TEACH YOURSELF | How To Lead The Eye

Recently, I made about 1800 thumbnail studies from How to Train Your Dragon. Every time there was a cut or a camera move, I would hit pause and draw the shot. I got the idea to do so from a CalArts classmate, who in turn got the idea from a post by Emma Coats. While I did the sketches, I paid close attention to the composition of each frame. As Coats instructed in her post, I asked myself a series of questions about the shots, such as, where are the characters positioned? Why was there a cut? How is the frame divided? How are the angles and lines positioned in the shot? What do they lead the eye to? Where is the camera positioned?

I did this exercise to study what makes up a ‘good’ composition. I had come to accept that to learn about composition from movies, it is not enough to simply watch a lot of movies. In fact, when a composition is well made in a movie, it is often difficult for the audience to notice it – it flows into the storyline so well that that the audience gets carried away into that world.

To many people, myself included, composition can therefore be a bit of a mystery.

The first time I heard about composition was in my Art History classes during high school. In these classes, we would analyze paintings from around the world and how they reflected the thought pattern of a given society during a specific time period. When we got to the Renaissance and Venetian art, we learned that these artists used shapes, such as converging lines and figural pyramids, to purposefully guide the eye through the painting and convey the ‘mood’ of the time. We learned that Renaissance artists used composition as a tool for creating visual depth and figurative meaning.

(Source: Marsha Russell)

Still, I wasn’t sure what makes a ‘good’ composition. If composition is the arrangement of shapes within an image, then at what point does it become a ‘bad’ combination?

To settle the ins and outs of composition, I took a class at CalArts that covered composition. I found that composition is really just about making art that looks good to you while being mindful of the purpose behind the composition. 

In a nutshell, composition is about not settling before you’ve reached a point at which you’re happy with the ‘flow’ of the piece.

That being said, there are a few basic ‘rules’ to keep in mind.

To reinforce and remind myself what I have been taught, I have started analyzing movies on my own, like I did How to Train Your Dragon. On top of that, I like to scout online to find any resonating insight. In this post, I’m going to share some of the handouts and videos that have been helpful in understanding how to lead the eye through a composition. Most of these sources agree that good composition is about clarity, i.e. leading the eye to a point of interest, while being mindful of what you’re trying to communicate story-wise.

Advice

Artist Rad Sechrist thinks about the relationships between shapes as he makes compositions. He has made a handout on his site Rad How To that analyzes a painting and how the artist guides the onlooker through it.

(Source: radhowto)

Another example of leading the eye is to point everything toward a single center of interest:

(Source: andreasdeja)

Having the perspective lines converge where you want the audience to look is another way to guide the eye.

(Source: Marsha Russell)

Yet more ways you can guide the eye through a composition is by contrast. You can create contrast though lighting, colors and/or patterns. Whichever element stands out the most (creates the greatest level of contrast to the rest of the elements) in a given composition will be where the eye looks. So for instance, if you have a composition with a majority of circular shapes and then one triangular shape, the audience will be attracted to the triangle.

(By Loui del Carmen, source: theartcenter)

Here is a video by Ahmed Aldoori that analyzes some paintings by Paul Felix. Aldoori explains how Felix uses some of the principles I have mentioned above to create his compositions.

I hope these links and explanations help!

As always, thanks to all the artists who shared this advice online!

-Christine-

Leonardo Da Vinci's Advice On Drawing

Sketching is a way of awakening and sharpening our awareness  

Walt Stanchfield, Drawn to Life

I recently read a book named Leonardo’s Notebooks. It contains Leonardo Da Vinci's advice on drawing and the discoveries he made in his sketchbook nearly 600 years ago -- and yet the notes are truly timeless because they resonate with what teachers at CalArts recommend their students focus on. 

I loved the notes, so I have decided to write out a few of the things I took from the book:

1.     Study muscles and how they work. Then you’ll be able to understand the body and the cause of each movement in all the positions and actions.

2.    Don’t copy when you draw. Then you’ll simply act as a mirror, unconscious of the existence of the form you are drawing. Analyze what you’re drawing.

3.     Observe people out in real life and take note of their behavior. Then sketch them out in a “little book which you should always carry with you.”[1]

4.     Don’t draw from previous masters and artists to understand design and drawing. Study natural objects.

5.     Draw passionately and understand/feel what you are drawing -- “that figure is most admirable which by its actions best expresses the passion that animates it.”[2]

6.     Draw what your character is thinking by means of attitudes and gestures; be clear.

7.     When trying to “invent” an animal/monster, make the parts resemble those of some other natural being.

8.     When you want to memorize a thing you have studied, draw it multiple times. Then draw it without the model. Compare your drawing to the model and note where you have gone wrong. Then return to the model and draw what you got wrong again and again till you have it well in your mind.

9.     Study variations in faces so that when you are out sketching from real-life, you can easily recognize which type of nose, say, you are observing.

10.  Draw together with others. You’ll see where you lack in skill and this realization will lead you to careful study. Also, you’ll want to be among those who are more praised than you and this praise from others will spur you on. Furthermore, you can learn from the drawings of others who do better than yourself.

11.  Ask other people for feedback about your drawings. It doesn’t matter whether they are artists themselves or not. Consider the feedback you get and decide whether you agree or not.

