Schoolism - Introduction to Digital Painting with Andrew Hou - Lesson 1

So I've been wondering for a while whether or not to try out the schoolism online courses. I was hesitant because they seemed a little expensive and no matter where I looked on the internet, I couldn't find any decent consumer reviews on the "Introduction to Digital Painting" class.

I was also hesitant because I am not sure how advanced this class gets... I wanted to take the advanced lighting class with Sam Nielson, but I wasn't positive that my lack of Photoshop skills would not impede my learning.

SO! I took the intro to digital painting class with Andrew Hou and I watched the first lesson, completed the first assignment and watched some of the video feedback. I did the "self-taught" one, so I don't get feedback on my own work.

One thing you might like to know is that with the self-taught class you have access to like... 60 different critiques of people with all different types of art styles. So if you are like me and are not willing to spend the extra money, it's okay. Just take some time and look through the many critiques available.

So I started the first class today, and I handed in my first assignment (The ballerina at the end of this post). I started drawing with Mr. Hou while he was talking (I drew a very similar silhouette) and my first character ended up looking a whole lot like his!!!

mine ->

Mr. Andrew Hou's ->

I feel like I already knew this method of sketching (using many layers, multiplying the layers and building up the shapes). BUT! I do think that actually sitting down and doing this with another person talking you through it changes the subtle ways you approach photoshop sketching, and it is for this reason, I feel like the first class has helped me a lot.

I also feel a little more motivated to sketch directly into photoshop. I always used to do the scan/trace method. This is really unnecessary.... if anything, taking a pencil drawing and re-drawing it into photoshop from scratch (no tracing) is actually a nice way to refine characters. You can look at your original pencil sketch, draw the silhouette in photoshop and refine the silhouette to be more readable, more exaggerated, and tweak the drawing to be exactly the way you want. By not tracing the original sketch, you are looser and you may come up with something completely different than what you started with!

This first lesson only covered sketching. I think we are going over tone in the next one.

So far so good. I think I'm getting my money's worth!!!!

Here's my assignment I handed in... a simple sketch in photoshop (no tone except for the original silhouette, simple shadow and white to clean up the edges and add a bit of detail).

I love squirrels

Squirrels are one cool animal! They don't eat garbage like other types of urban wildlife. They chill out in the trees, they are cute, they are smart and do the little tree shuffle to escape predators. Come on! Who doesn't know the squirrel tree shuffle? Where the squirrel hides on the opposite side of the tree so you can see it, and then when you look behind to tree to see what is there, she shuffles around the other side.... once again eluding you.

Of course, many of them can be seen on the road... flattened.... it is very sad. But I still blame that on their risk-taking behaviour. (Of course I love that Geico commercial with the squirrels causing the car accident)

Pretty much, squirrels are awesome. I think it would be cool to have a pet squirrel... but squirrels are too cool for me.

Robot Walk - FAIL

So I picked up some super string magnets to help the little robot stand up properly... sadly, they were pretty difficult to work with. He kept falling over and I never ended up getting him to walk!

Here is a pretty bad stop motion animation of the robot... Dan pointed out he seemed as frustrated as me...

I also have a nice new platform for him to walk around on! I think I am slowly getting the hang of this. It is just a little frustrating when you can't get it right! I'll keep trying!

More Stop Motion Animation!

Back by popular demand.... well, sort of....

This is another attempt at using my puppet for stop motion. After the last video, his ankles broke, so I made some new legs for the little guy. I'm slowly learning how to be consistent with how I make the limbs.... it is surprisingly hard!!!

In this video, my character finds a ball and is happy when it rolls over to him. Sadly, the ball begins to melt and in his sorrow and frustration, he stomps all over the remains of the ball. I am sure I could have played up the emotions a bit more. It is funny trying to show emotion using only body language! I'm a big fan though.  

Anyways, I hope you enjoy the results of my new hobby!

Stay tuned for more stop-motion! I can't wait to try it out with new puppets!  woohoo!

