CARTOON FUNDAMENTALS

Any comic makers?

2011-03-31T13:06:00.000-07:00

Anybody on here making comics? I'm looking to start up a webcomic site with 2 or more other cartoonists (ala Dumm Comics). We would each have a day of the week where we'd publish a new comic. Anything from one-panel to full-page. As long as you can meet your deadline fairly consistently. Any skill level is fine, too. Though improvement and evolution would be encouraged, basically that's what it would be all about for us.

Let me know if you're interested, and/or if you have other ideas. Thanks!

Also, if you have time, I'm interested in hearing some critiques on my comics. I know I have a lot of improvement to make in technical things like proportion and construction, but what do you guys think as far as potential, humorousness, is it even remotely interesting? etc. Be honest, I have thick steel skin, just wanna improve things.
Here is a link:
http://givealittlebit.blogspot.com/search/label/comics
There should be 2 pages, click 'older posts' to see more.

Thanks everyone! Keep drawing!

Krazy Kat by George Herriman

Meatheads by Christine

2010-05-31T21:16:00.001-07:00

Draftee Daffy by Nicolas Martinez

2010-05-26T17:06:00.000-07:00

My Drawing

Original

Meathead by Nicolas Martinez

2010-05-24T16:32:00.000-07:00

My process of drawing him, starting with acing the main construction, and checking after each stage.

My final clean-up.

More Meathead by Nicolas Martinez

2010-05-19T10:25:00.000-07:00

Preston Blair Puppies by Christine

2010-02-17T19:00:00.000-08:00

How are these?

Head Construction Studies by Christine 2

2010-01-23T10:28:00.000-08:00

I took Joey's advice and just worked on the constructions without the details this week. How am I doing?

Disney Studies

2010-01-20T06:42:00.000-08:00

Hey guys, heres what I've been working on. Took a break from the preston blair book for a while. Im having trouble with goofy's body.

Christine Critique

2010-01-17T01:17:00.000-08:00

Hi Christine, Great work! Hope you dont mind if I post a couple things I noticed. You should probably work on getting the shapes to look 3 dimensional. It seems like your getting caught up in details. I would practice just the first step of the dog some more, where preston just gets the basic shape of things. Maybe slow down and analyze the drawing first. Pay more attention to negative space. In the last one I uploaded you put the nose and the mouth too close together. Your eye shapes could use some work. It helps me if I draw a line of action for the eyes.

Preston Blair Dogs

2010-01-16T19:29:00.001-08:00

I think I still need a lot of work on these. Tips and suggestions appreciated!

Mickey Studies

2010-01-16T10:31:00.000-08:00

Been doin some mickey studies. The second ones an original pose. I liked the expression, but now that I've scanned it I see he's horribly out of proportion. Anyhow I had to take a break from the preston blair book for a couple days. Mickey was the next best thing.

Gabba critique

2010-01-14T04:07:00.001-08:00

Hi, nice upload gabba. Hope you dont mind if I make a new post comparing yours with prestons. Your pretty much dead on with the proportions and angles. I think maybe you need to work on shapes though. They're a bit wobbly. Your form could be stronger, things could look more 3 dimensional. I made some notes on some other things. Sorry for my terrible handwriting. Do you have photoshop or some other program where you could overlay your drawings?

Preston Blair Lesson SQUASH & STRECH

2010-01-14T00:39:00.001-08:00

Here's my first post in a while guys!

Sorry for the delay, but i was working for an evil corporation that was sucking the life juice out of me!

I've quit my job and i'm now full time dedicated to learning how to draw correctly and produce my own animation (work with like minded people) I hope this blog doesn't just exhibit our talents but also draws us closer for possible work opportunities and networking.

Here's some drawings i did from some awesome Warner cartoons:

--------------------------

Being Italian myself, i can't help but laugh at this Opera singer

Lepricons? NEVER!!

Oh, and Happy New Year guys!

Hi first post

2010-01-11T22:10:00.000-08:00

Hi guys, Im new here. John told me to work on proportions. This is from the screwball page of preston blairs book. Man this stuff is tough. I managed the duck pretty decent. I think I need to slow down a little more and get the loa right. Hey sorry I dont know how to use blogger to well. Theres a really big white gap for some reason.

Lesson 11 by Caleb

2009-12-26T19:32:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-22T19:21:00.000-08:00

Lesson 9 & 10 by Caleb

2009-12-12T10:40:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-08T14:09:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-04T14:12:00.000-08:00

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!

