Crumbs Upload Date

Some overdue news because I've been super crazy busy with super crazy all sorts. I believe some of you have wanted to know this for a while...

That's right, this is actually going to be a thing. Crumbs will begin updating on the 15th September. Now I just need to keep on top of the buffer, I haven't managed to finish as many pages as I would have liked.

You can ask me questions about the project or anything at my tumblr blog, Where the Crumbs are Scattered.

I'm both excited and nervous to get to work on this, I hope I can keep on top of the update schedule...

The Graduate

Well, that's it. Fd Animation and BA Hons Creative Practice graduate right here. I'm officially no longer a student.

Yesterday, I was asked what it felt like to be out of education and honestly, I didn't really have an answer. Well, I did but not really a definite non-rambly one. But for the time being, all I can think of is how weird it'll be to not have to attend school in September. For the longest time, I always had that consistency in my life, whether I enjoyed it or not. But I was familiar with it. Now it's just... gone. S'weird, man.

I dunno, maybe I'm reading too much into this but it's kind of a lot to take in. I think it's because this year I've had a lot of big changes happen in my life and it gets a bit overwhelming. It's not that I want things to stay the same, far from it. I want to face new experiences and see where life takes me. But it's also quite a lot to take in and losing those things you were once familiar and comfortable with can be a bit daunting. 

But at the same time, I'm also excited and looking forward to the next chapter in life. I know for a fact that I'm excited to start working properly on Crumbs. I'll be in Spain for the next week and I'm planning on bringing my sketchbook so that I can get some pigeon sketches and doodles done and maybe even plan some more parts of the story if inspiration strikes. But I'm not going to force it and stress myself out. As well as this, I gotta find me a job as well as work on setting up the company with Ashleigh and Rachel. Ooh, the possibilities! Scary but exciting, as life should be I suppose.

Anyway, now that that's out of the way, here are a couple of photos on graduation day. Apologises in advance for those who faint at seeing my face. Either from lust or disgust, your call.

Pre-robes.
My dress IS greenish, I don't care what Kat says.

Robes acquired. Stupid yellow and blue thing
kept sliding back, ugh

Me seconds away from death
(I got better.)

"My daughter is graduating, DEAL WITH IT."
This is probably the only time I will be as tall as my Mum.
Unless she bullies persuades me to wear heels again...

Dad kept accidentally choking me with the blue and yellow thing. I think
he resents how much my course/graduation cost.
Just wait 'til I earn squillions with my new animated series Dad, it'll pay for itself!

I love you Mum and Dad.

I'll have the actual professional photograph come along in a few weeks, along with a graduation t-shirt. And I now have this years grey alumni hoodie to go with the navy one I got at my Fd Animation graduation. I like hoodies.

Anyway, I'll have to start job hunting and serious comic developing very soon but from now until I get back from Spain, I'll be taking it easy for a while. I've noticed myself getting worked up from lack of ideas and I know forcing it'll just make things even harder. So I'm gonna calm my tits, relax for a while and if I get some new ideas, I'll go with it if or when that happens.

... You clicked on it, didn't you? God, you're shameless.

Have a good week, guys.

Final Show Show Reel

Wow I am literally the worst; I meant to have this entry up like, a few days or so after the last one. I don't have an excuse, I'm just a lazy turd.

Anyway, lets cut to the chase. Since the last entry, a few things have changed. For example, none of us were particularly enamoured with the company name and so that is going through yet another change. We haven't settled on anything definite just yet but aim to do so as soon as humanly possible. I'll be speaking to Ashleigh and Rachel at some point on Skype tonight so maybe this issue will be resolved then. Not making any promises though.

We're making some progress with deciding the exact things we want to achieve and creating business plans, as well as personal goals (in my case, as you all probably know, this will be Crumbs) and we always have more things to add to the list with every discussion we have so as far as I'm concerned, things are going quite well on this front. Of course some things still need to be organised before business can really take off. There's a lot of stuff to consider.

