Sunday 30 March 2008

Mr Kent, Mr Wayne and Mr Parker....


Wassup people. Thanks for all the feedback on the last post. I’ve been a bit weak on doing my part in terms of responding and commenting etc, sorry. Not really hitting my Blogging stride in Scotland. I’m really starting to get busy and I’m not really managing my time very well. I think I’ll save blogging till the weekend from now on, that way I’m not doing it after I finish work. At the time of writing this which is about 23:30 Apr 1st, I still haven’t cooked or eaten anything. Just been scanning pics, resizing blah blah blah. It's gonna be a late one......

The Heroes



The pic at the Top is a drawing my friend Omer who has been asking me to do it for like a year...maybe 2. Finally I’ve got round to it. Its been a while since I've done anything like so it took longer than expected. As you can see from the process pics, I did 2 versions. Ever draw something, pat yourself on the back, go to bed, wake up and look at the drawing and then hate it? It was really bothering me. I think my first attempt was too realistic. Maybe because I was referencing from the movie versions. I also hated the way I drew Spidey, So I decided to rethink it and do a more “animation friendly” version. I really struggled with Superman. I love the Fleisher, Bruce Tim and Alex Ross versions of Superman but I didn’t really want to approach it like that. I wanted a balance between Brandon Routh portrayal in Superman Returns, Christopher Reeves (very big shoes to fill) and a little of Tom Welling from Smallville. I was thinking about the personality and how to convert that to an image. I don’t think I was very successful. I can see him in my head, but can’t get it out. Maybe I should have done more character design sketches to begin with. My brother isn’t too fond of the way I draw the man of steel but I’ll get there, I hope.

Another thing I found difficult were the clouds. They were killing me. I’m not used to playing with tone and values etc. I usually opt for a more cel shaded look, but I’m getting a little bored of solving problems in the same way. Ken and I are gonna hook up and exchange techniques (actually he’ll be teaching me LOL) so I’m looking forward to seeing an improvement in my work, and varying the type of work I do on my blog. While we’re on the topic, Oliver, I appreciate your honesty on the last post. If anyone out there happens to stumble on my Blog and has any suggestions on how to improve my work, don’t hesitate to do so. I’ve seen some staggering improvement on other blogs because of constructive feedback, Once again, I have no problem people saying what they like, but don’t be afraid to say what you don’t. Whether you like it or not, the why is important (to me). Thanks to everyone who gives me the why’s positive or negative by the way. I only highlighted Oliver because he told me what he found unsuccessful.

Anyway, with the clouds, I searched You Tube for any tutorials and found this one. This is what I used to paint them.

Sketch Group Scotland.


I’ve been twice in the last month so in terms of observational drawing I’m not doing too well. I am trying to draw everything, and I did try to force it in one session, but by the next I just reverted back to old habits. Bare with me guys....I’ll get there....

Life Drawing

These are from my last 2 life drawing sessions, over 2 weeks old now. I’m really upset because the college won’t be holding anymore sessions till September as the 4th years are concentrating on their final projects. I actually felt like I was getting somewhere. Certain things were starting to click. I realised that I try to do too much in session so I end up having weird drawings (which is why Oliver’s comment was invaluable). So In these, I tried to focus on doing specific things don’t know if it shows. Anyway, Kyla (co worker and flat mate) knows some of the models so hopefully we won’t have to wait till September before I do more life drawing.

Django

Last week wed (I think, it was a long time ago) I was privileged to be sent to Django Studios in Edinburgh (Illusionist HQ) to collect some stuff. The timing was great coz I woke up in a bad mood and wasn’t really up for inbetweening. While I can’t go into specifics about the studio, it was amazing. I was given the grand tour by Aya whom I met at the Projector Animation Festival. She studied Bournemouth with a few of my co workers, Chris Halls, Tori and Laurent, and is an Animator at Django. She also introduced me to Victor Ens which is one of the first bloggers I linked via my boy Kristian when I started this blog so that was surreal. He's a supervising animator there. Aya also introduced me to another blogger Bob Wolkers. He showed me his blog which has other Django blogger links. I still can’t believe the amount of opportunities, and learning experiences blogging as opened up for me. Nothing is better than knowing people that have the same interests and share your passion. I was very alone in this before LAS and Blogging. I Love it!!! At some point this week, yes, i've said it before but definately, I'll update my links list.

She also took the time to show me some of her work and gave me some insight into her process. Aya, I'm forever grateful.

