animation – isabel notes

Finding Dory | Movie Review

(The following review is absolutely spoiler-free!!!)

My grandma, mom and I went to see “Finding Dory” to finish off the celebration of my 18th birthday. We almost didn’t go, because we hadn’t heard much about it besides the fact that it was existing. But I wanted to see it no matter how good it may turn out to be. I mean, we’ve waited 13 years for this!

“Finding Dory” did not disappoint. I loved it! It was everything I needed it to be, having grown up with the last movie. It gave us everything we loved about “Finding Nemo,” with new surprises. Made us feel happy, sad, stressed, excited, and happy again. As can be expected from a movie about Dory, there were plenty of laughs. I was also impressed with the love-able new characters, the animation that seemed advanced yet consistent with the previous installment, and the story line that always kept you guessing.

Pixar did it again!

Below is an entry into my little notebook of movie reviews. I wrote it late at night so hopefully you can read my handwriting!

Drawing a See-You-Later present

So, my friend Brittany just graduated from college and is moving to China for a year as a missionary. I’m going to miss her so much, but I decided to do this quick drawing as a see-you-later present.

First off, I chose a picture I wanted to draw and did a really faint, rough outline. It all just starts with circles and oblongs, and I usually just go over it with more and more detail until it’s an outline I’m happy with.

Next, I went in with a thicker black outline. This is where it’s really important to get the facial features right. I also added the creases in her clothes and the flowers in her hair.

The next step is my favorite part- adding the color! This is the part where you have to really look closely at your reference picture for all the variations in hues-where the darks and lights are- etc. Since I had already put in the black outline, it’s kinda like working on a coloring book- but shading at the same time.

Just keep adding color… I think in this stage I sort of removed the black outline to see what it would look like if I just outlined each section with a darker color. For example, her shirt is white, so I outlined it with grey. Her skin was tan, so I outlined that with a dark brown. I think this is what I went with in the end.

The hair is the trickiest part of coloring. My tip is to just make sure your brush/pencil is set really small. Treat each stroke like a strand of hair, and just keep layering. It takes practice.

Here’s the finished product! Comment what you think, and please follow me!

Disney’s Frozen

Yesterday, my family participated in our tradition of seeing a movie on Thanksgiving day after stuffing our faces with turkey and all the trimmings.

Okay, so one of my biggest dreams is to be an animator or some kind of artist for Disney. I mean, what girl doesn’t want to work for Disney? I don’t think I’ve grown out of being a Disney Princess, and I don’t think I ever will.

(Here’s a quick sketch I did of Elsa and Anna tonight)

Of course, we just had to see Disney’s Frozen. We all loved it! It’s now one of my favorite Disney movies ever. Co-director Jennifer Lee said that the main theme of the film is “the power of love over fear”, and it’s very evident throughout the movie. My mom pointed out this morning that it sounds a lot like 1 John 4:18 which says “perfect love drives out fear”. I love it when movies have a hidden spiritual message weather or not the producers meant to have it there!

Since it’s about two sisters, our family really connected with it, having two girls in the family too. My little sister and I are already listening to the fun soundtrack. I highly recommend it, and I really want to see it again myself!

Fun fact:

Both Elsa and Anna are going to be added to the list of official Disney Princesses!