Contextual studies in character design!

Hello, after a short break for halloween I have returned to continue showcasing the progress of my development :) Currently at newcastle college we have began a unit called contextual studies. This unit seeks to involve my class in an investigation into the style of character designed in the 1920s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and present day.

As an aspiring animator and illustrator I am excited to develop character designs following these parameters. In the animation industry it is important to constantly develop character designs keeping in mind style, form, audience and influence. In order to demonstrate I understand these styles I am required to showcase a character design in each of the era styles mentioned. 

Over my short break for halloween I spent a lot of time drawing out character designs and performing idea generation exercises in order to identify and conceptualise character designs for this unit. One such exercise was a shape breakdown experiment:

This exercise was designed to help me develop analytical skills in order to assist in the approach of character development. In the first part of my experiment I Identified key shapes that made up the 'formula' of a character design, this process helped me breakdown the characters in order to better understand a complicated image is in its basic form. Reversing this process I created poses using reference in various forms in order to serve as a starting point for different character experiments.

Using the body forms as a starting point I created a series of idea sketches with a mood board for reference in order generate potential character concepts that i can further with development.

The next stage in my process is taking 1 or two of these characters further in development, I will keep you posted in the mean time! Any pointers for my design process ? Interested in having a chat? Email me at Sickjujuu@gmail.com

Fire watch case study - Flat landscape

Fire-watch is a game based around the concept of keeping an eye out for fires and managing the forrest. The game also become popular from a specific piece of concept art depicting a landscape wide shot created in adobe photoshop.

When I first saw the original artwork I had an epiphany that the artwork in this shape and form would be perfect content to use image manipulation techniques to create the parallax effect. With this concept in mind I created an exercise to develop a better understanding of how the artwork was created in preparation for animating the piece.

I really enjoyed the creation process for this piece, it involved generating a tree asset and defining it as a brush preset to create the trees. The mountains were created with a combination of the lasso tool and the fill tool. This piece stands to exemplify that when creating a flat landscape piece, less is more.

In reflection to my case study I used the developed style and technique to create my own original design outcome, I felt that this landscape represented greenland so made sure to include birch trees (I hear there most common tree).

Overall I enjoyed experimenting with new techniques in photoshop and I am keen to express the final result of the image manipulation technique next time! I'll make sure to keep you all posted!

Image manipulation - 3D Horror concept

During my time experimenting with Image manipulation techniques in my current unit at newcastle college, I created an experiment in order to understand how i can use 3D perspectives in order to digitise concepts for games, animations and movies.

The idea behind this experiment was to use Image manipulation techniques in order to generate a video that conceptualises potential level designs in a horror game. This experiment was also created to demonstrate how image manipulation techniques can be used in mediums outside of the VFX industry such as games design in order to convey ideas and designs.

Overall I enjoyed creating this animation and I'm satisfied that in coordination with the audio this experiment took full advantage of the effect this technique can have when digitising concepts and conveying intentions.



Thank you for taking the time to view my work! I shall continue to keep you upto date with current and future projects!

Animated banner now live!

Since the beginning of my pseudonym I have been experimenting and creating a short animation to serve as the banner for my blog. This animation would consist of a short loop of a tribal chief drinking some 'Bad Juju' causing him to puke up the title of my blog. And its finally complete! 

The inspiring style for this animation consisted of simple after effects animation with motion graphic traits. Due to my love of creating animation I wanted visitors to my blog to get a real picture of what it is i do and what I create. By designing this banner and having it greeting them when the page loads in, I feel it gives them a clear first impression of my work that i hope everyone enjoys!

The idea behind the content of this animation was from the play on words with 'Sick' and 'Juju'. Juju been bad energy consumed, and sick been the resulting expression. I found this concept to be hilarious and I hope you share in my enthusiasm :) 

If you cannot see the banner, you should be seeing this image at the top of my blog page:

Green screen shoot

Now that I have goals for my visual effects experiment, It was important for me to plan and record assets to be used in my project. Experiment ideas consisted off:

• Hanging from buildings or a helicopter 
• Sitting on a ledge
• Over shoulder shot down a drop

With these ideas discussed it was time for the conceptualization and planning of the shoot. I drew 4 pictures of the shots we required take to allow the desired effect to be created for the experiment.

