30 Day Challenge #21: Something That You Want

Is it too much to ask for a dance from a pretty girl?

30 Day Drawing Challenge #20: Something Orange

I took today's challenge quite literally

EDIT: Day 20 Part Duex

Get it?  Because he's a T-Rex!

Day 19: Something New

One of my friends recently had me play a PS3 game called Journey.  A journey it was indeed.

Midnight Skype Character Challenge: The Gambler

I wasn't very well versed in the subject matter of this week's Character Design Challenge, so I feel it was kind of meh in the concept department.  It was really important for me to find some kind of a design balance between his dual life as a gangster and a defense attorney (but I do like his dark, baggy eyes to reflect his very stressful job).  Though I am happy to see my studies with straights against curves are starting to come much more instinctively.

30 Day Drawing Challenge #17 + 18: Favorite Plant / Just a Doodle

Been falling really behind .______.

As I've mentioned before, these daily drawings have really let me know what my weaknesses are, so my attention has been diverted to that instead of just continuing to submitt another drawing where I succumb to my old weaknesses.

Favorite Plant = Palm Tree

Doodles = Cinematic composition studies / thumbnails

Skype sketchin at 3:00am and stuff

Creepin on video chat with one of my good buddies - just wanted to see if I could capture her likeness in quick sketch.  Anyone care to guess who? :P

I felt like drawing mummies today

30 Day Challenge #16: Inspiration

Been trying to read novels again since I feel they give very rich imagery for us to envision and piece together.  Currently in the middle of The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury, where a bunch of boys visit a haunted house on ol Hallows' Eve

30 Day Challenge #15: Family Picture

Went more for gesture today, letting the poses speak for everyone in the ol family

Composition Thumbnails: Gestalt theory

Got to sneak in a few compositional sketches before work by studying up on Gestalt psychology.  Applied some of the readings on containment, repetition, and grouping to some cinematic stills and already it's been helping.  I'm trying to look at each picture and think, "where is the main focus in this image and how does everything else support it?"

30 Day Challenge #14: Favorite Fairy Tale

Took a little liberty with today's entry since seeing dark takes on fairy tales is always fun.  Had a few story dynamic ideas for Pinocchio - one of which was if Geppetto were an abusive father

On a side note, doing these challenges has made me realize more of my strengths and weaknesses.  I've mentioned contrast/values as being something I need to work on, but I've been trying to think about composition a lot more as well.  Just thumbnailing today's entry took a little more figuring than I would like...

30 Day Challenge #13: Comic

I smell sitcom

30 Day Challenge #12: Most Recent Accomplishment

Yesterday I gave a few presentations to some classes at my old high school by sharing my experiences as an alum who is returning to art school, the philosophies that took me to dream education, and the overall meaning and fulfillment of telling stories.  Pursuing art as a career is something very unheard of in our community so, even though I'm just a student myself, I knew there was something unique I could still give.  After each presentation, there were students who would approach me and really open themselves up about their own dreams.

30 Day Drawing Challenge #11: Turning Point

As I've recorded throughout the life of this blog, I left college in Chicago to shoot for my dream schools.  Had to take a year off and, for the first time, was completely dependent on self-motivation.  Learned more about myself over the past 12 months than any other...

Midnight Character Design Challenge - The Barbarian Huntress

Have to take a slight hiatus from the 30 Day Drawing Challenge due to house remodeling, Mother's Day, and preparing an art/animation/art school presentation for current students at my old high school, but I did get to host another Midnight Character Design Game over Skype Friday night.  We had our largest session yet and admittedly, my attention was pretty divided between drawing this and hosting the event itself since there were so many people to tend to.

But, ironically, I think this turned out to be one of my better entries - the premise for this round revolved around a Barbarian huntress.  My drawings have always been so stagnant since I've been really keen in understanding the character's unique construction, shape, and form before posing it (then end up running out of time as a result).  This time I decided to approach it with some thumbnail silhouettes, giving me the most important shape information and freeing me to take things from there.

