Cassandra Poulson

Lumberyard Sunday Sketch

2012-01-29T14:13:00.003-05:00

A quick color sketch this morning.

Big news: part one.

2012-01-17T13:01:00.004-05:00

Many things have been happening since my recent venture to the west coast. I have met loads of industry folks and have had a blast. With that, my job tracking has kicked into high gear and some new and exciting opportunities have come my way. Granted, this is result from weeks of nothing but working, drawing, networking, and bar hopping outside animation studios.

Animation Insider Interview:
http://www.animationinsider.com/2012/01/cassandra-poulson/

And, some very happy news: Craig Elliot, who has worked on big-big films from Disney and Dreamworks doing visual development, designs, and paintings, has selected me to mentor! I applied through the Motivarti mentorship program and am so pleased to be a part of it.

"Rain Dance" VFX Test

2012-01-10T23:20:00.001-05:00

Base14- Rain Dance VFX Test from cassandra poulson on Vimeo.

This is an early test I did for Base14's "Rain Dance" to see if our idea of painting the background animation using Photoshop's new Animation tool would work. Well short story short it worked like a charm and we were all very happy.

The Adventures of Parsnip Boy and Fig

2012-01-09T17:41:00.003-05:00

warm up painting- redonion

2012-01-09T12:26:00.001-05:00

today's warm-up painting was inspired by an onion.

TGTF business cards for the Annie Awards!

2012-01-06T15:46:00.002-05:00

The front side, one of these two images:

And the back side:

Just ordered them- a small investment but I've already nearly run out of my last order.

Space Mural Work in Progress

2012-01-02T18:57:00.003-05:00

Sketches for a new project:

My aunt gave me a very large canvas, and I just moved into the new studio so I'm going to paint a scene for the wall. The room is "space" themed, and I'm going to stick with that. I liked the idea of a planet with holes in it, as well as some sort of glowing alien liquid. The character, which will stay cel-shaded to resemble an animation- is a very distressed alien girl. Much like how I felt when I totaled my lovely car last night.

Thank you Santa for the IPhone!

2011-12-27T19:55:00.002-05:00

The most useful, wonderful amazing gift- Siri will kill us all one day. Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!

"The Girl and The Fox" Nominated for an Annie!

2011-12-21T10:09:00.002-05:00

My first film, "The Girl and The Fox," has been nominated for an Annie Award! I contributed character design and visual development, and served as lead background painter for the film. I've never been so thankful and amazed. It was a pleasure to work with an amazing team. God bless, and Merry Christmas!

Official Base14 Announcement

Official TGTF Website

Naked Sheet Girl

2011-10-26T13:39:00.002-04:00

Still in the Halloween groove, I present to you, Naked Sheet Girl.

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-24T19:07:00.003-04:00

Happy Halloween! I've decided to dress as Nadine from Twin Peaks- mostly because my good friend Samantha already called Log Lady.

Also, my new tablet it in the mail! Today is a very happy day.

Some paintings from Blackcat Fish

2011-10-21T09:29:00.005-04:00

Here's a little from my project over at http://blackfishproject.blogspot.com

Also check out my new carbonmade portfolio! http://cassandrapoulson.carbonmade.com

Theft is Lame

2011-08-22T23:08:00.003-04:00

Kids, just say 'No' to theft. My apartment was robbed, I lost my entire senior project, laptop, tablet..it has been a sad week.

Still Alive!

2011-08-17T01:40:00.004-04:00

Still alive, extremely busy. Mostly been working on my film, Blackcat Fish. htp://blackfishproject.blogspot.com/

Also been working a lot, bartending on the riverboat. I'm moving apartments in a couple weeks, and film work for Nate Swinehart's "Rain Dance." yes yes yes yes

Blackcat Fish

2011-06-17T22:15:00.000-04:00

"Blackcat Fish" is a film in the making. It will be the cornerstone of my senior project. Having written the script last quarter during my Vis 2 class, I decided to expand on the idea and turn it into a film. The story was originally used for an 8 page comic for the class. This summer, I'll be designing characters and layouts, doing concept art and background paintings. All the pre-vis work typically put into an animated film. Check out the website just made for the project! http://blackfishproject.blogspot.com

And a random one:

TGTF Wins Student Emmy Awards, Academy Nominee!

