Ringling College of Art and Design 2009 hopefuls

[Meloncov]

Having just got it, let me recommend that potential CAers buy Force: Dynamic Life Drawing for Animators.

[aguilas990]

Thanks Meloncov, just ordered it... looks great!

[James.C]

Ya i agree with Meloncov. Force is by far the best drawing book I have ever had. I've read it through a couple times now and it's helped my drawing a lot. Actually the most recent life drawings in my sketchbook used a lot of what I learned from force.

[thesinfulsaint]

Don't forget to check out the other FORCE books. I think there are 3 in total. The principles are all the same, but still...very interesting, helpful books.

[FearSelf]

My first experience with art was a tasty one. Of course I soon realized that crayons were not just for eating and that the picture of the pig on the back was not an indicator of flavor. Art influences our choices, habits, and our everyday lives, but most importantly, art moves us.

That's a great introduction! It made me laugh. I think your essay was nicely done.

[ember42]

Having just got it, let me recommend that potential CAers buy Force: Dynamic Life Drawing for Animators.

I just put that in my amazon cart yesterday...

[Meloncov]

Don't forget to check out the other FORCE books. I think there are 3 in total. The principles are all the same, but still...very interesting, helpful books.

I'm not finding any others. Though their are several other dynamic drawing books.

[thesinfulsaint]

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/se...Mike%20Mattesi



Like I said...The main one is the dynamic life drawing for animators. In fact, I think the bottom book is simply an earlier version of the main FORCE book. I haven't had a chance to look through the character design one much, but it seems helpful. It leans more toward the CalArts ideology of lifedrawing.

[Meloncov]

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/se...Mike%20Mattesi

I guess including the word "drawing" in the goggle search threw it off.

[5coop]

ah ill try an buy it. SO HAPPY! i finally found a figure drawing class, although its only once a month its from 10 am to 7 pm...and yes being in japan its only in japanese but i pushed my weak skills and actually even managed to go have dinner with the students and teacher and have a 2 hour long japanese conversation! i was like...damn where did these skills come out from?!

HAHA well i think i REALLY improved in them! Dr.Sketchy is coming up soon too! so ill let you all know how it is, it doesnt look very serious, more like a drinking party with dancers that u can sketch but oh well better than nothing.

If you want to see how the drawings came i posted them on my SB

Hey what does this force book teach you??

[Meloncov]

Here is the rough draft of my essay. Comments would be appreciated.

Long after every other light in the house had been extinguished, the blue light of my monitor gently bathed my weary face. It was Monday morning, perhaps three hours before my morning classes were to start, and I was working on the finishing touches of the final piece for my semester long independent study project in animation. I had been working on this short for six weeks, but a naive underestimate of how long it would take to develop a working human rig left me with appallingly little time to complete the animation proper. I had been working frantically for the previous two weeks, and that weekend I had been animating nearly without break. I had constrained my time for sleeping and eating to the roughly half-hour forced breaks as my computer rendered.

I loved every moment of it. As I fine-tuned the protagonists tearing open the lock binding a caged bird, the program dropped away. I stopped seeing the scene as a mass of polygons and poorly designed controls. The magic of animation, intended for the audience, started to engross the creator. I was the protagonist, cradling an injured bird while surrounded by an angry crowd.

Inevitably, the magical moment of immersion passed. Yet the hours pleasantly sped past. I lost track of time, reminded only once by mother trying unsuccessfully to get me to go to bed at two-thirty. In the late-night darkness, the polygons seemed to dance, accompanied by the increasingly loud music that set my pace and kept me awake.

It was that weekend that I truly knew I wanted to be an animator. I had long suspected as much, a suspicion that had begun while playing with a tiny, rather terrible, animation program, and gradually grew strong enough to drive me to struggle through the thousand page Lightwave Manual and read thousands of pages of how-to books. It became enough to drive me to spend a month at MICA’s pre-college and to later cold-call a local freelance animator whom I requested to serve as my mentor on my animation independent study. However, it was not until that weekend that I was certain my love of animation was enough to drive me to the extremes required by the industry.

