James Chiang

Student Showcase 1

Some people see things as they are and say why? I dream things that never were and say, why not? — George Bernard Shaw, Playwright

As some of you know, I’ve been teaching/consulting animation artists for over a decade. Many have gone on to solid careers. Starting today, and hopefully on a continual basis, I’ll be showcasing some of the work of my current clients. With hard work and patience, these individuals have greatly improved their workflow, skill set and real understanding of the craft of animation. After all, my goal — and promise to them — is to train them to become not just animators or craftsmen, but real artists (and happy ones at that!)

Note that none of the work here is done using/copying any live-action video reference (altho I’m not against its usage as part of research/exploration). I don’t like any of my clients to produce animation that is devoid of personality or absent of strong posing and beautiful motion. Each one of them learns the proper language and creative process of this craft; they build visions on paper, do detailed research and preparation, and work with great attentiveness and a joy — a joy that is evident both during the process and in their final animations. Although I’m not one to use the word “pride” very often, I must say that I’m truly proud of them (and their accomplishments) and continue to be inspired by their passion and dedication to learning.

Animation by Jody Prouse. This two shot sequence is a nice test of story-telling and acting. Working with a horse rig within a physical environment places a challenge to body mechanics skills, acting and staging choices. Despite the rudimentary rendering (the harsher lighting and limited motion blur reduces some of the smoothness) a good sense of weight, volume and use of 3D space is achieved all the while retaining the joy and visual flavour of the character’s colourful personality.

Animation by Carles Vallbona. This is a simple shot designed to challenge the artist to give a convincing facial performance with a very limited facial rig. It teaches the animator to act with body language (versus depending on detailed lip/facial articulation) and think in terms of broad shapes and clean appeal to achieve believability and interest. I like that the choice of model and dialogue give the scene a certain uniqueness and charm.

Animation by Irina Wolf. Here, a complicated sequence is made to look smooth and simple by approaching it with thoughtfulness and care. Using a moving camera to tell a story is very difficult especially with multiple moving characters. I wanted to challenge the student to deliver a smooth flowing shot that keeps the subjects “in character” — i.e. retain their individual personalities. This means, of course, flawless execution of not just the camera and body mechanics but careful relative pacing between two 4-legged characters all the while maintaining an element of suspense inherent in the set up.

Animation by John Han. This shot showcases how one can achieve strong acting with adult dialogue and realistic models using excellent facial posing and tasteful body language (notice the visual flow and personality that comes from the excellent employment of the hands). The goal was to turn a sit down conversation into one with a bit of tension (altering the context from the film material) while maintaining the charm and elegance of the voice acting. Although the shot is not fully polished (the animator landed a job at Dreamworks shortly after), I believe a solid sense of believability and beauty is achieved here.

Note: The legality of the usage of the models/rigs presented in the above shots is the sole responsibility of the artists themselves, and bear no relationship to me or this website.

learn by Doing

“The Hanging Cloud” is one of 30,000 woodblock prints Japanese master printmaker Hokusai made in his lifetime. On his tombstone reads the epitaph “Old man mad about painting”.

Any fool can know. The point is to understand. ― Albert Einstein, Scientist

There is, ultimately, only one way to learn and that is by doing. We can accumulate as much knowledge or technique as we can, and have them beautifully and clearly explained to us (the job of the teacher), but if we don’t actually practice it (the job of the student) it never becomes a skill or ability. True understanding comes only from direct experience and realization.

To live as real artists — as true professionals — we must take solid consistent and persistent action. This means of course two big things: one, disciplined regular practice and two, continually pushing the boundaries of our abilities. Failure in either of these areas will ultimately cause one’s learning to stop, or worse, one’s interest in learning to stop.

It is not that I’m so smart. But I stay with the questions much longer. ― Albert Einstein

Alberto Giacometti’s studio. I love seeing the workspace of artists and craftsmen — they remind me of scientific laboratories where all kinds of experiments take place.

To stay with a question, an interest in the what, why and how requires a life devoted to learning, devoted to craft and devoted to life itself. This is challenging because when it comes to sustained practice there are few caveats. We must be aware of our natural tendencies to give up. Entropy is a very real thing. Yes, succumbing to fatigue, boredom or laziness is NORMAL (i.e. average, typical, and common). That’s why I like to say that real professionals are not normal — they don’t think, do or act in normal fashion. Because such normal behaviour would yield normal “mediocore” results. Mediocre or average, of course, isn’t professional; that’s the layperson’s level of knowledge, understanding and expertise (which is almost none at all).

To sustain a level of excellence — or the passion required for excellence — we must also continually find ways to surround ourselves with the right kind of people, places and things. Passion, of course, means love/empathy for something. Some people say we shouldn’t rely on inspiration or require it. To that, I say hogwash. No human being — not even the most creative and talented — can sustain a mental capacity that is always upbeat, vibrant and innovative. All time great artists such as Van Gogh, Lucien Freud and even the legendary Picasso often looked to and even copied themes, compositions, and colours of artists that come before them. Same goes with the numerous musicians, animators and filmmakers out there. We all do this and must do this because from time to time, we all need a good boost. Nature, great art, and unique stories share and inspire the human experience. Why not use them?

One of Ian Davenport’s beautiful puddle paintings inspired by the work of Vincent Van Gogh.

So ask yourselves, what do you do, either regularly or randomly, that helps you stay inspired and glued to that beautiful but challenging path that makes you a true artist? It’s an arduous task to be aware and to keep looking and listening. Delaying, walking away or giving up is always gonna be easier. Unfortunately (or fortunately!) the price of the easy, of the comfortable, is always a life imprisoned by ignorance, boredom, and meaninglessness. For professionals or those who aspire to become professionals, we know that that kind of living is far more painful and dissatisfying than facing the challenge of actually doing what we need to do. Doing is process and process is everything.

A path is made by walking on it. ― Chuang Tzu, Philosopher