I haven’t animated in a while, but I’m learning a lot. Hopefully I’ll start putting some animation up in a few months but I have a couple of things to do first....

So that's pretty much it for now....

Here are couple random doddle I did at work, probably won’t post for a couple weeks, but I will be updating my links so keep an eye out. Till then, keep drawing and keep inspiring.

And Again....


Wes


32 comments:

messytimbo said...

man that looks so deadly! i really like it! the clouds look sick! good job!

i like the spidey the best.

urrr... i wanna draw him now!

maarten said...

i remember this wip! wow i love how it turned out. awesome dude.

Vegano said...

I LOVE IT!
You're even better than me! :p
nice wes *nods head* : )

Ken said...

I love the style and composition dude. Good job on that background painting also!

maarten said...

hey! whats going on!?! this one pic has turned into a huge post. how sneaky :) april fools?

haha nice dude.

those observational sketches! what the ... ! they are so good. I think this are your best sketches so far. the fifteenth sketch blew me away! that roof.. nice.
life drawings are amazing as well, cant really point out anything bad, sorry bro. maybe it helps if I say that I like them a lot better then the life drawings of your last post. I think its in the shading.

anyway, love your drawings of the crow! that movie is great.

to read about your experiences is super inspiring... keep up the posting.

messytimbo said...

Hey Wes, me old mucker.

i've sat here for about five minutes trying to think of a critique for your drawings.

so here's my 10p's worth.

as for the life drawing, the only thing i can see that you could do to strengthen your drawing, or poses, is (but it only applies to the last two life drawings) try and get the whole figured down from the head to the feet, i think getting the feet down really helps define the model in a 3d space. Obviously if you’re just focusing on an area like the head or the back, it doesn’t matter, but if you’re going for gestural poses I think it really helps.
And two, but this is only to my personal taste, when you’re doing your every day sketches, I prefer your ones where you’re going for the essence of reality, and not the caricatured version. (That probably doesn’t make much sense, but that’s the best i can describe it.) Some people go for straight up caricature when they are drawing from life, and some people go for the reality cough!.. Kristian...cough. But I see a bit of both in your daily sketches and I’m saying I prefer the reality type ones. God i hope that makes sense.
Anyways i really like everything in this post. Your work is dope my friend dope.

Right i’m off, i need to leave some space for some other bloggers.

Kristian said...

dukes, I have to remember what i was going to say. Firstly erm.. Hi, secondly Thanks always for your comments on me ole blog. Thirdly I have found one criticism (You did say I could) On the wonderful Hero sketch My only issue is the position of spidey. I lose him in the comp. It might be that his arm follows the jaw line of batman or that he may need to be lower. Also I prefer the original pose (the one with both hands on web) Thats all I got regards comments. Now with the brown nosing.
Man, those life drawings are stellar. The foreshortening is bang on. But what kills me is the hands on the old dude from behind. Your got hands ..down kid!.
So there's my 5000 dracma's worth. Hope you can gain something from my insight. Look forward to seeing you for a drinkie

Kristian said...

oh and don't listen to timberjack. I like your observational drawings all nice and caricatured.

messytimbo said...

i think kristos drop some haloumi on the part where i said it's "to my personal taste."
i like the caricatured stuff as well.

i'm glad you liked my critque on the feet. kristos treats my comments like spam! ;)

maarten said...

yoo wes, thanks for the comment.

well too neat, I think my drawings not dynamic enough. not loose enough.
the drawings in force are super loose you know? I think im too afraid of making a bad drawing.

about that group... if I wanna keep going to the sessions i have to sign up for 6 months.. but the problem is that in a few weeks there will be no more model sessions but they will be painting outside. so id be paying for nothing.
so i cant go to those sessions anymore.. but its no problem ill find another session to go to this week.

oh on the teaching, I think I phrased that wrong. I dont care about having a teacher or not. I learn so much from you guys and my books. I meant.. im not gonna pay to paint nature especially not while not being instructed.

aargh why is my english so crappy. its giving me headaches lol.

anyway, im sorry about your life drawing. I hope your flat mate can work something out with the models.
keep up the posting man!

RAWLS said...

I step away for just a moment and you've racked up the art on your site! I won't do that again.
Sick stuff my friend. I'm loving your life drawings. Great "life" to em. I see you met Plipton...He's such a great guy isn't he? I found him to be very down to earth about a lot of things.
Also lovin the bat/supes/spidy pick. Have you seen the new Spectacular Spidey show, and that new Batman Anime movie comin out?!?! looks sick!!
Anyway dude, keep it up...I'm lovin it!

andrewQuintiliani said...

