mari jaye blanchard

 by mari jaye blanchard

VR Workshop at Anibar 2019!

Very excited to say I have been invited back to Kosovo for the 10th annual Anibar Animation Festival this July.  I will be teaching workshops on creating 2D animations in a 3D environment.  I’ve been spending a lot of time in my headset as of late working on my film (posts on that should be coming soon), and I am really excited to share what I’ve been learning with other animators.  If you’re over in Europe in a couple of weeks, stop by Peja and witness the wonder that is Anibar yourself!

 

(hiking in Peja with the amazing Vullnet Sanaja, Anibar Founder and Director, July 2018, photo credit: Cynthia Chu)

in Teaching / Uncategorized 0 comments
 by mari jaye blanchard

Drawn to Animals

My students and I were so fortunate to get a visit from Melissa Brush of the Nocturnal Gallery who I met by chance in a bookstore and HAD to invite to my Drawing for Animation class! The slideshow says it all…animals are amazing, in every slippery shape and form. Some students carefully confronted their fear of certain ones (entirely white Ball Python around the neck, anyone?) and others jumped in with gusto, sketchpads in hand.  A wonderful drawing day, and we can’t be more grateful to Melissa for joining us!

Joy with Ball Python
Moe with Gerbil
Lee with Ball Python
Drawing a Tarantula
Group sketching Parrot
Group sketching Parrot
Gerbils
Ball Python and Parrot, safely separated
Geckos and Parrots
in Teaching 0 comments
 by mari jaye blanchard

Up and Running with Quill!

Been testing out how I might approach the souls using “2D” lines and Directional Opacity in Oculus Quill.  This guy has two run cycles at 90-degree angles to each other, which can be seen at the “corner” where the transition gets a bit noisy.  Could be a useful effect in the world depending on how it’s used narratively!  You only get one perspective from a certain angle…?

I am thinking about how far I could push this illusion of 3D lines, how many versions of a single animation could I draw and people could walk around and see a different angle?  Right now, this only seems practical in a space like Quill.  Not sure how you take the lines out of this space with Directional Opacity and apply it anywhere else.

in Swing 0 comments
 by mari jaye blanchard

The Start of my Modeling Career…

It has been quite the journey, but with the unwavering support of my teacher Alyssa Minko (who also happens to technically be my student, but who needs labels?!) I have  modeled an entire character from scratch in Maya, and applied textures in Substance.  I drew the turnaround for this particular girl many years ago, and it is truly surreal to see her in 3D. I have an entirely different perspective on sculpting in 3D now, and will never look at vertices the same again.

Would I do anything differently?  Probably everything, starting with not modeling her with such an arch to her back which makes posing really difficult. And her arms and legs keep popping out of the clothes because weight painting them identically is not quite my forte yet.  BUT, in terms of building my FIRST model and then putting her through the ringer with an entire VR film to carry on her shoulders, I am quite proud!

Initial character concept for original 2D film
Making the translation
2D Animator learning the value of a mouse
Handmade acne in Substance Painter! Satisying.
Ten months after opening Maya for the first time, a full model!
Expanding the cast
in Swing / Work 0 comments
 by mari jaye blanchard

ILSSA North Mountain Residency

Just spent a few days down in West Virginia at the North Mountain Residency with other ILSSA (Impractical Labor in Service of the Speculative Arts) members and am re-energized as a teacher AND a human being!  Workshops varied from book-binding to sonic meditation to vintage animation, which is the discussion I led and which pleasantly surprised me in terms of everyone’s focus, efforts and results.  They can all be seen here, including a song sung during dinner-prep that I absolutely had to include.

in Teaching 0 comments
 by mari jaye blanchard

Farmer to Light Table

Sometimes I’ll try the assignments I give my students so I can see where they might get hung up.  Here’s a rough test of a farmer slipping around in mud, in perspective.  I got hung up on the timing and arm movements, so I made a point of discussing both again in class. My favorite part of teaching is how much I get to learn!

in Teaching 0 comments
 by mari jaye blanchard

Zombie Boyfriend Lip Synch

Made a sample recording for my Dynamics class, and though I cringe at the sound of my own voice, I felt it important that they see the audio all the way through to the lip-synch, so I gave it a shot.  Disclaimer…this audio may or may not be true…

 

in Teaching 0 comments
 by mari jaye blanchard

Shining a Light on Arcs…

I noticed students were having a bit of trouble following arcs in their last assignment, so today I handed them flashlights and asked them to act out a simple action.  We took long exposures of four seconds of movement to see that every action was filled with traceable arcs…I was pleasantly surprised at the results!

in Teaching 0 comments