Self Portraits

Finished the self-portrait a few nights ago as I promised.  Still far from perfect, but I'm really seeing improvement over the previous one I did in June.  Even though visualizing the 3-dimensionality / volumes my skull and facial muscles made a huge difference, I ran into the same problems that my first portrait gave me: I tried drawing the face turned in a slight perspective, but as I kept added more detail, it eventually mutated into a direct front-view, distorting the proportions of the left side of my face (the right side from the viewers' POV).

Even though I would really like to try again, I feel like I should really hammer in my understanding into the rest of the human body.  I really enjoy drawing faces and portraits (especially on the train) but it's beginning to feel like a crutch / paralysis since it's the thing I'm almost always drawing and it's the one piece of the human figure that I'm most comfortable and confident that I can (semi-)accurately portray.

I'm also behind on my still life drawings, which I will be another big focus for the upcoming week.  I still  feel behind on the portfolio....  But for now, it's off to build 2 more sacrums before class on Tuesday, one of which will be from memory again.

June 2011                     August 2011

Updates and Epiphanies

Hey blog, long time no post

Recently completed my first sacrum from memory and will be learning how to properly convey it on a flat surface in my sculpture class soon, so I'm pretty excited.  I would've liked to post a few pictures of it, but my phone's been acting up and that's pretty much what I use for my camera.  I also would've liked to do some kind of comp of my figure drawing and train drawing stuffs since the summer is nearing a close, but doing so is pretty time-consuming by using my crappy scanner.  I'll have to get around to it eventually since I'll be visiting Ringling in less than a month!

In addition, I've realized I've completed a little more than 3 of my mobile sketchbooks.  Not sure if this is a good or bad amount since I've heard Glen Keane finished 3+ sketchbooks in a day not long after he graduated.  Then again, I'm comparing myself to Glen Keane, so how do I approach this?  Gonna shoot for one more completed sketchbook before the fall arrives.

On a very important side note, a new friend directed me to the Ringling forums at conceptart.org.  Been reading through there when someone pointed out something very obvious that I feel I have been completely oblivious too: drawing and understanding are one and the same.  When we draw, we are also conveying what we know about our subject... to draw is to understand.

To draw is to understand.

I've been repeating this to myself every time I draw.  This combined with the sculpting class, I've been feeling progress in my work.

Also going to squeeze in a self portrait tonight... possibly an all-nighter.

Just letting you know I'm still alive, blog.

Quick Figure Studies

Taped a few analytical figure drawing notes into my sketchbook and have been implementing them.  Did some quick scans and feeling some improvement.

Inspiration from the Long Haul

Back in early 2009, I discovered Nick Pitera's thesis film from Ringling.  I was a senior in high school and it was the first time I'd have ever heard of the college.  Within seconds, I fell in love with its visual quality.  I saw that all of Ringling's shorts had a similar cinematic calibur and could hardly contain my excitement at the possibilities of creating such worlds.  I was however already committed to study at Columbia College and soon learned that not all animation programs are equal in quality...

After a semester of gaping disappointment in Columbia's animation program, I found Lindsey Olivares' thesis (from Ringling as well) and fell in love with the visual storytelling power of animation all over again.  These are just two of my favorite Ringling shorts, which I use to fuel my fire for portfolio building to finally get to Ringling after three years of dreaming (and counting).

However, hope and inspiration are useless without the willpower and discipline to persevere and sacrifice.  Time to get back to work.

Fame and Fortune - Nick Pitera

Anchored - Lindsey Olivares

Figure Drawing Portrait

Wednesdays are long pose nights, approx 1 hour and 30 min.  The hair is sort of a blahsville and I need to focus on the entire body's construction since I tend to do a lot of portraits and profiles.  Looks a lot better in person...

More Figure Drawing & Epiphanies

I had another epiphany while doing the warm ups/gesture drawings;  All things in nature (including lines) have movement.  You can get confident strokes by drawing straight into the direction of the shape / movement.  I've noticed that I have a habit of creating sketchy outlines with strokes that go back and forth, disrupting and clouding the idea of the pose and its clarity.

Sketchy strokes that go back and forth, disrupting the movement and idea - 1 minute each

Strokes that are a bit more confident and supportive... results are more fluid - 1 minute each

Work in Progress: Still Life #3

More still life coaching from the awesome JoAnn Kang - this time reflective objects.  I'm soooo slow though... nearly 10 hours in and still not done.

Notes

• Be cautious of how you move your arm when taking measurements for blocking (specifically within the z-plane).  I spent an embarrassing two hours just trying to put my blocking down correctly because of this.
• Don't start too dark when rendering - gradually increase/add the contrast as you go along
• The more intense brights/darks will be in the foreground - most lights/darks in the background should not be more intense than ones in the foreground
• There are four different types of basic composition - rule of thirds, triangle-shaped, circle-shaped, and s-shaped
• Charcoal is a very forgiving medium - also rely on rubbing away marks with a paper towel rather than always using the eraser
• Be wary that there are also shapes in reflections and shadows