Miniambra ~ The beginning / El comienzo

Hola a todos, ya ha pasado un buen tiempo desde mi último mensaje!

Como algunos de ustedes saben, le he estado dedicando todo mi tiempo a un proyecto animado confidencial, experiencia que ha resultado FANTÁSTICA, y lo digo con todo el sentido de la palabra!
Me gustaría contarles un poco al respecto y registrar en este blog mis pensamientos (cuerdos e irracionales) tan seguido como me sea posible. Así que... aquí vamos! :)

… El comienzo…

Hace mucho tiempo, años atrás, cuando estudiaba en Colombia, una noche, sentada en mi escritorio, cansada y somnolienta después de intentar generar ideas para mi proyecto de la clase de dibujo, vi una mancha particular de tinta azul sobre mi papel de acuarela. La mancha tenía la forma de una niña delgada de sombrero enorme y escurrido.

Recuerdo sentirme hipnotizada. Una niña que se hizo a sí misma! Tenía que regalarle una historia, ella me suplicaba. La idea de darle vida a este ser accidental se volvió tan importante que por días no podía parar de imaginarme su pasado, su destino, su propósito.

Después de escribir en ese papel, con la misma tinta, una y otra vez palabras sin sentido, su nombre empezó a brotar mágicamente  de la punta de mi plumilla. Supe entonces que era real. Ella era real. Me necesitaba, al igual que yo.

Este fue mi primer encuentro con MINIAMBRA.

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Hi everyone, it's been a while since my last post!

As you may know I've been working full time in a confidential animated project, which has been a FANTASTIC experience in every sense of the word!
I would like to tell you a bit about it, and record my thoughts (insane and rational) as often as possible in this blog. So... here we go :)

... The beginning...

A long time ago, many years back, when I was studying in Colombia, late at night, sitting on my desk, tired and sleepy after trying to come out with ideas for my Drawing Class project, I noticed a particular blue stain of ink on my watercolour paper. The stain looked like a girl, a thin girl with a big weak, hanging hat.

I remember that I was mesmerised by her and the fact that it felt like she was in need of a story. The idea of giving life to this accidental being was so important, that for days I couldn't stop imagining her past, her destiny, her quest.

After writing on the paper with the same ink over and over senseless words, her name magically appeared out of my brush. I knew then, she was real. She needed me, and I needed her.

That was my first encounter with MINIAMBRA.

* * *

Some of the brushes used in the image above: fortelegy.devianart.com

Farewell: Painting process ~ Proceso creativo

This is how the image from last week was made:

Así se realizó la imagen de la semana pasada:

1. Sketch, tonal values and colour palette.
1. Boceto, tonalidades y paleta de color.

2. Main shapes, light studies, brushes experimentation.
2. Formas principales, estudio de luz, experimentación con pinceles.

3. Composition and colour adjustments, patterns, textures and details.
3. Ajustes de composición y color, patrones, texturas y detalles.

* And that's it! Had a great time and learned so much! I love the fact that colours symbolically belong together. Can't wait to work on another image!
* Y eso es todo! Me encantó dibujarla y aprendí muchísimo! Me gusta mucho el hecho de que los colores están unidos simbólicamente. Ya quiero volver a trabajar en otra imagen!

Writing happily from the MRC, at our new animation studio for the next 4 months!
Escribiéndoles feliz desde el MRC, nuestro nuevo estudio de animación durante los próximos 4 meses!
Ana
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Animation Insider interview ~ Entrevista :)

I'm happy to share with you an interview I did with Animation Insider! It was fun and I feel so honoured! A big thank you to Mike Milo and the Team!

Estoy contenta de poder compartirles esta entrevista que hice con Animation Insider! Me divertí mucho respondiendo las preguntas y fue un honor para mi poder participar. Muchísimas gracias al equipo y a Mike Milo en particular!

Enjoy! ~ Que la disfruten!
Ana
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A seed planted by Gina

Carlos, Gina and I were discussing the creative process, in particular the importance of "nurturing" our life quietly, before going through periods of active production. We were doing this while drinking some tea and hot chocolate -I love talking about art inside the real world with friends that I love, and feel that kind of support when addressing philosophical questions. After all, as Gina said, art is all about humanity! ...As a sweet dessert, she surprised us with her poem:

"And in the recess of your mind
a seed explodes
Led by the after image
it grows and blooms to a new reality"
- © Gina De Pieri Salvi, 1992

Click here to take a look at Gina's Art Reviews at Glam Adelaide :)

And here I share with you that bit of the book that Carlos had been reading and we were discussing: Art of Thought, by Graham Wallas,1926. In the Wallas stage model, creative insights and illuminations may be explained by a process consisting of 5 stages:
"(i) preparation (preparatory work on a problem that focuses the individual's mind on the problem and explores the problem's dimensions),
(ii) incubation (where the problem is internalized into the unconscious mind and nothing appears externally to be happening),
(iii) intimation (the creative person gets a "feeling" that a solution is on its way),
(iv) illumination or insight (where the creative idea bursts forth from its preconscious processing into conscious awareness); and
(v) verification (where the idea is consciously verified, elaborated, and then applied)."

