"Secrets"

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"-The greats weren’t great because at birth they could paint, the greats were great because they paint a lot.”
-Macklemore

"Danny whats the secret, Danny I thought you were going to go deep into cool tricks, Danny you told me things I already new, I was looking for something that would help me out, Danny this stuff blows."

       The first line above says it all. The lines following the first quote show ignorance in its full glory. Many times I'll come across people learning to draw/animate/storyboard and I always have some students coaxing me to reveal secrets on how artist become so good. I'll say this again and again: There are no secrets, there is no gene that make people better artist than others, there is no epiphany one must have and from that moment they are gods.

        How does one get better at catching a baseball, How does one get better at making rice, how does one get better at playing video games, how does one person get better at creating art? 

YOU DO IT A LOT.        Done, there you go, that is apparently 'the big' secret :) bc nobody knows this. Practicing and repetition will make you better and faster. Completing one student film or 2 assignments in a semester will not cut it. Sure, some people can pick up the trade faster than other students but that does not mean becoming a great artist is out of anyones grasp. There are people at Disney and Pixar who are not natural artists. With their hard work and determination they BECAME great artists.  

Thats my little rant of the day. :D

       Oh and if you are looking for opportunities to learn, I will share you two links for two online Lectures/workshops I gave a while back. I think the site is still charging for them but once you pay you keep all the material FOR LIFE. True Story.

The first link is: The Art of Visual Storytelling 
http://skl.sh/16i3Ze9
This lecture/workshop goes over the fundamentals of visual storytelling and breaks that down to its most basic elements. And by breaking visual storytelling down you gain more insight on how a visual can communicate an emotion. This one if definitely safe for those with no art background. 

The second link is: Constructing a Story: advance visual story telling
http://skl.sh/19yLtmt

       In this lecture/workshop I go in depth, and go as basic as I possibly can to break down what story really is and what makes good stories into great stories. Even though this has the word advance in the title it really is accessible for all ages and skill levels. After this class I guarantee you will never look at another movie or read a book the same way again. 


Enjoy and thanks a lot

Who Am I and What Am I Doing?

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Here's a little splurg about me, my classes and other cool things      

        I've never really introduced myself!!, I realized I started this blog and never really told you anything about who I am. I just started typing post and dishing out knowledge like a stranger giving out free candy to kids. If you haven't noticed I have been taking a break from this blog because I have been traveling and teaching on the side ALL WHILE working crunch time here at Walt Disney Animation Studios. I have a grand wealth of new posts and will try to post all of them out every 3-4 days. But let me start of this blitz off post with a long over due introduction of me.

ME:

       My name is Daniel but my friends call me Danny (I wonder if this means I'm going to start meeting random people who call me Danny at conventions now...) I grew up in a corner of San Diego, California where it wasn't the best of neighborhoods. I had a single mom, one brother (that I knew about) and grandparents that didn't speak English. I knew more people who have been to prison than had been to college (or even rarer: had college degrees!) Typical for my part of town but I loved it because it was all I knew.
        I never knew I wanted to draw as a living but it was something I did as a hobby. I think I drew more because people wanted to see me draw rather than the act of drawing actually interesting me. But soon I began to like it. I soon found out, "oh my gawd, I CAN EXPRESS MYSELF (which usually happens around 2nd grade and you keep drawing hearts and stick figures of girl you like on the margins of your homework) :) At one point around Jr. High I believe I even did flip books out of sticky notes and eventually I liked that so much I would duck tape multiple sticky notes together to make epic sticky-note flip books.(most which were of toilet humor and other atrocities which would star my friends. I hope they never see the light of day!)
          If it wasn't for my art teachers that DROVE me to Laguna College of Art and Design for a portfolio day I would of never went to college. While growing up I could never imagine how one could make a living off drawing. I thought all cartoon shows were lone projects made by one artist in their basement. I believed movies and animated films weren't art, they were just things that would mysteriously appeared at theaters for all to see. College was never a REAL possibility  it was a void because I didn't know what college was or meant, it was a big "Question Mark". Because of the extra care my teachers gave me I ended up at California College of the Arts were I was exposed to so much. Soon I switched majors from Painting to Animation. You should of seen my face when I figured out that those flip books I did in Jr. High, were the same way animated movies were made. I wasn't amazed or surprised, I was thunder struck! (Hahaha At one point I asked, "Whats animation paper, why can't you just use computer paper?")
         Soon I landed an Internship at Pixar where I learned computer animation for the first time and a few years later I found myself at Walt Disney Animation Studios. When I first started working I will be the first to admit I had no perspective. I had no perspective that I was at Pixar, what Pixar was or even meant, I had no idea who was who, I even didn't have a clue what was a blog! I was a very, very, VERY green young kid (19-20 years old). I had some growing pains adjusting to Pixar and finding out what studio life meant and how one was expected to act and perform. Thank fully I had amazing mentors such as Mark Walsh, Andrew Gordon and Andy Beal who never gave up on me and gave me the best introduction to animation one could ask for. Disney was a fresh start, a chance to learn from a different style and I'm loving it. I left a lot of friends back north in Oakland and San Francisco that I miss a lot and hope to return one day.
         I found myself pursuing teaching on the side because I was amazed at how much knowledge there is out here and how inaccessible it is! Especially for kids that come from my sort of back ground. I'm always amazed at how much is not taught in schools and how many bad habits are taught. I don't hope to change the world, but at least I can  do my part in giving a little back and helping who I can just like those who helped me. Right now I keep busy with this blog, teaching on Skillshare.com and by working at Walt Disney Animation Studios. I consistently work on my own work (don't ask me when bc I don't know how I find the time!!). I paint when I can, I love to write stories and do story boards, I always try to collaborate with other artist when I can. And of course I go out and act a fool like everyone my age should :) .

