Lesson 11 by Caleb

Here's my lesson 11. His cranium is too small at the top because the original egg shape was off, among other things. Below is the same face drawn over 2 years ago.

Head Construction Studies by Christine

Lesson 9 & 10 by Caleb

For these 2 lessons I wanted to focus on drawing smaller, quicker, and not checking them with the original to train my eyes better. I inked my 2 favorites in regular black pen. I'm glad to be done with the egg man lessons but I will still draw them when warming up, etc. There's so much to learn from those seemingly simple lines and shapes.

Ren & Stimpy Toys

Hey everyone, i found some Ren & Stimpy toys in Chinatown, London & i reckon they make good study aids, so please feel free to download them from my blog if you feel like doing some more toy studies:

Ren & Stimpy toys

Cheers!

Paul.

Another Kaspar

Well, instead of correcting the pose i did yesterday, i played Mario. Then today i did this one:

 I think it's getting there - it certainly came a lot quicker than the last one... I didn't figure out the subtle thumb on the right hand until i was cleaning it up so it's kinda weak & limp. I payed attention to all the neg. spaces, but perhaps they're all on the small side?

Kaspar!

Hi all, i'm having some issues loosening up with these Kaspar exercises. This is my latest one, please visit my blog (www.mrpaalstudies.blogspot.com) for the others. Comments much appreciated! Cheers,

Paul.

Construction studies and a toy

by Trevor Thompson ( age 31 )


God, those Tink studies are horrible. I did the construction at work with the reference art, and did the final lines at home without it from memory. Apparently, I've never laid eyes on Tinkerbell in my life.

Anyway. Onward....





By the way, Kudos to Patrick for posting that Shane Glines guide. It's certainly a big help. Thanks, man!

When in sunny Blogosphere, be sure to visit:

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FOR ALL YOUR CARTOON AND PUPPET NEEDS!

Thomas Hjorthaab stuff 4!

Hey there! Here's some studies from "Robin hood Daffy" by Chuck Jones...

More on my blog!

Cheers!

John K's Blog

What happened with John K's blog. I think we were all learning a lot from it?

Is there at least an archive of some sort that we can still see his posts from when it was public?

Shane Gline: Thoughts on drawing

How many people here know of Shane Glines. If not, he is an accomplished cartoonist who has worked at Spumco and on the animated Batman series. Anyways he has been posting his thoughts on drawing on Facebook. I thought I'd post them here for those that might not have caught it. (He gave permission to everyone to repost)

The Space Between



Young artists love lines. I spent most of my career concentrating on lines, style, and other flashy surface details. I spent a lot of time and effort perfecting a pretty line. But your line in itself is ultimately unimportant.


It's the space between the lines that matters.




You can have a scratchy line like Ronald Searle, a bold brush line like Bob Tupper, curvy lines like Fred Moore, or angular lines like Held, Jr., and while these qualities add flavor, they are not the meal.




As you put your lines down, you shouldn't be thinking about the lines themselves, but rather the form that the line is enclosing. As you make your second line on the opposite side, be even more aware of the form as your line encloses and traps the space. As you do this, be constantly aware of the space between your lines having weight and solidity.




We concentrate on lines because they a visible. You can see and feel it while you make it. Form is invisible, at least until one end of your line touches the other. This is why, on the rare occasion I give advice, I tell young artists to practice not lifting the pencil from the paper until they've completed their shape. As you "take your dot for a walk," draw your line all the way down one side of the form (an arm or leg for example) and then back up to the top without stopping. Think of every element of your drawing as a complete, enclosed shape- all fitting within the overall form of your figure. I've had several people tell me that this simple exercise created a drastic improvement in their drawing.




It's "Capturing Space". Using your lines to get a little bit of the universe on your paper. 




Shane

Thoughts on drawing No. 2




The problem of too much concentration on making your drawings pretty, flashy or cool, or getting caught up in surface styles early on.




You will get a bunch of attention from people who don't know better, and this can keep you from growing.




Attention and admiration from others should be our reward in life for working harder than the other person. If success comes too easily, and for the wrong reasons, it can really hold you back from developing.




