TEACH YOURSELF | How To Do Gesture

Curiosity about life in all of its aspects, I think, is still the secret of great creative people

Leo Burnett, quoted in #Girlboss

As part of my Teach Yourself series, I’ve been wanting to do a post about advice on gesture drawing. After having searched online for tips for a while now, I realize it is hard to locate any blogs that focus specifically on gesture drawing. As a result, I have decided to compile specific advice in the form of videos and handouts as I have been able to find them. These tips all come from different corners of the Internet, as opposed to a few specific blogs.

Defining 'gesture'

Gesture is about capturing the essence of what you’re drawing.

It is arguably the single most important part of making a lifelike figure. Without it, a drawing will seem stiff. When I decided I wanted to go for CalArts, I made it a goal to really hone in on my gesture skills. 

Gesture is about feeling the action and making mental observations before you ever put the pen down to the paper. This way, you’ll communicate clearly and guide the eye of the onlooker through an appealing flow of lines.

Advice

Here is a handout by Griz and Norm on gesture drawing:

(Source: grizandnorm)

When you’re drawing a gesture, the essence of the pose should be captured within a minute or so – perhaps even sooner. Instead of focusing your attention on each little part of the body, you should focus on getting the whole figure down, without too much detail. This way, you have everything you need, should you decide to finish the drawing at a later point in time.

(Source: drawingsfromamexican)

Rad Sechrist shares some very good advice on his blog, Rad How To, about gesture:

In one of these handouts, Sechrist points to the fact you need to ‘push’ the pose. This is something I think a lot about, too, as I draw. It can be very easy to fall into the trap of  “straightening up” a pose and making it more symmetrical. But when a drawing looses its angles and tilts, it also looses its power and life. If this is something you struggle with, you have to make a conscious effort to overcome this tendency by exaggerating the pose.

(Source: grizandnorm)

On a final note, I want to thank all these artists for sharing their advice on gesture drawing!  

-Christine-

  

Back Down Memory Lane: Russian Animation

(Source: trans-siberian)

When I was little, I couldn’t wait for the time of day when I would watch animated TV shows and/or films. For me, it wasn’t just a way to pass the time. It was a whole ceremony in and of itself. I would sit in a miniature couch that had only enough room for me and my teddy bear, extremely close to the TV, with the blinds drawn. I loved delving into the worlds of the characters – believing, in a sense, that they were real.

I knew that animation isn’t real in the strictest sense of the word; I didn’t expect Pikachu to emerge from my backpack any second, or for Sinbad the Sailor to bring me along on his ship, Nimbus. I understood early on that the characters were made by someone else -- somewhere else in the world -- somehow. 

Even so, the emotions and the journeys of the shows and films were part of an alternate reality that felt real in its own right, regardless of the fact that it was all imaginary.

Thinking back on the shows and films I watched when I was little, I realize that they fall into two categories.

One category is that of animation I have continued to watch into adulthood, such as Disney and Dreamworks animation. The films from these studios have, in a sense, grown together with me and I continue to find new meaning in them.

Then the other category is that of cartoons that I have not watched since then. Now and then, a memory will pop up of a scene or a color I remember from a show. In those moments, I’m not sure whether I’m making the memory up, if it was a dream, or if it’s actually based on a show I used to watch.

Recently, I remembered a show about small fairies who live in flowers. That was all I could remember. I spent a fair amount of time trying to track it down on Google. I found that the show was real and it was called Petals.

So many memories came rushing back -- about the circumstances surrounding my watching it (every morning before school), about the characters and about the music. It all appeared to me like a forgotten dream. I must have been six when this show was on.

Having found this show, memories of other shows came to me and before I knew it, I was going down Memory Lane, trying to remember and then find long-forgotten animated films and shows from my childhood.

One of the first things that came to mind while uncovering the cartoons from my past was that I used to watch Russian animated films. They would air sometimes on TV, I think on Fridays. The films weren’t dubbed and they might have had subtitles, but I could not read at the time. So, I saw these films in Russian without knowing what they were truly about.

It was therefore really fun for me to find these now on Youtube and to go back and understand what was going on. In the end, though, I find that I had understood the gist of what was going on when I was little – just from watching the images unfold on the screen.

And what beautiful images! I don’t know the extent to which these films are known or whether or not many people have already seen them. But I have decided to share some links to them below, in case someone has not.

The fact that a kid could watch this, not understanding the words, and yet still grasp the meaning speaks a lot to the skills of the artists who made them. As Alexander Mackendrick explains in his book, On Film-Making, a film should mainly be visual and able to be told without words. But that is easier said than done!

Here are some of the Russian films (with subtitles) I was able to find on Youtube. You can turn on the subtitles on the right lower corner of the screen.

The Tale of the Tsar Saltan

The Little Humpbacked Horse/The Magic Pony

The Scarlet Flower/Beauty and the Beast

The Snow Maiden

The Wild Swans

-Christine-

TEACH YOURSELF | How To Do Solid Drawing

Solidity is the key to creating believable, three-dimensional characters out of your imagination.

