The Mousehole

OTP

2012-01-23T20:58:00.000-08:00

2011-12-07T12:42:00.001-08:00

Models: Kelly, Marta, Michael, Jake, Adam
When you know you can't draw something, and set about drawing it in order to get better at it, and your drawings come out bog, it's really hard not to just scrunch them up and stuff them in the bin. But I guess I gotta keep swinging. And do some reasearch. Gads. I hate you, clothes.

Lifedrawing 5th December 2011

2011-12-06T14:42:00.001-08:00

Model: Marie

Behold my profound indifference to my drawings... really horribly average and I still shorten the torso way too noticeably.

Frankenchicken: Prologue 01

2011-12-02T00:28:00.001-08:00

The first page for the Frankenchicken comic.

Lifedrawing 28th November 2011

2011-11-28T13:41:00.001-08:00

Model: Ren

Lifedrawing 21st November 2011

2011-11-21T14:34:00.001-08:00

Model: Lauren
Still too hesitant with the markers.

Life-drawing 7th November 2011

2011-11-10T12:16:00.001-08:00

Model: Debbie
I decided to leave the markers for a bit and stick with a charcoal pencil. I'm also trying not to worry TOO much about accuracy and focussing more on getting a sense of form with the addition of tonal work.
Every other week has one long pose at the end, and I got the opportunity to draw the same pose from three different angles, which was interesting, and something I'd like to do again next time the long pose week comes around.

Jack Rabbit

2011-11-05T01:50:00.000-07:00

One of those pictures that I could spend hours more messing around with. Fun fun fun.
Poor Scout don't get enough love. People love to be hatin' on him, but I find the arrogant little bastard oddly endearing.

© Valve

Life-drawing 24th October 2011

2011-10-24T13:17:00.001-07:00

Oh, well, getting better again, I suppose.
Model: Joanna.

Animation Practice

2011-10-18T13:27:00.000-07:00

Every Thursday I try and do a bit of animation practice. Bit being the operative word. I get maybe 2 or 3 hours to work on it, and I've been using Flash which is like trying to cycle up a mountainside.

Life-drawing 17th October 2011

2011-10-18T13:24:00.000-07:00

Well, this was a better session, or at least not as bad as the table-tipping fury I experienced last week. But proportion... why you so whack? I think I might also relegate the markers t the 5 and 10 minute poses. Anything longer than that and I can't work with them without the ink pooling on the paper.

Life-drawing 10th October 2011

2011-10-15T20:10:00.000-07:00

The only semi-decent image I came up with from what felt like a truly disasterous life-drawing session (that had nothing to do with the model, I hasten to add!).

Hats Hats Hats

2011-10-15T19:40:00.000-07:00

Yes, I need heaps more practice with them so they don't look like tissue boxes perched on top of people's heads. Most of these are 3 minute poses. Done at a session at BigKidz Entertainment with Kelly, Bob, Dave, Marta, Megan, Adam P and Adam D.

Arm Muscle Studies 01

2011-10-15T17:25:00.000-07:00

"Mimic until you understand", isn't that what they say? I've never clearly understood how the muscles in the arms are arranged, so I'm working on some technical drawings to become better acquainted with them. I try to do these on the tram on the way to work... painfully slow and dependent on whether or not I can get a seat.
My references are sourced from the interweebs.

Life-drawing 26 Septermber 2011

2011-09-27T05:52:00.000-07:00

I dunno what’s been going on with my life-drawing these past few weeks. I think I’m going through some kind of rut, which is very frustrating. Proportion’s all whack and last night I seemed incapable of getting the whole figure done! Whilst I was reasonably happy with the 50 minute pose, the torso’s too short (the little duplicate next to it is a Photoshopped version with a longer torso). *sigh* I also need to start drawing in what model’s sitting on otherwise it’s just a bunch of levitating weirdness that does nothing to distract from my loopy renditions of proportion.

