Kirk Shinmoto: Learning to Draw!

I original wrote this on a whim but thought I would share it here as well.  These are just my thoughts and advice on learning to draw.  I'm mainly referring to figure drawing, but it really applies to just drawing in general.

The worst part about having tons of papers and books is having to move those tons of papers and books.  I just recently moved into a new place and along with me came a giant stack of figure drawings that I've kept in my closet since I started Art Center back in 2005.

(this photo is a little older, so it is actually about a foot taller now!)

Seeing my drawings from first term was nostalgic, terrifying, and encouraging all at the same time!

I've had many discussions with people about whether or not they are improving or what they should do to get better and really there is no secret to it.  It just takes time, focus, and lots of paper!  I see too many people get discouraged because they are not improving fast enough or they get drawn into shortcuts while losing track of the fundamentals.  And fundamentals, as simple as they seem, really do take the longest to internalize and master.  The rest is just fluff.  A box by any other name is still a box!

I thought I would share some things to think about that really helped me improve.  They may sound a bit corny but they work! they really do work!:

shoot for the moon!

I still remember those inspirational posters that hung above the chalk board in middle school and one in particular still stands out.  It read: "shoot for the moon and if you miss you'll land amongst the stars." (hahaha)

At school everyone seemed to be looking over everyone else's shoulder to see who the biggest threat was.  I think some friendly competition is good, but if your only goal is to be better than the person next to you then you will only end up being better than the person next to you.  I realized at one point that my only real competition was myself. I didn't need anyone to tell me when my drawing was bad because I could see that for myself.  I stopped comparing my drawings to my peers and started comparing them to the artists that I really looked up to like the old masters: Michelango, Pontormo, Rubens.  If you have a lofty goal in mind you will never be satisfied with where you are and in turn you will never stop improving.

be honest with yourself!

A big thing that stops improvement is plateauing.  I think a lot of times this happens because we start to get comfortable with where we are at.  It feels good to draw things that we are used to or that are easy, and it's good to indulge once in a while, but if you do the exact same thing over and over you will not improve.  One of my teachers emphasized drawing the whole figure and to treat it as a complete statement or idea.  I didn't quite understand why at first, but as I looked around at workshops, everyone was just drawing torsos! torsos upon torsos!  They were well drawn torsos, but when it came to drawing hands and feet or finishing a drawing they couldn't do it.  And I was one of them!  I then made an effort to draw out the whole figure (even in the two minute poses!) and it forced me to deal with those areas that I was uncomfortable drawing- like the hands and feet.  You are also forced to respond to the model and compose your drawing rather than mindlessly going through the motions.  The only way to get over areas you  have trouble with is to slow down and deal with them rather than glossing over them.

draw/study with a purpose!

It is important to have some sort of goal or idea in mind before you start drawing.  And it could really be anything.  I would often spend an hour or so before going into workshops doing master copies and then spend the session trying to emulate whoever I was copying.  Or on shorter poses I would focus solely on getting the gesture down without worrying about structure. As the poses got longer and I had more time I would incorporate more structure.  Also doing master copies sometimes I would try to break their drawings down through a more constructive approach, and other times I would focus more on the techniques they used.  If you can identify areas you are having trouble with, then you can spend time focusing on those areas.  It doesn't matter what your goal is as long as you have one in mind you won't drift around aimlessly when you start drawing.  Just like everything else in life!

fear is the mind killer!

Learning to draw takes time.  People are impatient.  Don't be impatient!  I've seen a lot of people stop trying because they weren't seeing results fast enough.  Or people worry so much about improving that they just freeze up and don't do anything.  Don't worry so much about where your drawing level is.  Worry about where that invisible box that everyone talks about is. Or where that crazy sartorius goes.  Focus on the task at hand.

buy/borrow some books and research!

Another thing I started doing when I started learning was buying books--lots of books!  I tried to surround myself with artists and things that I found inspirational.  I would go down to the used book store once a week to see if they had anything new.  I also scoured the net for artists and images that I liked.  Learning to draw is like  learning a new language and the best way to learn a new language is to constantly be surrounded by it and the culture it comes from. Learning about other artists also helps you to identify what you like and what you don't like aesthetically and it ensures that you will always have new ideas to draw from.

always be cobbling (drawing)! 

The only way to get better at drawing is to draw!  At one point in school I decided that I wasn't satisfied with how I was progressing so I decided that I would make time to figure out what this "drawing" business was all about. I moved all my classes to the morning so I could make it to the workshops at night and I even skipped a few classes to go draw.  I went so much that it became a habit.  I missed many dinners and parties while I was in school.  If you really want to get better you have to make time to draw.  Carry a sketchbook wherever you go and take every opportunity you can to draw.  It will become a habit and then the progress never stops.

There is no magic secret to drawing.  To quote Ivor Hele, "Only your own hard work teaches you anything of value in the end."

Hat Lieberman: Stuff I've Learned About Storyboarding Part 2.5

Here is a quick draw-over I did recently of some student storyboard work. The particular sequence at hand was a first attempt at storyboarding, which I was quite impressed with. I had a few notes and ideas for her, things I felt she could look to incorporate into her storyboards as she moves forward, that I believe will help take her work to the next level.

I focused on a single panel to clearly illustrate the principles. Below is a step-by-step progression of my draw-over.