With the planning completed we headed out as a group to record the footage required for the experiments. We used walls and rails plotted around my local college campus.

With the shoot completed I am keen to experiment with the footage, feel free to check out the rest of the pictures i took of the shoot below! I shall continue to keep you posted!

Visual effects unit - Inspiration

To begin my second year on my level 3 animation, games and visual effects course, I shall be developing my skills in visual effects by experimenting with new techniques. The techniques I am keen to experiment with are image manipulation and compositing.

I plan to experiment in 2 main areas in order to better understand these new techniques. For my first experiment I would like to use compisiting techniques but in an animation setting. I shall be creating animated assets, that i will composite together with footage to create a scene. This idea and concept was inspired by Cartoon networks's show 'The amazing world of gum-ball'. This show uses a combination of elements from 2d and 3d animation with footage to create a unique and popular style.

For my second experiment I shall be compositing footage with pictures to create a believable and realistic scene fit for a movie. I would like to experiment with lighting and colour effects to understand the effect it has on the clip as a whole. I am also keen to experiment with special effects in order to improve the quality of the clip. The inspiration for this concept was various movies and creations by Studio Blur and Atomic fiction.

So i hope you look forward to seeing how my experiments turn out! I will be keeping you posted! Are you a fan of visual effects? Feel free to share any tips or tricks that i can use to improve my skills! :)

Hello and welcome!

Welcome to Sick Juju !

My name is Jacob Kennedy, I am a full time student in my second year of level 3 animation, games and VFX at Newcastle college. Sick Juju is the pseudonym I have created to represent the productions which shall be displayed throughout my blog. But first in order to help you understand my work, I would like you to take the time to hear more about myself.

When creating my pseudonym, I wanted to assume an identity that was personal to myself and represented my desires and interests. The inspiration for the name came from my interest in tribal culture. 'Juju' in African culture is their way of representing the karmic system found in modern Buddhism. If you do good things, you receive good Juju and so forth. The word 'Sick' was derived from modern slang meaning good or cool, creating the rough translation of my blog to mean 'Good karma' or as i prefer to view it as 'Fun times'.

When creating artwork my biggest influences are from artists such as: Bros-mind, ZeroFriends, Tony Riff, Zinkase & Mcbess. I favour the styles of these artists because I value their use of bold and bright block colours coupled with their unique art style to create interesting prints with personality. When creating artwork I am always sure to seek influence from at least one of these artists to help experiment and develop my own style.

One of the things I most enjoy when creating artwork is the opportunity to add life and personality through animation. Big influences and motivators to my animation comes from artists such as: Jerry Liu Studios, Pictoplasma & Henrique barone. Each artist inspires me with their own individual merit, Jerrys liu's use of secondary motion create characters with a more personal feeling. Pictoplasma pushes the boundaries of their style through exaggerating features to create interesting motion. And Henrique barone's process of animation allows for a fluid motion that is visually appealing.

In my next year of animation at Newcastle college I shall be given the opportunity to utilize the software 'Cinema 4D' to develop and experiment in 3D. I am keen to experiment with cinema 4D due to inspiration from the 3D modelers: Rik Oostenbroek, Justin Maller & Beeple (Crap). These artists demonstrate how the software can be manipulated to create unique abstract artwork that transcend visions that 2D artwork can portray.

Over the course of the year I seek to fill this blog with my journey as a designer, with every journey it is important to understand what I am aiming for. When starting Newcastle college 2 years ago I was interested in improving my illustrations and joining the games design community in the work-space. As I have developed as a person and animator, my ideas, visions and directions have changed. I am currently interested in improving my skills as an animator and illustrator, I am keen to experiment with games design, but I mainly want to focus on animation skills and preparing myself for the workplace. 

Thank you for taking the time to get to know myself and this blog better, I hope you will stick around to investigate my journey in the future.