Work- Where I've been for the last two years.

Working as an Animator

What a wonderful journey I am on. Firstly, you can see my work HERE! You will land on a fabulous page where you can see what Kids Who Know is all about, I've even made a video :)

Creating these characters was an absolute blast. They each have their own personalities that really add to the dynamic of the group which in turn, adds to the whole Kids Who Know experience. In the beginning, we wanted these characters to teach the viewers (6-10 year olds) whilst also learning themselves. This creates a more personal experience and essentially, a more realistic one.

There are 20 Essential Life Lessons that are covered and can be found HERE! The website really says it all but we believe that:  

"Confidence, resilience and an optimistic outlook are fundamental to a child achieving their full potential, both now and as adults in future."

Being able to create a life skills program for kids has been such a fantastic opportunity that I am so proud of being a part of. I have met so many wonderfully talented people in the process and have learnt so much.

Being able to animate these characters and bring them to life is something I will cherish for the rest of my life. Zack, Zi, Zanzi and Flash hold a very special place in my heart and I hope children will love them as much as I do.

Please check out www.kidswhoknow.com, have a browse around and tell everyone who might be interested  in the product about it. You can purchase an enrolment to our wonderful program and even give an enrolment as a gift. We also have a Facebook page you can like to keep informed about Kids Who Know.

Kids Who Know is a safe place for children to learn through these four friends and hopefully, in turn, children will feel a part of the Kids Who Know team.

Feel free to contact me, my e-mail is:   yolanda@kidswhoknow.com

Blog Clean up and Pretty-fication

Why HELLO there!

Oh my gosh. I haven't posted anything for two years...Oops.

This post is a commitment to you, internets, that I will blog more about work, and also upload more artwork. I'm going to do Sketch Dailies soon because I need to draw more and put myself out there a bit more. My next post will be about work stuff :).

I'm on twitter! Follow me? Twitter Fun Times 

Work is going swimingly

At the moment, I am currently doing the art for the web page. I love being able to work to my full potential- they absolutley love my style and this is a HUGE boost for my confidence.

Just yesterday, we laid some audio for me to storyboard/ make an animatic too. It was such a nice feeling opening up Premiere and Toonboom again. I chose to do full animation because this is for kids 7-10 learning about everyday things, I need to make it as interesting and as fun as possible. I have so much creative freedom and input that Im still pinching myself to this day. I'm not sure what images I can post yet so I wont put up anything yet but the logo and 5 characters are all Trade Marked so I'll see what I can do. In the mean time, follow my blog and stay posted.

 I'd love for you to come on this journey with me- from Pre Production to  website launch!

MOVING!?!

Holy Moly. I applied for a job as a 2D animator for a family owned business and after few emails and a face to face meeting, its all going ahead.

I am so excited for this job, you have no idea! Its such an amazing opportunity for a recent uni graduate so how can  I not be!

I'm moving down to the Gold Coast (lucky my aunty said I can bunk with her) which is good because I can always come back on the weekends. The only thing is, I will miss my animals and family. But everything is falling into place and Im so lucky!

I'll keep you updated- I start on the 21st!

It's time to invest in my future.

holey ephinany. I need to start investing in my future because the more and more I work as a waitress/barista, the more and more I just want to get out of hospitality.
I've been checking out a couple of blogs lately and Im so inspired to do just do my own thing as a freelancer.

I've worked out that I need Toonboom Pro- $900 (on sale at  the moment wahoo!)
Adobe Creative suite (web and design version) ($1800-ouch)
A new computey ($1000)
and of course, a Cintiq- ($2500-mega ouch)

so thats a whole lotta monies but I want to go talk to a Tax agent to see what I can claim as I have an ABN.

There is work out there in Brissy, you just hae to keep looking. And when some interest comes along, it creates an Ephinany that holey crap- I can start earning money now.

So that's my rant for today, in the mean time, I leave you with a little something. PANDAS ARE CUTE! (inspired by the sneezing panda on youtube- crap thats funny)

Doin' a bit o' drawin'

Hey! So I was a little bored today, so after I finished and sent away the design for a giftcard, I did a bit of drawing. I realised two things today. 1- I should draw more and 2. I miss going to life drawing! I have to rangle up a few buddies and find some classes just for funzies :)

So this is a little Illustration of moi doing what I love... Baking :) Also, I found a little animation project for myself that combines my love of baking and animation...but that's for another day,another blog :) In the meantime, here it is and also keep an eye out for the design work I've been doing, I'll post soon yeah?! YEAH!

BAKING!!

Ultimate Noms!

Most people who know me, know that I love baking! Mostly sweet stuff because I have a massive sweet tooth :) So I thought I might share with you some of my cakes and cupcakes I've made over the last couple of years. Enjoy!

Oreo Cookie Cupcakes

Marshmellow Swirl Cupcakes

As above

 Polar Bear Cupcakes!

Complete with a mini donut as the head

and coconut fur :3

Mini assorted cupcakes

Whoopie Pie Cake

Rainbow Cupcakes

Peanut Butter choc cupcakes

GIANT CUPCAKE OF YUMMINESS!

