Courtney Mason: August 2011

MASON TO ANIMATION

Hi everybody and welcome to Courtney Mason Illustration!

Illustration

My goal is to translate written and verbal ideas into visual imagery that is colorful, compelling, and clearly communicate the objectives of the client. I pride myself on my versatility and am confident in my abilities to tackle any challenge both effectively and efficiently. I am open to creative opportunities in a variety of markets such as but not limited to Graphic Design, Advertising, Editorial, Book Publishing, and especially Post Production for Entertainment.

Animation

My "dream job" is to someday have a career within the animation industry. The holy trio or trifecta of skills will be in character design, storyboarding, and character animation. I have experience in experimental animation, stop motion, claymation, 2D and 3D animation using Autodesk Maya, Photoshop, and Final Cut Pro. In 2011, I received a grant from the Women's Education and Leadership Fund to conduct a study of animation through research and practical application. I learned the fundamentals and foundations of 3D animation through the Ianimate Advanced Character Animation Program and I am continuing my education through Animation Mentor School for Character Animation online starting this upcoming fall 2012.

Innovation

I am very much a team player, but also a self starter and driven towards success. Since I was a child, I was an entrepreneur, a quality I believe I enherited from my father. This sense of leadership and drive has always helped me optimize every opportunity and has given me confidence in the value of my ideas. While I am very dedicated to clients needs before my own needs, I always feel like I have something to learn and something to give.

Friday, August 5, 2011

summer crunch time!

Lately I have been trouble shooting and going back to revise some of my character development. I know...I should be animating by now, right? WRONG!

There is a lot more that I have learned since my visit to Dream Works and online instructors that has made me rethink my process. I figure if this is really what I want to go to school for, might as well learn everything!

Therefore I am currently teaching myself how to render a character, which within itself is proving to be tedious and quite complex. What I am becoming aware of that I did not know prior to my self-teaching of 3D modeling, that if you do not model correctly, the joints will not function in a realistic way, no matter how good the animation or the rigging is. The flow of the lines must mirror the anatomy realistically.

Because of this, it is taking an obscene amount of time to model but I am figuring it out...slowly.

P.S. new fave website...not facebook...not blogger...but LYNDA.COM! It is amazing and teaching me so so much!