Drawing what you think you see isn't always the best.

I'm about half way through drawing everything in Preston Blair's Cartoon Animation book, and boy have I learned a lot. Looking back on some of the drawings I've done even a month ago I can tell I really have grown quite a bit. I thought I would have been done with the book by now, but some of these animation cycles are taking a little longer than I had originally planned and I still want them to look nice too.

Gilligan just hanging around.


Claude goes fishing for turtles.


Pirate a Day


After a good 49 hour nap our little hero awoke rested, ready to face the day and what ever adventures it might bring.


Walt Stanchfield has been teaching me a lot about angles lately through his book Drawn to Life Vol 1. He talks about angles in a similar way that Preston Blair presents line of action. Just drawing what you think you see isn't always the best. As humans our rig, or rather our body, knows how to handle itself, but as artists sometimes we need to see what the meaning behind a position, movement or action actually is. So sometimes it is necessary to over exaggerate angles or the line of action to better tell a story with an image. John K also did a nice write up on a similar idea, but focused on setting up a shot rather than a pose. Definitely worth the read.

Borders finally got Imaginefx's How to Draw and Paint Anatomy in stock, and I quickly snagged up a copy, well, after an hour or so of sketching people in the coffee shop. I've only had a chance to flip through it, but it looks like they've done a great job again. Thanks for the inspiration!

Heroine of the Titans

Felt a bit reluctant getting started today, but I'm glad I stuck with it. I seem to be getting the hang of Preston Blair's young heroine a bit better. Did a few more rough, fun sketches before I got started this evening. I think that helped me to have the loose feeling I get after the first few drawings. Still spent too much time knocking out the hands, and I should really practice lips more, too. I've gotta get those down pat.

Dr Gilligan, the most exotic of the Time Lords.



Retro 8 bit Claude and his turtle.



The scan seemed to muddy this image up a bit more than usual, so I'm debating redoing it. Maybe I'll just take a picture of it instead. The Original just looks solid!

I'm totally digging the Minithology concept. I just love making up new characters. Tonight I present to you, Hades and Poseidon. As I work on this project more I keep thinking of how I wish there were more episodes of Clone High!


Picked up the newest copy of ImagineFX. What a great magazine. If you haven't checked out this publication, "Do it now!" I think the issue before this one was my favorite so far. It was all about Pinups. The newest issue has a great spread on Ray Harryhausen and his sketchbook. Harryhausen worked on the original Clash of the Titans. He produced some of the most cutting edge effects of his day, and after listening to his appearance on Clay Kaytis' Animation Podcast, I learned he did most everything all by himself. He's still such an inspiration!

blog post soundtrack of the day ~ Art and Story Extreme!