So yeah, over a month later after Final Show, quite a few things have changed. But it occurred to me that I never actually put the Virtual Magic show reel onto the blog. I asked Rachel and Ashleigh if they'd mind me doing this and they said it was fine, considering it's mainly a blend of our individual projects anyway to illustrate our individual animation skills. So while this company name won't be a thing anymore, hopefully you'll still enjoy the show reel. We'll have our own brand new company show reel in the future but until then, there's this.

As for Crumbs, it's getting there. I've been doing more planning and writing than actual comic page creating though. I think I might need to forget working on a chronological order and just create the pages I see clearly in my head and then work around them, if that makes sense.

I'm not sure if I mentioned this before but I changed the design and look of the 'site'. It seemed much too busy and distracting before with the bright character filled background. Now, it's a plainer design and looks more like an actual webcomic site would. I'm considering creating a side blog for people with questions about the comic but that's probably something to worry about once the comic starts uploading. Until then, I have the FAQ section although it currently features questions about myself artwise than the comic itself. That'll hopefully change once the comic actually starts.

To see for yourself, click on the 'Crumbs' link right at the top of the blog. You can't miss it.

Well, tomorrow is graduation. Gotta go practice walking in high heels some more. You all look like ants from up here...

Belated Final Show 2013 Write Up

I wanted to get this entry up the day after the exhibition but sheer laziness took over and then I wasn't able to find the cable to transfer pictures from the camera to my laptop. Still haven't found it, had to resort to using the memory card or whatever it is. I may be dumb and tired right now but this entry is late enough as it is so let's get to the pretty darn fuzzy pictures!

Here is basically what the Virtual Magic boards looked like.There was a bit of a kerfuffle because some of the artwork had been moved to different parts before we got to college. I wouldn't have minded at all if it was discussed with us beforehand but that wasn't the case. That said, they knew what they were doing and I can't deny that the boards still look good, although it does lead to some confusion on one board in particular.

Anyway yes, boards now.

First Board

You'll probably recognise the two pigeon related posters. The above is Rachel's project that she wants us as a studio to work on- Feathers of the Roc. The poster was supposed to have the title and logo on it but you can blame my dumb ass for that one. I didn't glue the poster on the mountboard right so it made the poster all air bubbly and sucky- not professional enough for a final show exhibition. I WAS CRIPPLED WITH GUILT. This is what the poster was SUPPOSED to look like.

FUCKING AIR BUBBLES YOU RUINED MY LIFE
Still looks quite good in person though.

Although the new poster is much brighter and shinier so no harm done, I guess. Just some confusion and we could always explain that.

We were going to have one piece from Ashleigh, one from Rachel and one from me at the front to show our individual skills and have people be brought in by that. However, our tutors felt that the use of colour would be more likely to attract people instead. Kind of sucks that both of my posters are at the front and Ashleigh's isn't but then again, she does get (mostly) her own wall...

Second Board

... Which probably caused a bit of confusion because Ashleigh's project is NOT Realmspawn. That is a webcomic that will be started up by Rachel. The character designs are all Ashleigh's and are related to The God Child Saga, her own story series. Then again, I suppose if people read the next board, they'd realise what characters belong to which story.

Third and Final Board

The top picture is a collaborative piece with all of our characters together. It was mainly to show the difference of our individual concepts together. Ruby and Snaps needs to be drawn more. Friggin' pigeons.

Beneath that are the individual plaques with a short synopsis of our individual projects, personal plaques with our 200 words of whatever we wanted to say and we see a big cut out of Ashleigh's character, Caelyn (which I HOPE I've spelt right. I'm sure she'll let me know. With her fists.)

HERE HE BE IN ALL HIS GLORY
Damn, them weapons are sharp.

We also had a small collection of business cards: individual and company based, Ashleigh's free badges, our portfolio, our shirt designs and the Crumbs comic pages.

Oh, and some cut out pigeons were hanging around the room here and there.
On their best behavior. They didn't even shit on anyone.