Life-drawing 12th September 2011

2011-09-24T01:46:00.001-07:00

Another frustrating session. Vaughn's a good model and a vast majority of my drawings just didn't do him justice. My sense of proportion was terrible. I need to stop having my drawing pad in landscape orientation cos I'm starting to either set the figure on the page incorrectly so that feet and upstretched arms go off the page, or I mess with the proportion to fit them on - either way, terrible!
These were the ones I was least unhappy with.

Life-drawing 29th August 2011

2011-08-29T15:33:00.001-07:00

Indifferent towards these, to be honest.

Life drawing 22nd August 2011

2011-08-22T17:00:00.000-07:00

Model: Alison
Poses from 3 to 30 minutes.
A mix of charcoal, conte pencil and Copics.

Best Served Cold

2011-08-22T16:51:00.000-07:00

I turned my back for a second and this happened.

Life-drawing 15th August 2011

2011-08-15T16:00:00.000-07:00

A mix of charcoal, conte pencil and Copics.
Model: Lauren

Lifedrawing 8th August 2011

2011-08-08T17:36:00.000-07:00

Last night I had the tough choice between going to life-drawing or attending Rum Club. I chose the former, and it wasn't a bad session. I'm going to have to start working on my page in portrait rather than landscape format as I'm beginning to lose feet and tops of heads.
Pose lengths from 3 to 30 minutes, using charcoal for the 3 mintes poses and Copics for the others.

That's Not A Knoife

2011-08-06T00:25:00.001-07:00

Life-drawing 1st August 2011

2011-08-01T05:04:00.001-07:00

Sharp Shooter

2011-07-31T17:24:00.001-07:00

Sniper from TF2. Yerrrrrrrs.

Rat Queen Sketches

2011-07-30T20:15:00.001-07:00

Life-drawing 25th July 2011

2011-07-30T19:50:00.001-07:00

I got to life-drawing class late and was a bit rattled for some of the early, short poses. This combined with not having been life-drawing for a few weeks meant that I felt this wasn't one of my better sessions, though I was quite pleased with the final pose.
I think I may try markers again for the next class.

Old Friends

2011-07-24T21:30:00.001-07:00

It feels that it's been so long since I drew them. I had a "spare" morning at work, so I indulged, but now real life intrudes once again.

Life-drawing 4th July 2011

2011-07-04T15:18:00.000-07:00

I neglected the markers and stuck with charcoal. I think these drawings are less considered than ones I've done in the last. I'm attempting to speed up and get tonal work in there, so until I'm used to the change of pace, my proportions go a bit skew-whiff in places.
Top line: 3 minute poses
Second line: 5 minute poses
Third line: and 15 and a 20 minute pose
Bottom line: 30 minutes
Model: Desiree

Life-drawing 27th June 2011

2011-06-27T16:53:00.000-07:00

I have inconsistent success when there's a male life model because most of the time life-drawing classes get female models in. I prefer to draw men, even though I don't always draw them particularly well. I need the practice! Some people won't turn up to a class if they know there's going to be a male model. A stupid and lazy attitude.

Model: Costa

Life-drawing 12th June 2011

2011-06-11T21:04:00.000-07:00

My shorter poses feel a lot more unscructured than I would like, but I'm trying to speed up when it comes to applying tone to a drawing. Consequently the forms are a little erratic. I'm also trying to be a little more confident/bold with application of marker. Not always successful.
After I returned home, I realised there was a proportion problem with the final pose. her head was far too small in comparison to the rest of her body, so I distorted it in Photoshop (marked 'CORRECTED') to something that seems a lot more realistic.
So, not my best session, but not a disaster either.

Drawing Day Composite

2011-06-10T18:41:00.001-07:00

All the drawings cobbled together.

Drawing Day #2

2011-06-04T03:35:00.001-07:00

Taking me so long to do this stuff, and it shouldn't.

