Randall Sly: Observe, Trace and Study.

One of the ways I like to study, is by printing out a picture I like. I then take the time and trace over it.  Now at first this might sound like a big waste of time but it isn't.  Sometimes the mind seems to trick us into thinking a certain line or shape is different than exactly what you see in front of you. We sometimes see what we want to. So with having the added sense of feeling, of going over the same lines that are there, you are able to see and feel the shape, length, direction, thickness, rhythm of each line. You will start to feel the design. You are adding another sense while studying.  It's kind of like what a blind person would do when they touch things. They are using the sense of touch to see. Well when I trace over a picture, I get that added help of seeing by feeling the drawing as well. My drawing skills grew when I started doing this. So don't be embarrassed to trace over things, you will learn a lot.

The next thing I do is make sure I am studying good art.  There is a phrase that says "Garbage In Garbage Out".
Meaning... if  you are looking, studying or around bad stuff (in this case art) you will absorb it naturally, and then when you put pencil to paper that is what will come out.  You can only produce what you know.  So if you would like to be a great artist study great art work, be surrounded by it. Study just the good stuff.

One more thing... Glen Keane once said "if you are drawing a blank, or are having a hard time drawing a certain thing, then it is because you have not studied it enough". You can only draw what you know. Sadly there is no magical dust (believe me I have tried searching for the stuff) that will make you a better artist. The fruit of great art comes from the roots of studying, observation, and hard work.

So for people like me that have a hard time drawing hands this is the type of (Great) artwork I would printout, trace, study, and observe. 

Rad Sechrist: studying

Guest: "I'd love to see the best way to maximize practice. Say you sit down for a couple hours each day study: where do you focus? How do you make it stick?"

Here is how I learned to draw. I put on an animated movie and pause it and try to figure out how to draw it. this is still something I do almost every day for about an hour. For figure drawing, I take out a master drawing and do a master copy on newsprint. I also do studies from comics. I find it easier to do studies from art. For me (and this is just a very personal opinion) drawing from life, or from photos is like taking a test. You find out what you need to study more of and you go back and study artist to figure out how they handled things, then you go and take the test again. If you only ever draw from life, you run the risk of just repeating the same mistakes over and over again and never improving. there are pros and cons to this method. At first, your drawings will be very unoriginal, but eventually you can break free and develop your own style. The other side of the coin is to be very fresh and original, but not "technically" as good of a draftsmen (never study). It's a very personal decision that each artist gets to make and I don't think one way is better than the other.

Rad Sechrist: Question by Robert

Robert asked, " I'm just in high school, and I was wondering what I could do to possibly prepare myself to become a storyboard artist."

Personally, I never went to school for it, but if I could go back in time, I definitely would have. It would have saved a lot of time and work, and it just sounds so awesome to be surrounded by students excited about art and animation. Art Center in Pasadena and Cal Arts are both great schools. If you are able to get into Gobelins in France, that is, in my opinion, the best school for animation in the world. Another good school is Sheridan in Canada. Other than schools, just study films and break them down shot by shot into storyboards. that's a really good way to learn. After you learn, studios have training programs where you can get in and learn on the job. TV also has something called a storyboard revisionist. You can basically just show up to any studio with a portfolio of storyboard samples and they will usually call you back and give you a test. Doing the test for the job is actually a great way to learn. I did several test for studios before I finally got a job. every test, I would take to someone in the industry and ask them to look at it and I would try to make less mistakes the next time. that is sort of how I learned to storyboard. Try it, make a storyboard portfolio and drop it off at Nickelodeon.

Florian Satzinger: Fat Brush

"Got any suggested exercises for improving at design/drawing?"

... sure, ride the Shape Mon! This is something REALLY helpful to me to get new ideas... just take a fat brush and paint with the greatest of ease.

And it won't do any harm to inform your art :) Make your studio a laboratory. Get inspired!

Finally, I used one of them as a reference for a minor character in StarDucks.

The same goes for here:

Here's another example which deals with the same thing (I posted that on my blog earlier):

Work In Progress 2 from Florian Satzinger on Vimeo.

Sam Nielson: Painting Process

Someone asked a question about the process of painting a character, so I'll take a stab at that one.  There are many processes that each have their strengths, but for the sake of learning this is what I'd suggest.  This process is based around the way 3d rendering programs work, using separate passes and combining them together for the final effect.  Separating the processes in this way helps you think through what needs to be done.

