Chris Appelhans Guest Speaking Lecture

His Approach to Character:

-Chris mentions that when he comes up with a character, he typically starts off with using people he knows personally or those he is familiar with as established unique personalities.

-The memories of the people he's familiar with really shapes the characters more easily than making them up without reference.

-Your focus and enthusiasm comes through with the development of your characters because of the personal connection you share with them when using people you know.

-When researching a story, think of a particular scene in the story that embodies that character as a whole, and turn it into visualization.  This can help establish a design for the character.

Color Script Approach:

-Chris starts with bars of color that reflect the plot and mood of the story.  He breaks with into beats and establishes a palette for those beats.  Through this process, Chris establishes color and value rhythm for the story's progression.

- The beats he makes are not exactly compositions so much as snapshots of the overall feeling of the scene.

-Don't limit yourself to a set of rules when creating a color palette.  Use your own intuition and feelings when exploring how colors react to one another.  There are many different approaches to "making an orange look pink."  Play with the values, saturation, and relationships of color.

- Try reading and anticipating an audience's emotional response with color in your story.

-Try asking yourself: How can I convey my message without showing all the details?

-Don't feel obligated to spell out the message of your image too bluntly.  Allow room for your mind to come to the conclusion using the visual cues within the image created.  This will make your work more engaging.

Extra Advice:

-Make your ideas CLEAR.  Clear ideas have become more valuable in the professional world than creating a crazily detailed rendering.  This also applies to live action films.

-Try to diversify your knowledge by collecting and searching for many references.  That includes literature, music, pictures, and life experiences (a.e. outdoor activity).

-See how other art institutions go about teaching their own students.  Exposing yourself to different processes will expand your knowledge.

-Find out more about other artists in the world today.

-Don't limit yourself to looking at America media either.  See how other countries approach art.