Sketchbook of an idiot

[Animation Idiot]

A big mixture of stuff - the color pictures are little 30 second comps I did of passing people in barnes & nobles after glancing through Mike Matessi's new force character design book. Pretty much all of these are more or less me fucking around without any real serious goal in mind...kind of a shortcoming of mine because I think I could get even better stuff if I found a method to zero in on my practice a bit more.

Hope you enjoy it. I have fun drawing and can sketch up a storm, but I lack focus and want to zero in on my shortcomings more. I tend to blow through big sketchbooks in a matter of weeks, so perhaps slowing down and making smarter decisions while still retaining the vitality of my looser stuff would be a big help.

[Sputch]

Nice movement and shapes in these. Not so keen on the pencil crayon looking, primary colour ones though. They look a little highschooly

"perhaps slowing down and making smarter decisions while still retaining the vitality of my looser stuff would be a big help."

I think this is true. Easier said than done though eh? BTW you might want to find a different image host. The thumbnails are kind of a pain in the butt.

I look forward to seeing this thread's progress.

[Animation Idiot]

Nice movement and shapes in these. Not so keen on the pencil crayon looking, primary colour ones though. They look a little highschooly

Yeah I know - they're prismacolor art stix. If I want to get a smoother look with them then I need to back up my paper with a soft pad; ordinary mouse pads help there rather well. Otherwise they will tend to look crayon-ish. But that's okay since since that's all I had to color with at the time. I was dying to experiment with shapes - but you're right, in the future I should at least remember to get something to make the drawings look less crayon-ish with. (That and a better palette of colors to work with would help. For example I didn't have anything for flesh-tone onhand sadly.)

"perhaps slowing down and making smarter decisions while still retaining the vitality of my looser stuff would be a big help."

I think this is true. Easier said than done though eh?

I do know for a fact that when I slow down I get better, but I tend to draw quickly at times almost out of a nervous energy that needs to be calmed down - this is more a bad habit than an asset, IMO, since all it does is make my drawings go more out of control. If I focus I can become more consistent while still retaining the crazy loose vitality I want I think. (It's a lot like surfing in a way.) So yeah, a big focus of this thread for me I think will be focus focus focus focus focus focus.

BTW you might want to find a different image host. The thumbnails are kind of a pain in the butt.

Yeah, 'twas late and I didn't feel like going through the trouble of registering for photobucket. I'll do that for next time though.

I look forward to seeing this thread's progress.

Oh absolutely.

On that note anything people are seeing that I should focus on in ways to improve please speak up. I'm very very very rough in my sketching and want to get much more quality time out of my drawing practice.


Edit: Side note - I found out this evening about Stephen Silver's Costco monday lunch sketch meeting. I'm sure he and the others there would be happy to advise me in getting more solid field sketching.

[Animation Idiot]

New stuff! (And some older stuff!) Woo woo!

First up, here's something I want to improve in photoshop later on.



Some Beksinski studies





OH CRAP RUN



I want to draw more like this when I'm messing with creatures. It feels like playing with modeling clay.





How'd this guy get in here oh god.



Welp.



More on the way in the next post in a few minutes!

[Animation Idiot]

Batch 2

Art instructor giving me his honest opinion of my work.



Tim Burton wept



Some creature I invented from a live figure drawing session.



Some creature I invented from a dead figure drawing session.



Some creature I invented from an undead figure drawing session.



DO NOT DO THIS TO YOUR EYES. IT IS MOST SHAMEFUL.

[Domgos]

Love your work , really ''cartoonish'' , the guy
'' How'd this guy get in here oh god.'' reminds me Monster inc. haha .
Keep it up !

[Animation Idiot]

That last batch was spooky! Here's some sugar-coated love and flowers in batch 3.

People at Diseaseneyland



It's Ignatius J Reilly from A Confederacy of Dunces! Funniest book EVER. For serious. Info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Confederacy_of_Dunces



Awwww



Awwwwwwww



AWWWWWWWWWWWWW



AW-blarrgh!!



Did this a week after tf2 launched pretty much without reference. (I played a lot.) Brings back mammaries...memories. Boobs.



CHEER UP PAL THERE'S MORE IN THE NEXT POST.

