Abracadabra

It’s not done, but this is a concept I’m working on for a project, so I’d love some feed back, I’m thinking of taking it way old school and really playing up the hatching all over. What you see above is just a digital concept, I’m pretty sure I’ll be drawing this one out tomorrow in traditional media. Anyway, today was a peaceful day, lots of work got done and lots of art got done. I started noticing that I am able to look at gestures and retain the pose almost instantly. That was certainly a new experience.

Another new experience happened when one of the guys in our Google plus hangout asked me to draw a person who hadn’t seen the sun in 10 years. I immediately imagined the pose in my head and then transferred it to paper, only I rotated the pose as I drew it, so it came out differently than my original vision. That one was weird but my hand seemed to know how to create the pose based off of all the gestures I’ve done to this point. See the 3 page set below with the person whose chest is thrusting forward, they are in a wide triumphant stance and their face is tilted upward basking in the sun.

Today’s Warm-ups and Exercises:

1. 15 minutes of 30 second poses (quickposes.com)
2. 35 minutes of 60 second poses (quickposes.com)
3. Random gesture suggestion from friends in google plus hangout.

Building Blocks

I spent a good chunk of time in “Bridgman’s Complete Guide to Drawing From Life” again today, only this time I was working on the masses of the Torso so I could learn how to apply the landmarks to my gestures for more accurate depiction of the poses. I also watched the Proko video on Landmarks of the Human Body. While I only took away the idea of the centerline to begin with, I believe that it was an important takeaway that will aid my ability to continue to strive for more dynamic gesture drawings.

 

Today’s Warm-ups and Exercises:

1. 15 minutes of 30 second gestures (quickposes.com)
2. 10 minutes of 60 second gestures (quickposes.com)
3. 45 minutes of torso anatomy study in Bridgman’s Complete Guide to Drawing From Life
4. Proko video: Landmarks

Plane to See

Yes I meant plane, as in planar 😀

Anyway, today we got screwed by the car place that held onto my car for 5 hours for breaks and oil and then we had a prior engagement and I wasn’t able to do real quality artwork until about midnight. I still did art in the day, but it was terrible quality because it was on my ipad and I was drawing with my finger. So I figured I’d make up for it with a quality study in Bridgman’s Complete Guide to Drawing from Life. It specifically focused on the form relationships and the juxtaposition of square and rounded shapes that lead through the body.

Then I did a quickie 15 minute grouping of 30 second gesture poses trying to focus on those planar relationships. Some of the poses I felt looked pretty nice, but I need to practice the mindset a bit more.

Muscling Through

I decided to spend a chunk of time (2 hours) studying the shapes and types of muscles that can be found in the human body. It really proved to be a worthwhile endeavor as I believe I understand even more about muscles whereas before I only thought of them as bulbous things that connect to tendons. As I’ve found out, there are muscles that connect to bone, to organs, and to skin itself. There are also various identifiable shapes to the muscles and each is categorized. Anyway, It was very useful info and I’m glad I took the time to dive into it. 

 

Today’s Warm-ups and Exercises: 

1. 15 minutes of 30 second gesture poses (quickposes.com)
2. 30 minutes of 60 second gesture poses (quickposes.com)
3. 2 Hour Study of general musculature of anatomy

With Arms Wide Open

Today didn’t go exactly as planned, but I got a fantastic opportunity and I’m taking it! I can’t share much at the moment, but I spent most of the day between building my career and making the time lapse video for the Shaolin Monk – Nirvana post that I did earlier in the day. 

I’m welcoming my future with open arms and embracing the skill that I have attained thus far and will be putting it to good use in the very near future. I’m sorry for the vagueness but when I drop the news you’ll understand the current need to stay quiet. In the meantime, I’m gearing up for a lot of projects that will be happening at a rapid pace. I definitely still intend to see this blog through and reach my 365 day art goal, but man will I be busy. 

Anyway, if you checked out the video already, please share your thoughts and feedback. 

 

Shaolin Monk – Nirvana Timelapse

Hooray! I finally made my first timelapse video of me drawing. Edited by Mads. Thanks bro!

WMD – Watch me draw the shaolin monk from my blog.

Nirvana

 

Graphite: HB, 2B, 4B

 

Today marks the 100th day that I’ve created and posted art on this blog!

Someday, I hope my art reaches a level of zen, where I can sit back and create whatever I want without having to go to painstaking lengths to create it. For now, I’m content with my plethora of gesture drawings and anatomical studies because I know they will help me ascend. This guy seems so at peace and appears to be one with the world. I’ve been dabbling with meditation of late and I can only imagine what real meditation actually feels like.

Also, I recorded a video of this drawing as I drew. Sadly it wasn’t time lapsed and is really huge. I’m going to see if there is a way I can still create a time lapse with the video having already been output.

 

 

Today’s Warm-Ups and Exercises:

1. 20 minutes of 30 second gesture poses (quickposes.com)
2. 45 minute study flexed arm vs stretched arm

Credit for Original Photo that I drew from: I don’t know who took the photo but this is where I found it: http://www.recipeapart.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/shaolin-temple-martial-arts-12.jpg

Armed and Ready

 

Spent a lot of time today researching and trying to understand arms better. I think, it’s starting to click. I’m still a bit wonky on some of the muscular attachments and overlaps, but I’m certainly prepared to keep learning more about the arm in all of it’s different positions. I really like the hatching I achieved in certain areas as it gives it that rich quill pen drawing feel. Tomorrow will likely be another deep study on arms but the goal will be to add an original concept piece to the list of objectives utilizing the new knowledge that I am working on.

 

Today’s Warm-Ups and Exercises:

1. 2 hour study of arm and musculature in pronated and supinated positions.
2. 20 minutes of 30 second gesture poses  (quickposes.com)
3. 30 minutes of 2 minute gesture poses (quickposes.com)
4. Artist Study (general) : Brandt Peters

Arming Myself with Knowledge

In any battle, knowledge is the great equalizer. I am battling my own doubt everyday that I pick up my pen and draw and today I got frustrated when drawing noodle arms or broken looking arms in my gesture warm up. So I did what any smart battle strategist would do, I went and found out how the damn things are put together. There are a lot of freaking muscles in arms and I’m going to have to keep practicing them for a few days just like the eyes. I figure, once I get all the knowledge of the anatomy down, I’ll be much more likely to just be able to whip out some bad ass characters. 

 

Today’s Warm-ups and Exercises:

1. 25 minutes of 30 second gesture poses (quickposes.com)
2. 30 minute Study of arm and musculature
3. 25 minutes of arm poses (quickposes.com)

Feeling Guilty

 

I don’t feel like the Gestures on my blog are cutting the mustard as far as what I want to be doing daily for art and I’m feeling guilty about not doing enough art daily at this point. I’m going to begin changing up my format somewhat, but I’m not entirely sure how. Mind you, I’m not degrading the fact that I am doing artwork daily and that my gestures are between 1 – 1.5 hours of daily artwork at a time. I’m just saying I want to do more. I’m open to suggestions.