2009-12-03T17:04:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-06T07:17:00.000-08:00

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:

THE BOOO TOOONS BLOOOG
FOR ALL YOUR CARTOON AND PUPPET NEEDS!

Thomas Hjorthaab stuff 4!

2009-10-22T10:18:00.001-07:00

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

John K's Blog

2009-10-21T13:14:00.001-07:00

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

2009-10-06T19:08:00.000-07:00

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? 

2009-09-27T04:11:00.000-07:00

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

...

2009-09-26T11:49:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-26T11:45:00.000-07:00

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

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

Woody Woodpecker

2009-09-26T10:43:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-22T17:00:00.001-07:00

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

2009-09-20T06:49:00.001-07:00

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

2009-09-17T07:36:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-15T20:00:00.001-07:00

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

Slap Happy Lion

2009-09-08T05:35:00.000-07:00

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!!!

2009-09-06T12:10:00.001-07:00

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

2009-09-06T04:12:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-03T07:54:00.000-07:00

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!

Welcome new members!

2009-09-02T13:01:00.001-07:00

Feel free to start posting any construction or layout studies you are currently working on. There are many of us out there working to become better cartoonists, so why not have one centralized place where we can all learn from each other and create a community.

This blog was started about a year ago, and originally we were going through the Preston Blair book each week lesson-by-lesson starting with the eggheads. It was a lot of fun and we learned a lot, but we have since decided to open it up to studying what ever you want at your own pace. The key is being consistent and learning from mistakes.

More Dog

2009-09-01T21:14:00.000-07:00

Attempt 2 at this. It's still a small drawing, kinda rushed too.
But it seems better than before. It feels more solid.

Stoner Dog

2009-08-31T13:40:00.000-07:00

This is a first. Its a little thumbnail copy. I gonna do this big, once I get my printer working.

Meathead #15 and 16

2009-08-27T14:16:00.000-07:00

Studies and Stuff

2009-08-26T22:08:00.000-07:00

One trying to be solid. One trying to be a doodle...

Again trying to be solid.

I think these turned out ok, i only tried like once on the 2 of 'em. I'm gonna try some new poses some other time.

Meathead #13

2009-08-24T12:13:00.003-07:00

Just finished it today. For Meathead #12, click here.

Meathead #12

2009-08-24T10:30:00.001-07:00

Sorry I haven't been posting so much here. I've mostly been concentrated on my personal studies, and keeping up with my Preston Blair lessons. I've recently posted a huge bulk of them on my blog , but thought I'd post my latest one here. I'm showing my step-by-step process of doing the construction, working my way through any needed corrections, and finally the details.

Lesson 8 by Caleb

2009-08-22T03:55:00.000-07:00

Here's my lesson 8:

and here's the overly where I circled some of the spots that were off:

2009-08-11T18:51:00.001-07:00

I think this blog is dead...

Never mind, we resurrected it.

Lesson 33

2009-03-13T11:43:00.000-07:00

Steps one and two. So far, so good. Simple shapes.

Step 3. Basic Shapes with some depth.

Step 4. Details

Overlay it for comparison.

I don't think it turned out terrible. Some things are off, but I just wish I got the eye's closer to the original, and the hair. The mouth I thought turned out terrible, but it was a lot closer than I thought.

Lesson 1 (first-try)

2009-02-23T00:15:00.000-08:00

Why is the first lesson the hardest one? I have drawn this one at least 10 times and so far this is the best one. I will keep trying and if I get a better one, I will post it.

Lesson 7 by Caleb

2009-02-15T02:05:00.000-08:00

final sketch:

overlay:

early sketch:

Lesson 33? Maybe....

2009-02-07T22:21:00.000-08:00

Ok, I actually joined this blog like... A Year ago?

Well... Today is the first day that I actually use it. I just got a scanner this week and although it's really terrible for blue col-erase pencils, it functions(fingers crossed on getting an EPSON soon).

I'm going to start with the dog on the second page, I'm not exactly sure what lesson that would be... Lesson 33?

Don't worry, I did all of the previous lessons. I just want to re-draw them before i post them, So I will probably work backward from here (if that's ok with everyone?).

Also- Since I'm new to this blog, I don't know if I followed correct procedure? (Hell I'm not sure if i was even supposed to post this) If i didn't please tell me and I will edit this post.