1. Original Panel From Student Sequence:

Conceptually it is good.
-She has clearly established a screen relationship between the two characters (left and right).
-Indicated an environment (the mountain range in the background).
My main note is to push it! Take the concept of this shot and push it to find a more interesting and compelling composition.

2. Draw Your Grids:

I started my redraw with a horizon line and laying down a grid.
Laying down your grids (on the ground, walls and sky) will help clarify the depth of your shot, and can also be used as a guide for incorporating mid/foreground elements (illustrated in step 5).

3. Push The Depth:

In the original panel there is a lot of empty space around the characters, not particularly interesting or dynamic visually. I drew over the characters, using my grid as a guide, and tried to push the depth.

By pushing the depth, bringing one character closer and pushing one further away, you can create a much more engaging composition as well as utilizing the real estate of the panel more effectively.

4. Use The Background To Enhance The Composition:

You can use background elements to enhance a composition and help direct the eye.

The important information in the panel is the characters, so everything else in the composition should support that. Keeping that in mind, we can use mountain ranges in the distance to help lead the eye to our character.

5. Populate The Mid-Ground

Put some junk in the mid-ground.

Populating the mid-ground can help in a few ways:
-Further help define the environment.
-Help push the depth by incorporating visual depth cues such as over-lapping objects and size relativity (objects get smaller as they recede).

6. A Little Shading Goes A Long Way

In the original panel the shading wasn't particularly adding anything to the composition. A simple way to approach shading is by thinking about it in terms of foreground, mid-ground and background.

I did a quick shade pass over the panel using each object's relative position in the composition (how closer/far away it is from us) and shaded accordingly. We can also use shadows to help direct the eye, much like background elements, by having them point towards important information.

Below is an animated gif of the progression so you can see how being conscious of these principles while you are boarding can really help enhance your work. You may need to click on it to see it animate.
With storyboarding it is just a matter of getting sequences under your belt. The more you board, the better you get, plain and simple. It takes time for these principles to become second nature, don't get discouraged if you don't see them immediately taking effect. The important thing with these concepts is to be aware of them, how they work, and how they can affect your boards. Over time everything will fall into place.

-Hat

Wouter Tulp: Shapes and textures

Florian Satzinger: Anatomy of My Rough Process

Alright, here we go...

Wouter Tulp: Controlling values

Controlling values is important to create the illusion of realism in a painting. Under the same lighting circumstances a metal object reflects light differently than a piece of cloth. Understanding how this translates into values is important to express the difference in textures.
Having no control over your values can cause a painting to fall apart, or lose all sense of depth. In this illustration I did a little experiment. I used my values in an unconventional way, by deviding my illustration into four sections, and apply a different range of values to each section. Within each section, the relative use of values is as usual. The range was set in advance.

I used the posterise filter, to show how I four basic values for the entire illustration: black, dark grey, light grey and white. When I block in the basic values for an illustration I trie not to go into detail, but stick to only a few basic values. Refinement and detailing come later on.
The use of values this way, gives an unnatural look to the whole of the image. It's as if the different artists have been cut out an put together as a collage. I magnified this effect by reversing the laws of pespective in some areas. Big shapes in the back, small shapes in front.
Setting a limit for the use of values this way is a great exercise to understand and control values. It made me realize what the effect is and made me use values in my other paintings more consciously.

Wouter Tulp: Sketching a character

Character sketch from Wouter Tulp on Vimeo.

Florian Satzinger: Fish In Progress

I thought I post this little work in progress process so you know The Art Center is still open! :)

XAV: A step by step on my last illustration

Time to time, readers of my blog ask me how I work, so I've decided to make a simple step by step of my last illustration. I hope everything is clear, if you have questions I'll try to answer in the comments.
By the way, as you probably notice, I'm french and my english is not very good so sorry if I don't explain the proper way (and also my photoshop is in french.)


So, first of all, I only work in Photoshop. Time to time I make drawings on paper then scan them but all my last illustrations and designs were made with my wacom intuos and this last one with my all new Cintiq 21UX.

1. The drawing, with a simple home made brush, very rough.

2. I turn over the drawing and make a cleaner drawing.
3. I rebuild the tricky parts to be sure of the construction.
4. I make the final drawing with a clean line and I fix some parts (here the face).
5. I start the colors with the line above.
6. Every part (face, jacket, hair, etc) on a separated level.
7. The face.
8. cheeks and nose.
9. I add the lines and other details.
10. With the gradient tool, I make a subtle color effect.
11. I set the layer in screen mode and lower the opacity.
12. I start the background with the basic color.
13. I add the snow with a brush that looks like snow flakes.
14. A white gradiant to suggest the snow on the floor.
15. A quick shadow on the ground to set the character in space.
16. A quick skyline of Paris.
17. I add a layer of noise.
18. I lower the opacity and set it to color burn.
19. I had a paper texture layer that I colored in light blue before.
20. I set it to screen and lower the opacity.
21. I finally add my signature...
22. And voila !

Florian Satzinger: Process Breakdowns Plus Work In Progress Film Clip

Please find the a short clip of the drawing process of this rough test design right below. This huge small-headed bird character was quasi the preliminary draft to the character at the end of this post. BTW, I had some sort of a bushy Christmas tree in mind (and a wee bit Seinfeld's Newman) in connection with the shape of the characters.

Work In Progress 5 from Florian Satzinger on Vimeo.

Here's the final version of the character plus the process breakdown sheet:

For a larger version of the breakdown sheet JUST CLICK HERE