Slight improvements?...

Back in Tim Gula's class a second time I'm able to focus on gesture a liiiittle better....:-)


The 2 above I did in Glenn Orbik' s life drawing class. He is really great at explaining things, which helped a lot.



I struggle with leaving the face alone and my infatuation with the curve of the line behind, to focus on the gesture and action instead.
Above are two examples of Tim Gula's magnificent sketches drawn in my sketchbook. He makes it look so easy...

I'm posting some of my life drawing and quick sketches from the classes I've been taking at California Art Institute with Tim Gula and Glenn Orbik. This way I can keep track of any improvements...although I've been told it gets worse before it gets better?!? Either way I'm just going to hang in there:-)

Using photoshop on "My Gympartner is a Monkey"

BG Paint on Balto - Universal Studios

Work on "The Buzz on Maggie"

Mucha Lucha Backgrounds

Before starting the cartooning class and getting back to life drawing.

Just now able to post some of the sketches I did of Sam in January. It's neat to look back at them as they show him before he started crawling and when he was barely attempting to roll over. So much has changed in a month or so. I love the smile I was able to capture of him laying on his back. It is so much him. He's a happy little guy most of the time.

Sometimes I wish it was possible to regain the clear vision and wonderful way we capture the essence of things when we draw as children. This is my son Ben's drawing of a germ. He clearly gets the message across.

Sketching over the last week, or so: Jan 06-Jan 13, 2010

011310 - Second attempt at capturing the idea of multi-task dad, adding a second son..the one on the right works better, pulling dad along. Now I think I need a light table or doing it on the computer to keep improving on sketches, keeping what I like and changing what I don't.
011210 - Working on a sketch for Jon on the multi-task dad. First attempt - I like the feeling of baby on the right.
011110 - I'm a little tired and distracted these days
010810 - This is a first sketch of a visual representation I had of Manda and one of the games she enjoyed a lot with all of us, connecting pointing fingers. Something I want to develop more.
010710 - Working on capturing Sam and Theo, more than me.
010610 - This is a very common sight in our house. Ben looking like he's squeezing poor Theo, because his expression is so intense (didn't capture that expression in my sketch though:)
010610 - Practicing turning Ben into a cartoon (Theo's legs need some work?!), and some action poses from my Cartoon Retro Drawing "Cartoon Cool" book. Check out Chris Hart's site: http://www.chrishartbooks.com/ for more great books of his.

Adding a little color in between my sketching

Hmmm...this is kind of fun

I'm starting to sketch some ideas on motherhood, mine that is. Sometimes easier to say it in a picture than in words.
More interpretations, trying to figure out what makes Ben and Sam look like themselves.

Aaaah.... already getting behind

The cartoony version of Ben captured his excitement about Spongebob much better than my first version.
Poor Sam doesn't like when he's stuck like this...had to pick him up and then interpret from memory.
Great characters out of Christopher Hart's book #2.
Great characters out of Christopher Hart's book #1.
This exercise of drawing the outline of a figure without looking at the paper or lifting the pencil used to make me want to crawl out of my skin....doing much better with that now...and I like the feet actually.
Jon watching TV. I don't think the paper was long enough....

Day 5 and I'm already behind?!?... It's a little funny that I'm under such pressure posting things, since I haven't really told anyone to look at my blog and I'm pretty sure I'm the only one reading it so far...but - I'm a pretty harsh critic myself, so, I'm afraid...very afraid...:-)
Seriously, since it's so new to me...(the whole character design thing) I have to admit I don't really like having a learning curve and posting less than stellar work...but that's the price for seeing growth some day...and after feeling a bit intimidated and in a rut with life drawing it was quite freeing to look at how to draw the kids, not realistically but as cartoon characters. Love the book "Cartoon Cool" How to draw New Retro-Style Characters by Christopher Hart. It is helping me simplify and exaggerate features and have some fun with it. Demystifying the language of cartooning so to speak. I think I've also found a class around the corner and I'm wanting to figure out other pens to use beyond graphite pencils.