School is Going to Kill Me at Age 22

So, just like the title says, here's my next animation I've been working on. The sound clip is from Loki's (Tom Hiddleston -swoon-) character in The Avengers. I ended up doing two versions for the dialogue.

The first one was simpler and subtler.

(Apologies for the Facebook link - Blogger doesn't want me uploading the direct video for some reason.)

The second has two characters and a bit more exaggerated movement.

In other news, I FINALLY BOUGHT FROZEN

Just look how happy I am. Also, I drew Rainbow Dash from My Little Pony for a friend who loves her. I'm thinking of doing a series of the MLP characters as "real" horses:

Anyway, winter is over (sad face) and spring break is over (super sad face) so that means it's time to get it in gear for my final senior show in two weeks. If I live through it, I'll post another entry to let you all know I'm still alive.

Third Animation Test

Tweaked his spine curvature and head arch, did some different camera work and gave him different lighting.

Getting very close to being ready for my senior student show coming up next month! I'm excited to be done with school and on to a career in my field.

Storyboard and Animation Tests

I love animals, so naturally I must animate them. Here's a Doberman (model and rig used from this talented guy.) I've started off with a simple run cycle, though now that I've gotten the hang of the rig, I'd like to move on to more fun things (doing tricks, playing fetch, chasing down robbers, etc.)

Here's a very quick 10-minute storyboard that I sketched out to get the dog's basic poses. I took these from a couple of Youtube videos I found.

First animation test, nothing spiffy, just rendering out from different angles.

Second animation test, probably something close to the final. I want to do a bit of extra camera work in Maya and give him some basic environment to be running in.

That's it for now. Must return to homework :( 

Super Sketchy Stuff

A few choice works to start off my new blog. Several of these are speedpaintings, which I usually classify as taking less than 2 hours. My tool of the trade for these is Photoshop, but sometimes I sketch out a drawing by hand first (I find using a pencil to be easier when starting a drawing from scratch).

1-hour speedpaint with reference used. I was trying to get better with skin tones.

Jurassic Park-style Velociraptor (best dinosaur ever), another hour speedpaint. I used to draw dinosaurs like nobody's business when I was little, but it had actually been several years since I'd drawn one before this raptor happened.

30 minutes. Snow is so VERY fun to create.

A little girl has a surprise meeting with Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Don't remember how long this one took.

Another speedpaint, this one of the African savannah. I don't quite know how long it took me here, but I would guess 30 minutes to an hour.

A very old drawing, one I did back in high school. But I thought I should throw in a couple of traditionally drawn pieces as well.

A colored pencil work I did for a friend whose dog I often watch. His name's Gabriel :)

More work to come soon!

Greetings and Salutations

My name is Stephanie Roach, and I'm a soon-to-be-graduated animation student at Oklahoma Christian University. I was born and raised here where the wind comes sweeping down the plains (more forcefully than usual these days), but I expect I'll probably be moving away for a job sometime in the next few years, maybe as early as a few months.

My first love was and always will be illustration, but the idea to become an animator was sparked sometime back in high school. I remember seeing How to Train Your Dragon and falling in love with the character designs and movements, especially those of Toothless. I had been toying with the idea of studying animation up to this point, but this was one of the first films I remember watching and thinking, this is what I want to do. I have always been drawn to the subject of motion, and I love being able to bring characters and creatures to life through that motion.

When I'm not creating art for class or clients (which is pretty much never), I also love writing, taking long walks, listening to music, and watching movies with friends. I have always had a passion for animals and wanted to be a veterinarian for the longest time. I own three cats and a 36-gallon tank of fish. I grew up with a pair of brother dogs and I plan to get another dog as soon as my circumstances allow for it.

This blog will be used mostly for my artwork and 3D creations, but I'll probably also include snippets of my writings, inspirational works from other artists, and probably just random things here and there.