Drawing Day #1

2011-06-03T20:33:00.000-07:00

I'm unable to partake in Drawing Day quite the way I would have liked. For a start, I'm not in my home state and consequently have no access to Photoshop or, seemingly, peace and quiet. I'm being distracted and my attention demanded of every five seconds which is incredibly disruptive, but I shall do what I can.

Some 1 minute warm-up sketches using Posemaniacs:

Some pencil work. I'm very slow with this sort of thing:

Life-drawing 30th May 2011

2011-05-30T18:01:00.001-07:00

I continue with my (albeit limited) exploration of markers. Maybe next week I'll try something more outlandish. The last pose was held for 50 minutes in total, so I took two stabs at it. I preferred the second attempt.

CTT - Detour

2011-05-24T15:43:00.000-07:00

Aeronik gave me this. I did this:

I hate vehicles. And dirt.

Drawing Day 2011

2011-05-24T00:09:00.000-07:00

I will be in Queensland and with NO access to a decent computer, so I'll be using my sketchbook and my mum's dubious scanner and 56k modem. That'll be a scream.

Life-drawing 22nd May 2011

2011-05-23T15:11:00.000-07:00

I used mostly markers tonight; the 3 minute poses I did with charcoal pencil.
Got some new marker paper on the weekend, but this stuff is very smooth and occasionally the ink puddled, so not sure why this paper is different to what I used last week. Adam had the same problem. Because of the colours I was using, it looked like I'd just gone to my coffee cup for materials!

Life-drawing 16th May 2011

2011-05-20T04:33:00.001-07:00

My first try at markers. I used them on the 5 minute poses, as well as on a 20 minuter, which was actually held for 50 mins all up. So I did a charcoal pencil version of that as well. I struggled with the smaller 'canvas' of the marker paper, so my proportion got thrown out. That said, I still made the model's head too big in the charcoal 30 minuter, so maybe using a different marker jangled me somewhat. Still, not a disaster, and I shall use markers again next week.

Life-drawing 9th May 2011

2011-05-11T03:28:00.001-07:00

Good grief... I really need to do some drawing OTHER than life-drawing.

Life-drawing 1st May 2011

2011-05-07T19:38:00.001-07:00

There are so many things I want to be drawing and learning about and can't because of college marking and other duties. *sad face* But at least I can still get to life-drawing.

Life-drawing 18th April 2011

2011-04-18T17:07:00.001-07:00

I had more drawings, but my phots of them were rubbish and I'm too lazy to re-take them.

Lifedrawing 24th and 28th March 2011

2011-03-28T16:20:00.000-07:00

Some recent life-drawing.

Alles Erdreich Ist Österreich Untertan

2011-03-25T04:16:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd blogged this, but apparently not. Did this a couple of months back. Based on Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III from Adam Duncan's short film The Adjustable Cosmos.

Life-drawing 14th March 2011

2011-03-25T04:11:00.001-07:00

Back to using charcoal. Mmm, went OK, I guess.

Be Were

2011-03-12T02:36:00.000-08:00

For Unit 16's Character Tag Team thread, I was given this.

I did this.

Life-drawing 6th March 2011

2011-03-05T18:48:00.000-08:00

Whurrrrrrrrrgh!

Life Drawing 28th February 2011

2011-02-28T12:52:00.001-08:00

I was having trouble with proportion and being able to place the figure in such a way that parts didn't go off the page! It was very frustrating. A couple of times I even rubbed out and retsarted a pose only to have the same thing happen. Something in my spacial perception needs tightening. Oh well, everyone has bad days, I guess.

Frankenchicken: The Bats - ID

2011-02-25T00:10:00.001-08:00

Life Drawing 21st February 2011

2011-02-21T03:13:00.001-08:00

First life-drawing session of the year. A good model, but oddly proportioned. He had a very large belly which threw me at the start. I think I got better towards the end, and I was happy with the last pose. I'd put the left arm in the wrong spot and was tempted just to leave it, but figured since it was such a long pose, I really should fix it. I'm glad I did.

