Another Bittersweet Year Gone...Merry Chrimbo!

Hey Peeps! It is I bringing you 2012's last Blog update before 2013.

I was really hoping to make a new Christmas Card this year in a similar epic style as 2010's Chrimbo but unfortunately never got down to it in the end. I have however, started working on the GANTO: Renaissance Pre-Production work again and have successfully entered the work I've done so far into a "future arts" competition, just as I said I would last month. Not exactly a "Christmassy" update I know BUT it's better than nothing plus, it's a film project I really want to make sooner rather than later in future anyway so in that sense, it's kind of relevant to the whole "New Years" theme.

Just showing a few samples I've entered, above is a coloured version of Cleo's turn-around sheet. I've got to be honest I'm so glad I went back to tweak this, it looks so much more professional now and just goes to show how seriously I'm taking this project. Really hope this is strong enough for the Judges

GANTO Renaissance Animation Tests 1 from Noor Mula on Vimeo.

Above are a couple of rough animation tests I created two years ago. The key for me personally is the more frames, the better. Saying that, I'm really not sure I'm going to re-use the above animation shots in the re-make, but it is good enough evidence for the Judges to consider for my entry. I'll find out in March 2013 whether I've won, so we'll see.

Speaking of working on old projects, anyone remember the Salvador's house party illustration I was working on as well as showing what parts I completed so far? Well the good news is I've started working on it again!

Above is Salvador's lovely girlfriend, looking all stunningly glamorous and classy ready for the awesome par-tay!

And here's the dancing fish. I see he/she hasn't stopped boogying since we last saw him/her!

Hmmmmmmm? So this must be his/her cousin.

And before I bring this latest update to a close, a little reflection on my 2012.

Whilst this year has been miles better than the horrible, HORRIBLE 2011, neither was it as great as I was hoping it to be for me. Don't get me wrong, nothing tragic happened to me (thank God) but it's one of those feelings where you know you could've done better as well as make better choices. Looking back I think the problem for me was the fact that because I'm trying so hard to break it in the animation world, I just started to work on too many personal projects, trying to enter too many comps and desperately trying to find any work placements, therefore I'm sad to say I ended up wearing myself out (doesn't help that I've become a big recluse since Graduating too). So if you're wondering why you haven't seen any new work I've done for Al Pasheepo recently, that's why. On the plus side, at least I can look back this year and see how to improve myself for next year. When it all comes down to it, the key is to keep going and not give up! No matter how hard and even upsetting my journey currently is, I will NOT rest until my dream becomes a reality! So it's goodbye 2012 and here's to 2013, let's hope this will be the year I'll finally achieve my dreams once and for all!

Well, that's all for this year folks and until next year (well, next month to be more precise)...

See ya later Navigators and have a very Merry Christmas as well as an awesome New Year! :D

Noor "Red Eye" Mula  

Poetry & updates for GANTO:Renaissance

Hey Peeps! Really sorry I've taken too long with updating this Blog within this month but hey ho, thankfully I've made it just before the month was over (better late than never they say eh?)!

Anyways, during my animator's blues, I've found myself working on more concept art for GANTO:Renaissance recently. Why? Because I've found something where I can enter the pre-production works for this project. I'm not going to reveal what it is since it's still early days and I don't really want jinx this great opportunity. But what I will do is show what I've completed so far.

Here are some facial expressions for our good ol' pal Jonathan! I did do another facial expressions sheet for him two years ago but to be completely honest, I looked at it again and it wasn't really that good which is why I've re-done this. Truth be told I think he looks like he's got more personality now.

The above image is Jonathan's bodily expressions sheet. Unlike the facial sheet which is new, the above sketches are the old sketches from two years ago, the only change I've done here is colour them since they were Black &White previously. Although Jonathan's design has been slightly tweaked now, I felt the bodily expressions sheet is still a relevant reference to use hence, didn't really feel it needed to be re-done. Saying that I still may make a new one anyway to add some more movement for him.

As well as the GANTO:Renaissance concept art, I've also written two poems in my spare time. Why you ask? Well, although I'm not really a poet to be honest, I do however, want to improve my writing skills for my future narration work, scripting etc., hence I felt poetry would be a good exercise for me to start.