2011-05-15T14:08:00.000-04:00

The final poster for The Girl and the Fox, 2nd place winner of the student Emmy Awards, and now a student Academy Awards nominee!

Pre-vis sketch for a live action short, "The Second Floor Bedroom."

TGTF Poster Sketch, first rough

2011-03-30T12:11:00.000-04:00

Color sketch for the official Girl and The Fox poster, to be used on the IMDB website and DVD cover. Painted this with comments from many of the Base14 artists simultaneously. Though its still got some work until we find something we really like.

2010-11-17T16:44:00.000-05:00

Hey some planes.

ah, High School..sketchbook.

2010-11-17T16:37:00.001-05:00

More from the Basement

2010-11-15T08:47:00.000-05:00

A life drawing from 2008

And two early color keys from last year. Matt Doerings, "Emma and Molly's Pet Yeti" and Courtney Brooke Vaughans, "Band of Gypsies."

CITF: Layout Packet from Last Year

2010-11-12T11:36:00.000-05:00

I'm off to Tokyo in no less than 15 days! I'll be there for two weeks with the very talented students who were accepted into the program. Looking forward to the trip. Shane Glines (http://www.shaneglines.net/) is the artist that will be joining us on the trip. He's a great cartoonist. In other news I've quit my job as a bartender. Time to focus on art. And because I won't be visiting home over the winter break, I'll have over a month to really hone in on that portfolio and get some work done. I'm feeling the need to start working as an artist full time now. And I'll be pushing through, graduating two quarters early, to kickstart this.

"Reveal it...", ad comp for Reveal brand Light Bulb

2010-10-18T16:31:00.000-04:00

Behind the Bar, the balance of artistology

2010-10-03T07:43:00.000-04:00

Color Key for a film, "The Symphony of Life" with Grant Harwell.

Environment concept for film, "Out of Time"

Environment concept for a video game

The summer was a huge milestone for me. I was in a funk i couldn't shift. So I attended bartending school and found a job here in Savannah. I work behind the bar in a fine dining restaurant in historic downtown just a few blocks from my home. Still trying my best to find time to draw, and slowly but surely my funk is being subsided.

First Summer Update

2010-06-14T02:42:00.000-04:00

It's the first update of the summer. In three days I'm going to San Fransisco to look after my grandmother, who's on a slippery slope to non existence at the moment (as horrible as that sounds..). The least I can do is be there for her now while I can. And San Fransisco is a great place to be an artist; it's a definite win-win.

I've joined another temporary sketch blog with a few SCAD friends to keep me inspired over the summer. You can find it here: http://vignettegazette.blogspot.com/

This was my first quick sketch for the blog, a "treehouse" underwater.

Layout painting for a film, two versions, one lit and one in shadow.

Pear in the Veggie Bin

2010-05-07T12:57:00.001-04:00

Sketch Frolic Topic of the week, "Fruit as Foreigners."

Last night I went to a lecture by "Delgo" co-writer and co-director Jason Maurer (who is also a professor here at SCAD). He was talking about concept art, and it really inspired me. I can't wait to get started.

Rilo Kiley Poster and Bluth Collection

2010-05-06T15:46:00.000-04:00

Rilo Kiley poster done for class. We were limited to only two colors, plus black and white, and had to include screentone. All of the fonts also had to be hand drawn. I didn't like the inked drawing, but it all came together right at the very end.

It was also Open House at the Jen Library yesterday! I went and looked around, and stole lots of free things. Also ran into Michael Jantze. He owns a neat little animation studio in San Fransisco.

The library was showcasing their rare books and graphic novels, most of which were hand made. Pretty neat. I took some pics of the Don Bluth collection. They have thousands and thousands of boxes that were donated by Bluth after the studio shut down.

TGTF Layouts, part 2

2010-05-02T08:43:00.000-04:00

some TGTF layout paintings from last quarter and spring break. A lot of really talented people worked on this project. It's sort of sad to see them graduate. It's been a great year none the less. Layout design by Lyle Nagy, who I owe a coffee.

