APRIL/JULY 2013 WEEK3: MORE FIGURE DRAWING AND STUFF

PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS A WORK IN PROGRESS AND WILL BE COMPLETED ON SUNDAY 19TH MAY.

Apologies for the absence on the blog, facebook and class. My health took a nose dive last week and I was able to fulfil either of those commitments.

So, I think we'll continue l with some of the basics  that you may find helpful before moving onto some  of the more advanced  exercises we will cover later during the course.

But, before that, one of the things I stress at the beginning of each term is, do not try and copy my style of drawing, but , just follow the process. Although I am competent at drawing, I would not call my self an expert.  I am simply passing on how I manage to put together the drawings I produce. I saw a post recently by  the highly accliamed comic book artist Adi Granov, of which I will copy and paste the first paragraph here:   

The questions I get asked most often are about the tools I use. I dislike these questions not because I am keeping a secret, but because I feel that following my advice might lead people down the wrong paths. I change my process with every piece I do, I discover new things, or decide something isn't working, etc.; it's all a part of being an artist. It's a very fluid process, and rigidity and sticking to a specific tool will do more damage than good, especially to someone starting out. It shouldn't be about the tools, it should be about the knowledge and skill and personal preferences.

Adi, did actually continue the post with a detailed breakdown description of  a current piece of art .

I agree with those words. I learned to draw from reading comics and  mimicking  John Romita Sr., Gil Kane and Gene Colan, and then later learned that  I needed to start again and learn the basics. I was following another atists development and style without the foundations.

Here's another  thing, I'm not a great artist, I just happen to be able to draw better than my clients can. They employ me to do a job they do not have the time or inclination to learn, and for that I am fortunte.

So, to recap what we looked at in week 2 and 3:

Drawing the human head.

There are two basic ways of drawing the human head that I know of ( I have seen a few other approaches used but these are the ones I often use) and they invlolve  an oval or a sphere and a cube. The one I usually use by default is the oval.

APRIL/JULY 2013 WEEK1:FIGURE DRAWING AND STUFF

A good start to the new term this week. I noticed some positive developments with some of you. Jake and Paul , the muscle definition in your figure drawing has improved. Good work.

However, I notice some of the old  habits creeping back in with  most of you, so I think another intense figure drawing session is in order.

Hellen and Abdulrahman, as first time students, I think your first drawings were actually very good. I picked up on your self doubt and frustration in the limitations of your current level of ability, but trust me, it WAS a very good start.

I think what will help not just Hellen and Abdulrahman, but all of you, is to practice loose, sketchy (scribbly , even) figure drawing  and try to caption form and movement. 

Below, is a sheet of loose sketches. The sketches are all various sizes, some complete and some full figure, but all that matters is that the figures have proportion and balance. 

 These were  drawn on an A4 sheet of paper. The sketches are quite small which means you can cram loads of drawings onto a sheet. Don't confuse this exercise with creating  nice pieces that you are going to hang on your wall, these are purely  a training exercise, in the same way an athlete will work out in the gym or test their technique on the track or court. This is how you perfect your drawing skills. And , hopefully, it should be fun doing it too.

One of the common flaws I see in a lot of students work is the off center leaning of their figure work. In most cases (though there will be exceptions to this) the figure must look centered and balanced  You should be able to spot the center line that balances the figure in just about every stance. Have a look at the sheet below and notice the red line indicating the center.

Notice the second figure from the left, swinging the sword.  Although he is stood on one leg, mid movement,the body is balanced over the the leg in contact with the ground. The body leans out towards the left in the direction of the swing of the blade but also curves back in to the right to counter-balance the swing action. In reality, if this were a stationary pose, the figure would surely fall over to the left, but as this is capturing a freeze frame of continuous movement, in reality, the majority of the action will momentarily  be on the left and follow through to the final thrust of action on the right. The central fiure with the axe  looks a little off center with both feet grounded, so I looked at making it a mid flight pose, with the rear, propelling leg being the only part of the figure grounded.

If you have time before the next class, have another attempt at this exercise.

Everytime I produce an exercise for the class, I begin by producing a collection of loose thumbnail sketches to arrive at a composition that I am happy with and that will also provide you, the students, with an exercise that is within your capabilities but at the same time wil push them forward.

Notice in the loose thumbnail I produced here that the figure is centered.

