001-08:00

YES!