Search Bot

2011-02-12T14:25:00.001-08:00

For Unit 16's Character Tag Team thread. I got this. Did this:

Meh.

February Feet

2011-02-07T02:01:00.000-08:00

Feet are not something I'm able to draw easily. Thus, to remedy the situation, AD and I took a bunch of photos of our feet from which I can do some study sketching. This will be my primary sketching focus during February.

Frankenchicken: Roah - ID

2011-02-03T23:42:00.000-08:00

Daz Danger - Robert Milligan

2011-02-01T21:50:00.001-08:00

CTT - Gobblin'

2011-01-28T06:05:00.000-08:00

Got given this:

Did this:

One day I'll learn how to use colours.

Frankenchicken: The Dog - ID

2011-01-28T00:18:00.001-08:00

Politeness Costs Nothing

2011-01-27T20:24:00.000-08:00

Just a simple promo image for Hello Yello:

Treadmill

2011-01-18T13:42:00.001-08:00

There's always so much to learn. It stretches on forever, so sometimes it can get pretty disappointing when you realise that you're never going to get "there", wherever that is. Regardless, I must keep putting one foot in front of the other (I hear the soundtrack from Revenge of the Nerds playing in my head, for some reason).
Here are some links I've found or been directed to by friends, peers or people I follow creepily online. I put them here for anyone's benefit, but also mine, since occasionally I do lose links to such resources, and they often prove handy when I'm teaching.

http://thinkinganimationbook.blogspot.com/2011/01/innovation-lessons-from-pixar.html
I'm a big fan of anything that comes out of Brad Bird's mouth. With the possible exception of chewed food, but I'd probably treasure even that!

http://lackadaisy.foxprints.com/index.php
Tracy Butler's work is so good it makes me cry. She also did an expression tutorial which is priceless, here: http://lackadaisy.foxprints.com/exhibit.php?exhibitid=333

http://sevencamels.blogspot.com/2011/01/thumbnailing-from-movies.html
Mark Kennedy has a good idea to thumbnail 'board an existing film sequence to get to grips with how a sequence can be effectively constructed. I must try this, as my storyboarding ability is uber-basic.

Give A Hand

2011-01-18T03:34:00.001-08:00

I have now exhausted the hand studies on Posemaniacs, so I'll take a bunch of reference photos of real hands and keep going with the practice.

Zoo Trip 16th January 2011

2011-01-18T03:13:00.001-08:00

Zoo time. Often, I spend a lot of time painstakingly rendering a pose of an animal that has been kind enough to stay in one position long enough for me to draw the basics. This time I had a go at much quicker sketching. This, of course, leaves the chance of doing a plain shitty drawing much higher than normal, but I guess that's all part of it. Plus, I never know what I'm going to get to draw when we're there. All manner of factors are at work: the weather, the crowds, my focus, how recalcitrant the animals are being...
I askjed AD specifically if we could NOT go near the giraffes and zebras, cos I draw them every time. And what happened?

I got to draw very little, it seems. We had intended to go to the Australian animals section, but all the 'roos were flaked out in the shade and hoardes of parents with kids would come rocketing through in clusters, disturbing the animals. And the sun was burning the living daylights out of me. Melbourne zoo really has little shade for observers. Actually, looking back on how little I drew, that's really quite pathetic.
AD took these photos.

This gentleman looked like he'd just crash landed into the garden bed, but he seemed quite comfy.

Ostriches... weird birds.

Eeee, these made me laugh! They look like the'd be as light as polystyrene if you picked them up, and I love their feather patterns.

A kookaburra looking extremely business-like. There were dead mice being handed out, so the cage's inhabitants were rather chipper.

While in the great aviary, I happened to look up and spot this forbidding specimen of a black cockatoo.
Lace monitor foot close-up. I've always thought their skin looks like what those glittery purses from the 60s were made of.

If that's not a "f*ck off!" expression, I don't know what is!

Elegant lounging.