Lesson 15 by Patrick

2009-01-14T17:41:00.000-08:00

dang, this one was tricky. Concentrating on negative shapes helped

Lesson 13 by Nicolas

2009-01-01T16:20:00.000-08:00

Lesson 14 by Patrick

2008-12-19T20:06:00.000-08:00

Harder than I was expecting! Especially everything from the lip down. And again, I think my first one was the best, so I just posted that one.
I usually do my first one by just quickly eyeballing, finger measurements and drafting, and they come out nicer overall than the later more meticulously measured ones. Interesting. I could've inked it more carefully though.

Lesson 13 by Patrick

2008-12-16T21:21:00.001-08:00

This one was a lot of fun. I seemed to have the most trouble with the far corner of the mouth, and the nearest ear.

I may have done better on my first try.

Lesson 12 by Patrick

2008-12-10T15:49:00.000-08:00

The hardest part for me was the hair

LESSON 13

2008-12-07T22:15:00.000-08:00

Competition time!

2008-12-04T20:01:00.000-08:00

Sorry to post this since it doesn't fit into cartoon fundamentals but it is cartoonie and you do get to be creative. Feel free to delete, but I thought you may be interested in a competition I'm having 1st prize is 'get your character design made into a toy!'
more details at my toy blog http://toys-by-hryma.blogspot.com

Thanks for listening everyone.
-Hryma

LESSON 12

2008-11-30T21:31:00.000-08:00

101

2008-11-23T22:52:00.000-08:00

Sorry 'bout the lack of updates. After Thanksgiving we'll get back on course. A special thank you to all our regulars for keeping this little blog alive. I'll comment on all the posts soon.

Thanks again,
David

Lesson 11 by Nicolas

2008-11-21T08:35:00.001-08:00

It's been a while since my last post, but I finally got around to do Lesson 11. It was the toughest one for me, and it took me a couple tries to get the details exactly right.

Lesson 11 by Patrick

2008-11-17T17:34:00.000-08:00

this one was really fun, and not as complicated as I thought! I messed up with the width of the eyes on this one (the second try)...

...but I got the eyes right on the 1st try.

Lesson 11

2008-11-12T14:00:00.000-08:00

Here's my mediocre attempt at Lessons 11. I see a lot of what I did wrong right away. Like the hair and the hat(the hat's horrible), and some other stuff is still off a bit like 'stache and mouth.
The hat sucks so bad... so terribly bad.

Lesson 10 by Nicolas

2008-11-06T16:02:00.000-08:00

As of now, I've complete the first 10 lessons of "Cartoon Fundamentals." Trying to get the angle on the face right was a little hard. Critiques and tips are welcome.

Most recent lessons:

Lesson 9

Lesson 8

Lesson 9 by Nicolas

2008-11-05T18:11:00.000-08:00

Here's my shot at Lesson 9. I tried putting in a little more construction for this, especially in the face. Critiques and tips are welcome.

Here's also Lesson 8.

Lesson 8 by Nicolas

2008-11-04T16:05:00.001-08:00

Drawing large seems to have its benefits. I've experimented once more with drawing a tad larger to take in the subtleties a little more, and not just capture the basic shape. This particular one took me practically no time at all to do. Critiques and tips are welcome.

lesson 10 by Patrick

2008-11-04T14:15:00.001-08:00

I was really excited to do this one. It made for a great final egghead lesson. The angle of the eyes gave me the most trouble.

the nose needs to be bigger in the inking

Lesson 6 by Caleb

2008-11-04T09:59:00.000-08:00

my final drawing

overlay

This is what my construction egg looked like before I drew the features. This time I used red for my construction lines and blue for features. These blank eggs are a good reference to have to draw other faces onto later.

This creature appeared the day after a Halloween party featuring a werewolf, Preston's eggman, and Snarf from Thundercats.

If you link to or follow my blog, I'll do the same to yours.

LESSON 11 + MINI-BREAK

2008-11-02T22:20:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

This will be the last lesson post for a couple of weeks. There has been a slight drop in member posting (including myself). I know the Fall brings many things; school, work, etc. Hopefully this break will give people a chance to catch up and some to start posting. For our regular posters, keep posting and practicing. Everyone should continue the comments and tips. Things are going to get tougher to draw and we need everyone along for the ride, no stragglers.

