This Lightning! This Madness!

I think the one thing that I'll always appreciate about being in animation is the fact that we don't need to do straight up portraits. I hate the idea of staring at an idle face for 2 hours, only to discover at the very end that subtle shifting throughout the pose has completely ruined the likeness. I may need to work on them, and most likely I may need to work on them A LOT, but I think I'd prefer caricaturing over portraiture alldayerryday. When I gave up trying to draw the guy's face and just tried to capture the pose, drawing the head again was naturally out of the question. 

THAT, hypothetical internet audience, is the story of why there's a robot in my weekly life drawing log. 

I have nothing finished for this week, so here's a small fraction of the massive backlog that I'm trying to gun through. Looking at it makes me incredibly uncomfortable. 

I also took the time to study a few shots from Yi Yi (life through the eyes of three generations of a middle class Taiwanese family and their tale of love, loss, and moral integrity. Directed by Edward Yang) this week, mostly focusing on the use of silhouette to frame a mood. The left shot is used in a romantic context, a literally electric moment, as a girl wanders in front of a theater screen looking for a seat. Each peal of lightning serves not only to highlight the grace of the girl in movement, but also reflects the thoughts of the main character as he looks on. I think the right shot is an expression of futility. The screen door behind the character looks pretty much like a jail cell, and his internal dialogue is essentially brooding over the limitations that define his life.