Sketch Things (October 21, 2012)

[Revidescent]

Still impressed by the boxes! On the boxy figures - the construction looks good in general, but the connection of some parts (especially the head and arms) looks a bit off, and they're mostly a bit stiff. Maybe try alternating the construction studies with some looser gestures, so you don't lose the sense of flow? =)

[Psychobuddy]

Great work ethic! Keep it up!

[lionheartGFX]

such a big ammount of studies! i bet you rock those forms now, that is gonna pay off in the future im sure, keep posting more man i love seeing your progress!

[erdbeerfeldheld]

You've become very skilled at constructing the figure from mind, great work! Are you doing life drawing too? While the figures look correct, they look a bit stiff and robotic. Maybe try doing a full picture from imagination and see if you can construct a figure from head that is more lifelike. You commented about "feeling" the pose when you draw a pose from mind in my sb. I think it's also important to "feel" not just the pose, but also the corporeality of the figure, the weight of the muscles, bones and fat. I hope it's understandable what I meant.

[Flaskpost]

good shit man. like a box!
i appreciate the crits in my SB btw

[kevin_]

a lot of good hard work in here! loads of good studies and practices! keep pushing out work and posting!

[Black Spot]

I like the figures more than the boxes. Line drawing doesn't give it volume, putting it in a setting does.

[Just Call Me Bruce!]

I like some of your figure abstractions.
Keep at it!

[Kerah]

Nice candy bar Chad :p
This looks like a lot of hard work, I hope that you see that it pays off. Probably will, but don't burn out

[Vritra]

Really good stuff in the last few updates. I love the line control, and the general confidence that's starting to show in them. It's good to hear you're practicing daily, that will definitely pay off. Remember to keep the process fun, though-- and by that I mean don't push yourself to the extent where you begin to detest the very act of practicing representational art.

Keep up the good work, and keep updating. I'll try to drop by more often in the future.

[black-swan]

Great sense of perspective with the boxes, I might try to use a uniform line next time I draw a foreshortened figure, there will be very little room for error, haha. How to draw a perfect circle is also very interesting, maybe that's how Raphael did it.

Your boxy figure drawings remind me of some of Luca Cambiaso's drawings, interesting. There is a somewhat lack of variety in drawing from imagination alone, I'd say keep drawing from life too- both are important, let one inform the other.

Thanks again for commenting on my sketchbook and for the encouragement.

[Mechanical Man]

Awesome cubes. I really like your notes. Thanks so much for sending me back to moatdd tutorials.

[BludHund]

Yo dude! Great to see you back in the trenches

You are digging into this stuff like a buzz saw! Looking at your notes and your progress
you are absolutely on the right track for this stage. Your last mannequin figures look so
much more confident and clean, and solidly put together.

As far as applying form abstraction to the human body ...obviously the sense of volume is
important but it can also be misleading and give your figures a kind of uniform chunkiness.

A more sophisticated understanding I think, comes from taking the landmarks (bony pro-
trusions and especially the joints) as your symmetrical 3D 'vertexes', as a way to place
the figure in 3D space. Then you connect those points in space with more fluid organic
designed lines, describing not only form or anatomy but character and energy.

---

On describing form without resort to shading, atmospheric perspective, or line weight:

What you are saying is describing form with only line, specifically with only silhouette
or outline. I think the two most important elements of line that can describe form are
Overlapping and Contour. Of course the mind can infer a lot from silhouette, (only a
small part of which has to do with form) but add even some tiny overlaps to a silhou-
ette and form will be communicated immediately. Contouring marks added to that are
the icing on the cake, again communicating not only form but so much more, such as
shape character and texture.

Line weight is really a subset of something really important: Line character. This is
really the next technical skill set of drawing, after form, IMO. Line character allows
you to communicate energy, texture, and complex forms like hair and drapery, and
basic shape character.

---

As an animator, form sense will give you the tools for construction but chiefly
you should be a student of behavior and character. You need to be doing lots
of analysis of body language and the expressive use of shape character. Obv-
iously this should come from studying life...and not just posed models but people
(could be actors) in various situations.

If you are not already familiar with him, I would really check out Rad Sechrist:

http://radhowto.blogspot.com/

his website is really a goldmine of animation-oriented drawing tips and techs.

Hehe...enough blather. For now.

[MrFrenik]

Great viscom studies! This is usually how I warm up, with page after page of geo forms, lines, ellipses, etc. Cool to see someone tackling the same things.

[BlackDelphin]

You sage have done some massive improvement, love your construction work from the last posts.
I remember your old sketch and your older work, and look at you now! I'm proud of you

[Kungfoowiz]

Yeah man I'm liking those figures from imagination =)

[B-Man]

Hi P!

Been a while... Thank you for the e-mail you sent me a while back. I always thought that if you leave this site you would be forgotten and people will move on without a second thought of you. You proved me wrong and I feel honored that you remembered me.

I like your studies, its been ages since I did studies. You got nice form and the execution is ok. I think you could work more on balance and weight. Really try and give the figures the pounds that they look.

Im gonna try a and stick around. Who knows, it might be good for my productivity.
Thanks again friend.

[SMILEFACE]

HAHA p sage YER STUDIES ARE BOOGLE MY MINDS WITH RRAAOOOSOME BROTHER YALL GOT ME THINKING I NEED TO PUT MY POLYGONS IN PERSPECTIVE XDXDXD

[poetry man]

good to see the depth sense in your understanding... I think there are principles of art that are very if ever rarely covered. That became my mission sometime back, and that post about depth sense with only line, and "innateness" is a good point for those seeking such principles; or maybe you and I are just abstract thinkers in that aspect. I dunno...

keep going!!

[Ian Barker]

great batch of studies!
now do some value rendering practice

[kingkostas]

yoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo , hope you are well

[smrrfette]

My goodness I can learn so much from you! Such an amazing skb--!
& those cubes... whooooooooooooooaaa *drools*

cannot wait to see more from you!

[Danny_K]

good to see you back bro, would love to see some more of those nice figure drawings that you did in the past even if its from photos.

[BlackDelphin]

Sage? We need art. Come back and share