I wanted to learn more about solidity during my studies at CalArts, so one of my teachers recommended I take a look at this video:

Seems simple enough! Solidity is just about imagining a 3D space, being conscious of overlap and avoiding twinning.

But in practice, I am finding this stuff doesn’t necessarily come easy if I don’t make a conscious effort – which is why I’ve been focusing so much on it. It’s not enough that I know about solidity – my drawings have to really show that I understand how to use it.

Glenn Vilppu’s Drawing Manual and Walt Stanchfield’s Drawn to Life are two books that have really helped in this regard. With these books, I am starting to better grasp how to easily visualize 3D space on a blank 2D piece of paper without reference. It truly is a basic skill needed in drawing from the imagination. Sometimes I get so frustrated with myself when I can’t draw what I intended in my mind! But maybe that's a good thing -- because it spurs me to want to become better.

As well as these books, I have also found a few online resources that I check back on regularly to better understand solidity and structure in drawing. As part of my Teach Yourself posts, I have shared these below. The idea behind this series is to use the internet to educate yourself about drawing.

Rad Sechrist – Rad How To

(Source: radhowto)

Sechrist is a story-board artist at Dreamworks. His blog focuses a lot on teaching you to see the structure underneath what you’re drawing. On his blog, he has also shared some amazing video recordings from his online classes (radhowtoschool.com)

Toby Shelton

(Source: tobyshelton)

A story artist at Disney, Toby shares some advice on structure of, in particular, hands (as well as some awesome storyboards from various films!)

Kirk Shinmoto – An Intro to Robutics

(Source: robutic)

Shinmoto has a post on his blog called “The Secret to Drawing” that is very inspirational. I have linked it above

Will Weston Studio

(Source: willwestonstudio)

A good website for advice on structure, volume and anatomy

Animation Meat – “Drawing for Animation”

This PDF file is a transcript of one of Eric Larson’s lectures on Entertainment. In the notes, Larson goes over the principles that make up a good, solid drawing

Also, here are some youtube videos that explain the things that make up solidity, such as volume, foreshortening, overlap and perspective.

Then in this video, Ahmed Aldoori explains how you can draw cubes to help you draw poses from the imagination (similar to Vilppu's approach).

Finally, these are some notes from Glen Keane that I've hung up on my wall:

(Source: lindadornart)

If you find yourself struggling with solidity as well, I hope these links might be of some help to you!

-Christine-

CalArts Teachers Recommend: Study These Artists

… [I] make sure I am studying good art. There is a phrase that says "Garbage In Garbage Out". Meaning... if you are looking, studying or around bad stuff (in this case art) you will absorb it naturally, and then when you put pencil to paper that is what will come out.  You can only produce what you know.  So if you would like to be a great artist study great art work, be surrounded by it. Study just the good stuff 

– Randall Sly

At CalArts, teachers seem to be at odds with each other when it comes to the question of whether or not studying from other artists is an accepted approach for learning. The foremost agreed approach seems to be that you should learn most about drawing through life-drawing and sketching. This way, you will make your own observations, which you can use for characters and the way they act while also finding your own sense of appeal.

On the flipside, I think all the teachers also see the value in studying other artist’s artworks (for learning – not for sharing as your own work). Drawing “in the style” of that artist forces you to observe what makes the art work and why the artist made the choices she or he made. When balanced out with sketching from real life, I think studying art can be a great learning tool!

Whenever I “feel bad” about that way of looking at it, I remember what artist Glenn Vilppu, a great believer in originality, says in his book Drawing Manual: “Copying or drawing from other artists is an accepted traditional approach to learning in conjunction with drawing from observation and creating from your imagination.”

Throughout my studies at CalArts, teachers have given us names of artists that they recommend looking to for inspiration and study. I have shared these below, as well as links to their websites. There were more than a few I had not heard of prior to being given their names. Now, I can’t imagine not being familiar with them and their art!

Enjoy!

Emmanuelle Walker

(Source: emmanuellewalker)

Shiyoon Kim

(Source: shiyoonkim)

Dice Tsutsumi

(Source: madeofcelluloid)

Nicolas Marlet

(Source: characterdesignnotes)

Milt Kahl

(Source: andreasdeja)

Sergio Pablos

 

(Source: thespastudios)

Walt Kelly

(Source: entrecomics)

Carter Goodrich

(Source: illustrationart)

Joe Moshier

(Source: sb.kraljeva-sutjeska)

Annette Marnat

(Source: theinspirationgrid)

Earl Hurst

(Source: savedfromthepaperdrive)

Tom Oreb

(Source: andreasdeja)

Daan Jippes

(Source: alchetron)

Gahan Wilson

(Source: expendablemudge)

Charles Addams

(Source: theinvisibleagent)

Peter de Sève

(Source: david-wasting-paper)

-Christine-