Visiting the Aquarium

I changed my mind about going to the zoo because I felt that I can do much more with sea life. From going to the aquarium, I've managed to come up with loads of ideas with how I'm going to animate my main animation. I found the way the sea life acts with each other and have very different appearances very inspiring. It was interesting how some species would keep in groups and others would swim alone. 

I took many videos which I can refer to when I start animating to understand how they move. I've also managed to take a few pictures (I couldn't really take any of the moving fish as my camera isn't very good) and I've done a couple of sketches from life to help me observe them.

Some of the creatures are very slow movers like this lobster, but I liked how it would just move it's antennae carefully.

These fish were about 10 inches long and swam in groups very quickly. I was unsuccessful taking a picture of them but I managed to get a drawing.

These fish would have their mouth open a lot. I also attempted to draw them.

Also the rays were interesting to see. A lot easier to draw as well because it kept still the longest.

They have such a strange belly as well: it looks like it has a face.

I really liked these piranhas shiny scales. 

I have taken a huge interest in the turtles I saw in the aquarium as I like watching them swim. Also because they stand out amongst the fish due to being a reptile.

The upside down jelly fish were enchanting to watch as they looked so delicate in the way they moved.

The sea horses were hard to record as they were hiding behind the tall plants. However in the video I liked how the sea horse would float up slightly and then move its mouth.

The clown fish were interesting to watch and it reminded me of a scene from Finding Nemo with how they were swimming or brushing in the anemone.

I loved this set up of corals and I'll definitely be creating a back drop of something like this from my animation.

These Lion fish were beautiful to watch and I would love to make an animation of them but I can imagine it taking ages as it is full of detail, especially with its many dorsal spines.

This small strange fish is oddly adorable.

The sharks have their own way of moving which is very recognisable: large flicks with tail and moves in a zig zag. Their body shape is also very different to the other fishes.

Watching this turtle swim over was an incredible moment to experience. I'm completely gutted that the video doesn't give it justice. I think that I'll be focusing on the turtle video a lot for my main animation as I loved how slowly and delicately it swam over me. This has also inspired me to use different view angles in my animation. I could also maybe take screen shots of the video and draw over it on Gimp.