Double Double Turtle and Trouble!

I've been having a great time designing my own characters. It's just so much fun. Worked on some more sketches of Claude and his turtle.

I've received a few name suggestions for Claude's turtle. So far the nominees are Simon, Tinker, and Cuthbert. I'll have to set up a poll. If you have any ideas for a good name for him please comment!

Finished with gnomes and elves, at least for the time being. I've now moved on to Preston Blair's Witches. I like how dynamic he makes the hands, at the same time he seems to be exaggerating their anatomy a bit too much (ie he drew them with only 4 fingers and at times they look more like claws human hands). That is of course in my, hope to be professional someday, personal opinion. I tried to find a happy medium of keeping an over-exaggerated gesture and a somewhat realistic anatomy. I also have noticed lately that I tend to not stick to what I start off drawing. I'm having a hard time staying with a set size for my drawings. Also if I draw a great arm or hip or foot that may not be exactly true the pose I'll change the pose rather than redraw the limb or feature. I need to learn to stick with what I started out to draw.


Gilligan the The Giraffe's adventures for the day.


Today's inspiration is Charles Schulz. Ever since I was a little boy I've loved his style. In third grade I did a report on the famous creator of the Peanuts. His drawings are so simplistic, and yet capture perfectly real feelings and emotions that bring true heart to his stories. Take a minute today and watch Schulz's Peanuts Dance. They have so much energy and life to them!



With even more passion than the real men of genius, here's to you Charles Schulz.

Dwarf Bowling!

(click image to enlarge)

Spent most of my free time today drawing this image. It turned out better than I had hoped. I learned a few things from it too, I still need to work on my perspectives, I have a hard time drawing on the edge of the paper, and lastly I'm getting faster at re-penciling!!

Gilligan the Giraffe's daily adventure.


Made up this little guy while watching a promo for the movie Kick Ass. I can't wait for it. It's based on a graphic novel which I've heard really good things about. I've got to pick that up pretty soon. Anyways, I named him Claude Cavalier and his pet turtle. Which I've yet to name. If you have any ideas for what his name should be leave a comment!



Today's inspiration comes from a book I got yesterday, Walt Disney Animation Studios The Archive Series: Story. I've only been able to leaf through it, but so far it looks amazing. The drawings are simply captivating.



Until tomorrow, keep on drawing!

Running of the Elves

Had a blast drawing today. I woke up with a really bad hand cramp, and drew through it. It was still bugging me all through work today, hopefully it doesn't persist. It's seemed to have subsided for the moment though. Woo Hoo! If anyone knows of any good exercises or best practices to avoid getting hand cramps please let me know!

Worked on some more Preston Blair Elves. They were a bit difficult. If only because of how small I had to render them, while still trying to give them personalities, and keep the perspectives, positions and anatomy correct. Well, as correct as elf anatomy can be. The image really didn't even come together until I re-penciled it darker. Now I like it.

My friend Pelch is starting a new blog. It sounds like it's gonna be great. Anyways, he asked me yesterday, if I could draw a T Rex reading. Here's what I came up with. He seemed to like it too!



When his blog is up and ready I'll be sure to let everyone know.

Yesterday, I mentioned "Avoiding the Tangent." I read about this in Walt Stanchfield's book Drawn to Life Vol 1. I found it really helpful, it has popped up in my mind in almost every drawing I've done since. He explains it eloquently, but I hope I can give you at least an idea of what it means. First of all what is a tangent. Basically for us it means, a line that you make somewhere on the page that flows into another line.

Let's take a look at this duck's beak (again see Drawn to Life Vol 1).


In the first picture it looks like the head is flowing into the beak. The line doesn't seem to really break even though there is a corner of a beak drawn. Now the second image takes that same idea but instead of the line of the head and the line of the beak being on the same curve or tangent it's been moved down and over. Thus you get a more accurate representation of the image you want to display. It adds more weight, depth, perspective and definition.


Here's another example. Just by adding a few clothing wrinkles that break the line flow the image seems to pop quite a bit more.

On a final note, S. Manor, who commented on the site a few days ago, started a new sketchblog. You can check it out at http://smanorsketchblog.blogspot.com/. Her sketches look great! Hope to see a bunch more great drawings from her! Best of Luck!

