Here is Mama Salamander looking after her eggs! Though most of the animation will be hand-painted in Photoshop, some close-ups may combine my altered photos with my hand-painted digital images. Ultimately it will depend on which styles work best together, for a seamless and consistent effect.
In Photoshop I drew three eggs, duplicating, reversing, and otherwise adjusting them to give variety. I left some areas unpainted, some semi-transparent, to ensure a translucent quality.
This photo I'd taken of a dead log worked well for the background. It had that moist look salamanders laying eggs out of water need. I eventually made several alterations to ensure it merged well with my
drawings.
The salamander began with an ink drawing scanned into Photoshop. I used Photoshop painting tools to create a color rough over the line drawing.
First, I made ink
storyboard drawings. Liking the textures in this scene, I chose it for one of my first color roughs.
The animated movie will accompany lectures by a college biography professor, illustrating "ring evolution". The salamanders and their environment do not represent any particular species or area, but are generic.
All images are
© Lucy A. Synk 2011