[Animation Idiot]

Here's where I get semiserious or something. Can't you see my serious face. --->

I think this one was a few studies from a Spectrum book and other random things.


Gottfried Bammes studies.


More Bammes


Here's a Bammes skull that's so chill he lays back.


I'll say one thing about Bammes; 'EES GOT BYOO-I-FUL LEGS!


Pretty sure this is a bammes skull.


Here's one for you necrophiliacs out there - sketch from a visit to Body Worlds 3. I have more but I'll have to dig them up. HA-HA! Ugh.


The bridge of bridgeman's nose...and eyes. Or something.


SERIOUS POST. MORE SERIOUS 2 COME. FOR SERIOUS.

[Animation Idiot]

SERIOUS BATCH. MMMM.


Portrait of Bridgeman's one true love. HURR


Building a better Bridgeman to the 21st century.


More misc studies.


More more misc studies. Think these were from the 'facial expressions' book.


If you recognize the artist I'm studying here you win a swift kick in the junk. (Vanderpoel)


Probably from the facial expressions book. I like drawing face-muscles for some reason. Maybe it's my mammalian social instinct kicking in in reverse, and I only feel comfortable around creepy 'visible men.'

Vanderpooooooooooooooelllllllll *shakes fist at sky*

Guff from out of my head.


MORE SERIOUS THAN LAST POST. NEXT POST IS SUPER SUPER DUPERSERIOUS.

[Animation Idiot]

SERRRRRRRRIOUS.

Hey Norman! Howzit hangin'? (From a photo of the delightful chap.)


Crude and quick value study of Norm's work. Good ol' Norman Rockwell...How I hate him.*

*not really



Aaaaand finally me destroying the laws of physics.




:

[Animation Idiot]

Here's some stuff I did yesterday. SOME. There is more but I don't feel like scanning all of it right now. Maybe later.

Some cafe sketches, quick studies and so on.

















Also the new kung fu panda double-dvd is awesome.

Also please let me know if I should thumbnail these. I will do so for all of them if it's a bother how they are now.

[Equality72521]

really cool animation style ya got goin on here. One of the few guys i have seen to actually study anatomy before developing their own style, can't wait to see some finished stuff

[Animation Idiot]

really cool animation style ya got goin on here. One of the few guys i have seen to actually study anatomy before developing their own style, can't wait to see some finished stuff

You and me both, pal. In fact getting some finishes made is my goal right now. I have a lot of 'starts' but few finishes.

[Sputch]

Wow, you're a hard worker! If you keep this pace up you'll be selling instructional dvds soon. I like the mice studies a lot and I think that long nosed creature is a great candidate for a more long term project in PS. Maybe just push his right leg back a bit to balance his weight out.
I thought about your questions and y'know, looking at these recent batches, I actually think the strongest ones are the fast ones. They have much more dynamic flow. The fact that you are doing so many studies is great because as your mental library of forms grows it will give more plausibility and interest to these fast sketches. In general, your approach to learning seems effective and disciplined. I would definitely get a set of gray markers and try sketching with those to vary your approach. Start with the 10 percent to realize forms and volumes, then refine with gradually darker tones. Doug Chiang has a good breakdown of marker sketching
Another awesome resource is PSG's art tutorial. There is a checklist of dos and don'ts you can mentally refer to when creating a drawing and this tutorial has virtually all of them.
For digital sketching, I recommend you try to working dark to light if you haven't already. I like to take a dark gray, blob out a silhouette, carve the edges into something more pleasing while laying in gradually lighter tones to define the shapes (opposite of the markers). Leave your darkest darks and lightest lights for last. It's dramatic and economic as you can leave a lot in shadows sometimes. Justin Sweet does this a fair bit. Look at his pencil sketching too. They tend to be very loose, giving just the right amount of info to be painted over.
Another thing you could try is to work on mid toned paper. Use a china marker or white pencil crayon for lights and whatever you want for darks. You get pretty pleasing, mature looking results from that tactic.
Anyway, I hope that answers some of your question. You probably have heard a bunch of this before, but it's effective, fun stuff worth mentioning. If those guys I linked to don't give you enough, haha, you can check out my humble progress shots I'll be posting in the next while in the ol' sketchbook.
Keep it up man!

