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Newsletter
Learning Procreate Dreams
For the past few months, I have been learning how to use Procreate Dreams. Procreate
has been the main art program I have been using for years, so when they announced
that they would be making an animation program, I got excited since at the time I was
getting really into animation and was looking for a program to use. I have dabbled in
other animation programs in the past, such as Adobe Animate, however most of them
can get quite costly or they can only be used on a computer, and I much prefer using an
iPad for my animations. Procreate does have an animation feature using layers as
frames, however it is only suited to making very short animations and lacks many
features for more complex designs. When I launched Procreate Dreams, I was
expecting it to be similar. Procreate but for animation, so I thought it would be very easy
to learn. However, it proved to be much harder than at first glance. It took me quite a
while to even figure out how to make a key frame. There is a timeline but navigating
through it and creating frames was unlike every other animation program I have used,
which was easier to figure out on regular Procreate. I was completely lost and the
prospect of learning a whole new program from scratch seemed daunting. However,
after learning how to use it, Procreate Dreams has been very useful for making more
complicated animations. It is not perfect and I am still very much in the learning stage,
but I am happy I have something that I can use to properly make animations with. I am
currently making an animation with this program, and if you want updates on it, follow
my newsletters and socials!
Scott Pilgrim and Adaptation
The Scott Pilgrim graphic novel series is one of my biggest inspirations when it comes
to art. The art style was really unique, with characters being rendered with these thick
lines that made them stand out from the background. The design of the characters and
the world takes very clear inspiration from video games and anime, which is something I
was very into and still am. The whole graphic novel series was very entertaining and
inspiring, and has stuck with me all these years, so when Netflix announced that there
would be a Scott Pilgrim animated series (Scott Pilgrim Takes Off) coming in 2023, I
was very excited. I, and many others, expected it to adapt the comic’s story, and the
trailers suggested that would be the case. So, it was surprising when at the end of the
first episode, Scott (the main protagonist) is seemingly killed, and the story shifts to
Ramona as the protagonist. From here on, the story is completely different from the
comics, not to its dismay however. Scott Pilgrim Takes Off presents the same themes
and subjects as the comics, but tells a different story that shows more sides to the
whole cast of characters. While I would have been happy with a faithful adaptation of
the comics, the show shines a light on characters that did not get much screen time in
the comics. It was a pleasant surprise, and some of the most fun I have had watching a
tv series. It made me think a lot about adaptations and how it is not as simple as just
copying the story beat by beat. It has definitely lived up to the expectations and I would
highly recommend watching it!
Charcoal
When it comes to making art, I rarely find myself experimenting much and stepping out
of my comfort zone, as all of my illustrations are usually made digitally. Occasionally I
will draw something traditionally with pencil and pen, and maybe even use coloured
pencil but that is about as far as it goes. That was until recently when I started making
art with charcoal. I have used charcoal in the past, and while I did not dislike it, I did not
necessarily enjoy it either. The reason I started using it again is because for my FMP
(Final Major Project) animation, where I wanted to implement different art styles and I
thought charcoal would be fitting for one of the scenes. I decided to make a short test
animation to see if it would work out. I started sketching out the scene using pencil and
then drew it over with charcoal. I was a little nervous as it was my first time making an
animation by hand and not digitally. I do not know what I expected, but it turned out a lot
better than I thought I would, and I really enjoyed the process of making it. It made me
more open to try other methods of illustration that I might not have tried otherwise. It has
been years since I tried painting or watercolour but now I think it might be fun to try
them out, and finding a way to implement them in my digital animations as well. I think it
is important to try new things otherwise you might get burnt out from doing the same
thing over and over.
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