Violence up close has a smell. Like copper blood and charcoal burning.
-unknown
I enjoy the feel of charcoal in my hands. I’ve always adored it since I first touched it in junior high. The aftermath of using them was always a mess, but creating an image was always splintered, in my opinion. Please forgive me; I’m coming from a fine arts perspective. I had no idea I had feelings for it until I felt it again after so many years.
When it comes to making a single still image, the process of snapping progress and sequencing a scenario in the same form is beyond capacity. At least, that was my own opinion. The session of seeing samples of how charcoal animations were documented and performed appeared to be very intimidating.
We were encouraged to try our hand at making simple animatics, such as passing clouds, fluttering birds, and swimming ducks, as well as everyday simple character actions. I chose fire since there were many more references for me to establish a basic shape and movement of it while blazing up and down. However it did not turn out as planned; although I did not plan it well. I expected it to just seem that way as I went through it frame by frame.
The burning fire animation was made out of 48 snap photos, and because I didn’t have a camera stand, the shots were taken with some approximation in terms of framing. To make it more exact and flowing, I had to remove and change individual frames after the shooting (there was so much concentration; I used to not remember if I missed certain images that I drew and ended up repeating a few).The animation’s pace had to be tweaked so that certain visuals were not missed.
Honestly, it was an excellent warm-up for the charcoal and its texture. The actual connection to the paper felt terrific. I hadn’t felt this good about creating something traditionally in a long time. I remember being completely drawn to it. I would like to use this sometime in the future to tell a story that soothes the eyes through soft and gradual movements.