From: =?Windows-1252?Q?Mathieu_Ren=E9?= <creaturiste-AT-primus.ca>
To: <puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org>
Date: Fri, 6 Jul 2007 22:51:24 -0400
Subject: [Puptcrit] TECH: visual references: DVD



In brief:
Use a DVD (or other digital format film) as a good source of subject matter and visual references. Easy to pause, and the image is usually sharp.


Background:
Years ago, I constantly borrowed a book on watercolors by Alex Powers. In it, he recommended to use a VCR with digital pausing, so that you can select your frame and freeze it without seeing the scrolling lines the old VCR all had before digital.
Nowadays, we have even better: DVD. It's all digital, it's all crisp!

What brought this this tip tonight?
I have a few caricature puppets to make. The one I am working on right now is much more difficult than I anticipated.  I modeled all night yesterday, and most of the afternoon today, to no real success. I was oscillating between portrait and exageration too much, so I got lost.

The tv host and actor I must caricature has some obvious traits that  can be recognised, but the subtleties of the rest of the face are very hard to grasp. The subtleties make the face, not the easy traits. None of the photos I found on the Net were good enough for the details I needed.
And none of the drawn caricatures I've seen of the man are anywhere near "good", so I must not be the only one stuggling with his face.
So I went and rented the movie in which the actor starred last year. LOTS of good frames of acceptable size, I'm so glad.
Already, I see the problems slowly disaprearing as I work. But now, I've got too many choices of facial expressions...


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