I like your final superhero image, but I think it would have been interesting to see batman with an overbite like you drew him in one of the earlier sketches, instead of his classic scowly underbite.

Really nice life drawings! You should definatly look around for some other school or somthing that does life drawings in your area. Maybe even go to a zoo, or a mall or something and just draw the people/animals.

Really great stuff! You have a really solid style.

M. Hassan said...

Thank you a lot for visiting my blog and the nice words
your life drawings are really awesome I love 'em.

robi pena said...

Wow, amazing works you have on your blog!! Great stuff man!!! Cheers and thank you!!

Joe Karg said...

So much to comment on in so little time. First off, that superhero piece is night and day from your other work. I don't know what it is about iconic characters that shifts our hands into new positions but they do. Just like drawing images of ourselves. We have these ideas of what we think we look like before we even address our reference. I hope that didn't sound negative Wes. I think the image is really cool.

I think my favorite image from this post is the "300" looking soldier thumbnail. Something about the way you cartooned that image and cropped it for maximum drama struck me in a big way.

Thanks for your comments on the two blogs lately. They've been much appreciated by both me and Elio. You are one of the guys I'm always watching. Keep it up.

Peace,
Joe

H.Xiao said...

hey,man~
thanks for your comments and visit to my blog
I've added you as my friend
yours works are amazing!
keep it up~~~~:)

Unknown said...

Nice variety of drawings!!

Ken said...

Yo man! My ramblings stopped to balance out the blogosphere - YOUR ramblings multiplied tenfold. WOW. You like posting essays huh? haha. Im on chapter 3 of your post. Getting there getting there.

But seriously - its good to hear your thoughts behind the work you do.

Ken said...

How does she carry such a huge sword???

Suspend your disbelief man! DUH!!!

hahaha

libra bear said...

Thanx for the comments everyone. Especially those who aren’t afraid to tell me what they don’t like, really appreciate it. Give me a lot to think about....

Paresh: .... and there are thousands of people better me, scan some other blogs as well, trust me, you’ll be super inspired, but I’m glad you like the pic.

Ken: Glad you like the painting, I really struggled with that, want to push it further though, this Saturday, bring you Lappy and train me bro.

Maarten: Appreciate the comment, if you can’t find anything bad, that’s cool, as long as you don’t hold back when you do. Just like you, I want to learn and get better also. I was pleased with the life drawing sessions. I pray I find a class soon....

Timbo: I think you’re right about getting the whole drawing in. I always struggle with that for some reason, and the thing is I really like drawing feet in perspective. Definitely going to remedy that in my next session (when it comes that is)
As for the out and about sketches, that’s a subject of constant inner struggle for me. Spoke to Kristian about it a few times. I love the way he captures life without caricaturing it. His use of line amazes me every time (still looking for something I don’t like in his drawings LOL). I said to him that doing the more caricatured cartoony stuff is my comfort zone, so I try to get more realism in my drawings. But the realism thing for him is his comfort zone and he struggles more with the cartoon/designy stuff. The way he put it to me, is in that moment when you’re capturing life, do what comes natural, don’t think about it, just get that image down. Whatever comes out is who you are. Observational drawings have something obvious about them. You look at them and can tell someone didn’t make it up even if they are caricatured or simplified. I mean. I like the realism stuff because it tests me, but I like the exaggerated stuff because it’s my comfort zone and I enjoy myself more while drawing. I‘ll always try to put a balance of both to satisfy my needs. Either way, I’m glad you see a bit of both even if you prefer one type.

Kristian: I have to say , I’m in agreement with you about Spidey. I think when I did the first pass, because I drew Spidey so badly in your preferred position, I decided to change it. For 2 reasons. Firstly...I hated the way “I” drew it, and second, it felt like there was no movement in the picture. Guess I lost confidence in myself. Supes originally was looking forward, but changing his head position made all the difference to me so I thought , change Spidey as well. I think your right about him being lower as well. Next time I think I’ll get opinions on the thumbnail stage. So many things weren’t considered when I drew this, awesome feedback though bro.
I’m glad you like the hands. All I inbetween lately is beautifully drawn hands so maybe some of it is rubbing off on me.
I’m coming down to London for the LAS show, no I’ve not been invited but I’m gate crashing. See you then?

