-
Character Animator
This might be the most fun creative work has felt in a long time. There’s something so deeply satisfying about getting lost in a new tool—this time, Adobe Character Animator. Who knows how long the program will stay relevant with so many new AI-driven tools popping up every week, but that’s beside the point. The…
-
move move move
Something unexpected and pretty amazing happened this month—Mr. @thedugmahnke, a DC comic artist, visited my site! Not only did he say it was “cool,” but he also shared one of my posts. What!? Who knew my little ‘O’ Owls would delight anyone lol. How fun is that? I’m going to print these screenshots and hang…
-
Quad®
My son loves hamburgers. It’s an unhealthy obsession. He eats a Quad® AND a double-double, and is finally full, a true miracle for an 18-year old boy. Happily, I believe In-N-Out is the only company in 2024 that didn’t get the memo that inflation is happening. I was excited a to start a new experimental…
-
citrus sinensis
or orange tree. My commitment to producing something was severely challenged with this one. It was an experiment in pushing boundaries, and I learned more about what NOT to do than what to do. But hey, it’s done—not perfect. If there’s one thing I gained, it’s the accomplishment of painting the background. Mostly, I have…
-
digital animation, experimental tech-niques
Learning and teaching are my passions, and one of my favorite learning platforms is Domestika! Over the past couple of years, I have purchased ten of their courses and enjoyed every one of them to varying degrees. Recently, Domestika changed its pricing structure to a flat fee of $19.99 per class or $109 for unlimited…
-
kings canyon national park
Embracing Summer Adventures: Our Escape to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks Maybe I’m hopelessly optimistic, but every summer, I make the mistake of thinking I will have MORE time with the boys out of school. 🌞 Here I am, three weeks since my last post! Life has been a whirlwind with our house upside…
-
black bird
Recently, I have enjoyed experimenting, using some of my old photography, a crazy fun stop-motion app, a few free stock images from Unsplash and Pexels (what amazing sites!), and some of my random iPhone images. It is so interesting to revisit old files and realize how differently I would treat the images today, mostly with…
-
monarch
The Pismo Beach Monarch Butterfly Grove is one of only five sites in California where annual counts exceed 10,000 butterflies. Monarch butterflies undertake an incredible migration, traveling more than 1,220 miles from the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada to the mountain forests of central Mexico. Every year, these striking orange and black beauties land…
-
yellow
Today is Mother’s Day, the second biggest blessing of my life (the first being marrying the man who made me a mother). It also means I get a cappuccino in the morning, and I don’t have to cook. Total bliss. Psychology: Yellow is often associated with sunshine, happiness, and energy. It can evoke feelings of…
-
bauhaus
My youngest tore his ACL at a basketball tournament in LA, and isn’t that just like life? One minute you have one trajectory, and the next another. I had planned on taking a summer class at Quinnipiac to finish up my master’s, but now my life is revolving around a series of PT appointments. My…
-
lifeboost coffee
After building and running a coffee shop, my love for a good cup of coffee endures. Sadly due to health concerns, I have had to bid farewell to caffeine in my morning brew. Many decaf coffees undergo chemical processing, often resulting in a lack of boldness and flavor that leaves much to be desired. Thankfully,…
-
poetry
When I began this project, I had no idea that April is Poetry Month—quite a discovery! I love words. Poetry is art in its purest form of words. For well over a millennium, humans have been crafting poetry. Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words. — Robert…
-
to share, or not to share…
Well, thank you, ChatGPT. You and Austin Kleon, author of ‘Steal Like an Artist,’ agree that sharing one’s work is crucial. Here is one of my latest animated pieces, continuously morphing. I happily noticed improvements in my process, and as always, creativity begets more creativity. The ‘ducky’ inspired me to delve deeper into typographic exploration.…
-
central valley
When I’m out and about I often find myself feeling nostalgic about the Central Valley. Despite being aware of its drawbacks, I can’t help but appreciate living in a place where things grow! The sight of March blooms never fails to captivate me, and it’s something I never get tired of witnessing. Spanning approximately 20,000…
-
happy st patrick’s day
HOW TO: I love morphing animations, I find them fun to make and engaging to watch. Don’t be intimated, by After Effects, it is easy-peasy to bring your morphing animation from Procreate to After Effects. Follow these 10 easy steps: PROCREATE 1. Draw your morphing animation sequence 2. turn off your background layer 3. Click:…
-
module SEVEN: advanced motion
READING & WRITING: Blazer wraps up Animated Storytelling with four steps to getting your project out into the world. First, packaging your product by having a password protected site online to host your film. Next, revisit the importance of the hook, the tag, and the story of the film. As well as, new additions to…
-
module Six: interface motion
READING & WRITING: Chapter 10 of Animated Storytelling reminds me of a mom talking to her child before they leaves on a trip. Did you pack your toothbrush? Socks? Underwear? A jacket? Get your oil changed? Don’t forget to thank your host, etc. etc. It’s a chapter full of repeat reminders, tips, and encouragement. The…
-
module FIVE: motion for promotion
READING & WRITING: Animated Storytelling: Chapter 9 – Technique., revisits the idea of how do you want your audience to describe your project? Some techniques do a better job of telling different stories. For example, hand-drawn works well for, expressive, emotionally driven stories. While, stop motion is known for everything from quirky, magical, and emotionally…
-
module FOUR: production and post
READING & WRITING: When it comes to sound effects, Blazer warns that, “restraint is key.” Chapter 7 of Animated Storytelling suggests making a list of sound effects that you would like to add to your animation and then cut them in half. However, that does not mean sound is not important, on the contrary it is…
-
module THREE: stop motion I
READING & WRITING: Working backwards this week , Chapter 6, of Animated Storytelling Blazer suggest that great artist have become great because they had the courage to, “be honest about what skills were needed to get to the next level.” Which brings me back to Chapter 5, Color Sense. If there is one thing that I…
-
module TWO: animating with AE
READING & WRITING: Ideas are not the problem. Ideas continue to bubble up, bubble up, bubble up. The problem, as Blazer put it is, “how much discipline they exercised in limiting their choices.” This is when it would be helpful to take the time to map out the beats in the storyline using 15-30 cards, hitting each beat.…
-
module ONE: basic motion
READING & WRITING: From the introduction of Animated Storytelling, I could sense this was going to be a read, and stop, read and stop kind of book. This is about you gaining the confidence to tell the stories you’ve always wanted to tell and becoming the storyteller you were always meant to be. Liz Blazer…
-
after effects + procreate
I love the look of hand drawn illustrations = Procreate, but want to create movement without hours of frame by frame animation = After Effects. You don’t learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing, and by falling over. -Richard Branson
-
morphing animations
MORPH verb morphed; morphing; morphs transitive verb : to change the form or character of : TRANSFORM Morphing animations involve a smooth transition or transformation between two or more distinct shapes, objects, or images. This technique creates a seamless blending of characteristics from one form to another, resulting in a visually captivating and fluid animation. Here are my latest morphing animations,…
-
the red cross
the most extensive humanitarian network in the world. transcending borders providing aid without regard to any particular side. Recently I have been working through my second course taught by Yukai Du, Animated Transitions with 2D Illustration & After Effects, on Domestika. This class included several brainstorming exercises to practice transitions in After Effect. I gained…
nikolaidesigns.com 