Countdown 30: July 23

1 Speed Painting

25 V
1 V Daily

241 H
7 Daily

165 W
5 Daily

Page Source: http://i.imgur.com/UlUPj.jpg

• 1 hour.
• Under the effect of a sleeping pill. I will critique in the morning.

Figure Drawing: Design and Invention - Michael Hampton
Vilppu notes added in green.

• Discipline and understanding will bring improvement.
• Gesture:
• Gesture = Timing(Opposing Curves) + Cross Contours. Not necessarily the contours or tone. Exaggerate cross contours for clarity.
• Can come from the ordered and calm use of the drawing medium. It does not necessarily mean chaotic excitement. Communicates a clear action. A gesture only seems quickly done because of its fluidity.
• Can be presented as the spine of a figure.
• Try giving each line meaning in a gesture.
• Is where  proportions and the sense of balance and weight develops.
• The human figure is naturally balanced. Though the neck angles forward to suspend the head over the torso, the torso pushes out, balanced by the pelvis. The legs stabilize the body with an S curve.
• The 8 parts of the body:
• Head
• Spine - MOST IMPORTANT
• S of spine needs to be thought of as 3D.
• Three areas of spine:
• Cervical (neck)
• Thoracic (rib cage)
• Lumbar (lower rib cage + pelvis)
• Rib Cage
• Pelvis
• Legs
• Arms
• Has Story - Communicates a unique sense of positioning/attitude. Body language. Unique character identifier (best friend). Analyze the pose or simulate the pose in the mind.
• Has C curve/Straight line/S curves which brings:
• Asymmetry
• Opposing curves
• To controls the eyes' downward flow.
• Different angles or softness/sharpness of the lines provide different experiences.
• Repetition
• In which a similar curve is repeated.
• Which provokes a visual movement with the jumping from end to end of each line.
• Timing/Speed
• Which can be slow - With repeating curves (more side to side motion). Use in complex areas (intersections: midsection, shoulders, hips, knee, elbow).
• Which can be fast - Use along the length of forms. Short line transitions are more detached and quick as opposed to longer line transitions.
• Using different speed emulates how we actually see. We scan at different speeds, lingering and glossing.
• Wrapping cross-contours
• Use drapery to show cross contours. They don't have to be exact and the artist can take liberties with it. Also pretend clothes swings out for a feeling of movement.
• Never use a straight line in a drawing.
• Has hard/soft areas:
• H - Areas of bone
• S - Areas of muscle and flesh

• H: Head
• S: Neck
• H: Rib cage
• S: Stomach fat
• H: Pelvis

• Hard texture - Bone, landmark. Plane change, cast shadow. Quick scan.
• Soft texture - Side of pencil. Muscle, fat. Slow scan.
• Center of gravity:
• For interesting poses, exaggerate it. Have the major masses be off of the center line.
• Seated poses may have the weight on the arms or require an upright position in the upper body.
• Exercise for breaking from stiff poses:
• "About to" pose - a pose in mid action since stiff poses are static ones that have yet to begin an action or has ended it.
• Gesture from head to the weight bearing leg. This flow should be on a diagonal. Add the other leg near the center of gravity and it will come out to be an "about to" pose.
• Construction
• The skeleton is the stage designed to give the feel of weight. Transitional stage in developing volume.
• Landmarks
• Areas of bone that visibly push through the flesh.
• Pit of neck.
• Clavicles. Handlebars of a bicycle. Levers that allow the arms to move around and away from the rib cage. Position changes depending on the arm.
• Manubrium. Clavicles pivot from this.
• Sternum. Fuses the bones of the rib cage together in the front. With the manubrium, looks like a neck tie.
• End of thoracic arch of the rib cage.
• Belly button.
• Ends of iliac crest of the pelvis.
• Bottom of the pubic bone.
• Back:
• Base of cranial notch.
• Spine. Ends at the sacrum.
• Sacrum.
• Seventh cervical vertebrae. Pronounced area of bone.
• Scapulae. Free floating. Guide and aid arm movements.

