We caught up with the Kelowna Animation Department Head, Sean Ridgway to talk about life drawing. Animation students Krista Baron, Joel Betker, Kyler Greer, Alaina Langford, Randy Lewis, Calder Moore, Emily Nobbs and Leigha Reber, visited Carmelis Goat Farm recently to expand their creativity and practice their life drawing skills.

Q: What is the importance of life drawing for Animation students?

Sean: One of the key elements to understanding a subject is to observe it live. Through analyzing and drawing a live subject, students can begin to understand anatomy, structure, movement, pose, etc which are essential to their development in the animation and gaming field. Observing quadrupeds (four-legged creatures) they can start to compare with bipeds (2-legged creatures) and see how the two can be potentially mixed for more unique and creative designs.

Getting out and observing real life, relieves our dependency on what we can find on the computer. It’s very important that students understand the validity in seeing things for real and up close, along with someone who’s experienced and can help them decipher and communicate visually what they see.  Also, being in certain environments other than the classroom can really drive a student’s creativity forward.

Q: What life drawing field trips have you done in the past? Where will you go on your next field trip?

Sean: We also go outside and observe nature (trees, rocks, environments), aquatic life and people walking, talking, sitting in the malls. We have an upcoming trip to Vancouver planned and we will be visiting the Aquarium with our sketchbooks.

Check out the gallery below of the Animation students with their new friends.

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