April– July 2018 Wk6 : layout, perspective and AKIRA

As we will be looking at layout and perspective, I thought it's high time we made a return to the work of Katsuhiro Otomo. In particular, AKIRA.

Otomo's art is next level stuff. 

PLEASE REMEMBER!
NO CLASS ON TUESDAY 29TH MAY
AS IT IS HALF TERM.

Jan-March 2017. WEEK 3:COMPOSITION / LAYOUT

Following our class discussion of Bruce Pennington's work, here are the developments of the tutorial, inspired by that discussion.

In most cases, before embarking on a drawing that has a number of components and scenery, I produce small , rough layouts.

 For the purpose of this tutorail, I have  kept to rough A4 layouts and crudely shaded the images in photoshop. This is purely due to lack of time due to other work commitments. I intend to produce inked versions some time in the not too distant future. For now though, use this tutorial as a guide only.

In fact, use everythynig I post here or discuss in class as a guide only. 

Always question and find your own solutions when creating your work.

Below are some further explorations into other possible  layouts. 

Here is the layout I chose to  continue with 

Notice the pov is looking up at the floating building , and dwon upon the guy on the dragon, therefore the building is above the horizon line, and the guy on the dragon is below.

Consider the possibilities of how this layout may be developed using tone and lighting.

How would you chose to approach developing this layout?

Below are a couple of suggestions

Are the tonal values in the back gorund too close to the ones in the foreground?

Does this kill the illusion of distance between the forground and background?

By adjusting the density of the background tones, does it help create an illusion of distance?

SEPT-DEC 2016. WEEK 6 layout and composition - Jock

Continuing our exploration of composition , Here are some of the images by, Jock, that we discussed.

If you want to find out more about Jock, visit his site

http://www.4twenty.co.uk/

 and buy this book

SEPT-DEC 2016. WEEK 5 layout and composition.

In the more recent exercises we have expanded from single figure drawing to adding background detail, whether that be scenery or purely background texture and lighting.

Here is a recap of the basics of composition we discussed in calss.

Please bare in mind that what I  put forward here on this blog and in class, are based on my experiences of what I found to work successfully in my own work and also  observed in other artist's work. This is by no meands to be held as a hard and fast rule to composition. Use it as a guide but also search for your own truth, your own way. Think for your self.  It will be more rewarding than simply following every peice of advice I give.  Put what I  teach in class to the test. If you find fault with it, challenge me . Maybe I have something to learn too.

For the most part, the main thing to consider , is ballance. Does the drawing look ballanced. And if not, why not. Does the drawing lead yours, or the viewer's eye, to the main point of interest. Is your drawing communicating what you want it to. Always ask your self these questions with regards your work.

There is an old, tried and tested,  theory, called, the rule of thirds . This is basically a grid comprising of  nine parts.

There are four intersections

These intersections  provide a guide  for placing the main points of interest and creating  interesting and ballanced composition.it is most often used for photography but it applies to illustration and most visual arts.

Here are a couple of examples.

Rather than just copy what I have read in books or online and reword it as if it were my own, here are some links that explain, in more detail, the rule of thirds.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_thirds

http://www.photographymad.com/pages/view/rule-of-thirds

http://simpleasthatblog.com/2015/03/understand-rule-of-thirds-photography.html

However, also check this one out

http://petapixel.com/2016/01/30/10-myths-about-the-rule-of-thirds/

I tend to agree with Glover.

Just because a rule exists, does not mean that it is the only way. And I also think that rules are meant to be broken. 

Art , in all it's forms,would be so very boring if everyone followed the same rules and never questioned them.

Tke a look at the following images by renowned artists. Does their work always follow the rule of thirds?

The Death Dealer by Frank frazetta

Chained by Frank Frazetta

The Barbarian by Frank Frazetta

By Simone Bianchi

By Adi Granov

Andrew Loomis

Bernie Wrightson

Boris Vallejo

Established rules are great as a foundation for learning but you don't have to let these rules stifle your creativity.