Laura Ambrosiano

Seahorsie

2011-11-15T15:26:00.000-08:00

I've been doing lots of quick creature sketches lately and I'm always trying to get better with digital painting and nailing down a good style for it, so I painted this funky seahorse creature I made. He may be a bit cheesey, but I like cheese and I think things are getting somewhere on the painting side.

Gargoyle Critter

2011-11-11T00:56:00.000-08:00

More on the sad misfit mythical creatures kick. This guy is another one I find myself drawing a lot these days. I painted him and tried out some different color schemes, which is always fun.

Ugly Unicorns

2011-11-08T03:50:00.001-08:00

I've been drawing lots of ugly unicorns lately. I'm not really sure why I like them so much, but I do and they're fun. Here's a few that I painted in Photoshop.

Birds and Cows and Dragons

2011-11-02T22:19:00.000-07:00

Some more of this year's sketches. I put some color on these just for fun.

Some Sketches from this Year

2011-10-31T00:21:00.000-07:00

I've been compiling various sketches that I like out of the sketchbooks I've filled up this year and here are some of them.

Watch Dog - Final VFS Modeling Project

2011-10-21T19:57:00.001-07:00

Well, here it is, my modeling project from VFS. It was definitely a big learning experience. Both characters are functional (no mesh decimation or funky geometry or anything) though the dog's rig isn't really animatable at this time. Now I've just got to keep working on new projects, stay inspired, and keep improving.

Some more WIP images

2011-08-10T21:20:00.000-07:00

A couple of character WIP images

2011-07-28T16:35:00.001-07:00

Here are a couple of images of the dog model I'm working on.

Using a morph target to see how much muscle mass I want

This one's a real quick deformation test.

Zbrush sculpt with wireframe.

Term 4 Presentation

2011-06-24T10:24:00.000-07:00

California Sea Lion

2011-05-12T08:43:00.000-07:00

A drawing of a male California sea lion for the Kansas City Zoo. The KC Zoo has full rights to this image.

Compositing Exercise

2011-05-03T09:02:00.000-07:00

This was an assignment for the compositing class. I still don't really know much about Nuke, but it seems pretty cool so far.

Environment Designs

2011-04-29T19:02:00.001-07:00

These are some ideas for the environment for my modeling project. Trying to get the style of the space and the mood fleshed out a little better.

Term 2 and 3 VFS work

2011-04-28T15:33:00.000-07:00

Here are my presentations from term 2 and term 3 at VFS

Term 2 presentation

Term 3 presentation

Term 1 Assignments

2010-12-29T12:40:00.001-08:00

I'm finally posting the rest of my assignments from my first term at VFS.

This is a composite of most of my character design assignments. I'm gradually getting better at designing human characters, I think.

These drawings are from the visual storytelling class - one linear composition and one circular one. I was on some kind of rampaging monster kick during that one.

These drawings were to show characters in environments with a sense of depth.

This was for an assignment where we read a couple of pages from a book and then illustrated the scene with three tones.

Happy and sad compositions.

Analogous and complimentary color compositions.

The following videos are of the superhero assignment in my modeling class. We chose a superhero from a list of DC animated series model sheets, then modeled and rigged that character.

Laura Ambrosiano - Batman Turntable from VFS Modeling on Vimeo.

3d89laura Batman Motion Test from VFS Modeling on Vimeo.

Some VFS Assignments - Compositions and Celebrity Head Sculpt

2010-11-06T11:17:00.000-07:00

What do zombies and Bill Hader's head have in common? Nothing really other than the fact that they were both VFS assignments.

As an introduction to Zbrush our first modeling assignment was to sculpt a celebrity's head from a sphere. I chose Bill Hader because I thought he had an interesting face with really funny expressions. Once I got used to the wonky camera controls, I really enjoyed Zbrush. Since this is sculpted from a sphere, the topology is pretty gross. It'll be neat to start importing geometry from Maya.

The zombies are from an assignment where we drew the same scene in sedate, alert, and dynamic compositions. It was close to Halloween so the teacher gave the project a Halloween theme.