The first above poem I've written is "Melting Clocks". This poem is pretty much just a tribute to one of my favourite artists of all time, Mr. Salvador Dali!

"Friendship, Snobbery & Betrayal" is the second poem above. This poem is inspired after going through a little "dark' place last year during my loneliness and hurt.

Again, since I'm not really a poet, I'm not sure if these poems work or not. Any room for improvements would be very much appreciated thanks.

Well, that's all for now folks and until next time...

See ya later Navigators! :D And once again really sorry for the delay.

Noor "Red Eye" Mula

To Be Or Not To Be...Seriously what now?

Hey Peeps, it is I once again this time, unveiling art work I wasn't allowed to post onto this Blog until now. 

As many of you know by now I've been entering a lot of competitions recently as well as working on a couple of personal animated work.

Here is the actual art work I entered into the "No Doubt" competition to celebrate their comeback from a long hiatus.

And here is the art work I had made for the "Fraggle Rock" competition to celebrate their 30th Birthday Anniversary.

Up next are the character design sheets I created and entered along with my script in the "Imagination Series" script writing competition, starting with the character design of Devil Bunny. Many people who know me would know that I've had this character in my mind for years. I didn't know what to do with him until I thought up this story and hence took this opportunity to re-design him more to my liking. 

Not much different, just a coloured version of the design.

Next up is Spider Pony! Now this character is a new one I thought up. I wanted to create a monster who should be scary but just simply isn't. Now let's be honest folks, what could be less threatening than a Spider Pony?

And here's our good old friend Sergeant Nutty again! Sorry for re-posting him folks but I did manage to find a role for him in my written script, so it only felt right to include him upon this update of mine.

I spin him right round! Baby right round! Like a record...OK, OK bad joke.

Now that I've shown you all the art work I wasn't able to post here until now, let's talk for a bit. I'll be honest with you all, right now I'm in a state of Limbo. I don't know if I'm doing anything right or wrong. I always knew this was never going to be easy but with such a lack of support, I just feel like I'm not getting anyway and I've been trying everything. I really don't know what I'm doing and I really do want to go down this path so badly! Right now I feel so alone, what do I do? 

Sorry to go all Emo on you lovely folks, just needed to get that off my chest and rest assured I have NOT given up! I'm just in a bit of a "downer" mood at the moment.

And before I bring this latest update to a close, please Vote for moi's Showreel here.

Well, that's all for now folks and until next time (and hopefully in a much more happier mood next time)...

See ya later Navigators! :D

Noor "Red Eye" Mula

They used to be together...Everyday together...Always...No Doubt about it...I know what you're thinking...THEY'RE BACK!

Hey Peeps! How are you all doing on this fine, joyous...Errrrrrrm occasion? Anyways yes, it is I once again bringing you all a slightly different update from usual.

As many of their fans probably know by now, the Ska Punk band No Doubt have reunited after a long hiatus and will be releasing their sixth studio album "Push & Shove" as well as it's lead single "Settle Down". To celebrate this occasion, No Doubt decided to launch an art competition to help publicise their latest releases. In return we get AWESOME PRIZES which I will not reveal so nah! Anyways, after reading about this, I of course decided to enter and behold, here's my entry. Just like the last comp involving my film Bitter Critter, this latest comp also requires The People's Choice and the Judges' Vote (who will be none other than No Doubt themselves), so once again Peeps I'm in need of your help to at least stay in the Top 50 to help increase my chance of winning. The higher the vote, the more chance the Judges will take notice of moi's entry. The choice is up to you of course, I won't force you (obviously) but if you do take the time to vote for me, I'll be eternally grateful.

Of course due to the competition rules, I am not allowed to post the final image on my Blog until the winner is decided so instead, I'll just post all of it's separate pieces to give you all a slight "behind the scenes" look of how it's made...

First up is the female artist and lead singer of the band Gwen Stefani, sitting on the letter "N". I decided to turn here into a singing siren while still maintaining her cool self by giving her a top hat. I hope I succeeded in that regard...

Next up is the band's bass guitarist Tony Kanal, sitting on a letter "U". Since my art piece is intended to be surreal, TK just simply sitting on the "U" and still looking normal looked a little too out place compared to the others. So to compensate this, I decided to give him extra arms growing out of his arms, why? Because I can dammit! Do NOT question surrealism!