Concept-wise, I ended up focusing on her fascination of mortality, so I added red paint to her arms and face, which also brought out out her barbaric side and as a bringer of death as a huntress.  I also gave incredibly large, bushy hair that nearly doubles as a cape, which made her appear larger and intimidating while still allowing her body to remain light-framed, feminine, and mirroring her prickly exterior personality.  I also focused on drawing a portrait with the intention to capture the drama of her inner conflict within the story ("Are they right? Do I really deserve this?  Do I really have what it takes to become a leader?")

Drawing wise, contrast is still ass, but I can see progress being made.

Nathan Drake Render: 4th Pass

My mom saw me drawing my last pass of Drake and really wanted a print of it, so I visited this again by adding color and skin texture so it looks good enough to give for Mother's Day.  It's been interesting, even enlightening, seeing how much further I can take drawing from pass to pass...

30 Day Challenge #10: Favorite Candy

I couldn't bear to resist

30 Day Challenge #9: Favorite TV Show

Scrubs.  Gotta love ol Coxer

30 Day Drawing Challenge #8: Favorite Animated Character

I can never get the scans to look as good as the physical drawing =___=

30 Day Challenge #7: Favorite Movie

One of my favorite kinds of movies are the balls-to-the-wall, summer blockbusters.  I wasn't a fan of the sequels, but the sheer spectacle of seeing Transformers in live action back in 2007 could only be described as agbiwghvnaiow4hgq284oghv oe8924ty ay24nt9phgia

30 Day Challenge #6: Favorite Book

A little late in posting today.  I don't believe myself to be religious, but the philosophies on human morality in the first chapters of Mere Christianity always leave me contemplating.  My favorite part is an analogy comparing ethics and instincts to playing a piano.

30 Day Challenge #5: Best Friend

I'm about to embarrass the guy, but my buddy Dan has been one of the only people I could ever rely on for art, motivation, and those days whenever life decides to pile it on.  I drew this as if we were taking a cheesy photo in our animation department at Columbia College Chicago and did this as a storyboard since we're always bouncing narrative ideas off one another.

"Smile for the camera"

30 Day Challenge #4: Favorite Place

I haven't drawn much environments so this came out a little rougher than I intended... but I learned a lot!  I started out straight to colors but my values were too close together, so I redid everything in grayscale to figure out the contrast, then went back to color by playing with opacity.  Definitely still very rough, but I can walk away with some content since I found out more how to approach stuff like for this next time.

UPDATE 5/5:  Bleh... woke up this morning and looked at this again.  Even though I feel like there's some harmony, values are still really close together and had a hard time telling what was going on...

Downtown Chicago during the holidays always gives me those Christmas fuzzies

30 Day Challenge #3: Favorite Food

Homemade red velvet cake, anyone?

30 Day Challenge #2: Favorite Animal

Was running out of time for the challenge today so I did something a little more simple.  Lionhead rabbits are such bros.

30 Day Challenge #1: Self Portrait

Participating in a 30 Day Drawing Challenge the CalArts gang is doing throughout the next month!  Never done one of these before, so I'm crossing my fingers that it'll keep me rooted on the drawing horse while prioritizing to scholarships and finances.

I'm a bus boy at a Mexican restaurant, so I get the customers chips to nom on

Chattin and Drawin

Even though I've already chosen to attend Ringling, I've also been keeping in touch with some cool cats that are incoming to CalArts.  The Midnight Skype Drawing sessions have been especially helpful for all of us to draw with one another, so watching it become a place that bridges people from Ringling, CalArts, and Columbia together AND as a hub for us to bounce our passion (especially with people our own age, despite that we opted for different schools) has been very uplifting.  

Lately, Skyping with them while drawing has been my new thing of keeping the midnight oil burning.  Got some nice feedback that I've been neglecting my values and contrast (I feel like I've been too focused on line and perspective too), so that's the next thing to tackle.

Been also turning to Pixel Lovely a lot lately since figure drawing isn't as available in my area and I'm still hammering my financial plan for school.  I'm most likely going to put animating my short on the back burner to focus on scholarships, which I have also been skimping on lately...