[Sryker]

Long after every other light in the house had been extinguished, the blue light of my monitor gently bathed my weary face. It was Monday morning, perhaps three hours before my morning classes were to start, and I was working on the finishing touches of the final piece for my semester long independent study project in animation. I had been working on this short for six weeks, but a naive underestimate of how long it would take to develop a working human rig left me with appallingly little time to complete the animation proper. I had been working frantically for the previous two weeks, and that weekend I had been animating nearly without break. I had constrained my time for sleeping and eating to the roughly half-hour forced breaks as my computer rendered.

That paragraph is exactly what happened to me when I was making the final for my 3d max class lol.

But anyway its not bad however you should work on the ending because it tends to just drop off. Make a closing paragraph rather then just a closing sentience.

[5coop]

uhh is everyone writing like a 500 word essay? because mine is almost 2 pages... bad?

[nilaffle]

I've got my essay around somewhere... once I find it I'll post it so you guys have another example.

Meloncov: Good opening (though I would change "proper" to "properly" in that first paragraph)! But I'm kind of concerned that you don't discuss why you want to become an animator. Your last sentence leads into it, but doesn't explain where all that passion comes from. Why animation, and not something else? What inspires you? What is your goal? These are the questions your essay should answer. A lot of us use our essays to talk about how we got involved in our particular pursuits (like copperfire's). You don't need to follow that format, of course, but your essay should give a clear idea of who you are and what you want to achieve.

5coop: You only need one page. Short and sweet! Any longer and you risk losing the reviewer's interest. The writer in me also wants to point out that brevity in an essay is an indication of good communication skills - which are very important here.

[meredy]

Hey! I just wanted to say hi, I saw this linked at the facebook so I joined up.

I applied for 2008 and got in but decided to wait a year, so I am reactivating my app(just sent the email).
I'll intro myself better around 5pm I have to run to work.

Oh boy, I hope my boss showed up today, one year olds JUST won't listen to me without her there.

[thesinfulsaint]

Also remember that while the essay is important, it in no way will outweigh your portfolio. Don't get too stressed out about this stuff.

[Meloncov]

Also remember that while the essay is important, it in no way will outweigh your portfolio. Don't get too stressed out about this stuff.

Oh, don't worry. I'm stressing out about my portfolio far more than my essay.

[mbarq]

When I wrote the essay, I tried to stress collaboration, inspiration, hopes, dreams and the need for Ringling. When you write your essay, be honest. Really think about why you want to attend Ringling and if it's even worth it. Who knows, maybe in the process you realize you really aren't prepared for Ringling, or you're attending for all the wrong reasons.

I'm not a Ringling admissions officer or anything like that, but...it makes sense to right something like that, no? As TheSinfulSaint said, worry about the portfolio, as I've heard the portfolio far out ways any essay, resume, letter of recommendation, etc.

good luck.

[Sryker]

Oh, don't worry. I'm stressing out about my portfolio far more than my essay.

Be careful you should think of it as all part of the same package.

As my adviser has told me if your essay was something you just cranked out in 2 hours and you letters of recommendation are only good enough then by the time they get to your portfolio, you could already be at strike 2.

[aguilas990]

Thanks for the advice Sryker but I get the feeling people who visit this thread every day aren't going to overlook any part of the Ringling app process. At least I hope not. If so, stop posting and start working lol

[lowercase]

Not to offend anyone, I though the essays were fine, but some of the stuff in both of yours came off as rather pretentious.

Working long hours into the morning, being the best in your high school art class, being in advanced art classes, being able to do things "with your eyes closed", classmates being experts, etc...

Those things are either not true, or they're true for all of us. Plus the fact that the quality of our portfolios is a reflection of the time and effort we spent working on them. You don't want to tell them how hard you've worked, how many millions of books you've read or how advanced your skills are; you're porfolio speaks for itself.

Reminds me of something Shaq said in regards to NBA rookies who get drafted out of college and how they think they're really hot stuff. "We were all the best at our colleges. That doesn't impress anyone."

[aguilas990]

read Meloncov's essay again.... it's not pretentious at all.

To me it was about how many hours he is willing to put in to do what he loves. And if he's going to Ringling, he will be putting in those kinds of hours regularly. Made sense to me.

P.S. Meloncov, come up with a conclusion to the essay =)

[lowercase]

To me it was about how many hours he is willing to put in to do what he loves. And if he's going to Ringling, he will be putting in those kinds of hours regularly. Made sense to me.

