The Stanleys 09

Yep, thanx to Jules Fabre and the Australian cartoonist association the four of us packed our bags jumped on the plane and headed for Sydney to attend the 2009 Stanley awards, which in short completely ROCKED.
We arrived not knowing what to expect but soon fell in love with the huge and pretty city of Sydney. Besides being directionless tourists we managed to make our way around and to the nova hotel which is where the Australian cartoonist association hosted the event.

The festivities started by heading off to the ABC centre where we attended an exhibition of pat Oliphant and other well know AcA member’s work (think I’m going to be on TV mum =D) Which was great since us small town wanabee animators got to meet and mingle with some very talented artists (should definitely mention free coffee )
The conference was overall a big eye opener as to where we might end up as creative individuals. And I’m overall pretty cheering I got to meet Tom Richmond and Pat Oliphant, who kindly signed copies of their books for me.


Tom Richmond caricaturing albert einstein =)


About Pat Oliphant =)

All at attendance where lovely people and all have great senses of humor and plenty of talent and where happy to share their expertise, as Sarah discovered as she was swarmed by a group of impressed AcA members while sketching and caricaturing at the ABC centre.
Sadly I wasn’t ready for the Stanleys, and didn’t create a portfolio to show around, but I’ll definitely be ready next time =) and it would be good to do some research on some of those that might be attending prior to going =) so I know who I’m speaking to ,what questions to ask and how dirty my jokes can be.

Sydney is definitely a lot more artsy than Brisbane, there wasn’t much graffiti from what I can see, but there were a lot of murals on high buildings, statues, memorials, and just overall a lot of esthetically pleasing works for the public. Not to mention the couple of museums and art exhibitions. Btw contemporary art is completely bolics. We attended the museum and had a walk through some of the most unimaginative imagery that I have ever seen, and I have internet access.

But anyway Sydney is a beautiful city and to all who haven’t been I recommend going, but taking a big pile of spending money is definitely the way to go, but don’t use it to catch taxis, spend it on books, booze, or hurling yourself out of an airplane and take plenty of photos, cause I bet like us you’ll be wishing you could stay a bit longer all the way home =)

Yays?

Now be sure to visit Tom Richmond's blog =) hes got some great carticatures and caricaturing tips on there =) enjoy

-willva

YAAAYs

So with tafe and the skool year slowly coming to a grinding halt, and all the deadlines for assignments and projects either past or imminent, we animators stare blankly with a big smile in glorious awe or realization that we are first year animators NO Longer!

Next year we will be the ones greeted by a the gazing blank stare of a new set of strange faced first year wannabee animations. Anyway "over adjective" realisation speech/blurb over.

I'm excited, for me and a few fellow animators are setting our sights for Sydney and the caroooooonist convention where we will get to meet Pat Olifant and Tom Richmond along with a large array of Australia's elite illustrator community... jealous? +)

But not to worry we will be sure to snap up lots of photos of both Sydney and the convention to share among the rest of the group =).

anyway here is a 7min piece i threw together for my articulation pathway into Griffith =) its got some bits and pieces of work spanning from all over my project timeline but probably some more recent stuff including my stop mo and a rare piece of editing i did in multimedia (for xbox) =) enjoy


-much love
-willva

Projects =)

over the past couple of months iv been covered in projects which iv been trying to complete


My parts for the 3d owin wilson piece the whole class participated in =) character animation in maya and the rig is max

Astro buggers off and sir licks alot

Astro buggers off and Sir LicksAlot are pretty much what iv been doing with my holidays =)


http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/503663 and the newgrounds version ofcourse =)

Astro Buggers off which i just released outside of the collab it was originally created for, with a couple of extra bells and whistles, specially in the sound and music department =) I'm happy with it, and thanx to Sam Hafts great voice talent the piece works rather well =)

Sir LicksAlot which is my submission to the superpets collab which everyone hopefully worked on these holidays, its on the final draft and will be complete this week with color and lines made with a pen! oooh that's always good.

=) I'll be back to normal posting again

Let me know what you think bout Astro Buggers off, preferably on youtube with comments and ratings and naked shots of yourself of course =)

Much love, the type that could be considered quite creepy
-will

Animation illustration holidays and you

Hey kids =)
Over the holidays, to avoid getting rusty and to have a good play with animation me and bobbah are doing ians 48 animation challenge

Animate all or as many of these as you can =) anyone is welcome to join and i commend you to do so =) what i like about the challenge is you can animate in whatever style you like +) definitely playing with some more pixel animation hehe
and no matter how it turns out it can only be an improvement from my last pixel animation back in 2003 when i was 13/14 or something =)



=) i really like this piece of myne, not even really sure how i pulled it off =) what love does to you eh lol anyway now that you opinions about me have been tainted forever...

SUPERPETS

Also to keep all of you EVEN busier these holidays the super pets collab comic is due at the end of the holidays, lets say first week back =)

Whats due? your comic on A4 paper or A4 photoshop size, can be as many pages as you like, color preferred but not necessary =) good luck to all, give us a bell if you have any questions or queries =D

Motiongraphic Sketchbook

=) my sketchbook sofar this year, please take a sec to head over toNewgrounds.com and vote =) it would help me alot =D


I remember watching this animation a little while ago, but iv come upon it again and its got just over 2 mil views =)

Always good to see animators are doing well, i really like this piece, i feel like hes really achieved that spark of life, which every animator should be striving to master.


Another nice 2d film using some rigging and a lot of 2d animation, this is definitely the balance we as the future animators need to strive towards in this current low paying, short deadline slump the world seems to be in ATM, this is from the Vancouver Film School by the way =) and you have to love it =)


Anyway let me know what you think about rigging animation and the balance between full 2d traditional and the rigged flash characters? whats acceptable? And breathing life into your character?

The italian maiden Marla

A few years ago i was wondering the web as i do, and i believe i saw it on www.coldhardflash.com and it was so beautiful then that every now and then i just havto watch it, so i'll wonder the web for hours looking for it, so i'v saved you the effort =) enjoy Marla



'Marla' is a graduation short film created in traditional animation in 2004 by a group of artists not limited to Alessandra Sorrentino, Alice Lia and Simona Ciraolo.

There are a bunch of concept sketches and all the beautifully painted backgrounds posted at calzette-rosa.blogspot.com
and i suggest heading over and having a gander =)
If you would like to have a peek at their latest works just head on over to

Alessandra - blog
Simona - blog

Defnitly worth a peek =) enjoy
-will

created by blu, a german graffiti artist from berlin, he does amazing things with his spray cans, just search blu on youtube and you can see plenty of his amazing work =)



A short by hichem arfaoui from animation mentors online class =), there are a few free tutorials and peeks at how they do things, if you are intrested =)


this here is the blocking from the same animation =) really cool to see the before and afters, if you check the related vids section on youtube there are also a layout design and even a 2d animatic =) if you'd like to see how they work =D


Also ran into these awesome scrabble ads =)

Hula from Scrabble on Vimeo.

Sumo from Scrabble on Vimeo.

Yoga from Scrabble on Vimeo.

So cool =) really like the style and how the music fits and makes it all seem rather edgy, reminds me a little bit of andrejs style

CHARGED - Animated Short Film from Collin T on Vimeo.

This one is very nicly animated and has a cool little plot line =)
Produced at Algonquin College in Ottawa Canada =) plenty of cool animation related places in Canada =D if you where thinking bout traveling =D


Below.. the majestic moose =)


This is from a head model andrej chucked onto the m drive =) defnitly get it, its fun!


And these are my acrobatic maya poses for franky boy =D




yays for updates, hope you enjoed the animated pieces
short bursts of love
-will

Story telling Magic? and weeping

Being a student with his sights set on the creative animation and illustration industry, I’ve heard a few things about some awful employers and their sly tactics, so be prepared for clients pulling some of these...