And why not?

Daz Danger - Dr McDoight

2011-01-11T23:46:00.001-08:00

Lift

2011-01-04T23:18:00.000-08:00

Done in an hour, which is speedy for me.

Xmas Break Sketches

2011-01-02T17:00:00.001-08:00

Whilst in Perth, I had my sketchbook with me. My aim was to draw a little each day, mostly from the Posemaniacs website.
A chance to visit the Perth Zoo with Mr Teal, Timothy Merks, Rosaline Lau and Aeronik arose. Zoo sketches are always patchy for me. I start off concentrating on one animal, then as the day goes on, my focus wanes. Plus, some animals never sit still! The pygmy marmosets were so cute but fidgeted and leapt about constantly.

Hands. Not my strongest, so the fact that the Posemaniacs site had hand close-ups meant I could spend a bit looking at these.
A small portion of the sketches taken from the figures on Posemaniacs. I'd do 30 second and 1 minute poses, mostly, as I need to draw faster. Oftentimes my page would end up a total mess as I'd draw poses overlapping since it's an exercise more than a display piece. Consequently they ended up looking like a Futurism piece like Nude Descending A Staircase. Or in my case, Smashed Nude Falling Off A Cliff. These are a few of the cleaner ones, with some I went over afterwards for more clarity.

Daz Danger - Promo Image #2

2010-12-19T20:20:00.001-08:00

Protowilson - ID

2010-12-17T00:26:00.001-08:00

Daz Danger - Mina Minor

2010-12-13T22:48:00.000-08:00

Life-drawing 13th December 2010

2010-12-13T13:42:00.001-08:00

I was not feeling particularly in control of proportion for this session, but forged on nonetheless.

Gone

2010-12-10T03:57:00.001-08:00

Frankenchicken - ID

2010-12-09T20:21:00.000-08:00

Finally getting back to this series idea.

Daz Danger - Ed Fizz

2010-12-07T23:12:00.000-08:00

More concept work.

Life-drawing 5th Dec 2010

2010-12-05T01:45:00.001-08:00

Back to Sunday life-drawing after a couple of months' hiatus. Hello, proportions? Where did you go?!

Morning Quickies - 4th Dec '10

2010-12-05T01:19:00.001-08:00

Being keenly aware of the lack of personal artistic development that I'm committing to, it's my plan to spend 30 mins a day doing life drawing. The Posemaniacs website makes this easier for me, plus it also gets me out of bed at 6am instead of lolling about in bed. I've felt that I've let a lot of things slip away and come to the realisation that I can only get better with my art if I actually, well, practice. Concept.
So, these are examples of 30 second and 1 minute poses. I'm a very slow drawer, so I'm keeping the pose length short. Hence, detail is mostly absent in favour of the flavour of the pose. I hope.

Daz Danger - promo image

2010-12-01T14:13:00.001-08:00

Morning sketches

2010-11-30T14:04:00.000-08:00

I'm trying to get into the habit of doing 30 mins of quick figure sketching in the mornings, with the aid of the Posemaniacs site.
These are 30 second and 1 minute poses.