I hope you find this useful, I did :)
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Manchas... Stains...

©2011. Manchas

Some times I spend long minutes looking at the stains of colour left casually on a watercolour paper! I just find them fascinating and inspiring! :)

Algunas veces encuentro fascinante e inspirador poder dedicarme a mirar de cerca las manchas de color derramadas casualmente sobre un papel acuarela! :)

Paleta de Colores :)

This is one of my "coloured notes", in which I keep a record on how to achieve a particular colour. I usually keep one or two for each project. In this particular case I was using watercolours, gouaches and acrylics on paper.
Esta es una de mis "anotaciones de color", en donde escribo cómo logré algunos colores en particular. Generalmente tengo una o dos por cada proyecto. En este caso estaba utilizando acuarelas, gouaches y acrílicos sobre papel.

Here I share with you some other kind of "notes" taken from Margot Schulzke's book, A Painter's Guide to Design and Composition, which I find very useful:

Getting inspired
How to nurture that inspiration to get to the finished painting? (p. 64)
Be always on the prowl for potential subject matter.
Don’t wait for ideal circumstances to materialize. Work where and when you have to. Routinely carry a sketchbook and explore. Memory plays an important role as well.
Imagination is a big player, along with contemplation.
Plan –and plan –for success. Even if you have years of painting experience.
Choose the method of development that works best for you.
Experiment.

Become a Risk Taker (p. 125)
Approach every artistic effort as an experiment. Some fail, some succeed. Build upon successes and learn from failures.
Experiment with paintings that area “lost causes”. When the end result no longer matters, you’ll feel free to play.
Start fresh projects, with experimentation as the entire object. Try materials, surfaces and techniques you’d never dare try on an ordinary day.
Set the stage for creativity. Purchase the necessary equipment to allow you to paint unfettered. Establish a permanent, organized workspace.
Take the workshops you need.
Be willing to do something extreme –such as amputate.
Don’t operate on autopilot. Plan. Make thumbnails, value plans and colour studies. Explore possibilities in a non-final state when you have nothing to lose.
Make progress notes. Later you may forget how you got that great effect. Writing helps you retain ideas.
Play music in your studio that relaxes or jazzes you up. Suit it to the subject matter of mood you are striving for.
Always ask, “Why not?”

Margot Schulzke's Website
:)

Notes from Shaun Tan's Essay on Originality and Creativity

Mentoring and teaching art students has been a wonderful experience for me! I find myself learning so much from them! I've not only learned about techniques, composition, colour theory or concept development, but also about creativity! In every meeting I confirm that an art class is a place for self-expression, to feel free to create without judgment, and to explore one's curiosity about art and life. There's no room for perfection in art practice... only for experimentation :)

And so, this reflection reminded me of Shaun Tan, one of the artists I most admire, and of his generous way of giving advice to emerging visual-storytellers like me. Here are some quotations taken from his essay on Originality and Creativity:

My own experience is that inspiration has more to do with careful research and looking for a challenge; and that creativity is about playing with what I find, testing one proposition against another and seeing how things combine and react.

Often the most interesting stories are the ones which tell us things that we already know but haven’t yet articulated in our minds. Or more precisely, they encourage us to look at familiar things in different ways, as if to remind us of their true meaning; the way we live, the things we encounter, the way we think and so on.

I realised that what I had to do was to extend the metaphorical logic of the text even further, and introduce more unexpected ideas to build a parallel story of my own. Not an illustration of the text, but something to react with it symbiotically.

I’m often thinking of different things I’ve read, or particular words, while I draw and paint which best express the particular poetry of colour, line and form I am after.

For me, that’s what creativity is - playing with found objects, reconstructing things that already exist, transforming ideas or stories I already know. It’s not about the colonisation of new territory, it’s about exploring inwards, examining your existing presumptions, squinting at the archive of experience from new angles, and hoping for some sort of revelation. What really matters is whether we as readers continue to think about the things we have read and seen long after the final page is turned.

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