It's a new reel for a new year! Life has taken a bit of an unexpected turn recently, but I won't let any of it stop me from being productive. Here's to having twice as much stuff on here the next time January rolls around :)

animation reel 2013 from Shelley Low on Vimeo.

this is the life

First time I've completed a piece with these characters in it since... well, the thesis. My credits would have looked something like this if I hadn't been a sleepless apathetic wreck towards the end of it (or if I'd planned ahead a bit more effectively), little postcard-like images of Labu and the monkeys palling around the jungle. I've been actively trying to play more with colour palettes (since I've always been a bit tame with that) and push myself for more interesting images, and I'm proud of this one! Was good to revisit these guys again too (with an updated skillset!), even if I doubt I'll do much more with them.

More illustrations to come for sure, I still need more practice with them backgrounds and colours...

durians keep fallin' on my head

At long last, my thesis film is ready to go LIVE online!

I realise that up until the screening very few people knew anything about my film. From the beginning I found it hard to talk about:

"So what is your thesis about?"

"Well it's about this pangolin, she-"

"What -- a penguin?"

"No, a pangolin. Scaly anteater indigenous to Africa and Asia. But anyway, she has these durians that she treats as pets, and-"

"These what that she what?"

"Um. Okay, my film is about monkeys. And friendship. The end, go away."

It turned out to be rather nice to have people go into the theatre not knowing what to expect from me. I was able to let my thesis speak for itself and I don't know if it comes across but it's really quite a personal project to me. Lots of people congratulated me on it afterward and I am truly thankful and quite amazed by all the support. ♥ ♥ ♥ much love, all. The Dusty animation show was truly a night to remember, I couldn't be prouder of the SVAnimators of '09. I won't forget it as long as I live -- true facts.

anyhoo. I'll shut up and let my film speak for itself this time, too.



I am attempting to make some (pathetic, by comparison) recreation of our Dusty show through a playlist on youtube, which will be updated as people post their films. Check it. They deserve it.

♥ ! I'll be posting more art soonish, as soon as I get real life sorted out. Yay!

a durian and a pangolin

the still from my film I'm submitting for the show program, both in colour and in black and white. I REALLY like how it looks, and that's a great motivator for thesisizin'. :D

it's gonna be fine, oh-nine

okay it's almost lunar new year so it feels more like 2008 is officially history. hope it's been a blast so far, I know it's been great for me. :) it's going to be an exciting year since I'm graduating and then if all goes well will stay on in New York for an extra year to do some work study. whoooo employment.

anyways, new year means new sketchbook! recycled paper yay.

I've since finished colouring, but I like it like this too. :D


some doodles of Labu. she keeps changing even now, dammit. pesky characters.


werechihuahua again. I'm not terribly fond of this drawing but I do like his face. I might do a were-toys series, I need to actually finish pictures sometimes.







and a bunch of fanart:

OMG PPG!!!!! I was obsessed with this show back in the day. the marathon on CN and the new anniversary ep was a good enough trigger to get me back into it. I am so proud of my Mojo Jojo considering I didn't draw him much even back then and I used only minimal reference for his face. yeah I watched that show waaaay too much har.

my old fear of markers seems to have done a 180 degree turn, because apparently I love them now. HOORAY. I need more.


pokemon I drew for people. I like the old pokemon designs better, the new ones are weird and a lot of them are ugly.


my friend Carly's character Stormy, inspired by what she's doing for her thesis film. :)

annnd 2009's first figure drawings page:


that's all for now, have an awesome january. :)

artsplosion

WOW. I've been drawing a lot over break, I have a lot to show. doodles are fun!

first, some thesis stuff:



boa and hornbill studies, from photos mostly (though the two hornbill drawings below are from memory. they're going to be 'extras' since as I explained to Gaffney I want my jungle to look like there are more than four animals in it. MORE WORK FOR ME TO ANIMATE, YAY. I'll be kicking myself in two months, won't I. ah well, picking a pangolin to animate as a main character in the first place was kind of telling. anyhow. I LOVE DRAWING HORNBILLS. and I'm happy I get to animate a snake because I love snakes. :)


this is an oriental whip snake, my favourite species of snake. it's probably not going to be in my film, I just wanted to draw one. ♥ evidently I have a thing for pointy-nosed animals.




trying to work out a pose/expression for Labu in this one scene - obviously the second (bottom) one worked better.


doodles. I like drawing with microns - especially when they get old and crappy to ink with, they make for better sketching. also trying to get over my fear of markers, I think we're getting somewhere.


happiness is also a warm bum. radiators you can sit on are wonderful.
I was not happy that the heat went poof over thanksgiving. :|


doggies! as anyone who's familiar with me or my art at all over the past few years will know, I'm a huge dog nerd (as in NERD, not just omg-i-love-cute-puppiez, I can quote you things about many different breeds and I have several breed encyclopedias and photo books. I have also officially drawn every breed currently registered with the american kennel club, except the danged swedish vallhund which they accepted after I'd finished with the herding group. so yeah don't mess with me xD). so whenever anybody tells me they own or fancy a particular breed or type of dog I tend to connect them in my head with that breed or type pretty much forever - since it's also true that people, I find, tend to be drawn to breeds that are closest to them in whatever way. so while I was alone in the dorms I started doodling certain dogs I connect to my SVA buds. yaaayyy, see I thought of you guys. xD

aikido doodles!! I was just thinking about it, since I do practice aikido and I miss being able to train seriously - school and art in general have been taking top priority lately. I also miss my dojo at home, and I hope I can start that up again when I move back. great workout and good for the mind and body. :) I also find aikido is really inspirational to draw from because the poses/movements are so fluid and powerful and the uniform and general silhouette is very aesthetically beautiful to me as well. aah I love it. ♥

I'm not perfectly content with most of these, but I liked them enough to post so. just means I need to draw more! I really ought to do more martial arts-inspired stuff anyway, because it does inspire me.





and that's all for now, whew. oh gah I missed having fun with drawing so much. :[

jungle jamboree

Thought I'd post some concepts and such for my final year thesis film that I'm currently working on.