Character Design - Darren

2010-11-30T14:00:00.000-08:00

Character Development - Sharon

2010-11-24T13:32:00.001-08:00

Character Development

2010-11-22T04:03:00.001-08:00

Glen Keane

2010-11-19T00:29:00.000-08:00

Whilst Australia is pretty out-of-the-way when it comes to contact with the mighty in the industry, in Melbourne, we're luckier than most Australian states to get the opportunity to meet and hear from some animators that many of us greatly admire. Glen Keane is such a person. Along with Roy Conli, the producer of Disney's 'Tangled', he gave a talk at ACMI and gave us the wonderful chance to see him draw live and talk about working on 'Tangled'. Glen Keane is an amazing artist. His knowledge of anatomy, dimension and aethetics is extensive and awe-inspiring. He was key animator for Ariel in 'The Little Mermaid' and for the Beast in 'Beauty & The Beast' and is arguably one of the greatest animators alive today. To see his drawings is both exhilirating and humbling, so it was an especially interesting move for this traditional animator to become involved with a 3D animated film as Animation Supervisor. He said that he drew as much on this film as he did on the 2D traditional films he has worked on, and to see his hand-drawn pass over a computer animated image and how it turned something that was, at best, passable into something beautifully crafted and full of character showed us how vital it is that animators can draw and how traditional animation has so much to give the world of computer animation. It is also lovely to hear him encourage Australian animators and acknowledge the pool of talent in this country that tries its hardest to survive in a world where the government gives little support and where other countries can do it cheaper. It was also heartwarming to see students and young animators in the crowd listening very carefully and enjoying the masterclass. The craft of drawing animation will, hopefully, always find a place in this constantly evolving medium.
This is not to detract from what Roy Conli had to say. The non-artistic side of a production is often undervalued or scorned as the "evil" or "difficult" part of a production. It is an unenviable job and one I wouldn't care for. I mentioned this to him as he was signing the programme for the Disney exhibition that is being held at ACMI, and he said that he felt that ensuring a project comes in on schedule and under-budget is not his primary function... that more important was ensuring that the film that is originally envisioned is created to the highest standard and with the greatest pride in the craft of animation, and that everyone works together to make it so.

Roy Conli, producer. He had a stylish goatee as well as interesting things to say!
~

Glen Keane, the master at work.
~

Details are crucial in animation. It can make the difference between keeping a character on-model and IC and watching that same character become someone or something else.
~

~

Glen Keane caught on camera pulling the same expression as the character he's drawing... a not uncommon occurance for animators!

Research

2010-11-18T03:46:00.000-08:00

An old friend.

Nightmare

2010-11-13T00:50:00.001-08:00

Originally for a competition over on Sketchoholic, but I never finished it in time.

Intensity Club #32

2010-09-11T23:22:00.001-07:00

Today's topic: Enlightened Hillbilly.

Life-drawing 5th September 2010

2010-09-09T04:15:00.001-07:00

Not a very good session. It felt like I was drawing with some else's arm.

Intensity Club # 30 + more effort

2010-09-04T00:54:00.000-07:00

Today's theme for Intensity Club was 'Evil Prom Queen'. Mmm, proms... we just don't have them here in Aus. Maybe debs or formals come close, but proms seem to be a whole culture elsewhere. Consequently, I really didn't know what the hell I was drawing.

I decided to work more on it afterwards.

Life-drawing 22nd August 2010

2010-08-21T21:13:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I drew a male model, so I would describe today's efforts as 'cautious'.
Next week's going to be even more 'cautious'... off to a burlesque bar. I sense a train wreck approaching.

Intensity Club #27

2010-08-21T21:11:00.001-07:00

The topic was 'Fairy Godmother'. I struggled with this, and I think it's apparent. However, it's an idea I'd like to revisit when I have time. So in November most likely.

Life-drawing 15th August 2010

2010-08-14T21:34:00.000-07:00

A bit better this week. Still too hamfisted with the charcoal, though.

Intensity Club #25

2010-08-13T17:11:00.000-07:00

Got out of the habit of doing these, so back into it this morning. The topic was 'Crazy General'. Army dudes... no idea how to draw them.

Life-Drawing 1st & 8th August

2010-08-12T05:14:00.000-07:00

Been so busy that I didn't have a chance 'til now to put these up. One week I tried charcoal and had OK success. Last week was a disaster - I ditched the charcoal and ran back into the familiar embrace of graphite. My sense of proportion was still absent, though. Horrible.

Lifedrawing 25th July 2010

2010-07-24T21:07:00.000-07:00

Might try charcoal next week.

Life-drawing 18th July 2010

2010-07-18T02:12:00.000-07:00

Intensity Club #18

2010-07-16T15:05:00.001-07:00

Topic was old/1900s technologies. I'm rubbish at machines. Plus I missed the upload window cos I don't watch the clock and allow for transcontinental time delay.
This was meant to be some kind of chicken pie making machine.