That watched and after weeping a little in the corner, I was reassured by some comments made by industry professionals that there only a handful =) and that most clients respect that you've spent so much time perfecting and honing your skills.

Here are other creative types poking fun at one of these demanding clients =) have a read and a laugh


Story telling ability

the ability to construct a sequence of camera shots, to accuratly portray the feeling/emotion of the film. The viewes brain should have to do nothing more than tune out and pay full attention to the preformance. Film technique/story telling ability

I keep coming across these animated pieces where the animator doesn’t apply any of the 12 holy principals or any animation concepts but basic moving from a to b.

Now the reason these are still watchable is cause the story is being told in such a way to keep you watching and interested.. even with minimal animation. Now if we could learn this story telling ability and get really good at it and combine it with our other arsenal of skills there would be no stopping us.



37mil views on the tube can’t be wrong =)



this one had success on newgrounds but due to this creative portal being blocked to us by the great hand from above heres the tubed version


Now this week iv stumbled across some cool stuff =)
The Vancouver film school =) which seem to pump out some awesome stuff
check out some of these and make sure you subscribe to their channel for updates on animated goodness =)




I also really like this 2d film their students created =) so pretty and it reads so well.





The Vancouver film school seem to know the secret of story telling and their students are enriched with this Story telling ability to create visual interest to keep you watching =)

Now we need this skill so i suggest after we read the book below, at the dead of night we kidnap the best ones =) COMON how badly do you want it lol


and yes this is a real book


Make sure to have a have a peek at the SUPERPETS collab and join in =) why not eh


-will

Collab fun =D

hey kids =)
So we'll finally be getting some time off (4 weeks =D) from our busy assignment schedule and super pets is on the todo list =)
If you haven't though of your super pet yet, the best time is now =) can be as silly as you want him/she/it to be =D



specifications
each page will be A4 sized
page limit...well not really a limit but try not to go to far over 5
anything else you want =)



So how to create your own super pet piece

step
1)Think up a super pet, easy peasy =)

2)think of an epic or not so epic story your pet will feature in

3)do some rough drawings, figure out, what you want your pet to look like

4)storyboard out your comic, just be rough, make little thumbnail sketches so you
get the ideas and the story down!

5)Redraw your thumbs this time thinking about layouts and structure putting a bit more detail into it =)

6)Now just redraw your thumbnails on your A4 pieces of paper =) making sure your comic reads well.

7)Onwards to finishing your comic however you want, you can scan it in and finish it digitally, you can ink and color it on paper, anyway you prefer =)




And yeah =) it'll be good fun, first actual published work =D
plan is to try pitch it to some publishers or we can try to flog them ourselves lol but although this is a student piece, quality is important =) and i know you are all capable of creating pretty drawings =)



so My superpet
Meet Sir licksalot =) I'm not a 100% happy with the design or the color choices just yet but so far i like him =)

If you have any troubles or problems please don't be shy, talk to either Sarah (ze loud one) or myself =)

smiley face
-will

Quick animated ruff for maya

Beanie ruff flash animation from Willem V.A on Vimeo.

This ruff animation to be taken into maya and used as reference =), might tweak it and make him roll after he lands, bit more dramatic =)

This is a ruff similar 3d version, which i really dislike, the model design really held back the animation, and i wasn't compltetly able to express how i wanted it to be.

3d bean jumps from can ruff animation from Willem V.A on Vimeo.

My Flash animation for the streetfighter collab on Newgrounds.com is uploaded here =) take a peek, if you have an acount? vote and leave me a review =)
this is the the youtube version...for the third time lol




And more pics for people =)

this is my mate zAnder who just recently lost his child hood cof cof turned 21 lol =) na happy bday dude =)

lots of love both tender and lustfull
-will

My first 3d =)

My first 3d willva.com from Willem V.A on Vimeo.