For example- people who grow up wealthy or physically beautiful often have everything handed to them with little effort, and as a result tend to not develop the best personalities. They didn't need to develop character, strength, or knowledge to receive the attention that others have to work hard for.




I believe that everything good in life only comes as a result of struggle, pain, or at the very least getting outside of your comfort zone. If you skip that difficult but necessary step, and get the reward without the work, you are cheating yourself and others and creating much greater difficulties down the line. There really are no shortcuts.




I learned how to make my drawings cute and slick early on. My drawings had a natural appeal, and I was inking with a brush, using zip-a-tone, doing fancy tricks and effects with white-out while I was still a teen. I was swiping from Frazetta, Wood, Stevens, etc. and I would take my samples to comic conventions to show the pros and then stand back and bask in all the praise. I fooled myself into believing that I could really draw.




When I began to work in animation, it became painfully clear how weak my foundations was. I really had no idea how to draw. I had learned to draw by looking at drawings. I had copied tricks, gimmicks, had memorized a handful of symbols for eyes, hands, poses, etc., but there was little real drawing in me.


I would get hired on the basis of my slick portfolio, but when it came down to it I couldn't produce the work. John K. refers to it as "sketchbook virtuosos"- artists who show off these incredible sketchbooks and portfolios but who have no ability to draw on demand, or to customize their work for a specific job.




If there is any one thing that I feel has held me back in both my career and life, it's this: I got the reward before I put in the work.



When you've already learned how to make your work superficially pretty, and people expect that from you, it becomes much more difficult to do all those messy, clumsy, fumbling drawings that will eventually give you that solid foundation. It's taken me the last ten years to get the substance of my drawing up to level of the surface and I still have a long, long way to go.




My advice: Don't cheat and don't lie to yourself. Do you deserve the praise you are getting or do you know better?


Here I think I got it pretty close on the originals:)
Cheers!

...

Pose sorry:D...

I won't waste a post on just correcting my own mistake, so here's a sheet of a character of my own, I fooled around with last night, called Krapon!...:) Let me know what you think!

Thomas Hjorthaab stuff III

Here's the stills I did my constructions of...:)

I especially like this post hereunder... I just love it!:)

Woody Woodpecker

I'm sorry to say I've never seen any of the shorts... I'll have to grab me that DVD box set! Until then here's my copies from a model sheet.

experimenting with gouache

I don't know if this is beyond the scope of this blog or not, but I just started playing around with gouache and this is my first experiment. If any of you have used it, I'd appreciate some suggestions/advice.

stuff from Thomas Hjorthaab II

Hey guys here's some of my newest stuff...

I've experimented alot lately with constructions, I'm trying to make as many lines as possible, connect, without killing the pose...

Please comment!:D

preston blair stuff

So John K commented on my last post with these drawings and said I needed to work on my perspective and proportions. I will soon be getting a new version of Photoshop Elements (I don't like Gimp and the old PE2 didn't work on my new laptop.) that should help with matching them up. But I thought I'd see what you guys noticed as the problem with these. i'm sure many of you have labored over these same drawings.

Squirrel Heads by Christine

Here's my latest crack at those Preston Blair heads. How am I doing?

Slap Happy Lion

Took a new approach this time; I focused on 'energy' rather than 'accuracy'. Dunno if it was a good idea, but hey, I tried! :)

stuff from Thomas Hjorthaab!!!

Hey guys!:D

Thanks for the invitation, I'm looking forward to get to know you outthere!

Here some different studies, here it's hands I've studied... I tried to experiment with line of action and construction in hands!...
















Here I messed around and experimented with Daffy!











































Here I did some of the background stuff that John was talking about:)

Cheers guys!

Go visit my blog, if you think this is cool:P

Preston Blair

These are from a few days back, so I've done a few notes of my own - but I'd like to hear if you guys have any tips!

Mighty Mouse

Hey guys, it's good to be here! Look forward to drawing with y'all.

Okay, here's some Mighty Mouse studies I've done from an old model sheet - As you can see from they're far from perfect, so feel free to point out all the stuff I did wrong!