Drawn From Life

“A stroke of amber and you’re off!”

In February, we moved full tilt into production. Final voice overs came in, the first paintings were digitised, and we began animation. Alongside this, we ran a charcoal life drawing masterclass featuring Roy and Maya at Minerva Workshop.

What a month it’s been! We’ve been knuckling down in the studio, putting our animation pipeline into practice and seeing Ko and Leo’s watercolours move for the first time. Shot by shot, we are now working on replacing the animatic with final renders. It is a new process, using digital techniques to bring out the fluidity of watercolour, the vibrancy of the transparent colours and the texture of the painted surface as it absorbs into the page. Much of this has meant experimenting with digital overlays and collage. Following Leo’s earlier tests, Patrick has delved into our animation software to finesse the techniques using our first finished paintings.

Patrick Yates animating digitised paintings in the studio

At the same time, painting has continued. The animation process began properly last month, starting with hand-painted watercolours by Haemin Ko and Aaron Jacob Jones. Those familiar with traditional animation (made by carefully creating each sequential frame that appears on screen) know how laborious it can be, but these two have been working tirelessly to bring their watercolour creations to life, and the results certainly speak for themselves. Below is a little preview of the kind of thing you can expect to see in the finished product.

This month, Leo met with Matthew Oghene to paint the character Mat from life and record the final voiceover. A big part of the philosophy of Nude Triumphant, in both production and in its narrative, is the importance of the human connection in representational art; through meeting, painting, and communicating with Matthew, we want to channel as much of his essence as a model and as a person into our depiction of him. We believe the synthesis that emerges between model and artist is where the real magic lies.

Another big part of our production process has been offering people the opportunity to feel this synthesis through our life-drawing workshops and events, in which the public can form their own artistic relationships with the life models who appear in the film. In February, we hosted a Charcoal Masterclass with Minerva Workshops, in which the talented Maya Williams and Roy Joseph Butler offered up their skills and their likenesses. Besides encouraging some of that wonderful artistic harmony, the class also offered an opportunity for participants to have their work shown in the final film. There are a few more to come before the film is released - if you’re interested in joining such an event, you can find them here.

So, you’re all caught up. Check back in next month for more updates.