That is a Deep Dish.

" Keep your head up, but not in the clouds! "  -Pizza delivery man

Another week, and other slew of works, enjoy!

 

They just want me for my Body (of Work)

"Animation is like cooking soup, you can't add to many or too little ingredients. Balance the Principles for the tastiest results." Bruno Tachinno

   Well, another week in the books, and the pressure is really starting to mount. Portfolios requirements have been assigned and only 3 weeks left to complete them, its going to be a hard home stretch. I am also looking for summer jobs downtown this year, which is a different beast to tackle altogether.

   One of my teachers and I had an interesting industry chat last night discussing how the animation industry gets royally screwed over by people working for cheap/ free. 

 I could go on and create a wall of text, but there is someone more qualified then I who makes the point just as clear as I ever would have. Ladies and Gents, Mr. Steven Silver .

   Intense, yes, but very valid. The point that struck me was when he mentions other fields. A plummer, and electrician, a banker, all professionals that do what they are trained to do and get payed properly, why does it have to be any different with artists?

   My teach was in the same situation with a college of his at work, who apparently on a lunch meeting was criticizing him for wanting more pay then he felt was right. '55 a year is enough' the college said, but my teacher retaliated stating that if he was to lower his prices, then the payment for all those underneath him would take a hit as well, inadvertently making it that much harder for us all to make a decent living.

  Moral of all this, don't sell yourself short. Be confident, but not cocky, and you will be the working professional self sustained artist you have always wanted to be.

Have a good one!

Jacob

A Crood Awakening

"Somewhere between work and play, great art takes place." Rob Corbett - animatingyourlife.com

      Its been a really crazy week at max the mutt. With week 8 of twelve now under wraps, second year is nearing its curtain and refuses to go out with nothing but a bang.

     Tuesday March 5th was the day that our school was treated to a private showing of The Croods, Dreamworks new movie directed by Chris Sanders and Kirk De Micco whose past works include Lilo and stick and How to train your Dragon. The two intended to hit the stage after the movie for some Q and A, however, that due to bad weather they were stuck in Chicago, and that we were to watch the movie by itself.

      Hearing this, many sad faces entered, but after 98 mins of Croods, none left!

       I was pleasantly surprised with the film, great well structured story and nice character arcs, coupled with the snappy but subtle Dreamworks animation you might expect. There were some amazing colourful environments and creatures that seemed to be pulled straight from prehistoric dreamland.

      We couldn't dwell long after the film though; early next morning a news crew from CP24 was arriving at Max the Mutts College campus to report.

      So I did what any sane person would do... dawned a hair tie like Guy and asked if the storm was going to hit us. Here's the clip:

CP24 at Max the Mutt

      .....So if your, I dunno, in need of a low voice for VA, or just need a baritone for your barbershop quartet, drop me a line... or something.

      But in all serious it was a lot of fun, and I hope the school getting heard by larger names will bring in the business it deserves.

Alright enough words. Hears what my brain told my hand to do this week:

     
     Sayonara!

Jacob Whyte
jacob_whyte@ yahoo.ca

Don't let the Ambassador hit you on the way out!

I'm sorry for the title, I really am.

Salut, mon amis, I am back again with a slew of art and a little news. About a week ago, my roommate and loving sibling ordered Chinese food and gave me his fortune cookie. I'm always disappointed with fortune cookies today, as may of them are not fortunes and more life advice. Only this cookie had a very applicable message inside....

Literally the day after I got this message, our animation course director Tina Seemann approached me  asking if I would like to act as a student ambassador for the Toronto Animation Arts Festival International, informing students of upcoming contests and events, as well as earning industry opportunities myself.

Life can be so awesome sometimes!

Anyway, without further adieu, my Jack in the Box animation assignment from last week, and a slew of new works:

 

That's all for now, Peace!

A Hop, Skip, and a JumpRope

   "Work to your strengths. If you don't know what your strengths are, think of tasks that irritate you when other people cant do it." Rob Corbett.


Good evening everyone, unfortunately this weeks supply of art work has been postponed as my camera has decided to run out of batteries. So for the time being, I'll leave you with my first completed assignment for second semester:

JumpRope

 As far as my expectations for second semester, so far they have been pretty much accurate. A large workload with some classes I very much enjoy while others I stay in for the check mark. Recently I have had my eyes opened to ultimately the best part of being a student at Max the Mutt, something that I wish had been explained to  me when I first started the program....

The school is what you want it to be.

This past weekend I finally was able to get in contact with my next door neighbors. Their names are Dan and Kim, both of whom attended and graduated Max the Mutts' Concept Art program. They were more then willing to give their input on the school as well as tips to keep ahead of the load. The most important of this advice? To repeat a previous post, have a specific career goal in mind and focus your efforts majorly upon it. This apply's to every class, every assignment, every lesson, and its up to you how you use them to get yourself closer towards your goal.

  Myself as an example, I want to animate. I want to make characters not only move, but live, breathe, and perform. I want to see my name on a feature credit reel, after having annoyed the entire audience with my perfect mimicry of the persona(s) I had worked on.

  So what do I do to make the school cater towards my goals? Prioritize Animation, Cartooning and life drawing class before all others, and save work in more traditional drawing classes until after. Its not that I don't find them useful, but in a world dominated by 3D animation, its tough to believe Ill ever have to draw a perfect portrait at the office.

PS: The fine gentleman I have been quoting has a blog that details a lot of what we discuss in class. If you want a look into the theatrical mind of Rob Corbett, click here .

Have a good one!

2 for 2

Hello again, here is this weeks work from a variety of classes, enjoy!

Drawing Day and Night

"Somewhere in the middle of play and work, great art takes place." Rob Corbett

  Wow. It happened again. One blink and a whole week has vanished. The first week back to school has come and gone as abruptly as I should expect, and with it lots of new work to share.

The cartoon characters above were drawn from stills of Disney Pixars 'Day and Night'. An awesome short with a really novel concept.

Enjoy!