Gif fun

 

 

Been wanting to try out some looping gif's for a while. This was a bit of fun and also serves as a pitch for a freelance job. Hopefully I will find time to do some more of these.

Freelance Animation

Been looking for some remote freelance work on sites like elance. There seems to be great demand for these whiteboard type illustrated explainer videos so I had a go at doing one with a Karl Pilkington story as a kind of proof of concept. Quite fun to do.

Ant Problem - Karl Pilkington from Doug on Vimeo.

And here's my 2d Animation Reel...

2D Freelance Animation Reel from Doug on Vimeo.

Dark Matter

Been sketching a spaceman character in my notebook. Really enjoying playing about with a sci-fi theme and thinking up ideas for a possible short film. Threw in some robots for good measure too.

Freelance Animator/Illustrator/Comic Artist

I have been freelancing in multiple areas for sometime now. A lot of my time is spent working on independent projects that will hopefully generate enough interest in my work to give people a reason to hire me to do work on their projects. So far I've found I am forever making plans for things that don't happen. It can be incredibly frustrating but the advice given from people who have succeeded in most art related subjects is always "Never Give Up!" So I continue to apply, email, and generally badger people relentlessly. I currently have about 4-5 possible freelance jobs in the pipeline and they are all on hold for various reasons.

Anyway I thought I would put down a blog post detailing what I do in the hopes that someone out there has a use for me! Please get in touch if you have any work that might benefit from the below skillset. http://www.dougwilson.co.uk/ dougwilson83(at)hotmail(dot)com.

Freelance Animation

This is my Animation Show Reel, I have experience working in Maya, 3DSMax and Toon Boom on Film, TV and Independently Directed projects.

Freelance Illustration

Cartoon illustration using Photoshop, Illustrator, or good old Pen, Ink and Markers. I can also provide character design, and background design.

Comic Artist

I have spent the last 2-3 years writing, drawing and self publishing independent comic stories.

K-9Lives Episode2: I thought I would post some background info on the making of this film. It has been almost a year since the first episode and that in no way reflects how long each one takes to make. But I have been busy inbetween, working on another comic strip Bloodwhat which is up to 124 strips! And The Von Spleen Experiment which is a graphic novel in progress.

The K-9Lives comic strip has come to an end in its current format. Now I'm hoping to make the most successful stories from the comic into animated episodes for the website. When I have about 5/6 episodes I will edit them together to make a 12-15 minute short film which I intend to submit to festivals and hopefully develop some further interest.

I found the work of David O Reilly quite an inspiration for this method. His film "Please Say Something" was created in 30second episodes online and went on to win all sorts of awards when the final film was finished.

Episode 2 took me 2 weeks to produce, working full time (with some late nights). I always planned for these films to be quick and simple... because I wanted to see the finish line. Rather than spend 20 years working on an idea that may have been flawed from the start, working like this lets me see my finished work and learn from mistakes and develop and progress.

My plans to update the blog regularly have faltered again... I need to integrate this more into my website so that everything is easily updatable. Anyway my comic K-9Lives is coming to a close I think. It is just not keeping me interested enough to continue and there are other things I feel would greater benefit my time. I am considering taking December off from updating all my comics anyway so that I can come back fresh in the new year.

I recently attended FLIP '09 and took part in a portfolio review session. Basically 6 animators volunteered to display their show-reels in front of an audience and then receive an in depth critique from a panel of industry experts. It was a valuable experience and after the initial rush of nerves I quite enjoyed it and felt that the feedback given was well thought out and useful.

This is the showreel I cut after the feedback. I am currently searching for either freelance or fulltime work in animation. I am hoping to animate some commercials or idents for tv/online portals. I am always on the look out for high end character animation too so if you are an employer or interested party feel free to contact me. Details on my website.