Thursday, August 19, 2010
Saturday, August 14, 2010
A Drawing A Day!
I've been feeling very inspired lately to try and improve my fine art skills. A couple weeks ago I was lucky enough to catch a demonstration by the artist Don Colley at Art Media in downtown Portland. He said something that really stuck with me, and has had me thinking ever since.
If you want to be a professional artist, you have to think of it just like being a professional athlete: athletes train every single day. So, I have resolved to try to do at least one drawing each day, even if it's just some scribble on a napkin at 2 am like this...
Plant Illustrations
A couple of ink-pen and watercolor sketches done out at the ranch. Two of the most common wildflowers of the area: Purple Foxglove and Pennyroyal.
I scanned the originals and set them to multiply over a separate layer of old parchment texture...I think it would be interesting to eventually do a whole series like this of all the local plants.
I scanned the originals and set them to multiply over a separate layer of old parchment texture...I think it would be interesting to eventually do a whole series like this of all the local plants.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Chresian servant
The Chresians are a fictional race of lizard-like people from the World of Laria (www.worldoflaria.blogspot.com) created by Jeremy Baldwin. This is a quick little concept that I did this morning. I started with a loose pencil sketch, then I refined the sketch on a new page using the light table. I then inked the new sketch and scanned it into photoshop to color it.
Friday, May 28, 2010
A Map of the World
Here is a little cartoon map of the swampland that I whipped up today. It's not done yet, but it's pretty cool so I couldn't wait to post it.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Most Important Things I've Learned About Drawing
1. If drawing is what you want to do, then you have to do it all the time.
You need to sleep, breathe, and eat drawing, or at least be drawing ideas in your head. I often carry a sketchbook in my purse for emergencies, and I love trying to capture someone's portrait on the MAX before they realize they're being watched.
2. Draw from life.
Your drawings will be infinitely better if you use reference, and live reference is even more of a challenge, because things never really stand still. For drawing portraits and the human figure, life drawing is essential.
3. Use the Grid.
When drawing backgrounds, or rooms, or things of a technical or architectural nature, it's really helpful to use a grid. However,it's important to put the points way off the actual drawing surface, otherwise the perspective will be distorted. This often means taping the paper down, at least until the grid is drawn. It's a pain in the ass, but highly worth it. This will transform a flat, blank white space into something your mind can percieve as a 3d space, thus making it easier to draw in. The lines (if you draw them light) will be most likely smudged out during the course of your drawing, and you can erase the rest when you're finished.
4. Start Small.
This one is a biggie. When you have a picture in mind, sometimes it's hard to get it out just right. It helps to draw thumbnails first(small, rough sketches) until one of these little drawings catches your eye. Sometimes you need to do several pages of thumbnails, if the drawing is very complicated. then you can either redraw it larger, or scan it, blow it up, and work from your actual thumbnail.
5. Use Traditional Media
Digital is great, but there's something gratifyig about being able to do your art anywhere, anytime, any place. I love using photoshop, but I still want to know how to produce art without it, know what I mean? And it's good therapy to use real paints and chalk every once in a while.
You need to sleep, breathe, and eat drawing, or at least be drawing ideas in your head. I often carry a sketchbook in my purse for emergencies, and I love trying to capture someone's portrait on the MAX before they realize they're being watched.
2. Draw from life.
Your drawings will be infinitely better if you use reference, and live reference is even more of a challenge, because things never really stand still. For drawing portraits and the human figure, life drawing is essential.
3. Use the Grid.
When drawing backgrounds, or rooms, or things of a technical or architectural nature, it's really helpful to use a grid. However,it's important to put the points way off the actual drawing surface, otherwise the perspective will be distorted. This often means taping the paper down, at least until the grid is drawn. It's a pain in the ass, but highly worth it. This will transform a flat, blank white space into something your mind can percieve as a 3d space, thus making it easier to draw in. The lines (if you draw them light) will be most likely smudged out during the course of your drawing, and you can erase the rest when you're finished.
4. Start Small.
This one is a biggie. When you have a picture in mind, sometimes it's hard to get it out just right. It helps to draw thumbnails first(small, rough sketches) until one of these little drawings catches your eye. Sometimes you need to do several pages of thumbnails, if the drawing is very complicated. then you can either redraw it larger, or scan it, blow it up, and work from your actual thumbnail.
5. Use Traditional Media
Digital is great, but there's something gratifyig about being able to do your art anywhere, anytime, any place. I love using photoshop, but I still want to know how to produce art without it, know what I mean? And it's good therapy to use real paints and chalk every once in a while.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
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