Oh, and here's a few more Gilligan the Giraffe sketches from earlier today!



Happy Drawing!

Elves and Giraffes

That title makes me think of Elves riding Giraffes. Which makes me think of this unique cartoon(Dino Riders). I don't think I ever even watched the show, but I had one of the toys. It was either one of those or these farm animals that had bazookas and grenades strapped to them. Getting back on track, I spent a bit of time work on a bit more Preston Blair study. I'm struggling trying to mimic his style without changing it to fit my personal tastes, although it's nice to see I'm developing more of my own style.

I actually got a decent amount of feedback, through facebook, about people liking Gilligan the Giraffe. So here's a little more of that crazy little camelopardalis.

Thanks for all the nice comments everyone! Hope you like the new pictures!

Today's Inspiration comes from The Disney Family Album. I could watch these special's for hours on end. I just eat them up! If you don't know what they are, click the link already! No really, click. Watch. Come back. I'll wait. Okay, now that you've watched it aren't they just amazing. For those of you who didn't spend all day watching everyone, The Disney Family Album is basically a documentary on the Nine Old Men. They include interviews, cameos, videos of them just telling stories, or drawing. It's incredible. They're incredible. If you ever need inspiration watch one of them.

Well, it's another late night tonight. I've been meaning to talk about avoiding tangent's for a few days now. I guess it can wait for tomorrow. Until then, in the spirit of Dory, Just Keep Drawing!

Gilligan the Giraffe

Took me a while to get down the older almost 2d style of Preston Blair's Elves. I still think I kept the essence, but some of his hands and feet were just to be quite honest, awkwardly drawn. I also didn't like the fact that none of his elves had chins. People, even elves, need chins. As you can probably tell I went over the drawings with a 5h pencil. I just can't justify spending so much time on a drawing and not being able to see it clearly, when it's scanned in. Plus, I've had a few friends mention that too me as well. I think this will be the new standard from here on out. Even though it takes a bit longer, It's worth it.

Drew a little Giraffe for Rhys last night. She really liked it. So we named it Gilligan, and well more and more drawings ensued.



Today's Inspiration comes from your own eyes. Take some time today to look around you, and don't just look. Pause, even if only for a moment and try to see something you've never seen before. Look at the things around you that you always look at from a different perspective. It really makes life feel new and fresh.

Gnomeaphobe

Finally, I'm done drawing gnomes. Something makes me feel like I'll be drawing them again soon though. Maybe I'm just a gnomeaphobe. Hands, perspectives, and weight distribution are still a bit tricky, but I'm not having to look at references every single time.

I was finding myself not as excited to draw today, procrastinating, I guess would be the correct term. So I just went with the feeling, and let myself draw what I felt like, in my own sketchbook. I'm still not as confident using heavier led, but it's good practice and when I get it right I tend to like it better than the 2H I usually use.

As promised, here's a more in-depth look at what I was talking about yesterday.

If one learns to master Bruce McIntyre's Six Rules of Perspective you can really render great drawings. Not saying that you don't need color, lighting, and the like, but that your drawings can be seen for what they are supposed to be. Overall these are key principles that all artists especially myself should keep in mind while drawing anything. If you really want to know more about these concepts pick up, Walt Stanchfield's Drawn to Life Vol 1.

Today's inspiration comes from Tony White. I picked up his Animator's Workbook from the library today. What a great find! I haven't had too much time to delve into it yet, but by just finding out more about him through his blog I'm hooked. Check out his eccentric walk pencil tests! They're amazing!

Gnome Sweet Gnome

Had to stay up late to get any drawing done. Today was way too busy. Worked a little more on some Preston Blair gnomes. I really like drawing the essence of his characters, while putting my own spin on them.

In order to supplement for my lack of study drawings; here's a little drawing from my sketchbook,

and a little note I drew for Rhys.

Today's inspiration is brought to you by Bruce McIntyre by way of Walt Stanchfield's Drawn to Life Vol 1. He came up with the six rules of perspective: Surface, Size, Surface Plus Size, Overlap, Surface Lines, and Foreshortening. Well, I'm falling asleep at the keyboard. So, time permitting, I'll delve deeper into each of those Six Rules of Perspective tomorrow.