Chris Roman

Muppet Painting! News!

2012-01-06T10:55:00.000-08:00

I've been pretty inactive for a while, so I thought I would post something I made recently as a sign that my creativity is still functioning, albeit slowly. I did a painting of some friends as Muppets for Christmas and it came out pretty well. More importantly it was a ton of fun!

Also, for those of you who don't know, I also play drums for the band Go, Dog. Go! We're heading into the studio this weekend to record a new three song EP, which will hopefully turn out super awesome! I'm not sure how long it will take to get the final mixes back when we're done recording, but I'll be sure to keep you all updated when they're available! You can follow us for news and updates if you're interested on Twitter: @GoDogGoBand

-Chris

Elephant Anatomy Study

2011-12-13T19:30:00.000-08:00

Finished another animal study! Since this one came at the end of the semester I definitely didn't put as much effort into it as my previous dog study. The render is meh and I still want to work on it.

English Bulldog Anatomy Study

2011-11-15T17:24:00.001-08:00

An English bulldog's skeletal and superficial muscle system study I did! Plus a digital painting of the entire dog.

Premature Celebration

2011-11-05T20:23:00.000-07:00

I am a very strong believer in the separation of turkey and trees. For whatever reason, corporate business tycoons decided that the Christmas season should officially begin the day after (and sometimes before) Halloween. Probably to boost sales or something. Well that's NOT HOW IT'S DONE. It's still Fall in November, and we still have a very important holiday, Thanksgiving, to enjoy before we go all Christmas on everybody's ass. There's a reason why Santa is at the END of the Thanksgiving parade! Now don't get me wrong, I love Christmas 100%. But keep your snowmen out of my gravy dammit.

I have illustrated my passion towards this moral dilemma with the following drawing. Please enjoy.

The Sneetches (fake) teaser poster!

2011-10-28T15:22:00.000-07:00

I'm a production class right now and we're putting together a pitch package for a feature length animated film based on Dr. Seuss' The Sneetches. I made a teaser poster for the heck of it! Would you watch this?

SF Zoo

2011-10-25T16:09:00.000-07:00

Here's a few drawings from my trip to the San Francisco zoo!

Horse Anatomy Study

2011-10-18T21:01:00.000-07:00

Skeletal system, superficial muscles, and final render of my horse are complete!

Rabbits

2011-10-04T20:57:00.001-07:00

Today was rabbit day! Here's some rabbit drawings. Yes, they were incredibly adorable.

Horses / Miniature Horses

2011-10-04T20:51:00.000-07:00

We had full size and miniature horses in class for a couple weeks. RIP L'il Sebastian. I'm also working on drawings of the skeletal system/superficial muscles of a Przewalski's Horse.

California Academy of Sciences Trip

2011-10-04T20:42:00.000-07:00

I'm taking an animal drawing class this semester, which has been amazing so far. I thought I'd dump some drawings I've done over the past few weeks. These first ones are from a trip we took to the Academy of Sciences. If you're able to go there I highly recommend it!

Poses and Expressions

2011-09-12T12:10:00.000-07:00

More poses! So here's something I was working on with the Morpheus rig. I haven't really played around with him before so I decided to make him look like me, and then do some pose tests. I chose some simple emotions like sad, happy, bored, etc, and then created a situation to give it more depth. Here's some of the better ones!

Summer Character Animation Reel and Lip Sync!

2011-09-09T17:21:00.000-07:00

Character animation demo reel with work I completed or updated over the summer.

I also recently finished my first attempt at a lip sync with a Steve Zissou Norman mod I made. The shot is in the reel but here it is by itself:

Poses!

2011-09-09T17:01:00.000-07:00

Thought I would kick off my newly updated blog by posting this write up about some poses I did for a class a while back. It's pretty relevant, and I tried to use three different mediums to show how important poses are, and what a really strong pose can communicate (such as emotion, status, and story). I'll try to do some more posts like this soon.

The Big Lebowski

This first pose(s) is from Big Lebowski. This shot is from the well known sequence where Walter demands Smokey to mark his frame zero for stepping over the line. There isn't just one great pose here, there's four. The composition of the shot perfectly contains each one as well. Walter's line of action is stiff, and angled to the left, with every part of his body pointing right at Smokey. It shows how serious and angry he is. He is clearly the one with the highest status. Smokey's low status is shown through his pose, which is angled to the left, and away from Walter. He still looks straight on though, because there is probably a part of him that knows Walter wouldn't really pull the trigger over something like this. The Dude and Donny have great poses in the background as well. Donny is angled back, head turned, but eyes focused on Walter. The Dude is relaxed and mellow, as always, even in this tense situation. He also has a high status to Smokey as he casually points a pencil at him (in contrast Walter's gun).

