Tuesday 24 May 2011

Week 5 - creating backgrounds etc

Ok, so half term is upon us. This will give you a full 2 weeks to finish off your work which you started last week.
Here are some reminders  of what we covered in class.
1. Circles - Often used as a framing device  to draw attention to the main point of focus. Also used for its simple aesthetic properties . Below are examples by Boris Vallejo, Frank Frazetta and Adi Granov.










2. Curves - Another often used device used in the same way as the circle.









3.Perspective - using perspective takes a lot more thought and planning, but the effects can be worthwhile. Note  that Vallejo's painting above (far left) used perspective. I don't think I need to post any of the work examples here as you all seemed to have nailed it, but if any of you are stuck, let me know and I will post some work examples.













Remember what was discussed about characters.
Try and capture the mode and tone of the character in the pose. If the character spends a lot of time swooping off rooftops etc, try some crouching on the edge of rooftops or athletic/gymnastic leaping,diving  poses. Look at Frazetta's Conan. Although the pose is not dynamic, blood spilling, action (as expected for Conan), this static pose captures  the character so well and  has become iconic. Standing confident, a master of combat and destruction, his job is done, he stands victorious. Notice the use of circles / curve in the background.

Saturday 21 May 2011

Simon Bisley's Illustrations from the Bible

Thought these might interest some of you.
the images shown below are taken from Simon Bisley's Illustrations from the Bible. Unfortunately for those of you who may want to go buy a copy, it looks like the book is now out of print and you'll have to shell out £70-£100+ for a  second hand copy. You may get lucky and find a reasonably priced  copy on ebay. Good luck!
The book is full of really excellent paintings and pencil drawings, the pencil drawings being my personal favourites.
Study these for composition and lighting. You will find in these drawings everything we have discussed in class recently.




















Friday 20 May 2011

RIP: Jeffrey Catherine Jones

Sadly another great artist has left this mortal coil. Jeffrey Catherine Jones died  yesterday after loosing a battle with ill health. I don't think I can add anything that has not already been said.
http://www.comicsbeat.com/2011/05/19/rip-jeffrey-catherine-jones/
http://blogs.birminghammail.net/speechballoon/2011/05/jeffrey-catherine-jones-rip.html

I became aware of  Jones' work  while following the work of Barry Windsor Smith, in the late 70's and saw the similarities in both artists pencil drawings. I was also drawn to the masculine tones and themes of  Jones' work that I found similar to Frazetta's. Seeing as Smith and Jones shared studio space I guess they must have rubbed off on each other. Maybe Smith was influenced by Jones, I don't really know. I often thought that both were influenced by Frazetta's work. I could be wrong. Either way, both  are Great artists.
If you are not familiar with Jones' work, go check it out now. It will be time well spent.
http://www.jeffreyjones-art.com/











Frank Frazetta had called Jones "the greatest living painter in the world." For me that's got to be the final word.


Thursday 19 May 2011

Another good comic blog.

Just came across this one
http://londonlovescomics.blogspot.com/2009_09_01_archive.html
it's worth checking out  if you are into comics and all thing related in an off the beaten track kind of way. Some nice images I had not seen before, like this one.

Tuesday 17 May 2011

Week 4, 17th May 2011

Good work this everyone.

Gary-figure drawing is improving, keep at it. Lets get some expression into your character drawing for next week.
Mohammed - figure drawing is  improving, keep an eye on proportions etc as I mentioned earlier. Nice work this week.
Richard- definate improvement on last week.  nice costume design. 
Stacey- lovely concept sketches. I'm looking forward to seeing it all come together in the final piece.Also, nice Thor!
Keith - Nice concept skecthes. Watch some youtube movies of big cats, leopards in particular.





Hmm, what would Frank do?































Ashley - Good character design. lookng forward to seeing this one completed.
Orazio - Interesting Wonder Woman costume. nice figure drawing
Maritza - Good choice of character. Lets bring her to life next week.


Here's a recap on Alex Ross's reinventions of Marvel icons discussed during class.
First we have Captain America and then Daredevil.


Ok, so Hydra aren't iconic, but I really love the ideas on this Hydra concept sketch.
 Here's the links I promised to post.

Evolution Of A Character - Pinhead


Ten years later: reflecting on "Kingdom Come" with Alex Ross





For those of you who have not yet  visited this site, prepare to get lost for a few enjoyable hours







Monday 16 May 2011

Loose sketching and development sketches

Here's a refresher of what I'be been banging on about in class for the past few weeks.
Keep practising loose figure sketching until you become proficient at figure drawing. This will help you capture movement in your sketches.
This is a repost from last year for those of you too lazy to trawl back over the past posts.




Here are some more development sketches. You can just make out the lines that have been rubbed out of legs and other limbs that I decided to change. This is were you make your mistakes and decisions about your proposed piece of work.




































Sunday 15 May 2011

Composition and Lighting

Here's the image  discussed during class. DC's Witching Hour #19. Another great example of composition and lighting. Notice the strategic placing of the light source working with the architecture to create an exciting lighting effect that draws you in to the center piece of the image. Brilliant!
Drawn by Nick Cardy, I believe.

Friday 13 May 2011

Pete's Dragon



I saw this  fine piece of concept art produced for

Henson's Creature Shopon  on Peter Doherty's blog  http://notaproperperson.blogspot.com/  

posted on friday 22nd  April 2011

GO CHECK HIM OUT















It's another good example of lighting  and colour (as well as perspective) which you can add to your collection of images to learn from.




Monday 2 May 2011

Interesting New Comic.

For those of you who are interested in Nate Simpson’s   NONPLAYER which we looked at in class last week, I suggest you check out his blog.
http://projectwaldo.blogspot.com/
I think the first print has now sold out but I am sure the demand will secure 2nd and 3rd edition printings. The artwork is exceptional and the attention to detail is mind blowing. Definately one to watch.





.