More New Stuff

[Charles]

This is a continuation of a previous topic here in the gallery entitled New Stuff...

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2835

Thank you for the many views, everyone. I've been cranking out more drawings from sessions at The Animation Academy. This is something I started in the Storyboard / Storysketch class two nights ago, and I finished it in Visual Development last night. Not necessarily a demo, just working with my students.

Col-erase blue on 12 fld animation paper.

[Charles]

Man, it feels good to be drawing again!

This is something I did last week for a student trying to advance in the way she drew female heads. I also sketched alongside an example of how to shift from a cartoony eye to a more sophisticated approach. Might as well make a quick ad outta this.

[Charles]

This was pleasant. Working with a student in VisDev to transition from value rendering to color. She had a limited palette of color markers so I demonstrated a simple composition with a gray marker and two shades of blue.

[Charles]

I'm adapting an expanded approach to my instruction. I'm utilizing a method which I call 'practice what I teach'. It involves me doing the same assignment that I give my students.

For example, new students in Character Design 1 start off by sketching 10 distinct concept designs to get their projects going. I did likewise, so I committed to developing 10 unique designs for a cubby bear theme I chose.

Here's what I came with last week...

[Charles]

Last Thursday evening in the VisDev class, I treated everyone including myself to a marvel. I dug out a set of color markers I used going all the way back to the 1980s.

And they still work! A few are dried out, but the great majority of them are full of pigment. They're 'Design' brand markers by Eberhard-Faber. Chisel tip with casings of metal and made in the USA.

I experimented with them so see which colors were still working and in the process doodled a little to develop palette familiarity.

[Charles]

Two nights ago I sketched this in class while Character Design was in progress. I've been discussing ancient forms of hominids lately and thought I might try an adaptation of what Neanderthal Man may have looked like. The drawing took on a momentum of its own and I had to tape a second sheet of paper at the bottom to explore the full image. Col-erase blue on 12 fld paper.

[Charles]

I followed up on the Neanderthal drawing with a rendition of what Homo Erectus may have looked like. A hominid species that Neanderthal descended from and the first to venture out of Africa. This is helpful as an demonstration and also as a means of educating students in other subjects that can expand their knowledge.

[Charles]

Followed up with a version of Australopithecus. He was hunted, thus the vulnerable expression, as opposed to Homo Erectus, who had become the hunter.

[Charles]

It's good to be drawing again on a fairly regular basis. I've got a back log of images now. Here's something I came up with in class as a demonstration for a student who was having trouble diversifying his approach to character concepts.

[hauke]

I quite like the pig. Cool expression.

[Charles]

Thank you hauke! I appreciate your compliment.

From last night's Visual Development class while a guest speaker was addressing the students.

That came from a lesson I gave for a student who was drawing female eyes. She was looking for an an elegant yet fairly realistic design style. This was the lesson material I sketched out for her.

[Charles]

Something from class the other day.

[Mhle Nzima]

Seeing these gave me a renewed appreciation of hand-drawn characters. There's this element of life in their expressions that I think digital art just CAN'T reproduce. I especially love the evolutionary lineage. The way the characters are set gives off a story behind them... Australopithecus (the spelling eludes me ^_^)... sad and tough existence. Are all these done on paper and scanned or did you use a graphics tablet on some. Also,if you don't mind me asking... what kind of pen would be best for the fine solid lines?

[Charles]

Thank you for your comments. These are all pure pencil and paper. I use Prismacolor Col-Erase Blue and 12 field animation paper. They're all from class, either from teaching or drawing with my students. When I scan, I adjust the dark and light levels in Photoshop and save the image as CMYK instead of RGB. I've got a growing inventory of drawings to scan. Getting into a groove again.

Fine point Sharpies are sometimes okay for line work. Black gel pens, Pentels, etc. There's lots of ways to go. Experiment with what's around. I'll be using shifting to black line soon.

I saw this image in a dream and sketched it in class the next day.

[Charles]

I did these drawings back in March about a month and a half ago in class. They were drawn separately and I placed them together in Photoshop. Makes for a nice ad for the school.