Fantasy Art Class: SEPT-DEC TERM:WK 1-2 (25TH SEPT & 2ND OCT 2010

Welcome to the first blog of this new term. Sorry it's taken 2 weeks for me to get started on this. This will be something of a bumper post so I will post links to previous blog posts to save on space.

Ok, to kick off, I will post a couple of links to previous blog posts and some links that may also prove useful.

MATERIALS

Here are some links to the art stores I use. Artifolk and Cult Pens are amazing and my first port of call when restocking on materials

http://www.artifolk.co.uk

Artifolk is a great online store and almost unbeatable in price and quality of products

and here

http://www.cultpens.com/

I get most of my pens from Cult Pens. Because they specialise in pens they tend to stck more types of pen and marker than Artifolk.

There are other online art stores but these two are my favourites.

For those of you who prefer to visit a local store, I can recommend Hobbicraft at Crown Point Center, Leeds, http://www.hobbycraft.co.uk/Pages/Stores/Store.aspx?storeid=31 and there is a new shop opened in the Merrion Cenre in Leeds, http://www.craftwiseonline.co.uk/

If you can manage the track to Ilkley, The Art Shop, is another good store to visit. It's situated near the main car park by the main shopping area.

They also have a website

http://www.theartshops.co.uk/

Here is a link to an earlier post on materials, detailing the materials discussed in class.

http://fantasyartclass.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/termapril-june-2012-weeks-12-and-3.html

BE INSPIRED

Studying other artist's work can often inspire you to push yourself further and help develop your style and technique of drawing. We will be discussing examples of artist's work that I have found to be inspirational and that I believe offer sound examples of figure drawing, composition and lighting. Feel free to bring in books or examples of art that have and continue inspire you.

DEFINE YOUR STYLE

Most of the exercises carried out during this course will be of a similar style, that being my style. I encourage you to find develop your own style and not faithfully copy my style. Finding your style or technique is important when trying to define your identity as an artist.

The images below display various interpretations of Conan by five different artists.

Maybe some you will like and some you will not be too keen on. That's ok. Art is subjective and not all art will inspire you. Notice how each artist uses their own unique style to create their own vision of Conan. It's all the same character and attitude given five unique visual treatments.

Conan by Frank Frazetta

Conan by Barry Windsor Smith

Conan by Becky Cloonan

Conan by Michael Oeming

Conan by Bruce Timm

FIGURE DRAWING

Before you can go on to draw all this cool stuff, you will need to familiarise yourself with the human form and how it moves, and so, a basic grasp of anatomy is required.

You don't have to learn all the names of each individual bone but an understanding of the skeletal frame and the main joints will come in very handy.

A basic grasp of the major muscle groups is also essential.

Frazetta's work (shown below) clearly shows that he was very knowledgeable regarding human antomy and muscle groups and this added to the power of his work.

Jack Kirby , on the other hand, probably did have an good understanding of anatomy but his style and technique did not rely on an accurate visualisation of muscle placement and proportion, yet it did not detract from the power of his work.

Kirby's figure work is in proportion and is well ballanced, so even though his muscle definition is slightly inaccurate, it still gives the appearance of being correct. What Kirby's work lacked in accuracy, it more than made up for in shear power, dynamics and layout.

Thor by Jack Kirby

and the same could also be said of Mike Mignola's work. Both artists have a strong unique style and are giants in the comic book industry (For those who are new to Kirby's work, Jack Kirby died in 1994).

Conan by Mike Mignola

FIRST STEPS IN FIGURE DRAWING
When setting out on your first steps to develop you skills at figure drawing, I recommend documenting your progression in a sketch book. Any size will do, A4, A3 or square. Use it to chart your development. Your first sketches are important to document even if you are not happy with them or even embarrassed by them, they will help to show how far you have progressed every time you make a new breakthrough.

Try to capture the energy and flow of action. Keep the sketches loose and light to start with. Try to feel the action as you put it down on paper