three things

Hello there, everyone!

Three big things for today: a progress update, some new information, and CARING. Read on for explanation!

First! Progress update. Remember how I did a Firebird animation? I'm working on a new one, and this time I want to use my own character and pay more attention to consistency. To do that, I need to know what I'm drawing, and to do THAT, I need to be better about using reference. One thing I'm learning is that it's okay, even good, to draw from reference. That's what the pros do, and that's how you build your "visual library"-the things you know how to draw. I'm doing some research on costumes from various productions and I made a Pinterest board to help me consolidate my findings (as one does, if you're me :P). I've also been watching videos and practicing drawing more action poses from them, which is of course very helpful.

Second! Exciting and helpful news that I learned from my uncle: students can download Maya (the standard industry animation software) for free! So yep, I downloaded Maya and WOW. It's very complex, and learning it will definitely be a longer-term project than 20-time allows for. So this will definitely be something I'll want to keep working on throughout the summer. And I don't really have anything to show you from that, because it would mainly be an exciting video of me sitting at the computer. In my house. Silently. Clicking things. But it's still a big development that has opened up a lot of options to me!

Third! CARING. To explain: our class groups were assigned different traits from 

the IB Learner Profile TM to fit with our project, and this was mine. I think this is a really important trait, obviously, but I was a bit at loss for how to make it fit with a project like mine. So to be honest, the way I ended up making my effort to be more caring was by NOT working  on my project (no wait, don't leave yet!) I was going to sit down and work on it when my brother asked me to play basketball with him. Normally, I'm ashamed to say, I probably would have said "nah maybe later, I have to work on this." And then I probably would have forgotten, because I am becoming convinced that, regrettably, my mind resembles a sieve more and more every day. But (philosophical twaddle ahead, fair warning) I decided to go out and play with him and to work on my project later in the evening instead. And I'm really glad I did. The moral of the story is DON'T DO YOUR WORK! Haha, just kidding. Y'all know me better than that. But keep your priorities straight. Your family is more important than any project; keep pegging away at your projects, guys and gals, but don't let them get in the way of the most important things. You'll still be able to find time, I promise! Until next week. Anna out!