Up next is everyone's favourite eccentric drummer and comic relief of the band, Adrian Young. I have nothing to say about this except that he was hands down, the most funnest one to draw, period!

And last but most definitely not least, is the band's guitarist Tom Dumont, standing on the letter "T". For good ol' Tommy boy here I just thought it'll be fun to have his head on the bottom of his body instead of on top...As I've said before DO NOT QUESTION SURREALISM!!!!!

Now onto the rest of the letters. Since No Doubt has two "Os" written in it's name, I decided to be a bit of a smart-arse and just design the Drum-Kits to represent the "Os". I'm sure having two of these would make Adrian Young a very happy man.

Speaking of which, here's the letter "D" I got him to stand on in my final piece, not to mention that the "D" is between the "Os". Aren't I such a thoughtful person?

And last but not least of the letters is the letter "B" and...That's it, just a simple "B".

Now onto the floating instruments of the backgrounds! First up is the flowing, Piano path. Don't know about you guys but I kinda want to slide down and play on this, looks fun!

Next up a Saxophone, vomiting out Piano Keys and more magical...Errr...Stuff.

A Trumpet...

A Clarinet...

A Harp...

And of course last but once again not least, a Violin. And together, by the power of No Doubt, they float everywhere yay!

And that's all for my little "behind the scenes" look. I have to say I really did have a lot of fun making this and would really love for this all to pay off. Remember folks, all you have to do is Vote to keep me at least in the Top 50 to increase my chance of winning the Judges/No Doubt Vote. If I mange to get into Top 10, even better BUT Top 50 is a definite must! I have to say, I am little nervous to be honest. All I could do now is wait and really do hope they like it.

Well, that's all for now folks and until next time...

See ya later Navigators! :D

Noor "Red Eye" Mula

Bitter Critter (finally) unveiled! Experimental sketchies &...Well, more minor Updates

Hey Peeps! It is I once again bestowing upon you all, MORE of my personal art!

And yes, first things first, I'm finally showcasing my film "Bitter Critter" on this very Blog, I'm so sorry it took this long. So without further ado, enjoy the film and please, do let me know what you think.

Also, I'm pleased to announce that "Bitter Critter" has been entered into this competition  for it's chance to be featured at the Palo Alto Int'l Film Festival. Although the Judging Panel will make the final decision for which entry to win, I still need an awful lot of Votes for "Bitter Critter" to at least stay in the Top 50 or ideally in the Top 10 to increase my chance of winning. The higher the Vote, the more likely the Judges will take notice of it. So if you've enjoyed the film or even just like my work in general, please do support me and Vote! Every Vote counts and I'll really appreciate it, thank you. 

Now moving on, I've been doing an awful lot of writing/script-writing, animating and illustrating for various different competitions recently, which I personally would love to show you all, but unfortunately due to the various different competitions "Rules & Conditions", I'm not allowed to post any of them up until a later date, which I can only apologise for. So to make it up to you guys here are the various, experimental sketches I've done of in-animate animals when I visited The Natural History Museum with my buddy Ling. 

Now believe or not, the top two images are sketches of the exact same creature, which I decided to draw twice. It's amazing how different an image can be when you draw it the second time. Personally I like the top image the best but that's just me.

Tip: If you want to design really scary looking monsters, always start by sketching animals first. Above is an image of a Hippo, who would've thought Hippos could look this scary?!

A front view of a Deer. Considering this is a first time I've done a front view of a Deer, I don't think I did a bad job.

And finally, an ancient Mutton who's NOT dressed itself as a Lamb (thank God)!


Well, that's all for now folks, until next time...

See ya later Navigators! :D

Noor "Red Eye" Mula

The Return Of Sergeant Nutty & behold the background designs!

Ahoy there Peep Peeps! It is I once again bringing you latest from a far away Galaxy otherwise known as my mind!

Remember Sergeant Nutty folks? Well, he's back! This time with a lot more work put into him design wise, whereas previously he was too rushed. 

