Latest Cross Stitch

As I alluded to in one of my January posts, I stated that I wanted to get back into cross stitch/ embroidery as it's a hobby I absolutely love. After finishing my last little cross stitch project, I was totally in the mind to do another one as it really rekindled my passion for stitching. Unfortunately though, I had packed away all my sewing stuff into removal boxes. Before I decided to get it all back out again (the move has been massively delayed), my mum very kindly sent me another cross stitch kit of a Winnie-the-Pooh design. Obviously the bear is super cute, but for some reason I have never actually read any of the books or anything (no hate though)!

It was a bigger cross stitch than any previous ones I've done- the design is approximately 4 x 4.5 inches and it incorporated many techniques I have never used before, such as mixing single and double strand stitching and fractional stitches. At first I was a little intimidated by using these techniques, but I powered on with it as was pleased that I did, because it showed me some effects I can now use on future works. I went ahead and followed the pattern accurately here, mainly for the aim of trying out new ways of doing things. I always have the mindset of that if you don't try new things, then you don't progress or develop. Even if you don't like the way things turn out, then it's still something you can learn from and build on, rather than just staying the same and only doing what feels 'safe'.

I'm very pleased with the outcome here and it was really fun to work on a bigger piece. I'm really excited to do more- though I'm not allowing myself until I've finished my moth film! I think I'll sew it onto a piece of felt first though, like I usually do as it gives it a nicer finish. Then I'm going to finish the moth film!!

Here's a few more photos:

'Bear' BTS #1

One year on almost to the day since the reference footage shoot for my short film 'Bear', I've got it together to post some behind the scenes footage! The majority of the film was shot in one location, with only a few major props included. Everything else was drawn in/ animated afterwards. This shot of him working in the factory is a good example of this:

I'll be doing a series of similar 'making of' clips- comparing the original footage to the final composite, maybe throw in some timelapse bits too- I filmed a lot as I was animating, so will be nice to finally put it out there for all to see.

Here's the moving version of the above (YouTube now doesn't let me choose a thumbnail for shorts- sigh):

Credits: Peter Stone as Bear and Alan Livesey on camera. Directed and animated by myself!

More Clips From 'Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood'

I've published two more clips of shots I animated on the feature film ‘Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood’ (dir. Richard Linklater) over on my Instagram.

The first one was this rocket shot. Click here for the video.

...The second, this shot of parachutes. Click here for the video.

Both these were super fun shots to animate, but definitely had their fair share of challenges. The rocket was the shot I spent most time over out of all the shots I animated. I actually did a version at first, which didn't turn out well and I received several notes. Although disappointing at first, I took the comments on board and then pretty much scrapped what I originally did (only keeping a few remnants) and started afresh, leading to a shot which I'm now proud of and which looks 100% better than my first attempt. This was a great learning curve for me and I'm pleased that I really took the notes on board/ listened- it was a situation where I could have easily pandered to my ego and took it personally and only changed it slightly thinking I knew better. But I didn't and took everything on board instead, creating a much stronger shot. You learn and develop and lot more and a lot quicker when you push yourself out of what you're comfortable with and this shot has been proof of that. If you just stick to what you always do and know, progress and development will be a lot slower.