Advice for Sketching

So... advice.

I don't consider myself an "expert" when it comes to drawing, so I don't know how valid my "advice" can be. But, I'm currently taking a class from Ryan Woodward right now and we just had midterm interviews today in which he evaluated our sketchbooks and gesture drawings.

Anyways, the advice: Draw more FAIL drawings. Sounds weird, right? No, really. FAIL drawings. According to Ryan, drawings in which you fail are more valuable then several sketchbooks full of "pretty" drawings. Want to know why?

Failure means you're learning!

And learning is fantastic!

And one of the BEST ways to get failed/learning drawings is to draw from life. I used to take this as more and more figure drawing. While figure drawing is SUPER important, it's still "fake life." Someone posing for you. The best way to learn how to draw life is to draw from it. That means not being afraid to get out into the world. Go on a hike. Go to the mall. Go to a museum. Go skydiving. Get INSPIRED and draw from that. Drawing from your head can only get you so far. Drawing from life gives you new ideas and learning. And didn't I mention that learning is, well, important?

These were all things that I knew, but never really understood. I never really fully appreciated how constructive and helpful "failed" drawings can be. So, if you start seeing some failed drawings, you'll know why they're there!

I hope you've gained some insight into this as well!

EDIT: If you want to see some great examples of life drawings, take a gander at Glen Keane's beautiful work. His figure drawings and gestures are gorgeous, as well. All of his drawings, life, figure, etc., have some aspect of life and emotion. And they're all so simply done, with little or no detail to create an idea of detail. I tell you, the man is gifted. So take a look and get inspired!

Bravest Little Hobbit of Them All

Another assignment for Character Design. Here's the one and only Bilbo Baggins discovering the One Ring TO RULE THEM ALL.

Dang. Feet are hard to draw. Especially giant, hairy hobbit feet.

Elvish script came from Google.

Col-Erase and edited on Photoshop.

Bilbo Baggins property of J.R.R. Tolkien.

P.S. Who's excited about "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" tomorrow?!?! :D

Hands and Hobbits

Just a quickie update of some assignments from Character Design. We were going over heads and hands. The hands were drawn from a packet of references which included model sheets from several animated films. See if you can recognize them!

Pencil and Col-Erase

I didn't expect a kind of Spanish Inquisition...

*DRAMATIC ENTRANCE MUSIC*

NOBODY EXPECTS THE SPANISH INQUISITION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm currently taking an intro to Maya/3-D modeling class and our first project was to design a Lego. I saw some other students' work and while Indiana Jones, Star Wars, and ninja legos are cool (what if you did all three at once?), I wanted to go a bit beyond convention.

So I made a Spanish Inquisition Lego.

I plan on going back and fixing some parts, but here he is for now!

The modeling was done in Maya and general fixing up was done in Photoshop. The fire background came from Google.

I'll come in again...


Spanish Inquisition Skit©Monty Python
Lego©... Lego?

Figure Drawings

Just some figures drawings from last Friday. I've been trying to add some "character" to my figure drawings. I would like to work some more with exaggeration next and push the proportions to look more animated. But for now, enjoy these sketches!

Done in Faber-Castel brush pens.

"The Hobbit" Character Designs

Another assignment from Character Design: Draw two characters from "The Hobbit!" I decided to do Gandalf and Beorn since, well, no one does a lot of stuff for Beorn, despite how cool he is, and Gandalf is, well, Gandalf, and therefore must be drawn.

I would like to redo these guys sometime soon. As much as I like these designs, I want to push them a bit further, maybe add some color. I was looking at some Chen-Yi Chang art for some inspiration, but I'd like to incorporate some more of his style into the characters.

I'm just a bit excited for Peter Jackson's version of "The Hobbit."

And "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2," but that's another story.

YOU SHALL NOT PASS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!