So I worked super hard and got accepted into Computer Science: Animation Emphasis. However, depression and ADHD-PI, combined with a general lack of organization, have been pretty rough on me lately. I haven’t gotten nearly enough done…So today is when this changes. I have an extremely difficult time accomplishing things without structure, so I have built an art plan. I am going to execute this. I will start to be more active here on DA, too. 

I will take a gap year before attending graduate school in order to get my master’s degree in computer science, with a concentration in graphics and animation. And then I will break into the industry as a technical artist. The gap year will be to recover, mostly, and to fill in the holes of the fundamentals I’ve missed. 

I will also be more diligent in updating my art Instagram: www.instagram.com/alexneville_… 

I’ve also done some stuff for school which I haven’t posted, so I will probably upload that in the near future. 

Is this over-ambitious? Maybe. Quite possibly. But even if I only accomplish some of this, I will still improve and get closer to my goals! 

Check out what I’ll be doing this year:

Alternate: 1 week working on tutorials and fundamentals, 1 week finishing projects. Post finished products online! 

• Also post the stuff you've already done. Include stuff from CS 355, CS 455, CSANM 354, and the film classes

Work on the film and video game in addition to this. Produce at least 3 quality pieces from each. 

Tutorial Schedule: Traditional and Digital

• Monika Zagrobelna's tutorials.
• Simply Drawing (book)
• CtrlPaint "Unplugged"
• 50 Things to Draw (book)
• Force: Dynamic Life Drawing for Animators (Go through it again)
• CtrlPaint "Plugged" and Digital Painting in Photoshop book
• Loomis figure books and Mastering Manga
• Go to Open Figure Drawing each Friday 

Tutorial Schedule: 3D Art and Animation 

• Houdini Particles
• Houdini Fluids (Finish) 
• Introduction to Maya (I already know Maya, but it might be nice to fill in the gaps in my knowledge.)

 Some projects to work on and complete:

• DRAWING: One grayscale one, one color one
• DRAWING: Theme park ride ideas! 
• LIFE DRAWING: Do a landscape or two. 
• LIFE DRAWING: Do a few still life drawings. 
• 3D RENDERING: Buildings.
• 3D RENDERING: Rodrigo on a tree. 
• 3D RENDERING: Jack-o-lanterns. 
• EFFECTS: Campfire in Houdini!
• EFFECTS: Clear river in Houdini! 
• DIGITAL PAINTING: Couple by the water with a breaching sea dragon 
• WEBCOMICS: Finalize character designs, outline the stories, draw the first two.
• 3D ANIMATION: Touch up old projects, mainly the bouncy ball
• 3D ANIMATION: Rodrigo the flying snake! 
• 2D ANIMATION: Bouncy ball
• 2D ANIMATION: Pam throwing ice cream into Maia's face. 

 OTHER/MISC

Computer Graphics Programming

• Scratchapixel tutorials 
• Shadertoy
• Carnivile (Video Game) 
• Redo Shader Programming project! 

Writing

• 1 poem per week. 
• Post short stories and possibly novel chapters.

Theme Park Design

• Sketch ride designs.