In some ways, stop motion animation is less rigid and meditative than a 24×24 hyperreal oil painting. Something is freeing about whimsically painting as the notion strikes. I am spending more time in the studio. Instead of cramming hours of painting into one sitting and then not painting again for a few days. I find myself painting every day.
The smaller, non-mounted paintings are painted, wiped away, and painted over in small increments. I take photos between each wipe and repaint. Then I run them through Light Room to correct any changes in light. How quickly the earth turns when you are hand painting the animation! Once I correct the exposure and flip the images (the camera is mounted upside down), I place images into Final Cut. I enjoy adding the sounds effects.
In other ways, animation is tedious, slow, and frustrating as heck. I am far too critical. I try hard to shake that criticism while remembering it is ok to fail. Failure is a good thing. If the animation is a failure, I will have lots of small sketch paintings. I am still doing what I love.
Thank you for following my art journey.
Em