Your friend,
David

Lesson 7 by Nicolas (plus a Bugs Bunny drawing)

2008-11-02T11:01:00.000-08:00

Lesson 6 was a little difficult, since it looks like a circle, but with lots of subtle nuances. Critiques are welcome.

Plus I've attempted a Bugs Bunny pose from "Falling Hare," which you can critique on over at my blog.

Lesson 6 by Nicolas

2008-11-01T15:03:00.000-07:00

Here's what I have for Lesson 6.

(Update: More Drawings)

My Third Attempt

A side-by-side comparison. My first one.

(My latest ones 11/1/08)

All tips and critiques are welcome.

Lesson 9 by Patrick

2008-10-28T08:06:00.000-07:00

The angle adds some trickiness to this lesson. I took me a few tries to get a handle on it. I had the most trouble with the egg shape itself and the eyebrow.

It seems like the nose should protrude, but I guess Preston knows best!

LESSON 10

2008-10-26T21:25:00.000-07:00

LESSON 9

2008-10-19T19:56:00.000-07:00

Lesson 8 by Patrick

2008-10-19T05:05:00.000-07:00

Seems like the hardest is over with the egg lessons. This one was pretty fun & easy

in the ink I think I made the nearer eyebrow too big, and the cheek-lines too thin. And the top of the head is too flat.

Lesson 7 by Patrick

2008-10-15T15:38:00.000-07:00

This one was harder than it looked too, but lots of fun. His upper lip curves down rather than up in this lesson. I made the pupils and the nose too big, and his lower lip is all over the place. I tried correcting it all in the inking.

This was the 4th attempt, here are 2 & 3

LESSON 8

2008-10-12T20:02:00.001-07:00

VIRTUAL STUDIO

2008-10-10T23:12:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

I gotta say that I love this blog. Its great to know that other artists are going through all the same things I'm going through with these lessons. I'm learning so much about my strengths and weaknesses. It's really giving me encouragement to keep on learning and drawing.

I wanted to talk about James' blog "The Unofficial Bible of Cartooning."

I think it's a great idea to have a sounding board where we can debate or spark new theories. My goal with this blog was to try to recreate the studio experience online. There is so much that artists learn from being around each other and just talking shop. I've been reading a swell book by Will Eisner titled SHOP TALK. In it he talks to many great artists of yesteryear. They talk about how important the studio environment was to their growth as artists. They became great because they payed attention to each others techniques and talked about their craft.

I think of this blog as the hard work and James' as the happy hour after work. A place where you can just shoot the shit about cartoons and what makes them tick. So everyone take advantage of these blogs and all the other blogs out there. The internet has just become the largest cartoonist studio. We don't know how long any of this will last, so make the most of it.

Your friend,
David

LESSON 6 by WICKS (David Omar)

2008-10-10T22:40:00.001-07:00

I'm happier with this lesson. The angle (tilt) is subtle. It's also a front view which is much easier to measure. Sometimes I have trouble following my instincts. In the intial red pencils I made the top of the head longer. In the blue I brought it down, which was wrong. This tells me that my eyes still aren't seeing the proper negative space between the shapes.

I'm happier with my inks. I'm trying to mimic Preston's brush as close as possible. The reproduction of the book kinda makes it look like he doesn't close his ink lines. He's a pro at connecting 2 brush strokes seamlessly . Definitely need to practice some more.

Critiques and tips welcomed and appreciated.

-David Omar

LESSON 5 by WICKS (David Omar)

2008-10-10T22:33:00.001-07:00

I'm falling a bit behind, but I'm still with you all. Still having trouble with angles. My brain keeps telling me to not push the angles, only to see that I should have gone a bit further. It's alright, I'm still having a hard time getting the head shape to look solid on the inks. I think it will get better if I just practice.

Critiques and tips welcomed and appreciated.

-David Omar

Lesson 6 Patrick

2008-10-09T23:47:00.000-07:00

This one was pretty fun. I seemed to grasp it pretty quickly, this is my 3rd attempt. I could still work on the perspective a bit.

Long time no post!

2008-10-09T13:47:00.000-07:00

Hi Gang!

I have been battling the demons at Verizon Online, and only this Friday will I have internet at my house.

This weekend I will be drawing and posting the lessons I've managed to keep up with. You all have made me very intimidated by all the good work you've been doing.

HYRMA AND CHLOE:

Why no posts?

I hope you all are gentle with me, and in the mean time, Spodgeed!

- trevor.

