Week 10 - The Human Head

This week is also based on the Famous Artists Cartoonist Course. I used the same schedule as last week.
Cartoon Gesture - 30 min
Copying and Inking - 1 hour
Structure Study - 15 minOriginals - 1 hour

Weeks 8 and 9 - The Famous Astist Cartoon Course

I have been working toward developing the skills to produce finished quality illustration. I am currently focusing on linework. Specifically, inking cartoons with a 0 brush and an inkwell. I've tried different pens, fiber tip markers and brush markers, but I've found the brush to be my favorite tool for inking. It produces the most fluid line and gives smooth control over line thickness and weight.
I've been doing exercises based on The Famous Artists Cartoon Course. I'm taking it back to basics with my subjects for inking practice. Week 1 was the basic cartoon head. week 2 was the basic cartoon body. The schedule for these exercises was the same for both weeks. The schedule is for 15 hours a week divided into 5, 3 hour sessions.
Cartoon Gesture - Quick Drawings of still framed animation.
Copying and Inking - Copying works from masters such as Preston Blair and Rube Goldberg. Taking into account the principles explained in The Famous Artists Cartoon Course
Week1
Week 2Structure Study - Breaking down a figure into the shapes that make it upOriginals - I apply the principles I am focusing on to create originals similar to what I am studying.
Week1Week2

Week 7 - Perspective 4 - Objects in Space

In this weeks exercise, I used a grid to define the space, objects exist in. For the gesture drawings and the drawings from photographs, I used the grid formed by the titles in my kitchen. In the plans, I plotted a grid on the ground plan. The reason I studied perspective in the first place was, I had trouble getting objects in correct relation to each other and the background. This weeks exercise, in combination with previous perspective, has increased my understanding of space artistically (if that makes any sense).Objects in Space Gesture:
Objects in Space from Photo:Objects in Space from Plans:I am done with perspective drawing. At least for a while. I feel like my new understanding of space will show itself in future drawings. I also understand how to set up a scene better. Perspective drawing was like taking bad medicine. It sucked at the time but I am a better artist for doing. Using a ruler and plotting out points goes completely against my natural flowing method of observation and drawing. The idea is when I am drawing in my natural flowing style, I will render objects in the right relation to each other, more easily since I know how to plot exactly where they are. I am moving on to Pen and Ink. I will be off of my regular schedule while I play with my new pens for at least a week .

Week 6 - Perspective 3 - objects in perpective

The focus of this weeks exercises were drawing objects in perspective, including the human form. I placed an object in an imaginary cube, then drawing the cube in perspective. Using this cube, and perspective drawing techniques, it is possible to 'plot out' the features of an object. I still rely on observation and imagination to draw the object in three dimensions, the cube helps to understand how the object occupies space. This technique can also be used to draw an object in three dimensions from two dimensional plans.
Objects in space gesture - This exercise is very similar to the Gesture of space exercise. The focus to these drawings was to quickly render objects in correct relation to each other. I created many mini-still lifes designed to highlight the space between the objects.
Objects in perspective from photo - In this exercise, I used Photoshop to enclose the object in an imaginary cube. I then drew the cube in perspective, and used it as a reference to draw the object. These exercises were based off of those in The Complete Guide to Perspective by John Raynes.Structure study
Objects in perspective from plans - In this exercise, I drew a cube around the plan of the object. Then, I rendered the cube with perspective drawing technique, and used the cube, and the plan, as references to render the object.

Week 5 - Perspective 2 - Interiors

Week 5 is identical to week 4, except I studied interior space instead of exterior space. The concepts are the same, but the application is slightly different. Also this week, a few days I did not have time to get out and do gesture of space so I did cartoon gesture instead.I love cartoon gesture

Week 4 - Perspective 1 - Exteriors in the city

The next phase of my studies will focus on incorporating perspective theory into my drawing ability. At first, I tried to just jump into perspective exercises and figure it out as I went. The result was small success followed by frustrating failure. I decided the best route would be to take one step back for two steps forward. I stopped following my study schedule, hence no posts, and read up on perspective theory. I read Perspective: From Basic to Creative by Robert W. Gill. This book is written for architecture and engineering students, not artists. It teaches how to make accurate three dimensional perspective drawings from two dimensional plans. It was much more indepth into the theory than any perspective drawing book I read for artists. It was dry and boring, but I read the entire thing. Now I know more about theoretical perspective than I ever expect to need. As I was reading I see how theoretical perspective could be very useful for scene planning and storyboarding. I wish I had known this stuff back when I did storyboards for independent films. Anyways, I had the knowledge of perspective, The next step was to develope exercises to weld it with my other drawing skills.
Gesture of Space - I did gesture of space in previous schedules as a lead in to perspective study. This time around I loosely used perspective theory in the drawings. They still don't look like anything though
Perspective Drawing from Photo - In these studies I took digital photographs of exteriors around the city. Then, in photoshop, I drew the horizon line, ground line, vanishing points, and parrells. Using this as a reference I drew the cityscape in perspective.
Perspective from Plans - Here I applied theoretical perspective to create a perspective drawing from a 2 dimensional plan. However, I did not adhere strictly to the theory. I used the plan more as a reference than as an exact plan. I also made a small change to the structural study. Now I also include a little of the ground the model is on.