MS No. 16 - It's In His Eyes

It's In His Eyes

The point in which Major Friedkin realizes Nick's heart is 110% focused on becoming a cop came one late fall night when she found the fox still running several laps after a particularly strenuous day. He'd found his groove on the track, and despite looking just a bit tired he showed no signs of stopping. Or wanting to. But it was no coincidence that this new determination came after a visit by some of Precinct 1's best officers several days ago. 

Of them, Officer Judy Hopps.

It's no surprise. The two were well-known from the Nighthowlers case. But she'd been watching him lately; her visit fired the rookie up. She was a small ball of energy, sure. But there was something else between them. It was in his eyes.

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You know when you're in the middle of life and you get caught up in a song? I've been stuck on "In Your Eyes" by Kylie Minogue since this past week and this was the result.

This is the first sketch I've done since returning home. It's always easy for me to return to the slowly evolving world that is "Little Things", which I don't expect to release until probably spring of next year. The goal is to use this world to jump into animation once I have the tools I need. I animate scenes from this secret series in my head daily, and I would love to see it come to life! 

Here, I've tried to explore the dynamic between Nick and Gid visually (modified hair for Gid, determining their coats, their individual characteristics, etc) following what I've learned at the conference using gesture - Nick's being more self-assured and poised while Gideon is slightly less sure and awkward, reflecting both of their emotional states. This wasn't always true though. Gid is easy to shrug off as the bully character in the film, but that's only because we don't see what lead up to it like we did with Nick's cynical attitude. He's not a major character, but it's important to know your characters like the back of your hand I'm finding.

This was done while taking a breather at the capsule hotel; the top-right sketch was cleaned up today. The teeny-tiny kit is very loosely based off a character of AnsemD's and resides in Nick's primary residence - The Fox Village*. She's a troublemaking little rascal, but Nick loves her dearly.

Though I took my iPad and sketchbook with me to Tokyo, I was sucked into the world of SIGGRAPH and all the amazing artist and creators I witnessed there (thanks go out to AnsemD who gave me a DA membership; scheduled posts would've never been possible for the Christmas pieces). I was inspired to challenge myself and grow my skills to their level. I was able to purchase very good English-language art books on the fundamentals, as well as art books, and I now have my whole winter break planned out. I'm taking the art courses. I'm re-learning the fundamentals. I'm shooting for dynamic gestures, better colors, learning about writing. The goal is to be a GREAT illustrator and storyteller. That won't take one winter break, but every effort counts. Because,..you know...

...it's the little things that make a big difference.

(I had to say it!)

Last page, which is actually the oldest. Mauricio (Browntable, "Return to Zootopia")  asked about having a poster potentially made for RTZ's full release on YouTube on a recent stream. This is not it - this was me getting carried away after seeing the comment XD. I started my little art journey by re-illustrating select stills from his project; now several months later he's ending his project and I might be a part of that. That's quite humbling. I've always admired the fact that he had a dream and actually set out to make it while still in school, regardless of how ambitious it was. I wish I'd been as brave back then. Perhaps I'd be at Disney now....probably not XD. But you miss 100% of the shots you don't take!

We may see more of these later, along with work for a new, secret project!