UP

I chose this pose of Russel from Pixar's Up because of the facial expression. This is the pose right after Russel says the line "...I could, help you cross your yard?" It's a great expression because he's trying to stay positive and convince Carl to let him help him even though he's already been denied. You can see he's a little hesitant by the way his left eyebrow dips down in the middle and his mouth has a tiny bit of "sneer". What I really like about the expression, and it's something I just started noticing, is the direction. His eyebrows, eyes, and mouth all have a direction that's pointing to the right, in an area around his net. The eyebrows are angled down a bit, while the eyes, cheeks, and mouth are angled up. It makes the expression more dynamic and also expressive, rather than just having them all completely flat. There's also some nice perspective.

Scott Pilgrim Volume 6: Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour

These last two poses are from the Scott Pilgrim comic by Bryan Lee O'Malley. If you haven't read them, they're really great, and have some fantastic art. It was hard to pick one pose (so I did two). This one I really love because of the energy and silhouette. I'm always trying to pay attention to the silhouette of characters to see if it makes sense or if it's too complicated. This pose is great because Bryan drew in the silhouette in two different draws and two different distances. Because of that choice, the pose had to be really strong so it made sense from far away. There's a ton of energy in this pose, even though in live action it would be completely still too, aside from his jacket blowing. The whole pose kind of looks like an arrow, especially in the smallest silhouette, which makes sense story wise because Scott is returning home, with some kind of purpose. With just one line of text and a really strong pose, this single page communicates a ton of information and emotion.

Since the comic is heavily based on the fights Scott gets into, the poses really have to be energetic and forceful. These two come from his battle with "Nega-Scott" in the 6th book, and it's so great because of the story it tells. Again, just by looking at this drawing you get an idea of what's going on without knowing the back story. Here are two of the same characters, one is dark, the other light, so it's obviously a good vs evil situation. The darker character, Nega-Scott, is giving a huge upper cut to Scott, who flies into the air. There's great overlapping in Scott's legs which are still leaving the ground, and his arms which are catching up to his head, which is completely backwards since it took the energy of his punch the quickest. You can really sense the transfer of energy from Nega-Scott, whose line of action is curving upwards through his lower body, and up through his fist. I also LOVE the contrast between their lines of action. Completely opposites. It even looks like a yin-yang, which further supports the "good vs evil" theme.

I'm Back! - UPDATED!

2011-04-22T20:53:00.001-07:00

UPDATE!
It's been quite a few months since this post, and I have since finished the short I was writing about here. It was actually completed in May, but I just got around to updating everything here. So now you can watch the completed short below!

(Original Post)
Most of you probably didn't notice I was gone but, I'm back. I migrated away from this blog a while ago in favor of a more pleasant looking tumblr, but that was very quickly taken over by stupid pictures and memes. It was bad. Anyways, blogger seems to be the more professional way of posting things so I'm going to start posting here often with stuff I'm working on.
My current project is a short done in Flash for class. I'm doing a story about the Sun, who after millions of years, stuck in our solar system and feeling under appreciated, wants to be something more. One day it decides not to come up, which plunges the Earth into an icy demise.
I'm currently working on the layout for this, so I thought I would post a couple things. Here's two posters I did for the Sun's "room" where it goes after it sets.

And here's some backgrounds I'm working on

Chris Roman 2D Illustration Portfolio 2011

2011-04-12T09:40:00.001-07:00

(click to enlarge images)

Mar Theater Model

2009-11-14T12:43:00.000-08:00

2D/3D Composite project.

Final Projects

2009-08-19T10:23:00.000-07:00

I know no one reads this, but I'm trying to stay on top of it and keep posting when I can. Why? I don't know. Now that I think about it, it doesn't really make sense. But I guess I get to use this as a private diary or something. A reference maybe? I dunno. As long as I don't start writing about random stuff, crushes, or how I got beat up on the playground today, then it should remain my animation blog.

Okay so now that that's out of the way, it's been a few weeks since I successfully finished my two summer classes. Here are my final projects for each class.

The first is a stop motion using the puppet I made some weeks earlier.

And the second is a portrait of Billy Mays that I drew in charcoal.

I start summer classes in a couple weeks, so I'll continue to update as I accomplish things!

Poor Pedro

2009-07-16T08:55:00.000-07:00

So far, this is the coolest thing we have done in my animation class! I just finished my puppet for my next animation and I think he looks pretty neat. His name is Pedro and he is a French mime. Pedro was created when I was still in grade school and didn't want to pay attention in class. I started drawing these short two drawing comics. The first drawing Pedro would be miming something, and then in the second he would die from it. For example, he would be inside an imaginary box, and then suffocate. It was a rough life for Pedro and my immature mind, so that's why I called the comic Poor Pedro. Anyways, here are some pictures of him! Hopefully he stays together for my animation which I will be posted once I finish.