The night pretty much went the same as last year. Except I went around wearing the pigeon head a few times, much to the amusement of others. It's hard to talk, breathe, see or hear in that thing. But I was fine for the most part. Although I think I ran over an old man at that point.
The big drawing wall wasn't there this time, due to the fact that we were using the HD TV to show the animations instead of four back to back computers. That was a pity. I wanted to draw more tits.

... tee hee.

But anyway, the rest was quite familiar: discussing work with others and explaining concepts, making connections and meeting old friends from the Foundation degree. It was also cool seeing my friend Matt Harle, who is quite the editing pro. Check out his blog entry on the exhibition HERE if you want to see it from a different perspective.

Like last year, we also had screenings of our show reels and animations in the Space bar. They had been playing all day on the TV screen in the animation room but it was intense seeing it on the big screen. Especially with the Virtual Magic show reel with the music we used. I could feel the vibrations in my chest...
Speaking of, I was going to share the reel in this entry but I'm not sure if I'm able to just yet. If so, I'll upload a new entry in the next few days.
Oh, I didn't go out and get hammered this time. Instead, I went for a nice meal with Rachel and her family. Great place! Italian food is where it's at, yo. Fo shizzle. And other words.

I can't brain anymore. I need bed. I'll update hopefully more awake next time. And maybe with show reel! I'm really excited at the idea of sharing it.

If anyone reading this was at the exhibition, thanks so much for coming! And I hope you enjoyed the first seven pages of Crumbs if you got the chance to read it. Expect more September 15th.

Virtual Magic Studios at Final Show 2013

Do you want to pick up one of these Very Sexy Business Cards?

Very Sexy Hand not included.

Would you like to see someone wearing this giant pigeon head?

Spoiler Alert: It'll probably be me.

Would you like to read the first seven pages of Crumbs, MONTHS before it goes online?

As well as see this super nice poster?

Then get your adorable butts to Final Show 2013 at Mandela Building of Rye Hill Campus at Newcastle College!

The exhibition will be TOMORROW Monday 10th June from 6pm to 9pm, where we will be screening our show reels and animations on the big screen at the Space Bar at 7:30pm. There will be drinks and music also, which is pretty friggin' sweet.

I will be showing my Crumbs work on the Virtual Magic Animations boards, alongside my future colleagues Ashleigh Edmonds and Rachel Rutherford. You should also expect some very sexy shirt designs, free badges and of course the work of Ashleigh and Rachel- concepts from the God Child Saga, Realmspawn and what will be our first huge project Feathers Of The Roc. Yeah you'll have heard of that one before. But due to Rachel's attention to detail and care over her linework (hey, it does pay off! Check out the quality of her work, srsly) she has asked if we can use it as a studio project, having all of us work on it to get it done. Hey, works for me! I'm one of the many folks that want to see it finished.

Screw it, I'm gonna share the trailer. Again. This will be what we'll be helping Rachel with. It's awesome. Yep.

... Oh, uh, yeah, that surprise I mentioned a few blog entries back that I was putting off telling everyone- Ashleigh, Rachel and I are going to be putting together our own animation studio: Virtual Magic Studios.

Logo designed by Ashleigh Edmonds

We aim to create all sorts of animations, varying from genre to genre- some will be serious, others funny and some just to explore different animation methods. We will also be creating shirts and graphics that will soon be available for people to purchase on Streetshirts.co.uk and Redbubble.com, some of the designs for which you can see at the exhibitions! As well as the Crumbs Birdbrained Collection.

Did I mention you can read the first seven pages of Crumbs months before the internet will ever get to? Because you totally can. It's not going online until mid-September, folks. I suggest you take advantage of this.

The pigeons want you to.

Now, as we are technically part of the BA Hons Creative Practice group, we are currently unsure whether or not we have to stay the entire week. The FDAnimation is only on for the Monday and should us Level 6 chaps have to stay with our boards for the week, it's uncertain that the screenings/drinks will still be available. But either way, I'll keep you all updated. And of course, I'll upload a blog entry with pictures for those curious later this week about how the exhibition went.

I'll also be sure to update with more information about Virtual Magic as well, with Show reel, blog and social network details.

