Wanderhome

made some over the garden wall fanart since I felt bad about having no new art for this post

One of the curious things about this whole Covid-time is that more than ever I've been filled with a desire to go out. I guess that's only to be expected when one is forced to stay in (and given a substantial amount of free time that can be filled with dreaming and doing). This summer I biked around the rural streets that surround our family home, each day going a little further, or down a new side street - anything to experience something new. I saw the Southwest desert for the first time. I worked my first little freelance boarding job and got to be a part of a real production. I had time to read and create portfolio pieces. Combine all this with last year's Lightbox trip (which felt like a deep dive into the animation world), and this past 12 months has been full of little hints of what the next stage of my life might be like - my life after college. So therefore I was a little surprised when I returned to college, found myself placed back into a familiar routine, and especially obligated to protect the health of our community, which means a limiting of excursions and travel around town.  This isn't to say I haven't had fun, or been totally dorm-bound (thank goodness). But I do feel the strong call of wanderlust, which as a patient homebody, is a somewhat new and thrilling experience. Read chapter 1 of The Wind in the Willows if you want to know what I mean.

I'm at a point in my life where I feel strangely unsettled, and I'm not sure that's such a bad thing. Sure, I don't love that most of my immediate and extended family has moved from the childhood homes where I spent many Thanksgivings and Christmases and Halloweens. And sometimes it gets a little lonely being single. But that also means that I feel more free to go somewhere new, to see more of the world, and to move away and really pursue this animation thing. 

Cause that's the kicker - throughout college I've known that I'll likely have to move away from Nashville and the familiar Southeast US in order to make a serious go at animation. And usually that's felt like a bummer. I do really love Nashville, Lake Norman, the Smoky Mountains, and all the people and places that surround them. But now? I'm actually kind of excited! The fact that I've been developing specialized skills which are in demand in all kinds of different places sounds like a great excuse to experience a new corner of the world. And since LA feels about as foreign to me as another country, I haven't even limited myself to US opportunities (really hoping international travel will be a little easier by the time I'm graduated). 

I'm sure a bunch of this is a classic case of "the grass is always greener on the other side," and perhaps when I'm actually confronted with the realities of a 9-to-5, making bosses happy, and finding an apartment I'll feel a little differently. I doubt I'll ever have another time where I get to live on a campus, where friends are so close at hand, and everything is within walking distance. Maybe you'll even see a Roost post in a year or so where I wax nostalgic about college. In fact, you probably will ;) I think even being able to think and write like this is a luxury due to having been in class for 9 weeks, and not fully realizing that we still could be sent home anytime. BUT right now I'm still more than a little romantic about having my own place, not having homework, and perhaps even walking beneath the parapets of Kilkenny Castle (if I get really lucky). 

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If The Wind in the Willows has taught me anything, it's that there's always a push and pull between adventuring and home-craft, longing and contentment, creating tales and retelling them by the fireside. These twin impulses are both beneficial, dependent on each other, and take their turns in the life of every person. Right now I want to go. Sometime later I might want to stay. Both are good. I'm also trying to be fully aware that God may call me to stay right here in the American Southeast, and I gotta be ok with that. Cause at the end of the day, it's not about me or how cool it would be to see a Brisbane sunset. It's really about His kingdom, and serving it through my sketches and failed attempts (and blog posts). Wherever that takes me. 

May you continue to weather these times with grace, courage, and creativity.

-dh

Fall is Here and My Paper has been Written

 Hellooo bloggerfolk!

Been a while, huh? I've been a bit absent for the last few weeks, mainly due to the oppressive dread of having to write a 3000 word paper on religious philosophy. Usually I don't mind the fact that Lipscomb is not an art school, which means I have to take a decent amount of non-animation classes. But this semester I stumbled into senior level philosophy class and it has been a bit much to handle, especially because every minute I spend on it is time I'm not spending on my thesis film... which is pretty frustrating. I also haven't had to write a paper this long since high school, and just like high school the weeks leading up to writing the paper have been filled with procrastination, dread, and what feels like too many things to balance. Not gonna lie - I've had a kinda low last few weeks while I've been trying to get this paper written while still creating new work for thesis, and maintaining a social life. I've tried to make the best of it, using the paper as an excuse for me to read Madeleine L'Engle's Walking on Water (definitely worth a read, by the way!) But I can't escape the fact that it's just a massive amount of work to do for what is my lowest priority class. HOWEVER yesterday I finished the rough draft of this dumb-butt paper and I'm ready to have my life and time back again. And ready to write about things that don't require Chicago-style citations. 

