Uploaded May 2018 | Updated September 2026, 2 days ago

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Well, I did it. A showcase of almost every project I did in class from each class during my 1st year studying ART/ANIMATION! (Now after seeing my work you understand what I meant about "surviving").

*Please Note: This is not a professional reel or anything! It is just a record of what I did because I am a sentimental fool and its what I do. Most of this stuff probably shouldn't see the light of day....it sucks. To confess, I am trying to get over my fear of showing my work to the public. (Honestly posting online is easier than the years’ worth of public critiques I went through. At least I don't have to see or listen to you laugh at me here.)
I'm only proud of maybe 4-6 things. 3D is more my strong suit and I am specifically majoring in Effects Animation. The way the SVAD program is setup though, the first 1-2 years is heavily 2D/Art focused. (Next year I'll get into much more 3D work; I'm so relieved!)
I am curious as to if any of the fellow animation students who I've heard from that follow me recognize some of this stuff and the Anim principles!! But if ANYONE has questions, please feel free to ask! :)

Now to break this down:
● 2D Art/Design:
This class was the 1st of what I call my "weird" classes. We did a lot of strange assignments in class, but the core of it was to learn "craftsmanship" and draw/think non-representational. You can tell what my state of mind was by the Metaphor project at this point.)

● Intro to 3D - This class was the introductory class into the 3D software: Maya! The main program used in the industry. (It makes Vegas look like Mother-Goose in learning.) Ahh, I loved this class! It was my only none drawing class that semester. My escape! None of it is in order. Everything I modeled/textured. (Except the Build Kit, that was given assets.) Oh and ya might have to pause the vid for the still life stuff...I was going with the music ya know.

● Principles of Animation 1: This class was by far the make you or break you course. And for someone who struggles at drawing - ITS DEATH!! (P6 with Dopey, crushed my soul!! OMG, I wish I could tell that story if the description would allow.) Needless to say, I did many, many, many, MANY resubmits in this class. Our year was the first to go completely digital so all animation was drawn on Wacom Cintiqs in TV Paint Pro 11 which is a digital drawing software. (Thank Thor too cause I could not have done this on standard paper flipping like old school. *bows*)
This class does open your eyes and allows you 1st hand to appreciate the 2D anim movies and wonder how they ever came to be. Seriously. To make one good drawing is one thing: But to do it over and over, and OVER yet staying consistent in volume/character is mad skills! (Reminder: 24fps = 24 drawings a second. My hand hurt)
Now these ARE in order. The "P1", "P2" stands for the Project # not principle. The Principles are in italics. There are officially 12 Principles in Animation but at my school, our Disney professor added a couple, so we had 14 Principles to learn.

● Drawing 1:
Just a basic College drawing course. Nothing special. I took it before at my previous college but they still made me do it again here. I know why....

● Principles of Animation 2: A continuation of what we learned last semester, only building on our skills. We [the class] spent the last month of the semester working together to make a 2D short film. We succeed! Our professor also squeezed in some 3D work, which made me happy, so we did 3D versions of several of our 2D projects.

● 3D Art/Design:
Now this was Pt2 of my weird classes, instead of drawing, we had to physically build it. I hated this class. It gave me so much anxiety; I never knew what to expect walking into it each week. There were 5 projects total but I only showed 2 here because: The other was my practicum final with the Moana vid, the others I can’t remember, lol!

● Drawing in Motion:
This class was the most helpful drawing class I've taken. It wasn't easy (Though It may look it). The idea is to capture life/movement in the gesture, using energy, rhythm, and FORCE. (Yes, Star Wars puns were heavily used.) Surprisingly we had to memorize a lot of anatomy because my teacher believes knowing what/where the muscles are helps you draw them. He is right, I am not at that level of ability to do so pleasingly. For the final we had to make a humanoid character + skeleton + muscular system for them.

● The final class is my Effects Animation class!! This was a small Senior course but I am technically a Junior so I could take it early. I am so grateful to cause it was my favorite class so far! It was broken down into: Cloth, Rigid Bodies, Destruction, Particles, Hair, and Fluids. None of this shown was in any order btw. I can see myself doing this for a living though...particularly elemental or cloth effects.

Anywho, thats the story of my life during the past year. *falls face down in the mud*