Monday, February 27, 2012

The Brog and the Monark


Hi people :)

Another busy week comes to an end. As I’ve mentioned before, one of our final project is to do a short film. The video shoot is eating up all my time, even on the weekends. I’ve decided to put on hold updating my blog till I finish the semester so I can focus more on my finals. I’m still going to continue practicing, but not as much.

I’m really looking forward to the holidays. There’s a project in 3d that I’ve been meaning to work on for a while now.  Can’t wait :)

As for this week, I spent half of it practicing anatomy and the other half drawing animals using photo references. I remember reading interviews from successful artists about developing your own style. They emphasize on the importance of drawing from life rather than copying other artist. Its also important to keep in mind is that it’s going to take time. Draw every day, with passion and the constant need to learn new things. Drawing from life also improves your design sense in a way.

I noticed it somewhat when I was drawing animals. I did studies of two separate animals first and then tried to come up with one of my own creatures by combining the two. Not that I was able to design a super cool super awesome creature.  not yet at least :D but rather than trying to come up with a random design using my imagination, it helped a lot in terms of design knowing how something actually looks like. Even the weirdest aliens from far away galaxies are based off of something in real life. Maybe I should plan a trip to the zoo. Something else I can look forward to do during the holidays.

Hope everyone has a great week and happy drawing :D





here's a still from last weeks shoot

   it makes me sad that i didn't get this shot. it was clear skies, then it started to rain.
   I've always wanted to do a star trail. sigh! managed to get enough for 1 second 
   though. i'll have to try again next week. click HERE to view a gif i made with it




Friday, February 17, 2012

Sunrise sunrise!


Hi :)

It’s been a busy two weeks. Mainly because one subject this semester requires us to do a short film. Which is taking up a lot of time during the week. So I was occupied with the shooting last week. The location is a town near the seaside. Which is good since it’s been a long time since I haven’t seen the ocean or a beach. It was very nostalgic. I also got to do some time-lapse photography. I love time-lapse; even though it’s kind of tedious. There’s a lot of waiting around.  But to see the shots compiled and everything sped up is really rewarding. I should really make more projects for myself during sem break.

It’s also one reason why I didn’t update my blog last week, the other being that I felt that there wasn’t enough content. I’m still using the Loomis and Bridgeman books to study anatomy.  There’s still much to learn. It’s a never ending process after all. For people with lack of  motivation, you’ll only start being motivated once you start drawing and keep practicing and learning every day.  At least for me it did, and I bet if you try, it will for you too. I was waiting for someone or something to magically inspire me. But that never happened. It’s really your choice. You just need to push through the first couple of days or weeks until you get the hang of it.

Last week I tried adding values to my daily studies. But it was a bit time consuming since I have assignments to worry about and they come first. Although recently I feel like I’ve been paying more attention to this rather than my assignments. Working on it now hehehe
I really need to manage my time efficiently. So I've decided that that's going to be my task next week, besides my daily practice. I could also work on lighting and values separately. I’m also itching and scratching to start painting in gouache. maybe after i learn to manage my time.

Hope everyone has a great week and happy drawing :)


bones aren't as fun to draw, but a good practice nonetheless

trying out a different layout. looks similar to a traditional blue pencil sketch than digital

haven't seen one of these in a while. here's the link to the video.




Monday, February 6, 2012

One small step


Sup  :)

It’s been a month since I started drawing every day. I find myself more involved with it. I’ve noticed a change in my attitude towards drawing and the need to constantly learn new stuff.

I used to plan things in my head, how much I should draw everyday or what I should practice next. Discussed with friends and other artists on how much discipline and hard work is important, but never actually did something. So to everyone reading this, if you feel like you’re not improving, start…start NOW. Don’t wait for a new day a new month or a new year. Start now or you’ll never get around to doing it.

Don’t rush it either, when I’m practicing anatomy, form and other stuff, I really take my time in understanding what’s happening with the drawing. How something takes shape, why something is drawn a certain way, regardless of whether it takes me half an hour, to get the shape of the head right I get what’s happening. And the next time I draw, I take less time to draw it. Practice till you get it right. If you’re stuck then take a break, draw something else or do something else and come back again. Speed eventually comes to you. Believe me; a month ago I couldn’t properly draw a straight line using the stylus. Now it feels really natural and easy. Even if it’s a little accomplishment, it feels great and I want to find more time in a day to learn more. So yes, start now. Don’t think about it too much, like how and what and when you’ll do it. Eventually you’ll find yourself drawing and determined to learn more J

The highlight of this week was that I got to attend a masterclass by Rishikesh Nandlaskar from Rhythm and Hues. He’s the guy who modeled the hulk (the recent one) and a lot of other cool stuff. He showed us the actual models in maya and talked about how he goes about creating one. too bad we couldn't take photos though. apparently there'd be some issues since the content belonged to Fox and Universal. It was so fricking awesome!! The talk was very inspiring, and awesome. I said that already :p but yeah, it was hehe check out his gallery :)

Next week I’m going to start practicing drawing the skeleton, simplified and semi-detailed and more anatomy. I've been using a book called "Bridgman's Complete Guide to Drawing from Life". Hope everyone has a great weekTill then, happy drawing :D

p.s. ooh ooh, I’m gonna start learning to paint in gouache soon. It took me two weeks to save up to buy the materials. Very excited :D 




my friend's from college and i started a little sketch group in facebook.
 just a weekly art jam, to have fun and to learn.
here's a material study from this week


after a successful month of drawing