Random Raptor

2010-10-18T09:03:00.000-07:00

I was messing around in Maya one day and just impulsively started modeling a dinosaur head. Eventually it became an entire dinosaur. There's still a fair amount of refining to do on this guy I think, but I think the model is getting close to being done. Since he was something I just started impulsively for the sake of modeling practice, I don't have any particular project in mind for him. I guess I'll just keep messing with him, try to build a rig, and just see how things go.

Yeah, I know everyone and their dog makes velociraptors in Maya, but mine will be the cutest!

Terror Birds and an Angry Tiger

2010-10-16T12:07:00.000-07:00

I sketched this terror bird the other day and liked it, so I scanned and put some color down on him. I should do a finished drawing of him at some point.

I saw this photograph and I really liked the expression, so I did a drawing based on it. Then I played around with some acrylic inks and colored pencil.

Some fluffy animals

2010-10-14T00:00:00.000-07:00

I went through a couple sketchbooks and scanned the drawings that I liked. Here's a compilation of some of those drawings.
This drawing was requested by my friend Martin. Apparently my friend Caitlyn was telling him about how her family's cat freaks out whenever their puppy pokes her with his nose.

Bull Terrier Cerberus

2010-09-24T23:26:00.000-07:00

I'm still trying to improve my digital painting skills, so I tried to make this without using any line. I've also been really into drawing creatures with bull-terrier profiles lately.

Go Back for Murder Logo/Poster

2010-09-17T00:15:00.001-07:00

These are logo/poster designs for Los Alamos Little Theater's production of Go Back for Murder. They're designed to be simple to print and usable as both logos and poster designs.

Odd Illustration/Sketch Assortment

2010-09-06T11:14:00.001-07:00

I've been really bad about posting, so here's an odd assortment of drawings that I've done lately.

I really need to get better at drawing caricatures of people. To practice I drew a bunch of people I knew. I'm also a huge dork for His Dark Materials, so I gave them all daemons.

This is my half of an art trade I did with my friend Josh. These are his characters, who I don't think have names yet.

And this is a piranha. The drawing is a sketch I did at the zoo. I'm not sure why I decided to color it. I was just in the mood to Photoshop paint something, I guess.

This is a creature I drew in my sketchbook that I particularly liked. I'm not particularly great at coming up with cool-sounding names, so I've just been calling it the Beartiger. I've been drawing a lot of creatures with big forearms and long claws lately. Also, while I was absorbed in trying to make interesting stripes, I accidentally drew a "ro" on his back leg. For some reason I didn't notice it until I was almost finished with all the color, so I just left it. It does bother me a bit, though. Oh well.

This creature is also submitted as a designer toy concept on Patch Together. If you're at all interested, please follow the link on the image and vote for it.

Ferrets

2010-08-14T22:26:00.000-07:00

My brother's ferrets are really adorable, so I drew some caricatures of them.

Pony Club Coloring Book

2010-08-14T22:04:00.001-07:00

These are drawings I did for a coloring book for United States Pony Clubs Inc. The coloring book will be handed out at the World Equestrian Games.

More Animals

2010-06-20T19:12:00.001-07:00

Here are four more illustration's I've done for the Zoo. The Kansas City Zoo has full rights to these images.

Out of Reach - Senior Project

2010-05-20T20:37:00.000-07:00

So this is my senior project. Well... I learned a lot from it. I guess I can say that at least. There are things I like and a lot of things I don't like. Overall it was a very worthwhile experience, though.

Out of Reach from Laura Ambrosiano on Vimeo.

Mythical Creatures

2010-05-19T16:22:00.000-07:00

This was for an assignment where the prompt was "fact vs fiction". Since I'm a huge nerd, I decided to do my project about mythical creatures and their origins. I ended up in a big time crunch and had to finish this a lot faster than I would have liked, but I thought it came out pretty well considering.

2010 Reel Update

2010-05-19T14:45:00.000-07:00

Just a slightly updated version of the other reel.

Reel 2010 Version 2 from Laura Ambrosiano on Vimeo.

Zoo Drawings

2010-04-19T12:51:00.001-07:00

Here are the first three animal drawings I've done for the Kansas City Zoo.

