Accepted in Animation Mentor!

I have just received an email that says:

"Congratulations Fall Student!

You have been accepted into the Fall Term for 2009 for the Advanced Studies in Character Animation program at Animation Mentor! "

So I am in! :)

New challenge?

Still unemployed, even when my reel was liked and I got a job in Asturias... but I rejected it: now I have a boyfriend I have to look after. He is creating a videogames company in Castellón and I didn´t feel like leaving him here and seeing him only at Christmas or something like that. It was a difficult decision, but I finally made up my mind and decided to stay here.

Now I am making arrangements to sign up to Animation Mentor. It is the course I always wanted to do. If everything goes well and they accept me, I should be starting the 28th of September. Let's see what happens. ;)

Encouragement

There is nothing more encouraging when you are pursuing a dream than witnessing how a friend gets hers. It is amazing how determination and bravery can get what fear cannot.

I am so happy that you, Mari, have got your dream. Watching you being so successful, I feel strong and I am sure that your example will be my inspiration forever.

Thank you for being my friend. :)

First attempt

Well, my reel is still not finished, but I sent what I had to a company located in Valencia. This company has an awesome portfolio, and I thought they wouldn´t want me because I am only a junior animator, with so many things to learn and very little experience. But I had to try, because the company is very near from where I currently live. So I sent my CV.

Well, I was right. They where very kind, but they rejected my application. I was not good enough yet. They say I have talent, and I think they are really nice to say that. Nobody forces them to say that, so it must mean that it is true... I guess. It is inevitable to feel a bit sorry for myself, but do not worry, I will keep on trying. Not only this company, of course, but other ones. My reel needs improving, and I have to manage to get better quality in as little time as possible. It is hard if nobody teaches me, but I will do my best. It has only been the first attempt. :)

Preparing the reel

Three months ago I came to Virtual Toys to work as an animator. I really enjoyed working there, my fellows were so funny and so professional at the same time! I learnt a lot, laughed a lot and worked a lot. When you work in videogames, it seems that you are always in a hurry. There were deadlines almost every week, so we had to finish our tasks in very little time. I managed to play my role (even when I was the newest) and they were happy with my work. Unfortunately, the project I was working in was cancelled, so now I am getting my demoreel ready to look for another job as an animator. Let´s see how things come!

;)

Vectorial drawing

I've made this drawing this morning.

I really like vectorial drawings, they are so clean and delicate. I should do more, so I will try to include every now and then a new one in this blog. This is for the new website I am designing, my own one, and hopefully it is not very bad. I will change it when I make a better one. :D

Illustrator is the program I have used in this ocasion. I am more used to FreeHand and Inkscape, and I find Illustrator not so intuitive as this two, but I can manage quite well and maybe in a while I won´t miss the simplicity of FreeHand anymore.

Hope you enjoy the drawing.

I'll be back soon! :)

Trying to get the correct timing

Here you can see again another bouncing balls. As I said, they force me to use lots of animation principles, so they are a wonderful exercise. Next bouncing balls probably will be alive, will have a tail and... yeah, they will present different variations, to keep on learning. That´s the point of this all. :)

I am getting there! :D