[Animation Idiot]

Wow, you're a hard worker! If you keep this pace up you'll be selling instructional dvds soon. I like the mice studies a lot and I think that long nosed creature is a great candidate for a more long term project in PS. Maybe just push his right leg back a bit to balance his weight out.
I thought about your questions and y'know, looking at these recent batches, I actually think the strongest ones are the fast ones. They have much more dynamic flow. The fact that you are doing so many studies is great because as your mental library of forms grows it will give more plausibility and interest to these fast sketches. In general, your approach to learning seems effective and disciplined. I would definitely get a set of gray markers and try sketching with those to vary your approach. Start with the 10 percent to realize forms and volumes, then refine with gradually darker tones. Doug Chiang has a good breakdown of marker sketching
Another awesome resource is PSG's art tutorial. There is a checklist of dos and don'ts you can mentally refer to when creating a drawing and this tutorial has virtually all of them.
For digital sketching, I recommend you try to working dark to light if you haven't already. I like to take a dark gray, blob out a silhouette, carve the edges into something more pleasing while laying in gradually lighter tones to define the shapes (opposite of the markers). Leave your darkest darks and lightest lights for last. It's dramatic and economic as you can leave a lot in shadows sometimes. Justin Sweet does this a fair bit. Look at his pencil sketching too. They tend to be very loose, giving just the right amount of info to be painted over.
Another thing you could try is to work on mid toned paper. Use a china marker or white pencil crayon for lights and whatever you want for darks. You get pretty pleasing, mature looking results from that tactic.
Anyway, I hope that answers some of your question. You probably have heard a bunch of this before, but it's effective, fun stuff worth mentioning. If those guys I linked to don't give you enough, haha, you can check out my humble progress shots I'll be posting in the next while in the ol' sketchbook.
Keep it up man!

Wow, thanks for the help! Oh, and don't get too terribly wowed by my posts here - a lot of this stuff is from over the span of the year. The stuff in my last post is excerpts from a single day of sketching. I'm rather inconsistent in my practice. But in scanning and posting my past work here it's helped me re-orient myself and remember sketching exercises that helped me a lot, which I can go back and practice again.

The big thing is I'm drawing about 5-8 hours a day (or more sometimes) as I ought to be, and it's helping me a whole lot! If I keep it up I'll have my art-muscles in good shape so I can buzz up some finished pieces worthy of porfolio.

And yes, the hose-nosed fellow is going to be made into something special. Thanks for the tip on him.

[JoelD]

I definitely like your face and hand studies.

[Animation Idiot]

I definitely like your face and hand studies.

Thanks. On the bridgeman ones in particular, I've had it stressed to me that the goal of study there is to analyze rather than copy, so I was really trying to push that.

I think I have some better Vanderpoel studies someplace that I pushed pretty far too.

[smws]

I like your loose style, and the mice up thar. Your disgusting eye picture made me laugh, as did "Tim Burton Wept". Cute mice. As others have said, some more finished works would be cool too.

Also: drawing 5-8 hours a day?! Wow. Keep that shit up. Very nice discipline, I shall try and take some

[Animation Idiot]

I am utterly unschooled in robot creation, but when challenged in ventrilo CA chat to draw a robot, I decided to throw my mechanized gauntlet in.

So I did this in about oh I dunno half hour to an hour. I have no idea.



The lines through the poor bugger is due to scanner tiling. (The big scanner on campus was in use.)

As far as robots go I am a newbie - but shapes are fun to play with. Edit: Since I have a week for the ventrilo challenge apparently, this is basically an elaborate warm-up thumbnail I guess. I like the whacked-out tape-deck and may base an entire more-asymmetrical design as per a suggestion in ventrilo on it in the future.

[Animation Idiot]

"IN WHAT RESPECT, CHARLIE?"



A study I did of a torso from Charles Hu's AMAZING anatomy demo thread here: http://www.conceptart.org/forums/sho....php?p=1738962

I had a little mini-revelation doing this. I've ALWAYS known how utterly important it is to start with gesture, but after trying to rekindle my study-habits, I realized that the principles hadn't quite sunk in as deep as I'd thought. Anyway after doing an earllier somewhat-failed one, I started this on in red-line color-erase pencil gesture then did the usual graphite-over. You know what? Something 'clicked' in my head over this torso. Essentially I'm on the road to being much more consistent studies with what I learned doing this drawing alone.

