Justin Noel to Cal Arts

I'm happy to report that we have yet another student who's made it into a world class degree granting animation program. Justin Noel was a senior in high school when he enrolled at the Academy last year. After spending a couple of semesters with us, he was accepted into 9 colleges and universities he applied to. He decided to go with CalArts in Valencia, California.

After completing Character Design 1 at the Academy, Justin has returned to work on his Visual Development skills as he prepares to enter Cal Arts in the fall. Here's what he did last week in class. His assignment involved developing his concept sketches while accommodating for a light source and using shadow to describe form within his designs while being mindful of important tonal relationships. Clicking on the image will give you a better view.

An extremely creative individual with a unique artistic vision, Justin is a very strong illustrator. Take a look at his blog and you'll see how talented he is. He'll be ready to take on all challenges by the time he heads to Valencia after the summer.

The Animation Academy has produced some of the most outstanding students that have attended CalArts since the founding of our school in 1998. I'm confident that Justin Noel will contribute to our legacy there. Congratulations and good luck Justin! Wishing you much success.

Introducing Carter Capps

Some time ago we had an interesting student enroll with us. He was very creative and produced highly imaginative drawings that centered around characters that he would name. He had his own unique way of approaching things, but his drawings lacked a fundamental foundation. Take a look at what Carter Capps was coming up with when he first started with us.

Since then, Carter has become one of our most dedicated and creatively productive students. His work is far from what it was when he started with the Academy. Now his imaginative sketches are grounded in good fundamentals and he's able to create very impressive designs that open up great possibilities. Check out some of his most recent work.

Add to the collection these drawings which he produced just this week at the last class session he attended. Keep in mind that clicking on the images will give you a better view.

A lot of growth from what he was doing before. Carter is a preparing to set up his blog and develop his online presence for his artwork. In the meantime, we're all looking forward to the great things he'll be coming up with as he continues to expand his skills and build upon his creative vision.

Einav Deri - Rising Star

The Academy has had many outstanding students over the years, and high in the ranks of those who've contributed to our legacy is Einav Deri. She's been featured before on the Academy's blog, starting with an entry on November 15, 2010, and again on June 13, 2011, and once more on October 4, 2011.

Einav came to us from Israel in 2009. She studied at the Academy twice. Everyone fell in love with her. From the humblest of creative beginnings, she returned to her country where she enrolled at the Israeli Animation College in Tel Aviv and took what she learned with us to new levels of excellence. Today, she's one of the top animation talents in Israel as her work is being featured in a national advertising campaign in which she designed the characters and much of the production. Here's a look at a billboard that showcases her work. Click on the image for a better view.

The billboard is one of many throughout Israel based on three animated commercial spots that will be airing on television, produced by Snowball Animation Studios in Tel Aviv. Follow this link to the AnimationNation Forums to take a look at one them.

We're super excited for Einav and looking forward to all the great things she'll be accomplishing in the future. Follow Einav's blog to see what's happening in her career.

David Wolter - Student Academy Award

Before enrolling at Cal Arts, David Wolter was a student here at The Animation Academy. It's been announced that David's Cal Arts film "Eyrie" is a winner in this year's Student Academy Awards sponsored by The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the same organization that hosts the Oscars. To learn more follow this link. Congratulations David! Take a look at Eyrie...

Alexa Terry Hanson returns

Late last year we had a standout out student who was with us for a short while, made an impact with her art and has since come back to the Academy. Alexa Terry Hanson is one of many students enrolled in our program who are among the stand out students of the industry. If you're enrolled at the Academy and you're doing well, our standards are such as that you would be at a professional level.

That's the case with Alexa. Here's one of her early assignments in Character Design 1. This is what she was doing with her first pass into our program. It's a basic exercise and a professional requirement for all character designers to be able to rotate their concepts. This is Alexa's head turn assignment. For a better view click on the image.

You'll soon be seeing more great stuff from this talented student. Looking forward to it Keep creating excellent art, Alexa.

To see Alexa Terry Hanson's blog click here.

Kristen Robertson's progress

Here's something recently created by Kristen Robertson, a student currently enrolled in Character Design 2. Kristen's developing a project which she plans on taking to levels beyond just a class assignment. A graduate of the animation program at Cal State Northridge, she's enrolled at the Academy to continue her creative endeavors and further develop her skills. She's doing a fine job with her latest work, a five pose rotation of one of her characters, handled in a slightly unconventional manner by having the 3/4 front view precede the full front view. Clicking on the image will give you a better view.

Notice how Kristen differentiates between her blue line drawing, which focuses on the anatomy of her character, and the red line aspect of  the design which is the costume she placed on the image. Very well thought out and very suitable for animators and modelers to understand what's happening with the form.

To see more of Kristen's work feel free to visit her blog at this link.