CTNx

I went to the Creative Talent Network Animation Expo or CTNx the other day and it was a really fun, inspiring event focused on animation and everything that goes with it. It definitely made me feel like a slop artist because of how good a lot of the art on display was, but I expected that and handled the feeling of inferiority better than I thought I would.

One thing I did notice was a feeling of the slight inbreeding going on in the character designs and styles which was disturbing, especially CG characters. But for the most part there was a lot of good stuff to see and study.

Some topics I'd like to see discussed at next year's Expo:  

• Why is tuition so damn high at Calarts?
• Discrepencies between US animation and Japanese animation in terms of themes and maturity of the topics explored
• A panel dedicated to talking about animation from a single decade in animation history
• Animation history in general
• Television: Last bastion for traditional animation?
• The decline and rise of the theatrical short
• CG: Just another tool or a change in mindset?
• Outsourcing and its effects on the US animation industry

One thing that surprised me was the presence of professional (clothed) models posing in the lobby with art horses propped around them for anybody to sit down and sketch. Here are a couple I did that turned out ok: