As a lighting newbie, I only designed one dance. Performed and choreographed by Joell Weil to Sara Bareilles’ acoustic cover of Chandelier, the piece was about a woman in conflict- struggling to throw off the gazes and expectations of others that are always present, even when she is alone:

The show was a wonderful experience, and has taught me how rewarding the work of lighting designers can be- and also how challenging it is talk about, conceive, and create theatrical light. * bows down *

Friends, I was stoked at how quickly and easily my first Wacom sketch materialized! However, I am still so slow with the tablet that my fingers are constantly itching for a pencil. Patience is going to be key as I keep playing with this thing. 

Also helpful?  Important subject matter. This sleepy puppy was sketched using a reference photograph from the interwebs, and sadly not from a real-life companion. 

The link to the interview with Norstein below reveals some of the motivations behind his imagery. However, I confess that I could not make myself read it, and I probably never will. This film is a mysterious spell I that am quite happy to let stay magical. 

http://www.animatormag.com/archive/issue-28/issue-28-page-14/

Friends, I love paper. I especially love those bright yellow, friendly rolls of trace; a blank yellow page is somehow less intimidating than a white one. The stuff also makes a really satisfying sound as it is crumpled and thrown across the room.

Today, however, I am sitting down with a Wacom tablet and stylus for the first-ish time, in the hopes that it will prove an effective and efficient sketching tool. 

Tablets have intrigued me for awhile, since I have been itching to do more illustrating. The final push I needed to try working on one came this semester at graduate school, where I am delving into lighting design for the first time in almost a decade. Working with the lighting designers and learning a little bit more about their process, collaborative vocabulary, and current technology has been revelatory- and humbling, let me tell you. 

I am learning just how challenging it can be to talk about lighting, particularly with directors and choreographers. The design and rendering of scenery, while not necessarily easy, is a comparatively more straightforward task. 

Given my limited experience, and in the interest of keeping the programmer for my dance piece from beating me over the head with a wrench, I am attempting to render as many moments of the dance as I can in Photoshop. The going is slow, but it is going!