12.  To really learn how to draw, you have to want to learn it – you have to see the beauty in what you’re drawing. As Da Vinci writes, “Just as eating contrary to the inclination is injurious to the health, so study without desire spoils the memory, and it retains nothing that it takes in.”[3]

13.  Knowledge, in all its forms, is good. Even when you discover you don´t like a particular subject matter or approach to drawing, it is better than being ignorant of the thing you study. Studying and finding your artistic likes and dislikes helps make you become a better artist.

I find these notes very inspiring -- not only because of Da Vinci's insights and advice, but also because of the nature of how he gathered all this information. He didn't have any "how to" books to study from. He didn't have the internet to do a wealth of research for composing his paintings. Yet he was able to discover so many things about what makes an artist great. He went out and studied the world and experimented with what he had. I think that's part of what has made him so legendary. The art of the Renaissance continues to amaze me and, I think, everyone because of artists like Da Vinci who studied the real world and conveyed their unique image of it through careful observation. 

Above all, this kind of unique vision and understanding of the world is what CalArts is about -- the students there are encouraged to find their own solutions and experiment with methods of drawing. One way to do that is by having a sketchbook and making observations. 

So if I could take only one thing away from this book, I'd say I have been inspired to continue to go out and make observations about the real world in my sketchbook -- just like I did for my CalArts application.

-Christine-

---

[1] H. Anna Suh, edit., Leonardo’s Notebooks (New  York: Black Dog and Leventhal Publishers, 2005), 21.

[2] Ibid., 40.

[3] Ibid., 302.

Why Animation Should Not Be "Kids-Friendly"

Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again   

C. S. Lewis

To me, one of the coolest things about animation is this medium's ability to capture a story and move audiences around the globe. Similar to live-action, animated movies help me see the world from various perspectives. The fictional characters of these stories urge me to understand and empathize with others in the “real” world.

Unlike live-action, however, animation has a specific sort of story-telling “tied” to it. When most people hear the word ‘animation,’ they automatically think of fairytales and imaginary worlds.

In his article On Fairy-Stories, J.R.R Tolkien defines a fairytale as 

a story “which touches on or uses Faerie, whatever its own main purpose may be: satire, adventure, morality, fantasy. Faerie itself may perhaps most nearly be translated by Magic…”[1] 

According to Tolkien, fairytales and fantasy incorporate elements out of the ordinary, such as magic, that together relate an underlying reality or truth about real life.

I bring this article up not only because fairytales and animation often share similar storylines that revolve around fantastical events. I believe that animation and fairytales also have something else in common – namely that each is believed to be for children only.

Edmund Dulac (source: Myth&Moor)

This connection between children and fairytales is one of the main things discussed by Tolkien in his article.

For better or for worse, as he writes, the worth of fairytales depends on our perception of children and what they like to engage in. He explains that a child is often seen as a different type of creature – an immature member of the family. Many adults therefore assign fairytales to children automatically because they assume only children could engage in something so far from reality. In the end, he writes, adults dismiss the value of fairytales. [3]

According to Tolkien, shunning fairytales like this is a real shame since there is much worth to be found in them, even for adults. As he writes:

“At least it will be plain that in my opinion fairy-stories should not be specially associated with children… If fairy-story as a kind is worth reading at all it is worthy to be written for and read by adults.”[4]

Tolkien thus calls not only for adults to engage in fairytales and keep their passion for the art form throughout life – he also encourages story-writers to create fairytales that adults can find depth and meaning in.

Kay Nielsen (source: 50watts)

He believes that when stories are made for children with the view that children are somehow different from grown-ups and more gullible, we create works of art that alienate adults. These kinds of fairytales will be “banished” and forgotten by children as they grow up and and become adults.[5]

He wishes to see stories that both children and adults will enjoy – stories in which each member of the family will find elements they get something out of; that fit children and are yet within their measure. He encourages fairytales to, “like [children’s] clothes,” allow for growth.[6]

Edmund Dulac (source: johncoulthart)

Since animation and fairytales are closely linked, I think many of Tolkien’s points can be related back to our perception of animation. For many people working in the animation industry today, a complex juxtaposition exists between wanting to tell fantastical stories and also desiring for adult movie-goers to acknowledge the art form. After all, an animated movie takes hundreds of talented artists many years to create. A lot of hard work and passion goes into creating each single frame. The fact that the final DVD is often hidden away in the corner of a “children’s” section of a shop can be a bitter pill to swallow, depending on one’s outlook. 

Claire Keane (source: claireonacloud)

But like Tolkien writes about the worth of fairytales, perhaps the solution to this “problem” could lie not only within adults opening up to watching animated movies – but also, in part, within the story writing process itself. 

As we, the aspiring animators and experienced filmmakers alike, continue to push the boundaries of what a fairytale consists of, we need to constantly challenge our own perception of what “children like” or should watch. In this way, we can strive to make movies that capture a sense of hope and joy both children and adults alike will treasure.

Eyvind Earle (source: disneyconceptsandstuff)

I really enjoyed reading Tolkien’s article, so I thought I’d share it and my thoughts about it here on this blog. If, like me, you are curious to know about the origins of fairytales and read about Tolkien’s views on fictional worlds, you can follow this link.

-Christine-

                                                              

1 J.R.R. Tolkien, “On Fairy-Stories,” in The Monsters and the Critics and the Other Essays, ed. Christopher Tolkien (London: George Allen and Unwin, 1983): 114. 

2 Ibid., 154. 

3 Ibid., 129-130. 

4 Ibid., 135-136. 

5 Ibid., 131. 

6 Ibid., 137-138.