Right, but again those attributes are already reflected in his (and everyone elses) portfolio. It's redundant and possibly counterproductive.
Let's say I spent 10 years in the Himalayas training under John Lasseter. That wouldn't add up to anything more than my portfolio, and if I had indeed trained for those 10 years, it would make my portfolio look worse.

I don't mean to be argumentative. Like you've all said, the essay isn't that important anyway.

[James.C]

Good essay so far Meloncov. You seem to be overusing the term, "I had" specifically in the first paragraph. Content wise, it's pretty interesting, and it tells an interesting story. I might suggest taking the essay to your English professor and having them take a look at it, I am sure they would be happy to oblige. I am thinking about doing this with mine.
One thing that is very important is to show that while yes, you are very self sufficient and motivated, you need Ringling's help to realize your goal. You don't want to make it sound as if you could learn what you would at Ringling from reading books on your own or with help from a mentor (even if that is possible). I suggest making a final paragraph saying how attending Ringling would allow you to grow as an artist because of something like the direction given and the opportunity to collaborate with peers. I don't think they would want to hear so much of what you can do, but what you can do with the resources they provide.

[nilaffle]

I don't mean to be argumentative. Like you've all said, the essay isn't that important anyway.

I think we've all said the exact opposite. The essay is there for a reason. I like how Sryker put it: it's all part of the package. You wouldn't submit a résumé to a company without a cover letter, would you? Or put up an art exhibition without including an artist's statement. Like Betsy said, don't stress out over it, but take it seriously. The portfolio is a visual representation of you; the essay is the verbal representation. It should be just as good as your portfolio... and it doesn't hurt to shoot for better.

[meredy]

I can finally take a breath, because by some miracle I avoided being thrown up on. (But a coworker was not so lucky... ) The trials of daycare.

I personally didn't like my essay very much, I felt it was rather cheesy. I've NO clue what they thought of it...
I chose the promt about how art effects you and the world? Something like that. I did my best, and thats all you CAN do. Write from the heart and be honest.
I just made sure to say how important art and design were to me in a personal way(allowing me to communicate things that are hard to say in words), and also how it works into our everyday life... From the keyboard I used to type my essay, to the artwork hanging on my wall.
(But I am not here to retype my essay. So I digress...)

I also didn't feel very represented in my portfolio, as most of my art was in boxes and all over the place. I just picked the best of what I had and then did some from life CG's of dolls I collect. (I so regretted how frizzed out on of the doll's hair/wig was. It was hell to draw all those flyaways.)

And to introduce myself, Hi I am Kristi (Krystal Turner), I am 22 (23 in March). I am reactivating for Illustration for FALL2009.

Anyone have advice on on campus vs off campus living? Also any daycares within walking distance? I've heard it'll be impossible to work the first year... but there is always summer.

[James.C]

Hi there Kristi, welcome to CA! This thread should definitely be helpful for your application to Ringling!

[lowercase]

I think we've all said the exact opposite.

Not really...

It's certainly less important than your portfolio.

it in no way will outweigh your portfolio. Don't get too stressed out about this stuff.

the portfolio far out ways any essay, resume, letter of recommendation, etc.

I never said the essay shouldn't be taken seriously, I said it wasn't that important. As in, relatively speaking, it's not very important.

[Meloncov]

Not to offend anyone, I though the essays were fine, but some of the stuff in both of yours came off as rather pretentious.

As the point of the essay is to convince them that you are generally a good enough person to do well at Ringling, sounding pretentious is impossible to completely avoid. Though you are right that the essay should focus on things not visible in your portfolio. That's why I'm focusing more on the process than on my achievements in my essay.


And thanks for the comments everyone. I'll be further revising it over the next few weeks.

[lowercase]

As the point of the essay is to convince them that you are generally a good enough person to do well at Ringling, sounding pretentious is impossible to completely avoid. Though you are right that the essay should focus on things not visible in your portfolio. That's why I'm focusing more on the process than on my achievements in my essay.


And thanks for the comments everyone. I'll be further revising it over the next few weeks.

You're probably right.
Although my 'pretentious' comment was more in regards to Metalclay's essay, but he got accepted, so what do I know?