Still dreaming...

Today I woke from a dream I wish I hadn't woken up from, and spent the morning trying to recapture it. This is as close as I came.

Coffee nook'd!

There's a Starbucks nearby that's been getting entirely too much of my money.  I think, in the long run, this little guy will pay off, and hopefully lead to some late night/early morning binge drawing. [forthcoming]

lifedrawing log - 05.28.11

beer + clipboard =

horrorgourds / playlist

When something feels right, I don't tend to question it, so...



Autodestruct playlist  :

The Flashbulb "Love As A Dark Hallway"
The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble "From The Stairwell"
Epic 45 "Weathering"
This Will Destroy You "Tunnel Blanket"
Hammock "Longest Year"
Explosions In The Sky "Take Care, Take Care, Take Care"
Grails "Deep Politics"

Hauschka "Salon Des Amateurs"

Boxcutter "The Dissolve"
London Elektricity "Yikes!"
Nu Tone "Words And Pictures"
Wagon Christ "Toomorrow"
Royksopp "Senior"
Autoclav 1.1 "All Standing Room In The Goodnight Saloon"
Snog "Last of the Great Romantics"
Matta "Prototype"
Semiomime "From Memory"
Kryptic Minds "Can't Sleep"
Siriusmo "Mosaik"
Younger Brother "Vaccine"
Ghost "Kaleidoscope"
MDS "Slice Vertical"
V/A "Context" [SMM / Ghostly International]
V/A "Back & 4th" [Hot Flush Recordings]

Slim Pickings

Here are some drawings...



...and here's me showing my respect for Chinese culture.

"Avoid Half" - shadows

The following philosophy comes courtesy of my art lead, the knowledgeable and versatile Arnold Tsang. I asked him how he plans his shadows and he said, "Basically, you want to avoid cutting the image in half." "Avoid half" has since become my mantra in many areas. You can see how, in the example below, it looks better when you give an object over to light (left) or to shadow (center) instead of something uncomfortably in between (right).



Notice, too, that doing this creates a more readable pattern when you squint. I used to think lighting choices were arbitrary, or that you had to slavishly calculate how light rays fell, but (at least for non-realist illustrators) not so! You have to make a DESIGN DECISION based on what you think will make the most pleasing pattern, and lean hard in one direction or the other. Will it be mostly light or mostly dark? You don't want your piece to resemble a yin-yang!

To a lot of artists, this is second-nature, common sense stuff, but I was happy to learn it.  Passing the savings onto you!

---

Also, head over to Babe Lab for a new interview with my good pal Josh Singh, as well as a nifty card trick!

j/k LOL

Who's got two thumbs and zero discipline? *points at self* THIS GUY!!



So I drew a bunch of disembodied heads again.  Sue me.  Oh, and here's a bonus pic of yours truly at a Renaissance Faire holding a giant turkey leg --->

Before you ask, yes, Nyancat is totally appropriate for this type of event. Nyancat is appropriate for ALL EVENTS.

sick and searching

Ill this weekend...just me and my therapy pumpkins. When everything else is a strain, you just want some things to be easy.



((The little stars indicate where I was observing something, or someone.))

I think it may be high time for me to exit this "mega comp of disjointed head drawings" phase and enter into a "one-drawing-per post" phase like so many artists I admire. Seriously, my heroes aren't doing this, and for good reason : no one remembers cascading pages of jumbled sketches! It's hard to let go of ingrained habits, especially if you feel like they're strengths, and try new, uncomfortable things. I'll save iteration for the workplace and strive to be more decisive when I'm off-duty.

lifedrawing log - 05.04.11

morning studies -- week 1

Trying to get back into the habit of doing studies/warmups when I get into work.  Apologies to Jeremy Pantoja.



Bonus Aletta...

annotated sketchperiment