The Weatherly Guide to Drawing Animals

• Fundamental Drawing Principles
• Action
• Motion, fluidity
• Draw from shoulder.
• Construction
• Solidity, 3 dimensional 
• Anatomy
• Draw from life:
• Reveals form and working anatomy.
• Builds a mental library of animal knowledge.
• Analyze and conceptualize. Animals will move so impossible to copy.
• Drawing from life is drawing from imagination as well because of animal moving.
• Observation
• What is happening to the form?
• Where is the weight shifting?
• What is the mode of locomotion?
• What is happening to the skeletal and muscular systems as they move?
• What are the various attitudes and behaviors?
• How do they stand up or lay down?
• What are the ears and tails like in certain attitudes?
• From photographs and video
• Little value in drawing from then unless anatomy and structure is understood.
• Lose solidity and life.
• Camera does not see form, three dimensions, and it distorts.
• Gesture
• Keep pen moving around the form without taking it off the page.
• Form and motion.
• Approaches
• Brush pen. Economical.
• Brush pen. Scribble
• Ink pen. Economical. Relaxed.
• Ink pen. Scribble
• Ink pen with long flows.
• Wax pencil with simple flow.
• Action
• Line of action - Can be the sweeping motion of spine.
• Should have attitude, posture, and direction.
• Rhythm
• Strong sense of flow that makes the process look easy.
• Long and curved. Not short and choppy.
• 
  

Mark McDonnell and Vilppu Lectures

McDonnell

Know the companies:

Are their graphics soft and round? Sharp with angles? Realistic? Or truncated? What mediums do they use and what is their target audience?

• Cartoon Network
• Audience: young males
• Realistic though Foster is an exception.

• Sony
• Manages to create a different style for each of their films.
• Pixar
• 2D shapes into 3D. Unrealistic.

Some companies create the character first and others create the story first.

• Those that create the characters first usually do so for products. Western.
• Those that create the story first usually have characters that are similar in appearances. Example given was Gibli studio. Eastern.

Create your portfolio with the company and their process in mind.

Television shows

• Allows for more exaggeration

You'll always be a student. You simply just hide that from the other professionals. Be humble because you're not as good as the old masters and have an air of professionalism.

With observation, know your market and what you're after. Without a goal, it's harder to find your way quite as fast. Draw with a purpose.

Paint traditionally yet know Photoshop

Sketchbooks are to learn and try new things without having to show it to people. Have multiple sketchbooks to try specific things.

Fail in order to succeed. Work through a bad drawing. You can place tracing paper over it or flip it.

The only time you need approval is when you're working as a professional. You're at the will of someone else, but any other time, you don't need approval for your work.

Ask about budget. You'll get an idea for if textures of cloth will be needed.

Flash is shape-driven. It's cheap and easy to animate.

The triangle shows direction, and action. This is why most action shows feature the triangle shape a lot.

Disney is a mix of soft and hard shapes.

Main characters are usually realistic so that people may relate with them. The more visually interesting characters have little screen time so as not to take away attention.

Design things in three. This allows for comparison and differences.

Don't be the greatest artist that goes unseen.

Be sociable. During crunch time, no one wants to work next to a grump.

Know what program will be required and who to contact.

For class, it's not about the material that you're learning, it's more about what the teacher wants from you based on that.

In brainstorming, usually the first 15 things are common. The next 15 are more difficult to find.
Think of what would sell in our culture instead of the reality.

Draw character-based, story-driven.

Draw outside your comfort zone so you can adjust in your career.

Design in 3/4s. Animators would then understand how to animate.

Make things easier for the animator.

Companies don't like you stealing from catalogs for ideas.



Vilppu

Never copy.
Use the best materials since that's what professionals do.
Always believe that you'll do well.

Composition is organization and helps communication of idea.

Opposing curves are transitions. They're organization and composition.

When you have a real model and you're only do one pose, you make the square torso but animators shouldn't do that since they have model sheets and are doing many poses.