Stop Motion test 2

just another quick play with Breca.
sorry about the camera work, i currently don't have a camera stand so i am strapping the camera down to a printer with a lot masking tape!

Stop Motion test

I had some spare time this morning so i decided to experiment with some stopmotion animation as i have never tried it before. Apart from a couple of breakages on the model this was a pleasant experience and a lot more faster than hand drawing. I will conduct further tests but i think i need to make some adjustments on Breca, to strengthen the old boy up a bit more. apologies he's a very grumpy character.  

Oschon Wespi-Tschopp at 'pick me up' fair

My work colleague Oschon, who also works as a print technician with the Print club London has been keeping busy all week working alongside other artists and designers at the 'pick me up' fair which will be running until the 3rd May at Somerset House. Here he is assisting, illustrator/animator/games designer Luke Whittaker.  Oschon's personal prints are also now available to buy at the Print Club. 

It would be nice to do some screen printing myself some time soon.  

The Once Great Breca

I decided to take a short break from drawing studies and instead opt for creating a character out of some plasticine i had left over from a previous project. Inspired by the character designs in Dreamworks' 'How to train a Dragon', as well as my Dads beer belly and my peculiar ginger beard, i came up with 'Breca'. more developments to come shortly.     

A moment of nostalgia (part 2) The legend of Jax and megabomb

Jax the steroid abusing, rabbit biker and his explosive pal Megabomb were two characters i developed as a child, they were supposedly based in the universe of Sonic the hedgehog. Here are some of Jax and megabomb's world famous chronicles, complete with a character description that ends with 'he wont let anything stand in his way!' These were very likely to be some of my first ever explorations into character design.

Apparently defacing other peoples exercise books with depictions of the male genitalia was all the rage back in the day. 

A moment of nostalgia

As i was sorting out my loft yesterday i found some of my old school exercise books from years 6 and 7 hidden within a large carrier bag. I spent some time reading through the pages and remembering the days of Merlin football stickers, the original Mortal Kombat computer game, bunking off games by deliberately forgetting my kit and constantly doodling. These are all drawings from when i was about 10-12 years old, completed during lessons which i obviously failed to sustain my attention. Its amazing how i completely forgot about these but then as soon as i see them i can almost vividly remember the time i drew them. What is really humbling is i loved creating characters and stories when i was child but through the years and misdirection, i neglected this passion and only now, a good 14 years down the line, i have gone full circle and returned to this original love. It is also a strange coincidence that i find these now while i am working in character development and also waiting to embark on studies in character animation. thanks mum and dad for keeping these lil gems safe all these years!     

life studies

These are my first attempts at drawing from life. I actually found it a lot more enjoyable and rewarding going out on location as apposed to trying to study subjects from a computer screen. The drawings feel more energetic and fluid compared to the rigid attempt below (from a computer). The fact that the subject could change position at any moment forces me to draw quickly and i try to capture the feel of the pose rather than stress about the finer details. This is definitely the way forward to improve my skills, so i will continue this approach whenever possible.      

frustration

a very bad week in terms of work, i didn't get much opportunity to sit down with my sketchbook and when i did i just couldn't seem to draw. I seem to have to many considerations in my mind at one time and as such the drawing doesn't go as planned. these two were the only half decent attempts (so have a guess at the state of the others) hopefully next week will be more productive.  

More life drawing

I gained a lot from last weeks session including some good feedback from the facilitator, who believes that my confidence in my drawing has grown considerably and that this confidence is now starting to feed the development of style. Not sure how much of that is really true but its always nice to hear. I was also given advise on how to consider the face, something i have really struggled with, especially when using charcoal. I have been advised that when drawing the face i should not to think of the fascial features as lines or shading but more anatomically, considering the bones and muscles that lye beneath the skin. This apparently will help add more depth to my drawing and prevent the face appearing flat, like a drawing of a face on a egg. In my next life drawing session i will grab an easel that is closest to the model and concentrate on the head and neck region.         

Last weeks sketches

I am continuing with my anatomical studies in my A5 sketchbook but i understand that these could look very uninteresting to the average viewer, so i decided to experiment with some of my sketches on photoshop. I think it will be a good idea to work directly with sketchbook material but to really consider and experiment with presentation as it might come in handy.
The other thing that i tend to avoid in my drawing is interiors and environments and so i have also decided to tackle this phobia in the coming weeks. The last pic is my first attempt of an interior in a very long time and as you can see i've got a lot to improve on!i also need to use more color in my work!arhh the 'to do list' is growing longer.