Car quick sketch

Something I sketched as a test for a test for an illustration. I think I might have stolen the small wheels idea from my good friend JP Vine. Turns out he stole a lady from Gary Larson, so he can't complain :-P

YouTube analysis: "You get away from here!"

This is one of the most animated live-action clips I've ever seen. The timing is simply perfect!

A few things I've noticed:

1. Much of the charm here comes from the contrast between the busy, wild 7 seconds of the beginning, and the remaining 5 seconds of quiet aftermath.
   
2. The dog detaches and leaves not at once, but gradually. It reminds me that the principle of arcs is much broader than we usually give it credit for: things tend to change direction over time, not in a single moment.
3. Another gradient is his posture. He's hunched down for the first 6 seconds or so, then straightens in three beats:
   00:06 - slightly straighter, the dog is further now
   00:07 - almost fully upright, but his back is still arched forward - he's still inside the situation
   00:10 - fully upright, spine arch reversed, he's out of the situation.
4. His arm up when he says "you go" is clearly an act of pride and victory.
   
5. For the first 10 seconds, the only thing in the world is that dog. This we see through change: when he feels the crisis to be over, he looks at the photographer - the rest of the world is relevant again

I'm sure there's more - feel free add your own observations.

Kudos for Shuki Gamliel, who sent me the link.

Finito

The head is finally finished, and it's time to move on. I made a little turntable version, too. Big thank you to Oleg Kuklin, my teacher. I wonder what my next project should be. Something more expressive, I think.

Quick sketch: a cute girl

It's about time I started uploading some drawings again. Here's a recent one.

Out of the cocoon

SO....the cast head is all but done, and I'm very excited and pleased. Still have some cleanup to do - a couple of hours of work, and my first real cast sculpture will be ready. It's going to be SO great to have it in my living room.

Sculpture update

Haven't been here in a while (busy busy busy...really). Did you miss me?

Here are some work process photos. First, I added a nice clay base to the thing. Then we prepared some cast and started splashing it onto the clay. It has this cool effect:



In the end you get this cast cocoon, in which hides the clay head. It's a very strange feeling, having your work buried in like that. It took 5 hours of hard physical work to bury it!



Today we opened the cast, removed the clay, and poured cast into the mold. These pictures were taken while we were removing clay:




Next time, we remove the mold, and the session after that we'll cleanup and make some correction on the cast statue itself. And then, hopefully, it will be over. I have to say, I'm looking forward to finishing this, and starting something new.

Finished clay stage

Well! My first clay sculpture is finally finished. I still need to transfer it to cast and all, of course, but the clay stage is done. It's not perfect, but perfectness is not an option on your first attempt.

...so nice to be old, you get so much more relaxed about not being perfect:)

So far so good

So today was lesson 7, and it's suddenly starting to look like something that could, in theory, have a slight chance of not being a total disaster.

Sculpting demo

Absolutely brilliant.

Sculpting scene

Bit creepy, ain't it? Nice photo taken by my teacher Oleg. This is where it's at so far (around the end of session 5). Proportion and basic facial features are more or less there. Now starts the REAL work....
Will upload a turnaround in a week or so.

Photo Analysis 1

Following something Alex Orrelle was talking about in the studio, I'm recently trying to notice interesting pictures and analyze what's interesting (to me) about them. Well, here's one:


So what's interesting about it? I did a few sketches trying to simplify and exaggerate, almost as if I was caricaturing the photo. I think what made me stare at it in the first place, was the sudden streak of strong warm yellow within all the blueness.


In this black and white, high contrast version (thank you Photoshop), something else comes up: the attractiveness of the small, relatively bright tree, in the midst of his big dark peers. Being an "oddity" in the context of this picture, it stands out and becomes a natural focal point for the picture.


[Disclaimer: I'm not a great painter to say the least, and I don't intend to teach anybody anything. These are just some illustrated thoughts, sort of a visual analysis for my own enjoyment.]

Sculpting frenzy!

Well, I'm not posting here as much as I would have liked, but what the hey. Doing my best.
After dreaming it from plenty of years, I've finally taken sculpting lessons. So far it's a huge pleasure, worth any penny and every moment invested. The head above is the model for my very first sculpting mission. I've started by sculpting the underlying skull. Below is the result after two lessons (about 6 hours). Judging from my teacher's response, I think it must be fairly quick for a first try.


And me:

I'll keep y'all posted as the thing comes along.

Joseph Christian Leyendecker

Here are a bunch of great illustrations by Joseph Christian Leyendecker. Enjoy!

Yet another Team Fortress 2 video

Hair

A few doodles from a meeting at work, loosely based on a fellow animator. For some reason, he didn't seem to like me having fun with his face. Go figure :)

Team Fortress 2 trailers and teasers

Well, here's something I haven't done before in this blog: embedded teasers. However, I think the artistic value of this stuff is so great, that it absolutely justifies stepping out of character. So, here as some teasers for a multiplayer game called Team Fortress 2, and I think you'll agree that the character design could have easily made a Pixar feature film

Meet the Heavy: The heavy weapons character introducing himself. Excellent performance!


The Teaser:


Illustrative Rendering Featurette: A short presentation touching on artistic decisions and tech solutions.


And finally, a trailer showing some in-game footage:


Well, isn't that juicy? Can't wait to play already!

Bertrand Russell Doodle

I was working on a character concept for something, and I remembered the philosopher/mathematician Bertrand Russell, thinking he might make a good reference. Here's a quick doodle I did based on his features (which, by the way, didn't work for my character at all).

To be honest

I have to admit: when browsing through my art blog feeds, I usually look at the pictures, briefly go through the the text, and proceed to the next blog. A post from Emma's "Art, plz" blog made me stop and read carefully. It's really, really well written. It has a touch humor, a touch of personality, and a ton of wisdom. And good sketches to go with it, too! No wonder she works for Pixar. Have a look. Then come back, I want to add something.

[No no, don't continue - read her post first!]

So. Drawing honest is absolutely where the gold is. That's a great notion. Problem is, most of us consume mind-food in the same way we consume body-food: if it's not tasty, we're not going to eat it, no matter how good the nutrition value is. You can be honest till you're blue in the face, and it won't do anybody any good if it's not well put together.

That, folks, is the catch22 of good artwork: if you focus on good form you lose the honesty, if you don't – you lose your audience. How do you get honest, then?

I think, by taking the long road. You spend some years climbing up the mountain of craftsmanship, working hard to conquer form. Then you spend some more years climbing down again - down to reality, down to where your audience lives, down to content. It takes time and effort to learn how to use the craft as a consultant, not a tyrant. Once you can do that, then – and ONLY then – you can, and should, draw honest.

Ecologists

This was done for a forum drawing challenge under the title "Mom! Dad! Look what I found!". I took a big breath and plunged into some experimental painting. I have to say, I sort of like the result.

Strangely enough, my conscious brain had no say in choosing the subject... My hand just kept doodling silly dinosaurs, and after a few attempts to regain control, I just decided to play along and do something with dinosaurs.

Yet another silly comic strip