Rather than create my entire animation digitally, I instead chose to create the main assets (characters and scenery) by hand and then place them into Photoshop, Flash or After Effects, and perhaps use these programs to augment the hand crafted. For example adding stars or fiery sparks.
The first task I chose to undertake was the background. I had several ideas for how to depict space; sponged acrylic paint, bleach and ink, and brush o dye and bleach. I wanted the setting to appear natural and the unpredictable nature of the bleach helped to achieve this. After testing out each of these techniques it was clear that the brush o dye was the best option, as the bleach brought out subtle variations in the colour of the powders, giving a greater sense of depth than either the acrylic or ink.
I had also initially considered marbling with oil paint, but it was difficult to create the right balance of colour, while the amount of detail would have made the background too obtrusive and distracting. Yet this technique worked well for the planets that I would need.
To communicate that the sun and the phoenix are one and the same I made my cut out model from the same marbled paper that I cut the sun from, as well as some slightly different shades to suggest the varied tone of fire. By using darker/redder tones for the body and integrating more oranges and yellows towards the outer sections of the wings I also hoped to suggest a change in the density and heat of the fire further away from the 'core'.
The first task I chose to undertake was the background. I had several ideas for how to depict space; sponged acrylic paint, bleach and ink, and brush o dye and bleach. I wanted the setting to appear natural and the unpredictable nature of the bleach helped to achieve this. After testing out each of these techniques it was clear that the brush o dye was the best option, as the bleach brought out subtle variations in the colour of the powders, giving a greater sense of depth than either the acrylic or ink.
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| Ink Test |
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| Acrylic Test |
I had also initially considered marbling with oil paint, but it was difficult to create the right balance of colour, while the amount of detail would have made the background too obtrusive and distracting. Yet this technique worked well for the planets that I would need.
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| Test background, including Mercury. |
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| Marbled Sun |
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| Marbled Venus |
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| Marbled Mercury |
To communicate that the sun and the phoenix are one and the same I made my cut out model from the same marbled paper that I cut the sun from, as well as some slightly different shades to suggest the varied tone of fire. By using darker/redder tones for the body and integrating more oranges and yellows towards the outer sections of the wings I also hoped to suggest a change in the density and heat of the fire further away from the 'core'.
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