_________________________________________________


So there! A little bit about who's been writing all these post! Below is information about what I teach and a little insight of my trips abroad. 
TRAVELING:
 Its always nice to travel! I went down to mexico and landed in Guadalajara and road tripped to the coast for a while, Traveling gives you perspective of who you are and the world around you. here are some photos I took while down there
 


MY CLASS:

My class is called CONSTRUCTING A STORY: Advanced Visual Storytelling. Any one can sign up and it's $20 for a lot of goodness. And even if you don't have time for the class, you get access to the material and lectures for life (please return upon in case of death, I'M KIDDING) Email me for a discount code or just to say hi @ daniel.gonzales.3rd@gmail.com

I've taught on this sight before and had over 700 students in my last class! I was floored by the enthusiasm and the eagerness to learn by all of them .I look super forward to teaching this class that starts MAY 27th. Find out more about the class through the link below or just email me!

CLASS LINK:

http://skl.sh/ZrZUla

Animating a Shot: Part 4 (End)

A still from a my Dialogue Piece

 


      It's funny how different you can feel in a span of ten minutes. Before your work is done you are begging, "No more, let it be done... take it away.. take IT AWAY" ..but ten minutes later when you realize you are done, you discover a craving for more; Another idea, another project, the sole possibilities of what might be your next art piece, is too much to bare. You'll find yourself nose first in your sketchbook roughing out and brainstorming your next big idea..

     So here is my finished piece of animation. I do like it but I hate it as well. 3 weeks it took me to complete it and I'm pretty proud that I kept myself to a constant pace of work. I always learn more form completing a piece than I have things to boast about it. IT's always possible to FINISH, just set your mind to it. the more you follow through and finish, the easier it becomes.

-I wont fill in the characters unless I have to, it's a personal choice. I like seeing the lines. I personally like rough animation and pencil test more than I do finished "tied down' drawings of animation.

-ATTENTION TO DETAIL
     -A few explanations of my choices in this animation piece. 

     Why a sunset background? The mood wouldn't be the same with a bright sunny day. The audience would be questioning the setting if I staged it at 4 in the morning, 'Why are they out there that early?' I chose sunset because it is the END of a day. It's when you have to call it quits and accept that theres no more daylight. similar to how my character is accepting that, "It's not for me." He too is accepting his fate.
      When making small decisions such as background and setting, The amount of attention you give each choice can only improve and add depth to your art. It was a conscious choice of mine to keep all shots of my Main character clear and just leave sky in the background. He has his mind made up, he is thinking clearly and knows exactly what he wants. So I chose to represent that with a clear background of the sky.    
     On the other hand I chose to crowd my secondary character's composition as much as I could with out making it obvious. I added power lines in the first shot and a expensive car in the background. Not only do they crowd the composition and made it 'busy' but the power lines added a diagonal that I enjoyed. With the secondary characters next shot I crowded him yet again in the composition. A little bit more to show some progression. I am mainly crowding him to contrast the main character's composition. The secondary character's mood is a bit more sour, aggravated and indifferent. I think a crowded composition with a few diagonals represent that just fine in comparison to the main characters shots.

(diagonals, straights and other visual story telling vocabulary are all real elements that animators, directors, and other artist use when making an art piece. If you didn't know, go out and educate yourself on it. It'll change your perspective on film dramatically)

-ORCHESTRATING A CLIMAX
      I added one subtle thing I'd like to point out. I had established in the opening shots that my main character was Screen Left and my secondary character was Screen Right. But in one shot I switched the main characters orientation in relationship to the screen. I put him on screen right. 'Whats the big fukn deal DANNY!!!!!??' you ask. Well this is an example of emphasizing a point within your shot.
      In the beginning I listened to this dialogue and tried to figure out where was the POINT, where was the Umph and climax of the line of dialogue. It had to be "It's not for me." That part of the dialogue seemed to me to carry the most weight. So without doing a cliche' gesture and over the top acting to point out and say,"Hey everybody look at this, its the most important part!" like how most people tend to do, I took step back and asked how else can I emphasize this part. While taking a story telling class with Mark Andrews back in college I remember one thing story boarders tend to do to emphasize a point in the scene, it was to mess up a pattern or a 'Normality' that has been established. So decided to break up my screen direction. It didn't bring attention to itself or disrupt the flow of the animation piece so it was a success to say the least. It's not a big deal BUT, it does add that layer of complexity to the pice and keeps it from looking bland.