Because at the time he was a last minute concept, I really wasn't sure what to do with him; so I pretty much just left him on my "possible story ideas which may not be" shelf. However, over the months since, the more I thought about him, the more I began to think "actually, this character has some potential" so I decided to re-vist him. I think because he was so rushed at first, I just wasn't at the time that comfortable with him. Therefore I figured why not design him again but this time take my time to improve him and maybe then I'd be able to do something with his character? Of course it's worked because I'm already jotting down some story ideas for him now. However, I'm still planning on finishing the Al Pasheepo short first so Sergeant Nutty's story won't be introduced yet but don't worry, I'll be sure to keep you guys posted so watch this space...

Moving on! As you all may have noticed by now, the vast majority of work I post on this Blog has mainly been of characters but what about the background designs? Well for the first time ever, believe it or not, I'm now showing you all the background designs I've created thus far...

A fiery, Gothic chandelier

A bartender's bar

An exterior design (1)

An exterior design (2)

My first attempt at designing a background 

(well, we've all got to start somewhere I suppose)

To be honest with you all, designing characters has always been my greater strength and in my opinion, the most funnest to create. However, I do need to seriously need start improving my background skills now, hence why I'm showing you all what I've created so far and which areas I could improve myself on? Any feedback given would be very much appreciated thank you. :) 

Well, that's all for now folks and until next time...

See ya later Navigators! :D

Noor "Red Eye" Mula

  

Something (Secretly) New, Tweet Tweet & Mystery Revealed!

Hello Peep Peeps! It is I once again bringing you the latest news from the artistic vortex of my mind. But first some serious business to discuss.

After years of resistance, I have finally swallowed my pride and joined Twitter. So if you like what I do and would like to show some extra support for moi then please, feel free to follow. But just so you all know, the only Topics/Status' I'll be posting there will be serious stuff like self promoting films/art etc. so don't expect me to post anything silly.

Next up, remember from my previous update I asked you all who you thought the two characters at the bottom of the page were? Did you guess right? As promised, I can now reveal those two characters were Gobo and Red from one of my favourite childhood television shows Fraggle Rock. Why did I draw them like that you ask? Well, it's for the Fraggle Rock Competition which I've just entered (I've also added in Wembley, Mokey and Boomer). Voting opens in August so watch this space.

Now you're all probably wondering what's happening with Al Pasheepo & Gang? Well, due to unforeseen circumstances, I'm sorry to say I had to make the difficult decision to halt production for the time being but fear not folks, it won't be for long and production will be resumed in August.

Speaking of which, heres where my headline "Something (Secretly) New" comes in. I'm working on a "Secret" project relating to films and clips from well known British Films. So without revealing too much, here's some Concept Art I've completed...

These four Monsters above are modeled and based on four well known characters from a popular television show. Like I did with Gobo and Red from Fraggle Rock, I'm going to let you all guess who these four are. All will be revealed in...Not the next Blog update but in AUGUST! So you all have a looooooong wait (hehe, I lurve being eval)!

And finally, before I bring this latest update to a close, here's some female characters I've created relating to my "Secret" project.

Well, that's all for now folks and until next time...

See ya later Navigators! :D

Noor "Red Eye" Mula

Operation BAA!!!!!: Storyboards, Animation Tests (And a little bit of extra from moi...)

Ahoy there Peep Peeps! It is I once again bringing you the latest Updates of the Al Pasheepo short film project...

As promised from my previous Update, here is a couple of rough Storyboards (in no particular order) I've made so far. I've actually made more than I'm showing here but they're mostly drawn in Stick-Men form so I've just selected the ones that are the most clearly drawn to show you all. I've also done another rough animation test to try and get the harder scenes out the way as well as providing you all with a little sneaky peek...

          

 

 

 

 

So from what you folks might be able to tell, I'm still trying to figure out the right way to make this film really work narrative wise. I'm really hoping this could be my meal ticket to success but I'm not sure if I'm getting any of this right and I really do want this to be amazing! I don't know, maybe I'm being too much of a perfectionist or I'm just feeling like a little bit of a lost soul at the moment, maybe I'm still having Graduation blues who knows? Either way just got to keep going and not give up. Hopefully this animated short takes me somewhere...Fingers crossed!

And before I bring this latest Update of mine to a close here's a little extra from moi...

The beginnings of a Fan Art here, can any of you folks guess who these two characters are? You'll find out next month but for now let the guessing BEGIN!!!!!

Well, that's all for now folks and until next time...

See ya later Navigators! :D

Noor "Red Eye" Mula