Meet Lilinoe

I'm taking the Story Development for Animation at the Concept Design Academy this semester, taught by the amazing Tron Mai. We're currently working on boarding an "Intro to Character" sequence. I've decided to adapt some Hawaiian mythology, because it's so full of intriguing gods/goddesses with names that are really hard to say. One goddess in particular, Lilinoe (basically sounds like you're saying Illinois with an extra "L" in front of it), is a bit lesser known. She's the godessess of mist...or more literally translated - "light rain." I really loved the idea of a sort of ineffective god. I mean, light rain, seriously? Gee, thanks Lilinoe, we really needed that in this drought we're having. But she means well, and is trying her best. Maybe with enough practice, she'll be able to make it rain (water...not dollars. This is Hawaii, not Vegas we're talking about people).

Here are some initial character designs that I did for Lilinoe...which are heavily influenced by the lovable Melissa McCarthy.

The Muses are coming...y'all ready?

Very soon, I'll be posting the epic story of how I met my Post Modern Muses. It was a life-altering occasion, so it'll most likely be posted in multiple parts. Cause one post just ain't enough to witness the divine assembling of: Nicki Minaj, Britney Spears, Rihanna, Lady Gaga, and Beyonce. Here's a sneak peek, starring the one and only Nicki Minaj.

I thought I'd show a bit of my storyboarding process while I'm at it. Let's work our way backwards, starting with the clean-up panels. These are the final versions all inked and shaded.

Now here are the roughs. This is where I begin using the Cintiq, working in the best software in the world, Photoshop. I like to use blue ink and keep it loose. This is mainly to find the composition and staging...while also beginning to explore potential character poses/acting. I try to really solidify the timing and panel count here as well.

Lastly (well actually, firstly), are the thumbnails. I like to keep this super sketchy...at times so much so, it's undecipherable (thanks past self). But I find this part very freeing, it's the time where I can scribble and explore potential ideas in my sketchbook. Though they are often doctor-hand-writing-level scribbly, I try to thumbnail out the entire sequence from start to finish to work out the story as much as possible from the very beginning.

Before all of this, I write out the script/dialogue...usually in my sketchbook, because like thumbnails, there's something untethered about pen and paper rather than the finality I feel from working in the computer. The computer comes when I feel like the boards are in a good place to dive in. The dialogue of course evolves as the drawings evolve, but I like to have a blueprint from the start.