Shortcomings are still obviously apparent here, but now this means I can further tie things down with longer studies as long as I give it a good gestural start.

[Animation Idiot]

Some of the better drawings from today's 6hr quicksketch life drawing session.

2 minute hand


2 minute hand


2 minute hand


Cutoff view of a 7 min body (damn tiny scanners)


30 sec gesture pose I did between doing feet since the model had a nice pose


I have more but some of it is terrible warm-up junk and several are too big to be practical in scans.

PS - special thanks to Charles Hu. That practice I did off your demo work paid off!

[Animation Idiot]

Crosspost from the cgsociety contest, which my ENTIRE CLASS is taking part in. As a side note, here's the instructor of that class's blog: http://electricsketchbook.blogspot.com/

I quote from my post:

"I am doing steampunk robot versions of Gog and Magog, the guardian giants of London myth.

This is a first-pass elaborated thumbnail I arrived at after much deliberation over this, or rather, these characters.

Both gog and magog will look very similar save for their weaponry and facial characteristics, as well as a few costuming features. They will literally be mirrors of one another. So in effect this image is 'both' of them.

My eventual goal is to have the two of the machines posed in Trafalgar square (probably taller than the monument) using a classic historical photo from a time of the earliest photography for reference. Whether I want to push these into cartoonish or more real territory will depend on how I play with them.

My goal with them is to make them 'friendly yet ominous.' So I am keeping early steam trains in mind with them a great deal, since I still have my childhood fascination with trains to potentially fuel this.

This entire contest will be a big learning experience for me. I am inexperienced and digital art, steampunk, AND drawing robots. I expect to work very hard and gain a lot of new knowledge over the course of this very fun contest!

Any and all feedback and critique is welcome and encouraged."

I might make a separate thread for this in the appropriate forum as well.

[Animation Idiot]

First one is from the figure drawing session last friday that I didn't scan then. The rest are from a trip to Calarts on the sunday figure drawing workshop. A real blast, it was!

[Kagemusha22]

Some really invigorating work here, the shapes and twists that you add to the human form are quite interesting to take a look at. That being most evident in your lifedrawing, that look abit like a Francis Bacon nude. Loving the 'Disney-esque' styling.

[Animation Idiot]

Some really invigorating work here, the shapes and twists that you add to the human form are quite interesting to take a look at. That being most evident in your lifedrawing, that look abit like a Francis Bacon nude. Loving the 'Disney-esque' styling.

Yep. That comes from playing with the principles of exaggeration and storytelling during quicksketches. The francis bacon look is an unintentional side-effect, but the disney-ification in the last drawing is on purpose. Mostly I am trying to learn from Mike Matessi's Force books. I can definitely push things much much much further than I have, and should in the future as that's GREAT practice for animators.


Right now though I need to get some more accurate long-drawings in to re-orient myself in reality. I think the solution will be a combination of 3-to-six-hour pad practice and learning from this CA download thingie: http://www.conceptart.org/forums/sho....php?p=2025669

[Animation Idiot]

Experiment with making robot thumbnails that yielded some interesting results. This was based on a method a friend from my school was doing next to me, and I asked him for help and advice.



I want to turn at least one of these into a real finished robot perhaps.

[Animation Idiot]

Trying to work in silhouette now with the gog steampunk thing.

[Animation Idiot]

Animal drawing from a zoo trip plus some sketches of Ignatius Reilly from the GREAT GREAT GREAT pulitzer prize-winning comedy novel Confederacy of Dunces. (I plan on animating Ignatius next semester.)















No Ignatius, child is not a food.

[Animation Idiot]

Field sketching. First one is from a Calarts trip watching some students watch futurama, and the rest are from Barnes and Noble last night.









Based on a goth kid passing by. I like this one.

[Animation Idiot]

Life drawing quicksketch from another trip to calarts's sunday figure drawing workshop.

I plan on doing Bob Kato's figure drawing club this week too on thursday.