I hope you'll be able to make it! On behalf of Virtual Magic Studios, I thank you for your support.

Oh yeah, this'll be my plaque pic. I had to get a pug in somehow.

Crumbs: More Concept Art and Good News!

I was intending to create more concept artwork after handing in my dissertation and late development but once again I was hit with a wave of laziness and didn't do it. Very annoying of me.

But I have done one piece that people following the Facebook page will be aware of, as it is the timeline header. I wanted to develop Lilac more and had intended on drawing a lot of character interaction concepts mainly involving her reactions and relationships to and with the characters. Sadly this wasn't meant to be, at least not for the time being. But I did manage to capture a large part of her personality- the nurturing, caring side that Tweak brings out in her.

I had to use a photo as reference for the pigeons and also to experiment with the different background, not merely using the shape tool this time. I also wanted to show Tweak more puffed up and happy as he is quite skinny and nervous a lot of the time. It was a nice change of scene and I think the colours all work together nicely to create a nice serene image. If anyone has any critique or advice, please share!

In other news, the comic has begun.

As in the pages have begun being made. Like, months later than I planned. But in honesty I'm kind of glad it took this long as the idea I had five months ago sucks in comparison to the one I have now. I've had time to properly develop things, I suppose. So I guess it's worked out for the best. Even if I had to suffer through icky poopy essays, ew.

I have two pages done so far and have emailed them to my friend Rachel for some critique. I don't know how many I'll have done in time for Friday (the last ever hand in day, btw) but as long as it's enough to show the comic kicking off, it'll be good enough for me, and hopefully for the college as well.

As for the comic's official release date, I'm planning for sometime after the 20th of July. This is to give me enough time to build up a decent buffer of pages to upload to the tumblr site, time to share some stories at the exhibitions and also time to spend a week in Spain with my family without having to worry about the comic. Once that holiday in Spain is over, it'll be job applications everywhere, animation based work and Crumbs pages constantly!

So yeah, that's the basic plan. But I hope to have the exact date soon once I know exactly when we'll be back from Spain. If you want to see some of the pages and concepts before they appear on the site, you'll have to come to the exhibitions Crumbs will be featured at, alongside some other work that I still need to talk about but can't currently.

Thanks for reading and I hope you're as excited as I am for Crumbs!

Design Forums Competition

I have been a member of designforums.co.uk for a few months now and was asked if I could make a blog entry about their new contest launching today. Certainly sounds like a fun idea, I might enter myself. Hopefully any designer folks of any media reading this now will consider entering as well!

I'll let Tony and Sean take it from here!

Contest details


- The competition will run for six weeks in total (two week application stage, four week runtime)
- The application stage will require people to submit Name, DOB, Location, their area of design and one random word to the pot.
- Two words will be chosen at random to form a fictional company name for the design brief.
- Entrants are then free to create anything they like, from branding, through to illustration or video promotions for the fictional company.
- When the entries are submitted, entrants must also submit a small (paragraph) brief along with their entry, explaining how they interpreted the company name.

The main competition stage will run for four weeks, and at the end, the entries will be collected, given to our guest judges and evaluated.

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CLICK TO SEE THE PRIZES

The winner will receive;

1 x Wacom Intuous 4 XL Tablet

1 x Corel Painter 12 

500 x premium business cards supplied by Stationery Direct


Second place will receive;

500 x premium business cards supplied by Stationery Direct

1 x years FREE gold hosting supplied by OneSixTwo.net


3rd place will receive;

500 x premium business cards supplied by Stationery Direct

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If anyone has any questions at all, please don't hesitate to get in touch with us.

Thank you for your continued support and we hope to see you around the forum.

Tony (tony@designforums.co.uk)
Sean (sean@designforums.co.uk)
www.designforums.co.uk

Well, I'm intrigued. Think I'll give it a shot! And of course if you're a creative yourself, hopefully you'll consider doing so as well.

As of right now, after weeks of writing dissertations and development, I'm off to plan comic pages and animations... FINALLY.