Apple Cupcakes (vanilla flavour)

Nutella Cake- Thanks to Nigella Lawson for this gem

Cupcake Cones!

More Design work!

Hooray, I've got more design work coming though from Esteem Health Solutions and Jetts Fitness. I have to make banners and another gift card for Personal Training. This is really exciting for me as I love doing design, its something to look forward too after a long day of making coffees. Woot! Watch this space for the end product!!

Watercolour Pencil

I LOVE WATER COLOUR PENCILS! what fun :3

Im finally trying out my water clour pencils I got for my 21st from my beautiful friend Emma. I love putting pencil to paper which is why I'm seriously considering buying a cintiq. $2500 though so thats quite an expense. Especially if I have to buy a new Desktop because I dont think my lappy would cope with the awesomness of a Cintiq!

Refining my style

Im working on trying to refine my drawing style. Ive always been able to draw cutesy, childlike drawings so I think I'll stick with that. Im working on bulking up my port folio so keep an eye out on my blog for more pics :)

Mural is Complete!

Finally, the mural is complete! It  took longer than anticipated to finish because at the time, I was still busy with uni. Then The client went away, I went away, the room wasnt finished, ect! I learnt ALOT thoughout this process, from start to finish. Hopefully there will be a next time becuase I really did enjoy doing the mural.So here are some pics, from start to finish.

I could've incorporated the design of the wall in my sketch but decided to paint around the barriers. This proved to be really challenging as the wall was half brick and half plaster. As you can see in the design, the tree was to go from top to bottom. From different angles, it looks like the tree is a bit broken, which was a bit annoying but I am really happy with the outcome! and so was the Client :)

Back from Bali!

I returned from Balli with three other friends just over 3 weeks ago and I finally have time to blog. I went straight into work (the hospitality kind) and will enjoy my first day off in three weeks next Sunday. Good news though, my resume is ready to go and Im just waiting for a reference to go with it. Its amazing how the animation industry depends on who you know and not what you know. There could be a possible job opportunity coming up and Im in a plague of self doubt which sucks.I'm trying to barrow my way out with putting Pixar and Disney sketches all over my walls to inspire me to draw more and improve. I ran out of Blu-Tak so when Im finished, I'll post a pic :) See ya later, gotta get ready for work!

Well hey there!

Hi blogging world. I have a confession. I have neglected my poor blog. Yes I know, I'm sorry!

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and New Year, I've been busy with work and also have neglected my creative side. To get back on track though, I've done some more design work for Esteem Health Solutions and they now have $200 gift cards and they do look rather good if I do say so myself!

                                    (front)                                           (back)



Also, here is a pic of what I'm painting at the Nudgee Beach Hotel:

The wall itself is pretty small and square so I hope this works! I'll update my progress of course now that Im more committed to blogging.

Later!

EXCITING NEWS

So, two bits of exciting news for y'all.
First- Ive designed a Kids room Mural for the Nudgee Beach Hotel as requested from the Venue Manager. This is so exciting for me because I get to paint physically and digitally! I will upload the pic soon, just gotta finish it first!

2nd piece of exciting news! One of my lecturers asked if anyone would be interested in teaching animation to grades 4-6 and I immediatly put up my hand! Im working with one other of my classmates and we have an excellent lesson plan already! Its very exciting and I cant wait to teach the kids about something that i love! I hope they love it too!

Showreel

Here is my showreel for our end of year review. Sorry about the weird framing, it was either this weird framing or the final export being blue in some parts...technology hates me.

End Credits

The end credits were a success and I am really happy with them! You can see them at my video blog page. I am so happy with Draco and really proud of our efforts! Yay team.

End Credits

The end credits were a success and I am really happy with them! You can see them at my video blog page. I am so happy with Draco and really proud of our efforts! Yay team.

SkateDeck Illustration

Our last weekly assignment for Illustration for Design was to create a pro model skatedeck. This is the end product! We had to include our full name for recognition purposes and also have a tri colour palett. This proved to be quite difficult but I am happy with the end product. It is designed for females but if the dudes like it, thats cool too (y)

Rough Animation for Credits

So, This is the rough animation for the end of our film! The text will not be handwritten, that was just so I could get a sense of what went where and Im not sure if I should colour it or have it on a nlack screen with white outlines. There is a section of rolling credits that will not be animated, it will be the music and the thanks bit. cant wait to see what its going to look like altogether! Oh and where Draco is blowing a kiss, there is meant to be a camera move following the heart to another credit saying 'colour' and my name. So pretend it there :D

Business Cards

So I've designed my business cards, hooray! I have no idea hwere to get them preinted because there is more than one design. I Think these cards capture my sense of artistic aesthetic and describe me perfectly. Im really proud of them and had alot of fun putting them together. Originally, I was going to hand make each one but with the glue and dodgy cutting out skillz, they looked a bit crap. So I scanned in everything and made them in photoshop. Enjoy :D