Notice in the figure below, the figure forms a triangular shape, further enforcing the balance of the sketch.

In the diagram below I have isolated the torso and the legs  in a very basic stripped down shape.

Adding the arms completes the figure.

Finally, I added some shading to identify the light and dark areas of the composition

When I drew the mushroom, I had the dancing mushrooms from, Walt Disney's Fantasia, in my head.

I saw Fantasia  at the cinema (I was just a child back then) back in the 60's and the visuals have stayed with me ever since and often find their way in to a lot of my work. 

Fantasia was among one of my first introductions  to fantasy art. I still think it is a magical movie to watch, even now.

Another point of reference for me is the master fantasy artist  Frank Frazetta.

Even if you are not particularly a fan of his work, studying his creative process to his paintings will surely give you  something to think about when creating your own work.

Below are some photos of a couple of books  currently available  focusing on Frazetta's creative process. In my opinion, these books are just as important, if not more, than a book such as ICON or LEGACY.

ROUGH WORK

SKETCH BOOK

 We may have a go at one of these later in the term.

Ok, that' all for now. I will try and post some links  to the best art shops before tuesdays class, so keep checking back.

PS.  Don't forget, we all have to start somewhere. I wasn't born being able to draw.

NEW TERM OF FANTASY ART - NEW STUDENT ART

Swarthmore's Fantasy Art class will now start on Tuesday 15th January. There are some places available, so, if this is for you, Swarthmore are taking bookings on 0113 243 2210 or if you live nearby, pop in: Swarthmore Education Centre, 2 – 7 Woodhouse Square, Leeds LS3 1AD

Here are some more stand out pieces of art from the September/ December term. Not necessarily in order of preference of favouritism. 

 RICHARD STEAD

I really like these pieces by Richard. Nice layout, depth of field and dynamics.

 Really Pleased with Harvey's progress in only 20 hrs plus some time  in between.

 Technically this is not Rosie's best piece but for some reason I like it the most. It has a kind of David Lynchness about it.

Nice shapes from Orazio

Equally nice shapes form Dave

STUFF FROM MY CHILDHOOD #1

This is the stuff of my childhood. when I was 6 or 7 years old I collected bubblegum cards of my favourite tv shows and other cool stuff.   These cards were like the best things ever back then.

Some of the most collectable cards back then were a series called Mars Attacks (the inspiration for Tim Burtons 1996 movie), Civil War News and  Battle.

Civil War News and Battle were and probably still are some of the most graphically violent trading cards I have ever seen.

CIVIL WAR NEWS TRADING CARDS

 

  BATTLE TRADING CARDS

MARS ATTACKS TRADING CARDS

 You'd never have such products available and freely sold to kids of that age nowadays . Is it any wonder I grew up the way I did?

BATMAN TRADING CARDS (BLACK, RED AND BLUE SERIES)

The crème de la crème of my card collection back in the 60's were these Batman cards.

Although not as graphically violent as Civil War News and Mars Attacks, they still teased with images of potential violent death*. There were three series to collect. The black, red and blue series (indicated by the coloured bat graphic in the right hand corner.

*They also came with the possible threat of real violence from another collector wanting the all important, yet elusive, card to complete his set that you happened to have in your possession.

 What all of the above have in common is that they were all painted by Norman Saunders and Bob Powell. Norman Saunders was well know at the time for his sci-fi and crime  pulp covers.

Related links

http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2008/10/14/scotts-classic-comics-corner-the-painted-covers-of-norman-saunders/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Saunders

http://www.oldbubblegumcards.com/1960s/Battle/index.html

This link goes into more detail about the Batman cards. There were were seires: black, red and blue (I didn't want to bore the pants off you all with my nerdiness).

http://batmancards.com/blog/12-06-04_1966-red-bat-batman-cards.php

To get back to Batman....

Here's a nice post by Eddie Campbell about his childhood reading material which , by what he writes here, was the same as mine.

http://eddiecampbell.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/s-laddie-in-mid-sixties-i-discovered_22.html
Eddie Campell's  blog is very good if you have time for a coffee break.
http://eddiecampbell.blogspot.co.uk/

Batman # 90 (1955) has a story drawn by Dick Sprang, but my fave story in this issue is WEB OF DOOM, drawn by Sheldon Moldoff. I just love the big shadows.