A way over due animation post =) Animated in maya =) this is my first 3d animation, using the moom model and "you spin me round" by dead or alive =) was good fun, although im not the usual fan of 3d animation this was rather fun to make =)

Sketchy sketchy

Above a a3 mushroom kingdom =) fully colored but you only get the black and white for now.
My version of the icecream cow =) chocolate seems to be the only flavour it can produce
Sit baboo sit... good dog? snaco fail =)
Was driving past a rather sad man the other day and thought id draw him
=) think this one speaks for itself =)

Creating things

A sketch that will become a poster for my mates 21st which was the weekend just past, happy bday dean =)


A letter box which turned out really cool in my opinion =) its for an animation I'm in the planning stages of =)

I'll chuck up some animation next update =) been a busy busy weekend and week start =D
good one to you and yours
-will

Walking the walk assignment

Originally animated on paper, scaned into photoshop for coloring and animated and put together in flash i can honestly say this piece was pain in the ass and although paper animation gives you an awsome sence of freedom, without the right hardware, like a digital SLR camera setup over a pegboard it just ends up being an extremly long process. But i will defnitly be doing a lot of main layout keys on paper and then scaning them into flash and using it to assist animation =) anyway hope you liked it... leave us a comment and let me know what you think


Walking the walk animation from Willem V.A on Vimeo.

Animated hands and my inner child design

Up top design before animating my inner child which might sprout into a music video if my plate empties a little bit, i mean who doesn't love obese fat guys with massive saggy boobies effected by gravity and momentum to emphasize their true beauty


WILLVA hands
Just under 200 pictures of hands, drawn in about 5 solid hours of paper animation. So all put together it could still benefit from more frames, but lesson learnt, plan out smooth motion before jumping into key frames and inbetweens.


ruff Hands by willva from Willem V.A on Vimeo.

Gaining a more solid understanding of how to work my cartoons so that i can fully utilize the 12 principles of animation =) practice makes close to perfect eh =)

Ze Tiny update

Right so Currently waiting for 2 animations i did for collabs to be published =)
1)the newgrounds streetfighter colab which can be read about here.
of which this is my part currently sitting on 1900 views =) yays



And the 90's cartoon collab which can be seen a couple of posts down =) and can be read about here

No new animation today tho, but I'll upload some frame by frame paper animation next time round =)

If you would like to have a look at my animations and stuff just head here, its got all animations iv ever done and published from the past 7 years =) So i was 13 when i started so don't judge to harshly lol.


SUPER PETS COLLAB

Right so planning is going quite nicely, we've got 6 participants so far =) so if you would like to join schnell (faster in German) =)

Ze list
Sharah: Batdog (dog)
Olly: ManSpider (spider)
Harry P: SpiderMonkey (spider or monkey, its a surprise! +D)
Rachel A: Wombat =)
Jake: Qbear (bear)
Will: Sir licks a lot (dog)


So besides working on my course projects I'm currently researching for a series of shorts I'll be making in due time =)

anyway good one to you and yours =)

here are some picks

-will

New layout, new shop and stickers! DeliciouS!

This here is my very first sticker design =) and i received a 100 of them today HOORAY... cof cof i mean DeliciouS! =P

Iv got these DeliciouS! stickers (pun intended) in my store if any one is keen, or if you know me, just see me for some high quality ones =) Iv also got 2 posters in my store and i recon its worth taking a peek at eh =) let me know what you think, yeah?


Down below are a series of photos my photographer mommy so kindly took while i was water coloring the backgrounds for my 90's cartoon collab which can be seen here

I'm scared... Hold me?

She also did some abstract photos for me =) yay it really says that my mind is elsewhere, what do you think? this is her website Vphotographyqld , designed and created by me BTW =)

90's cartoon tribute collab

Hooray i can finally say that's all folks, Iv spent the whole of today animating. 10 am to 10:30pm, with some breaks =)

willva's 90's cartoon collab parts from Willem V.A on Vimeo.