Lesson 5 by Nicolas (concluded)

2008-10-08T19:35:00.001-07:00

A continuation of my Lesson 5 attempts, I finally got as accurate as possible. Through all my previous lessons (not to be confused with attempts), I drew all the eggheads tiny just to save space on the paper. I then decided to draw larger, to see what happens. I'm quite proud of it, because you can physically capture the tiny subtleties in the egghead, and prepare you for any future larger scale drawings.

My Original

Overlay

All my previous attempts.

Critiques/tips welcome.

Lesson 5 by Nicolas (so far)

2008-10-06T19:12:00.000-07:00

Hi folks. These are what I've whipped up for lesson 5. I know they're not perfect, but I'm gonna do more soon. Critiques welcome.

Lesson 5 by Caleb

2008-10-05T23:30:00.000-07:00

I did some Halloween inspired draws. Here's lesson 5:

LESSON 7

2008-10-05T21:49:00.000-07:00

Lesson 4 by Nicolas

2008-10-05T08:29:00.000-07:00

Hi folks.

Here's my shot at lesson 4.

For me, it was tricky getting the perspective on the face right. It took me a few tries. Critiques

are welcome.

(Original drawing)

(Overlay)

All 4 attempts.

Warm up

2008-10-05T06:39:00.000-07:00

Hey fellas,

does anyone here have LinkedIn? I'm on there, and it's a great place to network. So if you are on there, I would like to add you.

lesson 5 patrick

2008-10-03T23:15:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: latest lesson 5 with inking.
I noticed his eyes aren't as crossed in this lesson. And I find Blair's approach to the far cheek in this one very interesting, I wonder if there's a science when it comes to "cheating" like that? What do you guys think?

(1st post)
Here is my lesson 5. I'm gonna do some more tomorrow

Lesson 6 by Jeremy

2008-10-03T15:18:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody. Just wanted to post my latest Lesson 6. Still a little off on the smile on this one. Plus the outside oval is a little wonky. It's amazing what fails to jump out at you until you scan it into the computer (Wicks commented on that and I definitely agree). In any case, I wanted to go ahead and post what I had. Feedback is always appreciated.

LESSON 6

2008-09-28T16:49:00.000-07:00

Great progress from everyone. It really helps to post your drawings. It gives your eyes a new way of seeing them, making corrections easier.

-David Omar

LESSON 4 by WICKS (David Omar)

2008-09-28T16:07:00.000-07:00

Ouch, this one was tough. I kept underestimating the angle. I kept downplaying it. I blame it on my exposure to the current lifeless cartoon on TV, heh.

Many tries later I got pretty close. Well, the angle part. Still struggling with inking the oval. Just look at the lower back of the head, yuck!

I noticed that Preston's oval was 2 half circle brush strokes that connected. That explains the thick and thin of it. Anyone else see this, or am I imagining it?

Critiques and tips welcomed.

-David Omar

Lesson 4

2008-09-28T12:25:00.000-07:00

Hey fellas, sorry I didn't post sooner, I had a little trouble with my scanner, but its working fine now. I'll try and finish up my lesson 5 one and post it as soon as possible.
Ohh, and I couldn't help but caricature the egg guy myself. This just makes me laugh.

Lesson 4 Patrick

2008-09-27T01:01:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: I did some more and inked the best one. The corner of his mouth needs a li'l fixin'

I want to make a quick announcement that after 14 years of waiting, the beloved Rocko's modern life is now officially out on DVD! I hope you grew up on it, but if not don't worry because you'll probably appreciate it a lot more now, since it is about being a young adult. Extremely clever, hilariously irreverent and beautifully animated. It was overshadowed by Ren & Stimpy, but it is just as good in most respects. Nick sure knew what it was doing back then.

(first post)

This is actually my 5th try for this lesson. Don't be fooled; it's not as accurate is it might look, I'm very unhappy with how the face looks in general. I'm gonna try more this weekend

Lesson 5 by Jeremy

2008-09-26T14:54:00.000-07:00

First of all, I have to thank whoever suggested drawing within a window box (I think it was Gabriele but not sure). It made drawing my initial oval much easier, which ultimately lead to a better end result. This attempt at Lesson 5 is by no means perfect, but it is still much better than any of my previous first attempts. I also have to thank everyone who suggested we draw "big". I'm used to drawing relatively close to the size of the image I'm copying, but drawing bigger helped out a great deal.