Kris & Timbo: Now now lads, if you don’t behave, I’ll tell Steve LOL

Maarten: I’ll get back to you on that one... and you’re English is fine.

Rawls: Plympton is incredibly down to earth and honest about his motives. When did you meet him?
Spectacular Spider-Man is great, wasn’t feeling it at first but I’m starting to really enjoy it and Batman Anime......I’m there as soon as it’s released. Can’t wait for that and the film.

Andrew: Man, you are so right and I was conscious of that when I was drawing it. If you look closer, it is a slight overbite, but I think it’s his chin that gives the impression of an under bite. I did try giving him a bigger one but in the end I sold out. I think the overbite was more successful in the other pic because it was slightly more realistic. I was drawing this for someone and I really wanted him to like it, but I agree with u.
Glad you like the life sketches though. I don’t think there are any Zoos round here and me and some pals from work go to Borders every Sunday to draw, but I feel it’s different from drawing naked forms. My flatmate is on the hunt for more classes so watch this space....(did I just say watch this space????)

Dody: no probs, I actually went looking to buy Leon after I say your blog. £19 in Borders. Too much even for Leon.... Thanks for the kind words.

Robi Pena: Many Thanks man and no probs, you stuff is great.

Joe: How goes it Joe? I know exactly what you mean. I remember when I first met Timbo, he had this theory, (which is hard to argue with and is kind of what Kristian says as well) is that when you draw from life, you r drawing in a more natural style because it’s a primary source. When you copy styles it’s a secondary, tertiary etc, etc so you interpreting something from someone else’s observation of life, does that make sense?. That’s one of the reasons I like you r style so much. You seem to draw inspiration from your life studies primarily, I can see other influences but the major one seems to come from you (correct me if I’m wrong). It’s another reason why I find it strange that you like my work. I’ve always loved mainstream styles, and that’s how I learnt to draw. This “draw from life stuff” only started 2 ½ maybe 3 years ago. If this was a pic for myself, I might have taken a different approach, still would have been mimicking a style though. I’m influenced by so many styles, cutting away and finding my own is difficult. I don’t fight it as much anymore. One day it’ll come I hope.
Glad you liked the 300 sketch. Love that film. All the shots are beautiful even if they are CG.
You’re welcome Joe, the work is great and I’m looking forward to more of the comic.

Sean: Appreciate the kind words, your work is also inspirational. I’ll link you as well. (Got a lot of people to link actually).

Alina. Many thanks Alina

Ken: I swear I write more on this Blog than I did in my whole school career. Art does it to me man. Chapter 3??!!! Read faster boy!
I think I talk a lot because when I see other works, I enjoy reading and delving in to people’s minds. I love watching making of documentaries and learning about different thought processes so for what it’s worth, I share mine! I’m a bad writer though.....LOL

Hrishikesh said...

the Life Drawings r great

Federico Milella said...

WOW just discovered your blog!!!! That's amazing !!! You are very talented :) Bookmarked!!!

David GJ said...

Congratulations for your drawings. I love your showreel

flaviano said...

i'm sure you will do giant steps in animation world, you are really talented an the life on a studio sure help you on this. life drawing are great! i expect big news from you!

maarten said...

wes! im spamming the comment section once again... the only solution is for you to post more :)
(cant really complain though, you have been posting quite a lot lately)
thanks so much for the positive words!!

as for france... ive been thinking about that. you should read the comment i left on tims blog.

Kristian said...

wes, Thanks so much for colouring the shortround sketch you made it much better than if i'd touched it. I like this use of a filter on one of the layers. very cool.
look forward to seeing you at the show thing..wen is it?

tomm said...

enjoyed my visit here all around! great stuff

Anonymous said...

Hey Wes, just discovered the Blog - it looks great!

Its really commendable how many of you guys have Blogs and such- exposes me as the lazy bum that I am!... plus I am really bad at drawing anyway which Is quite embarrassing...

Keep it up Man!!!

EL GRANDE said...

Wes,
Just checkin back on you. Your brain seems to operate in a million different places at once. Every subject throws your lines and choises in a dramatically different direction. It's wild. Even your field drawing is dramatically shifted from your life drawing. How is that not the same muscle:)?? I don't know.

Supercool,
Joe y Elio

Paul Lacolley said...

great great great Wes!!!! again!

Clive said...

nice to see the process of getting that poster...and love the drawing and sketching especially.

samacleod said...

Nice. i love drawing those heroes too. Great poses, amazing finish. Wish i could do that.