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[armandserrano]

#MaySketchADay Day 02

Fun quick VR sculpt in Adobe Medium, rendered in Blender and very minimal touch up in PS (image 1).

[armandserrano]

Choppers Away.

Key frame illustration based from a Blender Evee render. This workflow not only speeds up my work process. It also brings out the kid in me building my own model kits and creating fun dioramas. Structure on the island was built from #kitbash3D Sci Fi Industrial kit.

Happy weekend everyone!

[armandserrano]

EVEE RENDERS

‪Simple #Evee renders with PS touch ups. ‬

‪#blender #environmentdesign #conceptart ‬

[armandserrano]

Blender and PS

Built and rendered in Blender last night then lunchtime paint over in PS. Have a good Wednesday!

[armandserrano]

Lunchtime Art

Built in Oculus Medium, rendered in Blender, then touched up in PS. Happy Tuesday everyone!

[armandserrano]

ART CO-OP #2

Collaborative piece Vance Kovacs and I did live this morning. If you missed this Art Co-Op #2 session, here are the links,

My YouTube, https://youtu.be/4mJ0QVYc3ow

Vance’s, https://youtu.be/dJXbxvjZm7o

#ArtCoOp

[armandserrano]

ART CO-OP LIVE #2

Vance and I are live streaming again tomorrow 9-10:30 am PST. Art co-op is when we draw and paint a collaborative piece together as we chat about art and answer some questions from the audience. It will stream on our FB and Youtube Channels. Don’t miss it!

[armandserrano]

Oculus Medium to Blender After Work. 

Designed my own version of the Bozanian Skull ship from my fav robot anime as a kid #VoltesV. Goodnight.

[armandserrano]

SUNDAY AFTERNOON PAINTING WITH FAMILY

I can’t remember anymore when was the last time I used real paint. Though I struggled a lot, it was fun and very relaxing. I decided to paint over a few pages of my #SundayMorningDoodles sketchbook using gouache. I should try to do this more often.

[armandserrano]

ART CO-OP WITH VANCE KOVACS

The final collaboration piece Vance Kovacs and I did live during our #ArtCoop this morning. Vance did the amazing dragon and I did the environment. You can rewatch it on my YouTube Channel.

https://youtu.be/LlkGXMCVnF0

[armandserrano]

“WORK FROM HOME” PODCAST

Had a fun time with longtime colleagues, Tony Bancroft, Tom Bancroft and Aaron Blaise recording another episode of the The Bancroft Brothers podcast on the topic of Working From Home.

[armandserrano]

Hey all co-workers from home! Download my lasso Painting Tutorial for a $1 till the end of the month! I'm also planning to do live stream demos and quick art videos for free in the next few days. Watch, learn or share them to family and friends. Even in isolation, let's all be productive and continue to enjoy and share what we love to do. Have a safe weekend! Tutorial video is available in my Artstation and Gumroad. https://www.artstation.com/armandserrano/store https://gumroad.com/l/Serrano_lasso

[armandserrano]

High Respect for Netflix!

[armandserrano]

SEVEN TIPS ABOUT WORKING FROM HOME.

Jobs that some studios told us before that's impossible to be done remotely is actually now possible to be done remotely. Truly different times. And for a bunch of artists, this is a jarring call for a different normal. I have been working remotely from my studio at home for the past 9 years. All these years, I've done production design for an independent animated film, art directed videos, tons of visual development for major animation and game studios, lots of illustrations, self published and sold my books, did workshops, teachings and mentorship. All done offsite without sacrificing the other facets of my life.

If I may, I would like to share with you all some tips that worked for me to keep myself balanced, inspired, and sane while working from home:

1. TIME MANAGEMENT. Creating and applying a reasonable daily, weekly, and monthly schedule is the key for sanity in daily expectations. I put all my schedule in the family calendar for everyone to see and for everyone do the same as well. The more everyone is aware and involved organically in what we all do, work moves much smoother and relationships gets built much stronger for me.