First of all, start with a sketch.  Don't try to design a character as you paint, unless you are really advanced and probably not even then.  Inked line art is fine.

Pick up the lines as a layer, and switch the layer type to multiply or Gel if you're in Painter.  Turn the opacity way down so the lines aren't getting in the way of what you're doing.

These next steps can almost be done in any order.  On a background layer put in flat colors, like you would if you were painting an animation cel.  Keep the values fairly dark and even---even white surfaces should be a medium gray at this point.  I'll usually have a color scheme in mind; in this case I used an analogous scheme (red/orange/yellow/brown)contrasted against a single "compliment" (the blue).

On a separate layer, paint the occlusion in.  I'll talk more about occlusion some other time, but basically think of the cracks where the ambient light of the scene can't easily bounce into.  I put a white background in so you could see it better.  Don't be too heavy-handed or feel like you have to render out the entire scene this way!

Now, on a new layer, paint in a single light source.  If this is a basic character rendering you probably want this lighting to be fairly neutral in color, but a simple warm/cool lighting scheme should be fine.  I often start with hard edges on everything, like a cel-shaded image, and then I soften the edges where the form curves or I fade out any planes that are trending toward the terminator (I talked about this in another post).  I painted in the lit areas with white but switched the layer type to "Overlay" so it would keep my colors.

Here is what the lighting layer and the occlusion layer look like when they're both visible on a blank background.  See how sculptural it looks already?

Here's what those layers look like applied over the colors I painted earlier:

If you want any more lights in the scene, use a "Screen" layer, which acts as a true additive layer.  And you can use other layers to tinker with the colors and texture in the scene.

Now you have a fairly good start to your painting and you're ready for the polishing phase.  I'll save that part for another post though, later.

Rad Sechrist: Making a pose better

Someone asked about making a pose better. The biggest one for me is using the z axis. So many times all the parts will be straight up and down and don't go in or out. Adding a little head tilt also makes a huge difference.

Rad Sechrist: Drawing from your head

Here is another one. Someone asked about drawing from your head, or drawing people in action. I usually imagine what I will put down one piece at a time or imagine the arm in a new spot and decide if I want to move it. i can't quite imagine the entire pose clearly like some people do, but I'm working my way towards being able to do that. For quick sketch, or action poses from life, I try to remember 1 or 2 important things and make up the rest.

Rad Sechrist: Balance

So, I'll be the first to answer one of the questions. Someone asked how to keep the character balanced.

What Do You Want To Learn About?

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Florian Satzinger: The Green Box

Think 3D: This is just a practical tip of mine for anyone beginning to develop or test a new character... the good thing with this method is that it is a simple but effective way to get to know your own creation better.

Apropos of nothing, I picked the colours from an ice pop ad...

Mark McDonnell: Why Keep a Sketchbook?

When looking to increase our skill sets, we are all in an eternal quest to "get better." There is some mystical notion that one day we will wake up and suddenly . . . be that artist we always thought we would become. But in reality most artists are all born the same. There are some of us that are born with a certain aptitude toward seeing a goal more clearly than others. But the notion of being "born with it" is very far fetched (in my opinion) and all too often idealized rather than a true reality.

What does set many of the great artists apart from the good ones? It is a great number of factors, perhaps environment, being exposed to the arts at a younger age, or perhaps an artistic family heritage. But in all cases of greatness the greatest certainty is that each master of his or her craft has devoted the time and energy toward that particular area the muse beacon's them towards. It's the muse that captures our attention. And once we are seduced by her tranquility, we are driven to follow the flow and grow along side the pencil lines we scrawl upon the page. One of the greatest ways to grow and become that artist we think we should be is a constant application into the things that we are driven to by the way of blood (our heart's pursuit), sweat, and tears (of joy, of course). We can do all of this by keeping a sketchbook. One of the greatest advantages to us is to explore and stretch the boundaries of our own craft in the privacy of our sketchbook(s). Keeping a sketchbook is an amazingly personal way, away from prying eyes, to sweat and strive to become better and grow on an individual level.

Sketchbooks are a symbol of freedom or a key to unlock a door previously unavailable to be opened.

MAC