This has been my on going project for the past month and a bit, originally planed to have 5 scenes, but due to the deadline i was forced to cut out the dexters lab piece and was left with the 4, jetsons, pokemon, yogi bear and porkie pig =). although its still quite crude and can have so much more added to make it shimmer and shine I'm still quite happy with the end result =)

lesson learnt, biting of chewable pieces will allow me to focus on quality rather than quantity

Animated by me Willem Wynand Van Aswegen.

Voiced by Sam Haft

Special thanx

Mummy and daddy

Willie Van Aswegen

Tone Booth

P.s let me know what you think ;)

Super Pets collaborative comic

Dear Animation comrades

Sharah the brilliant has been pushing the idea of a published collaborative comic for a little while now, and now seems a brilliant time to have a go.
The basic concept is super pets and will allow you to go nuts with your own creativity, the final goal being at least one published collaborative comic.

What you must do
Everyone interested must comment on this post.
By the end of the holidays should have a ruff storyboard of their comic complete, so 20 April.
The comic will be finally published on portriate A4 paper for easy reading =)
You can divide your page as you see fit but i'm going with average 9 blocks a page and the dividers are .5cm between the blocks and 1cm from the boarder. But you might not want borders, do as you please =) and enjoy

Start thinking and when you have an idea let me know so i can post it on "ZE LIST" =) oooh zelist

oh and fear not the logo will be changed =) if someone would like to design one that's fine as well =)
All contribution will be subject to contributor vote =)
Happy drawing
and happy holidays

lots of tender soft caring love -will


Ze list
Sharah: Batdog (dog)
Olly: ManSpider (spider)
Will: Sir licks a lot (dog)
Harry P: SpiderMonkey (spider or monkey, its a suprise! +D)
Rachel A: Wombat =)
You? (it)

Supernova 2009 yeeew

Will's supernova from Willem V.A on Vimeo.

Pretty fun, as you can see in the super speedy photo viewer, be looking to get a booth sorted for next year, try sell some stuff lol =) be fun might see you there yeah.

Poster Project, traditional

above "A bad day"

I'v set myself a goal for the year to have 50 colored hight resolution posters done and ready for printing, i'm upto about 4, and iv got one printed and hanging on my door =) this is my latest one, my first poster without digital coloring or editing =) enjoy

Pics for people

The almighty PinkVolt from newgrounds, possibly a 14 year old boy =P



This is The ref picture provided by pinkvolt, mm Delicious =D



The color really covers my skecthy flaws nicely hehe =) cheating, what do you think?

Flash babies

Yaaay flash and me are happy to report the healthy babie we poped out in mid feb, streetfighter on YouTube has reached 1600 views =) yays, not close to where we'd like it to be but its definitely a great start.

And another babie on the way for the 90's cartoon colab on newgrounds, which is due the 17Th of April.
here's a short prespective flash animation walking George Jetson =)


90's cartoon colab george walk from Willem V.A on Vimeo.

Animators and dealines

I might only be a "startout" animator but already i see me and deadlines having a unfruitful relationship. I say that cause for the past two major project (streetfighter collab) and my current olden cartoon colab piece i have tried my best to give myself enough time to do everything but on both occasions its gotten to a point when I'm forced into hermitude solitary animation for a few days straight to finish it on time.. which i am about to embark on now. farewell.. oh and here are some screenies of my piece so far. Enjoy =)







I will post the complete product when its completed =)

Wills words of wisdom

Wills words of wisdom from Willem V.A on Vimeo.

The shades i had over the top doesn't play in the avi =( but owell learnt some lessons in this animation, don't start with the lip sync haha, do the body and other animation first, trying to make the actual animation and body movments read, the lips are not as important.

Sketchy Sketchy

Life drawing 17march 09 =) colored on the way home

That vicious dog

Inner Golfer

Delicious =) really like the character, very cartoon like, happy but yet disturbing =)

enjoy