Pixelation and a Lip Sync

2009-07-13T22:34:00.000-07:00

Two latest assignments from class...a pixelation animation and also a lip sync test. I used my truck driver character from my cutout animation for the lip sync test, as I did not have enough time to make a whole new one...Also if you notice, the truck driver character is from a drawing I posted a couple posts back. Enjoy!

New Animations!

2009-07-02T08:09:00.000-07:00

As usual I have been extremely busy with class, however that means that I'm cranking out numerous amounts of animation! Unfortunately, I'm only doing just that, cranking things out. I'm not spending as much time as I want to on these, and I think they could be so much better, but we only have about 3 days to prepare and shoot each. That's not enough time! I need more! Anyways, here's three different bits from my last two weeks.

Chalk Animation

Cutout Animation

Clay Animation Tests

Boxing Day

2009-06-22T22:25:00.000-07:00

Alright...I've been INSANELY busy with these online classes. Like madness. I haven't had time to do much of anything except projects for my classes. Fortunately one of them is an animation class, so I'm definitely benefiting. Also my creative juices are being sucked dry by internet vampires and 3 day deadlines. It's rough, but here's my first assignment from class. It's a stopmotion featuring some boxes, fans, and lamps.

Characters!

2009-06-16T11:49:00.000-07:00

So sorry for the lack of posts, I've been incredibly busy since I got back from California. By the way, the trip was incredible! I'm still going through pictures and videos we took- there's so many! Anyways I thought I would share a couple character designs I've been working on for some story ideas I have brewing. They aren't finished, but I thought I'd at least show my work in progress.

I've also just started AAU online class, so be prepared for an onslaught of projects!

Here's your cliche tired truck driver!

And this is an old lady named Ethel!

Road Trip Info!

2009-05-17T10:08:00.000-07:00

I was planning on doing this in facebook, but there's an odd bug roaming around and it ate all my notes and is preventing me from writing any more. So I decided to post all the info here, and post this on facebook! Ha!

Me, Michael, and Jordan are embarking on an insane round trip adventure to the west coast with a primary destination of San Francisco this Tuesday. That's TWO DAYS AWAY. The offical name for this road trip is:

The "Chris, MP, and Ted's Excellent Adventure May Never Have Another Epic Chance To Occur During The Timeframe Of Their Lives Due To Future Commitments, and When They Planned It Out On Mapquest it Ended Up Looking Like A Crocodile Head, Showless" Tour

Stops along the way include:

The Big Texan Steakhouse - Amarillo, TX
The Bonneville Salt Flats - Salt Lake City, UT
The Grand Canyon - Tusayan, AZ
The Hoover Dam - Boulder City, NV
Las Vegas, NV
Mount Rushmore - Keystone, SD

among many other things and also a slew of California coolness. Due to the epicness of this trip, we have decided to bring everyone with us! via the internets! Here are a few ways to follow us on our journey:

Twitter! We will be updating this most frequently, so if you want constant news, be sure to follow us if you have a twitter, or just check our profiles!

Chris: www.twitter.com/chrisroman
Michael: www.twitter.com/lookitsmp
Jordan: www.twitter.com/jordanblaskey

Facebook! Be sure to check our facebook for video and photo updates! (Chris Roman, Michael Plese, Jordan Blaskey)

Youtube! If we post any video updates on youtube, they will most likely be under my channel at www.youtube.com/chrismroman

Flickr! Photos may also be uploaded to Flickr! Here's my photostream!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/28524619@N05/

Well that's all for now. Like I said, be sure to follow twitter for continuous updates and also links to external sites if we post anything elsewhere. We leave Tuesday, May 19th and get back on the 29th!

Here's the map!

Coming Up Next

2009-05-17T09:54:00.000-07:00

In my previous post, which I posted some 5 minutes ago...I mentioned that I am done at Columbia, which is true. I don't lie. Trust me. Maybe.

I thought I would kind of outline my plans for the next few semesters, so that you all know, and in case I forget I can use this post as a reference.

In June I am starting summer classes at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. However, I am doing this online from my room, in Illinois. Sad I know. I'm taking a figure drawing and an experimental animation class, which should be pretty cool. I should have some nice drawings and other weird things to post here. At the moment I'm not sure what I'm taking in the fall. I know I'm taking a computer animation studio class and two other figure drawing classes, and also a history of visual effects or something or other.

I'm taking all these classes online for now, and in the spring I will most likely continue. However, I'm going to try and reapply to Ringling College of Art and Design this fall to see if I would get into their animation program. I tried this in the winter, but missed the cutoff date.

So that's the plan right now. I hope AAU has better instructors and more interesting classes so I can build my portfolio and fill this site with useless, but cool, things!

-Chris

The Amazing Zack (Pencil Test)

2009-04-20T16:45:00.000-07:00

Finally! After many weeks of drawing I have completed my pencil test for my first short drawn animation. It's called The Amazing Zack. Check it out and I'll let you know what's up next for the finished version.