Crow in the Fire, Visual Development

2010-04-30T11:07:00.000-04:00

Here's my visual development board for my Character Design class. Included are three realistic animals and humans, six layout sketches (line only w/ blocked in light source) concept sketches, and character-in-scene sketches. I chose to create a scene in the Grande Unlce's "Garden of Meditation," based off a bench in a yard behind the Sequential Department. I had to alter the look of the bench and wall to match the period of the film.

Crow in the Fire, or the oven.

2010-04-25T13:53:00.000-04:00

I've started a very demanding character design and layout class with Professor Troy Gustafson (Disney effects animator, Mulan). He runs the class like a production studio; a tough one. I haven't had a full nights sleep since mid-march. During the entirety of the class, we develop and work with two of our own characters. And our layouts and boards are based off those characters. I chose to use a script I had written as a final for a script-writing class I took last quarter. It's about a cursed native american village.

There are essentially three characters, a man, his wife, and his uncle. I chose to not design the man (the main character), and instead design the two supporting characters.

I also built a maquette for the uncle. unfortunately, it is still unfinished. He needs some fingers, and a lot of smoothing. But for my first ever maquette, I'm fairly happy with him. I only wish I had some more time to work on him before the due date.

Big thanks to Natalia for lending me her tools/knowledge with maquette making. Natalia's just getting underway with her senior film. Check out her site!

Skullfish In a Bowl

2010-03-07T10:48:00.000-05:00

A little something I did for fun. Skullfish from my minicomic by the same name.

TGTF Misc Production Work

2010-03-07T10:42:00.001-05:00

Work done for Base14's new animated film, The Girl and The Fox

TGTF Character Design

2010-03-07T10:36:00.001-05:00

Character design and concept for Base14's new animated film, The Girl and The Fox

The Girl and the Fox

2010-03-07T10:22:00.000-05:00

The Girl and the Fox has officially been announced on the Base14 website. I have devoted a quarter and then some to this project doing character designs and background painting. I am very excited for it's release this spring! And it's official announce means I can now share the work I've done for this production.

Official Layout Comps by Lyle Nagy

Will Eisner Memorial Portrait

2010-03-05T17:05:00.000-05:00

The "Will Eisner Week" here at SCAD is holding a student exhibition. For the exhibition, students draw full-body self portraits, and use expressive anatomy to convey certain emotions. This is my entry. My emotion is "grief." I also referenced one of my all time favorite plays. I was inspired by 19th century paintings for the style.

Winter Quarter Classwork

2010-01-26T13:06:00.001-05:00

These are practice sketches done in class today. It's true. I do, in fact, attend class. And work is produced for class, and in class, even though I hardly ever show it. Right now we're working with movement of the figure and even some 4-point perspective practice. My Professor Dove is, among many other things, pretty entertaining. My lazy nature is beginning to peel away and I find that I'm improving, which I like.

Indian Revisited

2009-12-31T18:57:00.001-05:00

Scholastic Art Awards and Indian Revisit

2009-12-31T17:00:00.000-05:00

The past few days I've been working for the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. The artwork of these kids is really incredible. The ages of the students range from the 7th grade to the 12th grade.

Seeing all the entries made me remember my senior year of high school, when I too entered the same contest. I put in a few pieces that year, and received five regional awards (three gold, two silver), and one national silver award. Oddly enough, I can't even remember what pieces they were. I only entered my senior year, and after this week I really wish I had entered my sophomore and junior years at least. I simply didn't because I had not taken art classes at the time, and had no idea about the contest.

I was nostalgic after we were finished judging, so I looked at my old piece, Indian, which won a regional Gold Key and a national Silver Key two years ago. It was painted when I was 17. I decided to revisit the painting. This is just the black and white sketch, but I can already see a big difference two years can make.

Ryan

2009-12-10T17:26:00.001-05:00

My friend Ryan painted a portrait of me this week [link], so I drew a portrait of him.

SCAD Fall and Skullfish

2009-12-02T12:46:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the new site!

2009-11-05T12:18:00.000-05:00

Moved to a new blog address. Hello!

Old blog here: http://nurcum.blogspot.com
And I will still be updating my deviantart here: http://nurcum.deviantart.com