-CLOSING THE BOOK
     So I will turning this in for this months contest at http://www.11secondclub.com/ If you'd like to participate and vote be my guest. We'll see how it goes. I do not believe it will win on the count of how limited my animation is, people tend to like the cartoony stuff and appealing acting. If I could do this again I would not change it, I felt this line of dialogue called for a limited acing role and performance that in some cases might be more powerful than overacting. What will I work on next? I don't know... actually I do know. But I wont finish it till June or July of next year. 


I hope you enjoyed and found these 4 post helpful or at least insightful. Don't stop sending me work, I always love critiquing and giving advise back to you guys through email. I liked it so much I'm doing it professionally now. I just started at Animation Mentor as a mentor. But you could still send me your work for me to critique here for free :) like how I believe all information should be.

-Daniel Gonzales

-This Is How I Started Out..

      Instead of posting more Art work that I have done in the last 2 years I will take you back to show  how it was when I first started. Some favourite work of mine is from high school. My favourite work is not after I went to college, even though my draftsmanship greatly improved when I went to college and even better when I got to Pixar. It is from high school, because in high school all I knew how to do is translate my thought's to paper. When I look back over my work since I've started college I see a stop in that and more of a focus to get my drawing skills better, my life drawing and paintings all greatly improved ten fold but my thinking and creativity was put on hold. I see that happen with a lot of peoples art.

I see that in a lot of blogs and sketch books these days...

      People start to post sketches from sketch books and try to do a drawing a day or post multiple drawings they did that day of people at the park or just draw for the sake of drawing...


-Leonardo De Vinci said it best, "The painter who draws merely by practice and by eye, with out any reason, is like the mirror which copies everything in front of it with out being conscious of it's existence."


       Look at the picture I posted, in high school, people go through some raw emotions, sometimes for the first time, but none the less they are very intense emotions and feelings. This is a drawing i did way back then really fast, even though it sucks, I expressed a feeling. I had drawing skills that were enough to translate what I was thinking better but that wasn't the point. I drew for a reason. I drew to say something, I drew to let things out or express how I felt. I drew and didn't care if my drawing came out right, I cared about if the drawing communicated a thought. And I rather draw like that for the rest of my life than to draw perfect life drawings and masterful acrylic paintings till the universe freezes over. 

        So I have nothing against people who draw for love of drawing, I admit to doing so and filling up my last five sketch books with mostly good drawing nonsense. But again I will stress, what is the point of being an artist, (who's work is an ambassador of humanity for future generations), if you have nothing to say? I have been seeing a lot of reels/portfolios and looking at a lot of blogs. 75% of the things I see are for:
 
-For entertainment
-For showing off skills (aka trying to get a job)
-or for practice
-to draw/create pretty things because they like how it looks..


       A lot of the reels I see, they just have gags or exercises, and the typical - something that looks cool and bad ass. . (which I understand why, because that's all the time you have when you are doing it for assignments while in school..) These things you choose to make that might reflect your 'taste' but they NOTHING about yourselves. For example, how much do you realy find out about me if I just say I like the old TV show called 'F.R.I.E.N.D.S'? You don't learn anything form that just like I learn nothing form you when you make a short about a a person picking up something heavy....


      I'm guilty of doing the same for the last two years and only recently have I been using my Animation to make comments and reflect thoughts... I went home for Thanksgiving and documented EVERY drawing, sketch, doodle, shit stain, ANYTHING I ever made with a pencil or brush I took a photo of. In those old sketch books of mine there where drawings that showed me my own heart ache, happiness, cockiness, love, fear, hate, regret, want.. it was as if it was a visual diary. These drawings meant something. I look now look at my life drawing, what the HELL is a naked man holding a stick going to tell me about myself??? That I can draw proportions and weight pretty damn accurately!?
      I am so thankful and lucky to have received the training I have during college and high school But now I shall stop 'copying' and imitating what I see and start reflecting something more onto my paper.

There are some people out there that are making wonderful pieces such as Ashley Wood and Ryan Woodward. I hope to see an increase of art someday, but until then I guess I shall lead the charge on my own. 

Remember though, FIRST learn your craft, THEN say something with it.

       My drawing I posted in the beginning of this post was made when I was.. ehh.. in tenth grade, 5th period math...  I never made it into a drawing or finished it. I have tons of drawings to show but I wanted to show this little doodle that I did on one random corner of my sketchbook because it is a perfect example of me drawing down a thought in the moment, never to return to it again until today. During winter break my activity on this blog will start to slow down a bit so to compensate for me being so busy, I shall post every three days, a drawing or doodle from my very old sketch books. So you guys can have something to look at over the holidays. I don't know what I really expected to tell you in this post.. I just needed to get these thoughts out of me and I thought it might do some people good to hear what was going through my mind.


-Daniel Gonzales