Plumtv.com 10 second animation spot

The challenge is to "Create a mood that brands Plum as THE on-air and online destination for an “insider’s guide” to our markets, in some of the most extraordinary and beautiful locations in the country." -Plumtv.com creative brief

That said, I want to give the viewer the idea that while these beautiful plum blossoms are blooming and splattering in paint all over the tree, a few of the flowers begin to morph into a fashion figure, people playing sports, or the silhouette of exotic destinations.

The biggest challenge for me this week is going to be tackling the production side of this piece, creating the backgrounds, the illustrator artwork, hand-drawn art and watercolor washes. I need to be diligent each day to stay on track so I am going to do my best to post my progress here each day to keep me going!

Through out the week I will be creating all new artwork for the 10 second spot I am designing and animating. One of the things that stood out for me in the creative brief was a tie into the seasons, which right now is going to be spring. While pondering spring themes and upon further investigation, I learned a little bit about how the plum grows on small trees and actually has really beautiful blooms each season in the early spring. In keeping with ideas listed in the Plum creative, my concept quickly became all about "Blooming", "Spring" and "Spring renewal" and "living life to the fullest... bloom". In my storyboard everything is blooming: culture, the arts and out door sports.

click image to enlarge

The first frame starts with a close up of a plum flower bud blooming into a beautiful plum flower. The camera zooms back quickly to show other flowers blooming and the branches of a tree start to draw themselves onto the screen. Some of the flowers that bloom are represented by a quick splattering of paint onto the screen. The camera continues to pull back but then quickly starts to pan left to right. While the camera is panning and the flowers are blooming suddenly several of the flowers begin to morphing into different elements that represent the Plum brand, fashion, outdoor sports, and beautiful locations. As they pass by on the screen they go into full bloom showcasing each element of Plum and then morph back into smaller blooms on the tree. In the end, the blooms fly away from the tree leaving one plum that the camera quickly zooms into as it rotates to reveal the final Plumtv logo.

Spring projects are in the air!

The art of becoming, being and continuing to work as a freelance artist is an endeavor that is never to be taken lightly. It is a 7AM-7PM affair and that's just on a good day. I am often tearing myself away from the computer at the pleas of a hungry cat and a hungrier boyfriend while asking myself the same question each time, "...but have I done enough for today?" The answer is always NO! To make it work, I must always muster as much energy and excitement for finding the business, planning the business, writing proposals, scheduling time-lines and invoices as I would for creating the actual artwork itself. It is a true full-time commitment... but you know what? ...I love it!

I have a bunch of new animation, graphic design and illustration projects that I'm really excited about for these up-coming spring months so I should be pretty busy here and I want to keep updating as much as possible. I'm working my way into the 6th full month of working as a completely independent artist and learning so much as I go along. Thus far, I've had as many bouts of bad days/weeks as I've had good days, but recently after securing work with a few newer clients, I'm starting to feel a sense of "this is really happening". I've got a lot of work ahead! Time for more coffee!

The Hello Project

Well, hello to you! A unique on-line social collaboration www.thehelloproject.com makes it fun to say "Hello" and introduce your art to the world with 3x3 post-it note. I love it!

Bulldog Puppy Portrait

I was thinking this afternoon about how I always enjoy painting and drawing my friend's pets. This painting, (watercolor and ink wash) was created quite a while ago when an english bulldog breeder friend of mine slipped me a picture of this puppy. I can't remember if I meant to give it to her or not and have since lost touch. It has traveled around with me every where and is now currently hanging in our living room. The original idea was to challenge myself to paint a subject that was white, "paint white" I told myself. Then the form of the dog revealed itself through a careful study of the shadows created by the folds in his flabby puppy skin. From there, the idea of the pet portrait just took on a life and personality of it's own ;)

New Ofleb Productions Logo Wink ;)

More fun with Karen Belfo and Ofleb Productions in Montreal. Cartoonist Karim Terouz created this original logo design for Ofelb Productions and I had a great time giving it a little life with Flash and AfterEffects.