Week 1, Year 2: Ideas and Work.

I'm back! Back in labs and back to work. And there is a lot of work!

Turns out the tutors were extremely busy over the summer updating the course. Apparently there was a big console launch last year? Anyway there's this thing called physically based rendering (PBR), and some new software to learn for all this 'new' hardware.

My reaction to all this, at 10AM on Monday morning, was a vacant stare and a torrent of internal profanity as I envisioned the first year of my degree circling a drain of irrelevance.

But by Tuesday morning, I stopped internally screaming long enough to give Unreal Engine (UE4) a go. I read a few articles and watched a couple of videos. Turns out UE4 is pretty nice to use. The new workflow is actually simpler than it was before, even if it doesn't sound that way at first, and the possibilities it opens up are totally inspiring.

Next week, we start the Film Room Project. Over the course of 3 weeks, we are going to replicate a still, from a movie of our choice, in 3D. I watch a lot of films and often do studies from them in my own time, so needless to say, I'm looking forward to this one.

Study of RocknRolla.

Another change for this year is weekly blog posts. This is more than double the rate I posted last year which is a little daunting but I feel pretty confident.

It really struck me this week, how far I've come in what feels like so little time. Particularly when I see the new students drawing by the canal, I can hardly believe it's been a year since I was doing the same.

And I hear them encountering the same challenges I did. For myself, one question was particularly troublesome.

'How many thumbnails do I need to do? 12? 24? 48!?'

A year later, here's my take on this. There is no magic number and the answer really is, the always unsatisfying, 'As many as you need too.'

Too many is when you're drawing for the sake of a number and too few? Too few is when you still have ideas that aren't on paper. 

Too few is when your final piece is still brain crack.

zefrank on Brain Crack. Warning: Explicit Language.

Brain crack addiction happens to us all but I suspect artists are particularly vulnerable. All those ideas for paintings. All the media to experiment with and techniques to explore. Your favourite art shop is a drug den.

This week, I was particularly afflicted by an idea for a new project. I thought about starting a vlog. I thought about it quite a lot, but fortunately, I executed it and realized it was naff.

The reason why it was bad is not important. The important thing is, I acted on the idea quickly, and discovered why it wouldn't live up to my expectations.

Because the thing about ideas is, you can't have any better ones until you get out the ones you have.