2010 Reel

2010-03-21T21:57:00.000-07:00

Laura Ambrosiano - Animation Reel 2010 from Laura Ambrosiano on Vimeo.

Finally updated my reel. There are still some issues, and hopefully a lot of this will change by the end of the semester, but I feel like this is at least a fair improvement.

Zoo Illustration Progress

2010-03-04T19:37:00.001-08:00

I'm doing a series of drawings for the Kansas City Zoo and this is a little compilation of sketches and partially done drawings.

Senior FIlm Renders

2010-02-03T08:40:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple of test renders from my film that's in progress. I've been rendering with Mental Ray using final gather and composited paint effects for the grass.

Raptors and Thylacines

2009-12-15T00:52:00.000-08:00

One day I just got really interested in thylacines for some reason and started sketching and designing a thylacine character.

A drawing I did for my friend Caitlyn. We had a discussion about whether classic velociraptors or the more scientifically correct feathered velociraptors were better.

One of my classmates fell asleep in an assembly and said he dreamed about fluffy velociraptor chicks. I thought that was awesome, so I had to draw some.

Just a composite of various monsters out of my sketchbook.

Figure Drawings From This Past Semester

2009-12-14T18:20:00.000-08:00

Here are some of the figure drawings I did in the figure drawing class I just had.

Illustration Update

2009-12-01T22:45:00.000-08:00

Some illustration I've done recently. I seem to be going through a phase where I really like to draw two characters interacting against a minimal background.

2009-11-20T00:26:00.001-08:00

Here are a couple of things I've gotten done for my senior film.
I've finished texturing and rigging the body of my horse character. His face is still in progress, though.

Thesis Animatic

2009-10-03T20:29:00.000-07:00

This is the first pass of my film's animatic. I can't seem to think of a title that doesn't sound stupid, so right now it's called Title :P

Thesis Progress

2009-09-21T19:53:00.000-07:00

Well, somehow it's my senior year now. This fact is terrifying. It also means that it's time for me to make a thesis film. My idea for my thesis film is to model, rig, texture, and animate two characters in Maya in a fairly simple piece that will mainly be a character study. I'd like to try to get the 3D characters to resemble my illustration style as much as possible. Hopefully this will work out. Here's my progress so far.

These are my two characters. Rory is the horse, and the girl is Ginger.

Ginger's rig is pretty much finished. There are definitely things that I could improve, but I don't want to fall into the spiral of eternally researching and tweaking and not get anything done, so since she's animatable, I'm moving on for the time being.

This is Rory's model so far. He isn't rigged yet, but in order to test his geometry I bound him to a very simple skeleton and made a goofy majestic pose.

Also, since I'll be animating a quadruped for this film, I did a couple of horse gait tests with the Rhett rig from High End 3D.

The Fox and the Monkey - First Half

2009-09-21T19:48:00.001-07:00

This is a project I collaborated on with my friends and classmates Sakari Singh and Evan Tedlock. Unfortunately we weren't able to finish it, but it was still a really fun experience to work collaboratively on a project like this.

The Fox and the Monkey: Production in Process from Sakari Singh on Vimeo.

Some Life Drawings

2009-09-21T19:27:00.001-07:00

This is a selection of life drawings that I put together for a quick portfolio review. They range from second semester of feshman year up to the present. They're not in any particular order.

A Couple of Fun Illustrations

2009-09-21T19:09:00.001-07:00

I've been really bad about updating my blog for a while, so to get back into the swing of things, here are a couple of illustrations I did a while ago.

Tiger and Stoat: This is a very vague reference to the book Anansi Boys. I never really intended the reference to be understood, since I was mostly just interested in drawing a tiger and a stoat character interacting.

Just a cute dinosaur.

Reel 2009

2009-02-19T22:28:00.000-08:00

I've finally gotten my demo reel updated to the point where I feel like it's relatively presentable. Hopefully the film my classmates and I are working on will also provide some footage to add. Anyway, here it is - my current reel.

Pablo - Texture Map

2009-01-28T10:26:00.000-08:00

So I finally finished the texture map for my wild dog character. It was definitely a learning experience, since this is the first time I've textured anything more complicated than a pear. There are definitely some issues with it, but I'm just happy to have gotten some kind of usable result.

