Students at Lost Boys Learning: School of Visual Effects participated in a Sculpey Maquette workshop hosted by visiting Vancouver-based artist Ken Meyer in late September.
An opportunity for the students to get off their computers, and create a handmade, tangible art object, the Sculpey Workshop also teaches character preparation and design as it relates to the animation and visual effects pipelines.
In preparation, the students researched character design and prepared orthographic (side, front, top) sketches to scale. Depending on their personal interest, busts were created in various styles, influenced by animation and games (The Hulk, Iron Giant, Family Guy, Super Mario), science fiction (Star Wars and original creatures) and fantasy (ceremonial mask design).
During the workshop, armatures were made of wire and mesh and attached to the wooden bases. Basic shape modeling follows the drawing then finer details are layered in or embedded using a variety of carving tools. Ken discussed the uses and history of maquettes, showed his personal sculptures and assisted the students with their designs and basic modeling. Over the next few weeks more details and final smoothing will be completed, then baking and either glazing or painting.
Along with Instructor Mark Benard and Production Manager Ria Ambrose, participating students included Grant Robertson, Subodh Singh, Ganz Ramalingam, Kishor Joshi and Gabriel Lozano from Class 7, and Jason Tranetzki, Gregory Watkins, Marcelo Bassoli, Gustavo Kasai, Miguel Ponce, Carlos Guzman and Michael Balzer from Class 8.
Ken Meyer is a freelance Animator, Director and Visual Effects Artist and he is currently creating an animated short series. He founded both Jackrabbit Pictures and the Caffeine Collective in 2004. Ken lives and works in Vancouver where he collaborates with international artists, directors, agencies and studios to create digital imagery for film, television, and the gaming industry.
Lost Boys Learning offers an accredited one-year visual effects program using project-based learning, on Vancouver Island, BC, Canada. More information is available at www.lostboys-learning.com.