For the finished version I'm going to clean up some of the animation and fix a couple of the holds. I would really like to paint some of the backgrounds on cells, but I'm still figuring out how that will work with the layers I have right now. There's just so many drawings I don't know if I'm going to be able to touch them all up at this point, but maybe over the next couple months I'll transfer them all onto cells and paint them.

I feel like the transition from the long shot of the hat on the ground to the close up of Zack inside the hat is a little jarring, so I might animation a short "3D" sequence of the hat spinning around to reveal Zack inside.

Well that's all for now!

Chris

Happy Easter

2009-04-12T14:43:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter everybody! Here are some pictures of some cookies and eggs I made this year.

News, Big News!

2009-04-04T10:08:00.000-07:00

I am currently in the process of transferring schools! That's right, I am leaving Columbia in the dust as I head out to the west coast in search of opportunity, and a better computer animation program. I'm off to the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, California! However, I'm going to stay at home for a year to save on living expenses and take online classes. But then! I will head to the north woods of California, in no-cal.

I'm in the process of working on two projects. One is my final 2D animation for my animation class. I still have to do about 200 drawings in 2 weeks. Yeah. I'm also working on a short 3D animation that I made to kind of test out some different movements.

Both of these should be finished by the end of this month so stay tuned for that.

Whoever is reading this at least. I don't think anyone does. But oh well!
-Chris

Metamorphosis Pencil Test

2009-02-16T13:39:00.000-08:00

I'm currently working on my next project, which is a metamorphosis animation. We picked one image and then received a second image at random and had to morph from one to the other. I picked a cupcake and got a picture of some dude weight lifting. I thought it was kind of funny.

I have a pencil test completed and will be coloring for the next week or so. I'll post the final project when it's done!

My friend Jordon is also in my animation class and since we sit next to each other, our images morph into each other. So just for fun we decided to edit them together to see how it would look.

Connect: My First Animation!

2009-02-13T19:48:00.001-08:00

Hey everyone! I have finished my very first animation! It's an object animation project for my Animation 1 class. It's mainly stop motion, with a couple animated backgrounds that I did. It was only supposed to be fifteen seconds long, but I had the idea before the project was assigned and I wanted to complete the story. Enjoy!

Pancaked

2009-02-03T19:56:00.001-08:00

This project needs it's own post because it was quite the insane adventure to get it completed. I think just about everything went wrong with this film, from camera problems to lighting issues to reshoots, freezing temperatures, and hours and hours of cutting and splices tiny bits of film. But despite all that, we finished!

My good friend Jordon Hoeft plays Brian, a middle-aged man with no time who finds an empty slot in his busy week and decides to treat himself to a plate of tasty pancakes. Unfortunately, a simple goal proves unattainable as his day of relaxation turns against him.

click here to watch the HD version of Pancaked at youtube.

Previous Work

2009-02-03T19:42:00.000-08:00

So I mentioned in my last post that my previous concentration was directing. I took a class for that major last semester called Production 1 where we used an antique camera called a Bolex. From this class I created two short films and DP'd on one. They are all shot on 16mm black and white reversal film. Since I don't have a huge amount of animated work to show you at this point, I thought I would share these!

This is my first film, called Gifted, shot in Grant Park.

I was the Director of Photography on The Date, directed by Jamie Gallant.

The Story.

2009-02-03T14:44:00.000-08:00

I have recently began an exciting journey through the world of animation, and I thought I would take you all on the ride with me. I'm currently a sophomore at Columbia College in Chicago and I used to be a film major with a concentration in directing. Unfortunately that really didn't work out so well, as I found myself becomming very frustrated, annoyed, and unhappy with the direction I was going. I blame it on the pretentious Columbia film students. And the film cage. Man that place made you want to end your life. Or one of theirs. Anyways!

I did some soul searching you could say and through a break in the clouds my life's mission was revealed to me through a fantastic animated film by Pixar called WALL-E. I won't go into how amazing I thought this movie was or what specifically blew my mind, but I will summarize my feelings. I never really thought about the possibilities of animation as a film medium, but after I saw Wall-E it's like a blanket was lifted off my head and someone then slapped me saying "Look at this! You could do this!" And I replied back, "Hey, I could do that!" And you know what, I'm going to!". I still love film, but what I love most about it is story telling. I could always be a writer, but there's no color in writing, no shapes, no images! Of course you could argue that all these things are present in the words, which they are, but I need something more concrete! Pixar has really nailed storytelling through images. Every single film is a masterpiece and one day I hope to become a part of that team.

But first, I must learn. I literally JUST started my first semester of animation classes and thought that I'd start up a blog and post my work, and when I graduate I will hopefully have a really nice timeline that I can look back on!

So, won't you join me?
-Chris