2. PRIORITIES AND BOUNDARIES. Setting priorities right and guarding these boundaries are foundational. NO STUDIO IS WORTH DYING FOR. No studio nor titles, accolades, and credits is worth sacrificing my life, health, and relationships for! I give the studios what is due them, which is nothing but my very best, for the 8-10 hours a day I'm paid for. But I make sure I still have enough bandwidth for my family, friends, and for myself. No studio or meetings important enough for me to miss any recital or family and close friends events at all. Three decades of working in the industry taught me the reality that at the end of the day, we're all just numbers. Everyone can be laid off and we're all expendables. And when the smoke clears, its my family and friends who are standing beside me and not the company. So guard your time with your love ones. The old adage is so true, "A happy wife is a happy life."

3. DISCIPLINE. This is the key for 1 and 2 to happen. And discipline is tough to attain without sacrifice. Sacrifice means something (or someone) has to die! Its a constant, intentional act of my will that it's not always what I want to do but what I need to do.

4. DEADLINES. I am very legalistic with my work deadlines. I make sure I meet all expectations of the studios. An artist will have a problem with deadlines when 1-3 are not secured.

5. COMMUNICATION. I make it a point that I am in constant communication (slack, video conference, text, phone, etc) with the creative leadership and coordinators I'm working with as if I'm with them in real time.

Trust = Communication + Quality of Work + Deadline

6. NOT TO DO LIST. Very often when I get my marching orders from work, I make a To Do list for a period of time to get the work and other priorities done on time. But I learned that to be more successful in following through on my to do list, I have to generate a not-to-do list. For a time now I'm enjoying not to reply emails on weekends, not to answer all messages, not accept all invitations, cut down on my video game time, etc.

7. REST (PHYSICALLY AND SPIRITUALLY). Its okay to rest. I read books that inspire me, interact a lot with my family, or work on my own projects. Have fun and have a life. Eat right. Exercise (But of course Im taking a break from going to the gym for now). It is as simple for me as following the breathing and standing prompts from my watch. Taking regular short breaks during my work day go a long way. I bought a work table from Costco that can be raised high and low. So now I work standing up half of the day and felt my blood flows freely. I read my Bible and pray. Have quick lunch with someone. Stress comes naturally with our work. And now for some, working from home is a totally different scenario where other factors at home could add more stress. That’s why we have to be in control and not let stress control us. When we allow stress to overtake us, it can easily extinguish the passion, creativity and the fun in what we do (and eventually could kill us). So I try my best on a daily basis to stick to these plans in order to keep myself on top of my game and at the same time, keep my physical, mental and spiritual health intact.

Having shared all these doesn't mean I know it all. I'm also on a journey like most of you. It just so happen that I have a bit of a head start. Happy Friday!

[armandserrano]

My first Gumroad video tutorial is now available. Type in the code LASSO and get if for $7 (originally $15) for the next two weeks!

[armandserrano]

Mulan.

[armandserrano]

Exactly two weeks from now, I am leaving Walt Disney Animation Studios to become a full time FREELANCER. It’s one of the most difficult decisions I had to make in my professional career. I love the studio, the people, lifelong friendships, and the films we made that last for generations. I joined Disney in 1996-2004 and worked on Mulan, Tarzan, Lilo and Stitch and Brother Bear. Then for a second time around in 2013-now and was part of Big Hero 6, Zootopia, Olaf’s Frozen Adventure, a bit of WIR2 and a number of exciting projects in very early development. Though I was at Sony Animation in between those times, I’ve been known as a ‘Disney guy’ for the past 20 years. I believe that it’s now time for me to pursue other creative opportunities as an independent visual development and production designer, explore VR more, to continue conducting design workshops, be of service to my community through my church, and spend time close to my family. For work or workshops, I can be contacted directly through my email, armandserrano@gmail.com. It’s gonna be exciting...