Like Fall! Which is here in Nashville and it is Glorious. I had forgotten the joy of watching maple trees fade in soft gradients of yellow-green to burning orange. Oftentimes you can find me gazing up from beneath their branches and trying to take moody photos with my Iphone camera. As my time spent in the animation lab grows greater I frequently break it up by taking a walk on my traditional loop around Crisman, where most of the best trees are visible (catch me there, Lipscomb friends).

moody

I'm still (just barely) finding time to keep up my CDC contributions - September's was Aztec Warrior and since most of the entries were tending toward the strong, muscle-y, and/or sexy, I decided to go in a direction that was... not any of that. I was also inspired by an illustration of the typical Aztec foot soldier who only wears a padded cloth shirt and loincloth, which seems like not a whole lot of protection. Since I've been studying Anna Scott this past month I tried to channel a bunch of that research into the design, really getting funky with the stylization of the hands and feet (which are probably my favorite part of the piece). As usual, rendering was heck but after SEVERAL failed attempts I got to this place, which I was pretty happy with:

It didn't really make a splash on the Facebook group, but I don't do this for the glory (well not in my better moments, anyways). Next month is Yokai and Kami, which should be an easy one for me, but I'm feeling particularly uninspired after seeing Stasya Sher's entry which is everything I would have wanted to do, and she went ahead and done did it! 

more fall photos as a not so subtle transition into an unrelated topic

On an unrelated note, I've picked back up my hobby of being worried/excited about the future! I had actually kind of put it down for a while following a pretty harsh (yet needed and informative) portfolio review that happened to coincide with a growing sense of general disillusionment. Recently I've just felt a little burned out when it comes to my prospects of getting (and maybe even enjoying) a job at a major studio, and especially the idea of living in LA. And I think I've also grown more comfortable with the idea of doing animation just for the joy of it, and the art of it, rather than as a fanboy doing animation on a specific show/studio that I really love (though honestly that would still be most preferable). I'm also at a time in my art journey where I love to experiment, to do storyboarding AND prop design, and I'm not sure I want to get pigeonholed so quickly into doing only one kind of thing (which is usually the case at a large studio). Funny how as I get closer to working at a studio and actually Doing the Thing my feelings become more complicated and my heart a little more jaded - but I guess that's only to be expected :P I think it's also a result of me looking for work in the wrong places. A recent talk with Max Ulichney in Portfolio Dev class really opened my eyes to the benefits of smaller, less corporate studios which I think could be a good fit for my interests, and offer a greater range of places to live post-grad. In particular, Ludo Studio and Cartoon Saloon have been dazzling me with their recent work (so excited for Wolfwalkers BTW) and would offer the chance to live abroad which I think would be just so cool. And so now I'm excited to apply again! Which is a welcome change of pace since these applications take a lot of energy and time and emotional fortitude as you stare that oncoming wave of rejections in the face. But I shall stare nonetheless. 

I wish I had the time to talk more about art and less about me on this blog (a masterful balance that Nicholas Kole achieves on his blogspot) but honestly this thing is mostly my journal and after a month-long absence I just have some life-stuff I need to log first. This blog helps me remember how I felt at different points in my art journey, and I think it's good for me to remember being a somewhat jaded, rather unsure senior during covid-times. Maybe I'll look back someday and laugh. Hah! 

As always, thanks for reading this blog and staying involved with my art journey - glad to have you along for the ride and I'm excited to see where this crazy thing is gonna go :)

May you continue to weather these times with grace, courage, and creativity!

-dh

Music Recommendation: FALL JAZZ. It's like Christmas music, but for fall. I had no idea there were so many jazz songs about fall. Or that "Autumn Leaves" had lyrics. Good music for warm colors and cold rains. I've been using this playlist here-