Chiustream #52

2010-07-14T15:26:00.000-07:00

Topic was baby version of a movie character. I'd like to work on this more over the weekend.

Life-drawing 11th July 2010

2010-07-10T21:16:00.000-07:00

Back after a two-week hiatus. I really need to start learning how to draw feet properly.

Wall Street Cyclops

2010-07-08T13:52:00.000-07:00

There was a Nate Wragg Interview and contest over at Sketchoholic, with the topic of 'Wall Street Cyclops'. I had several, half-formed ideas that weren't really pertinent to the topic, and had not enough time (for me) to do a decent job on the idea I did go with. I had intented to make the building look like an arrow going up while the design of the cyclopic bull was meant to represent an arrow going down. But that didn't work, plus it'd contradict the bull metaphor of a surging market. The background is meant to be reminiscent of a US dollar bill. Again, doesn't come through. Aaahhhh, these half-formed ideas!

Street Magic

2010-07-03T17:02:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I think it's clear I didn't have a strong idea for this topic, haha!

Intensity Club #14

2010-07-02T18:27:00.000-07:00

Today's topic was "Fat King". And I'll grab any excuse not to draw a human, so I picked a potbelly pig instead. Here's the version I submitted:

As aeronik rightly pointed out, the light's very flat, so I did another layer over the topic just quickly:

Better!

Mr ...-head

2010-07-01T08:04:00.001-07:00

For another challenge on sketchoholic.

Edit: which I won! Gosh! Such good timing cos I was having a crap day being glum about my lack of skillz. Now I get a lovely Aaron Hartline drawing... yay! Thanks, sketchoholic!

Godzilla Redesign

2010-06-30T07:18:00.000-07:00

For the contest over on sketchoholic.

Intensity Club #12

2010-06-25T15:18:00.001-07:00

Today's topic: Enlightenment.
I'm moderately happy, though the lighting's not really working. Got a few votes though, so that's nice!

Chiustream #51

2010-06-23T15:31:00.001-07:00

Chiustream is like the Intensity Club, so 1 hour to do a drawing. Today's topic was Ultimate Fighting Creature... and looking at my effort, I don't know what brief I was following! This is what happens when you put me under pressure... I think I lock myself into a drawing too quickly without really thinking whether or not it suits the topic, so that's something I can try to keep in mind for Intensity Club on Saturday. I'm on the cusp of being rather annoyed/irritated with myself about it, but to be honest, I don't think that'd help me in any way. If the end result I'm after is "adherence to the topic", I'd rather just keep it at the forefront of my mind than get shitty about it. I'm shitty enough during the day without lumping this on top of it. Plus I got my fat arse out of bed and did a drawing. That's not bad.
My thumbnail sketches are still sitting at the top of the image. I was trying to get a good pose before starting on the final choice. I also tried to get in some varying colours in the creature. The blend isn't successful, but I've gotta dive in and try it otherwise all my work's gonna look flat.
Maybe I should write myself a check-sheet and pin it to my Cintiq for when I do these drawings. Can't hurt!

Life-drawing 20th June 2010

2010-06-20T01:05:00.001-07:00

Mmm, today wasn't as successful as I would've liked. I could blame a few factors: the light levels in the studio were low so I was actually having trouble seeing my page (not to the extent that I couldn't see the lines but I would've liked better lighting), that the model was 15 minutes late so the class organiser got her kit off instead (that in itself didn't disturb me so I can't really attribute my difficulties to that), and I had forgotten my usual drawing materials. I think maybe I was just having a bad drawing day. I had intended to try a white chinagraph on black paper to try something different. I think the reversal of shadows as the light areas threw me somewhat.
Class is suspended for two weeks, so it'll be the zoo next week. Hope the weather won't be as ratty as it was today.