Check out my amazing stop motion animation skillz!!

So last Thursday Dan and I went on a trip out to good ol' Home Hardware and picked up some supplies so that I could make a stop-motion puppet... or at least the armature for a puppet.

A couple days later, and a trip to Canadian Tire for Epoxy Putty, I made my first animation with the little guy. Obviously, it is pretty bad... BUT, considering I have absolutely no experience, I am feeling pretty proud of myself!  The second animation is a lot better in my opinion.

I can't wait to make more!!! 

Enjoy!

What a beautiful day!

It was actually very difficult to drag myself out to life drawing the other night since the weather has been so beautiful!

I was trying some new techniques and experiments. I was really tired and I just let my hand flow around the page. It was a nice exercise. The three below were 5 minute poses.

This was an hour long pose... I am a little rusty with my rendering. We used light and dark pencil crayons on a mid-tone grey paper. As we get closer to the end of the course, the poses are getting longer.

It begins...

I decided that I would like to try making some short stop-motion movies. I really like the way it looks and I think working with my hands would be a nice way to spend my evenings!

When I was little, I never made those stop-motion lego movies, so I decided I would take a few minutes and try making one with a cute eraser and the webcam on my laptop.

I'll probably start investing in some better materials as I learn more... for now... a simple stop-motion animation is all I can really do!

Enjoy the magic! haha!

Hopefully you will see more of these as I learn more about stop-motion. I seriously have no clue what I am doing, but it seems like a lot of fun! I can't wait to start making puppets!!!!

I used photo booth to take the pictures and AfterEffects to compile them.

Thanks for stopping by!

Toronto Zoo 2012!!!

Dan, Annie and I went to the zoo today to check out the animals. I am pretty sure I saw the hyenas AWAKE for the very first time. We spent some time drawing them... SOOOO COOOOOL!

Below is my pencil drawing and a rendered version.

I have more zoo drawings, but nothing worth showing.... 

Not that anyone follows my blog... but I have a question...

How does everyone feel about drawing from life versus a photograph? I always draw from life (when I am not at work) and I find it to be a lot more challenging, but I also notice I learn a lot more about structure and form....

Any thoughts?

Life Drawing Tips

So I have been going to life drawing classes for about two months now and I feel like I can share some of the things I have learned (not that I know much, if anything at all!!!!)

I think the most helpful tip I could give anyone who is struggling with life drawing is to make sure the feet are flat on the floor. It is super hard to make that model stand on a surface as if they are a MASS putting pressure on the surface they are standing/sitting on. I'm still trying to figure it out, but when I get it right, it feels really good! They are usually placing their weight on one side, one leg. You can push the drawing to exaggerate it and make it more readable.

Another shortcut I have been using is to start with a bean-shaped body. I love the bean! I'm not sure how else to explain it, but if you look below, you might notice it in my drawings.

Draw feet as triangles to begin with... it makes it much faster....

As far as heads go, draw the neckline and note the placement of the ear first. That way, your heads are at least kind of in the right place. I used to just throw a circle in, but now I draw the head last and I always do neck and ear first.

That's all I know so far!!!!

I'll keep doing figure drawing until the summer, then you will probably see a lot of animals instead from my multiple zoo trips!!!!

I really hope I am improving and this isn't all for nothing!!!!!

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Below is a 20 minute drawing from class. We used the skewers to check our proportions and try to draw a perfectly proportioned person... I'm not really sure how well I did...

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The following drawings are from extra life drawing. No instructor.. just drawing. I find these a lot more enjoyable since we are not being stopped (for a lesson) and can get into a groove. I think I was a little off this night, but I'm still noticing an improvement.

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The last two drawings I was really starting to feel it. If you look at the legs of the 15 minute one, you can see the structure lines of the planes of the body (if you look really carefully). I was feeling pretty good!

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Thanks for the support everyone!

Cutest Eraser

I got this eraser from a co-worker for valentines day. I just love it!