That's all for now. The next step is rigging.

Dog Model (in progress)

2008-12-17T18:18:00.000-08:00

I've been working on this model off and on, and now that we're out of school, I'm going to try to finish him. This is the finished mesh. I'm sure there are lots of issues that I don't know about, but I was excited to have him come together and actually look like something.

Here's a rendered version. He still needs texture. The color is just a placeholder.

Here's a view of the mesh.

That's it for now. My next step is to texture him.

Particle Man

2008-12-14T17:57:00.000-08:00

This was our final assignment for the digital animation class. We were supposed to make a completely abstract animation with simple shapes as characters. I got kind of goofy with it.

Character Designs

2008-11-24T16:36:00.001-08:00

Here are some character sheets I've done for a coupe of school projects.

Here's the fox character for collaboration with my classmates Sakari and Evan.

This is the character I turned in for my character development project. I'm not sure why I suddenly became interested in drawing lemurs, but after doing research on them for this project, I think they're pretty interesting, as well as fun to draw.

3D Walk Cycles

2008-11-01T14:28:00.000-07:00

This is the natural walk with the "lazy walk" hip movement. There are a lot of issues with this, so I'll have to redo it later.

Here's my first attempt at animating a skip. This was a lot harder than I thought it was. Thankfully, Richard Williams' book has a ton of information about animating skips, so that helped a lot.

Simple 3D Exercises

2008-10-26T12:38:00.001-07:00

Jumping ball. Just supposed to show a sense of weight and center of gravity.

Turn Around. This was mainly to show weight shift.

Miscellaneous Illustrations

2008-10-20T09:09:00.001-07:00

I drew this image in my small sketchbook and then painted over it a bit in Photoshop.

Here's the colored version of that illustration I posted earlier.

This is pretty old. I think I did this sometime around the beginning of freshman year in college. Even if it's really quick and old, it still amuses me. Little ponies are all pretty much evil.

This is really old. I did this back in my sophomore year of high school. That was back when I didn't have any vector drawing programs other than an old version of Freehand *gag*. I also only had Photoshop Elements. The character is one I've had since I was in eighth grade. I find it really strange that I still like this illustration after such a long time.

Pony Launch

2008-10-16T17:40:00.000-07:00

This was supposed to be my digital ink and paint assignment. I really wanted to make new footage instead of using an old project to color, so I animated this. Because I was making an entirely new animation, though, I ended up in a time crunch and wasn't really able to finish it.

Sophomore Animation Projects

2008-10-16T17:11:00.000-07:00

This is from first semester of sophomore year. It was pretty much a do-whatever-you-want-for-a-week kind of assignment.

This is the first walk cycle I ever did.

This was my final for first semester of sophomore year. We all did self portraits that were srung together into one 20 minute piece.

Digital Popup Book

2008-10-16T15:54:00.000-07:00

This was a project for my digital animation class. We used the 3D layers in After Effects to make popup books. I wanted mine to have a storybook feel, so I started by drawing and coloring all the characters and sets by hand. When this took too long, I switched to coloring digitally, but keeping the pencil lines. We had a week for the project, so I wasn't able to cut the characters into true puppets. Instead, they're animated with the puppet tool, which gives kind of a weird effect. I do like how the sets turned out, though. The music is by Penguin Cafe Orchestra.

Life Drawings

2008-10-16T15:32:00.001-07:00

Here are some scans of life drawings from my sketchbooks. I usually carry a small one around and draw whoever happens to be nearby.

Sketches to Start Out

2008-10-15T22:27:00.000-07:00

I've finally gotten around to setting up a blog to post my artwork on. I figured I would start out this first post by putting up a few sketches.

This was just an image I did to play with ink. I did it in a couple of hours for my illustration class when we had a spring themed assignment.

I drew this in my sketchbook on a whim and decided I really liked these two characters together. I have a digitally colored version that I'll post later.

These are some animal character sketches I did in the first page of my small sketchbook. I liked the cat at the bottom a lot, so I did an expression sheet for him.

Here's the expression sheet for the cat character.

I'll try to post here as much as possible in the future.