I apologize for the delay in posts. I let work get the better of me for the past few weeks so I've been a little slack. Hope everyone is enjoying this blog as much as I am. I can already see that people are making progress and that there are some really talented artists out there.

Take care everybody, and good luck.

Lesson 4 & 5 by Hammerson

2008-09-26T11:55:00.001-07:00

Two lessons for the price of one :)
Left: construction, Center: cleaned-up pencil version, Right: comparison

These are my best attempts so far, but I don't consider them as the last word on both lessons. Again, I made a mistake with the upper lip, similar to the one I've done on the lesson 3.

Lesson 5 was particularly hard to do, and it's important to realize in both examples that the egghead character doesn't have the features simply painted over his face. These are the real "fleshy" features, and they must stick out to give a solid 3D feeling to the viewer from every possible angle.

Lesson 4 by Caleb

2008-09-25T18:33:00.000-07:00

final sketch

overlay

ink of sketch

It's cool to see more posts!

Preston Blair Lesson 5

2008-09-25T08:42:00.000-07:00

Here's my lesson 5.

This was the hardest so far.

On the last two i will admit to some lightboxing ( cheating ). Although i didn't rely on it completely, i used it to see what was going on because i find lines become very abstract after a while and its difficult to eyeball scale and shape!

Hope everyone else does well and gives me some tips!

All i can say is try messing with the angles and perhaps break this up into segments and perfect those if you have the time. I also tried using the box and including an angled centre line in CG. It kinda helps.

Lesson 3b by Nicolas

2008-09-24T17:36:00.000-07:00

Hello, again. This is my latest Lesson 3 egghead. After my previous attempt, I wanted to fix a couple things, like the nose and lip, and also make the head a little longer.

This is the overlay where I've noticed a few mistakes.

Afterwards, I used red pencil to go over the corrected areas.

Also, Gabriele suggested that I also use red to tighten rough lines, so I'll give it a shot.

Critiques and tips are welcome.

Lesson 3 by Hammerson

2008-09-24T03:08:00.000-07:00

Left: pencil sketch with construction
Center: cleaned-up pencil version (no inking)
Right: Comparison with PB original

So, again I'm showing the last two attempts. First one has an accurate egghead shape. Also, the eyebrows, nose and mouth are very close. All the other features are more or less in the wrong place or of wrong size (the eyes, teeth, upper cheek line, etc.)

The second attempt corrects nearly all of those mistakes, but also introduces a new one: the upper lip is too curved on the corners, and the shape doesn't match with the original. It should be drawn instead with just slight curves and a straight line. The perfect drawing would be a combination of both attempts, but that's cheating :)

I must work more on emphasising the "meaty" aspect of the character (I think it's still lacking in my attempts, to a certain degree).

UPDATE: I tried to ink my last attempt with Illustrator (few rough spots are corrected in Photoshop).

Lesson 3 by Nicolas

2008-09-23T13:14:00.000-07:00

This is my final attempt at Lesson 3. The biggest challenge was trying to capture the right angle, but I think it turned out okay.

(Original)

(Overlay)

All other attempts.

Critiques are welcome.

Tip!

2008-09-21T23:57:00.000-07:00

Hey guys,

I often find that when i'm looking to use a book that boasts teaching perfect drawing principles, most often that not, its all about copying.

There's nothing wrong with copying and a great deal can be learned from it, but to really think on your feet and draw from a rich knowledge i believe in experience and constructive thinking.

We can draw preston till we're blue in the face ( or fingers, which ever comes first ), but i think we should also experiment with his lessons and recreate the principles instead of JUST following the basic drawings.

I have found some artists out there that really inspire me to think when i draw and among the many, Mike Mattesi' s books have really stood out.

I'm quite sure a handful of your at least has heard of his books on force drawing and even realised for yourselves just how much life drawing can improve your drawings ( yes Richard Williams, we read that chapter ).

So, here are what the book covers look like, there are two and i have yet to read the second one, but i'm about a chapter into the first and i thought it'd be cruel not to mention how awesome these books are.

Also as a special treat, i have a link and password to download them for free, so if you're interested please email me as i fear uploading this questionable content might infringe on the integrety of this great blog!

P.S: I was thinking of doing an article about some of my favourite artists and why they inspire me, but i think it'd be awesome if we all got into that and tapped into the awesome and different inspiration that made us all come together here...

Let me know what you think,

Gabriele.