Head Construction Studies by Christine 2

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

Disney Studies

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

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

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

Mickey Studies

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

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

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:

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

Lepricons? NEVER!!

Oh, and Happy New Year guys!

Hi first post

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

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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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?