Since we got our latest project, an animated Christmas card, I've spent a lot of time looking at animations on the net. This is part of my research and it's got to be done. Actually it's good to get an idea of what others are doing. It's not the first time I've checked out animations on the web, but I'm trying to get an idea of what not to do. It was recommended that we avoid stereotypical Christmas visuals, so I 've been looking at Christmas animations mainly. And Christmas e-cards. It's hard enough to come up with an idea without any traditional Christmas visuals, and at the moment I'm still researching (waiting for inspiration). I found it useful to read a few traditional Christmas stories, and am kind of drawn to the message of peace and goodwill, so I have to come up with a script that portrays this.
 In the meantime I've finally got round to photographing what I've done in the drawing classes. What I'm posting here isn't everything to date as there's a share of stuff in my sketchbook. This is just some of the drawings we did in class on larger sheets.

 

 

 

The images above are blind drawings. A good exercise to improve hand eye co-ordination. I can't help thinking of Picasso when I do these.

 

 

 

The two images above were still life's of basic forms made up of a white rectangular box, a white paper cone and two eggs. They were done using a 2H pencil which was probably too light. I built up the forms gradually using shading only. this was because the background was also white and it was more of an exercise in tone. No lines were drawn first which is what I'd usually do to map in the shapes.

 

 

 

 

 

The life drawings above were done with the same 2H pencil. I really need to get a HB. My other pencils are 3B and darker which I tend to use for shading.

 

 

I used a charcoal pencil for the image above. The poses were time limited for this exercise.

 

 

A few of the forearm and hand drawings, again with the 2B pencil, apart from the obvious charcoal one. I really like the Photographic effect gained with this method (charcoal pencil and rubber). I tried it first in the following images. These were similar to the fist still life tonal studies, using white shapes on a white background. A really nice composition can be gained with the right lighting. Again the forms were built up gradually but with the advantage of using a rubber to enhance the lighter tones. By reworking the tones several times the image eventually gains a realistic feel. I have to say I like this method of drawing and will be doing a lot more when I get the chance. I think I'll try a portrait, just out of curiosity. Don't hold your breath though. It might be six months time before that happens.

 

 

Apologies for the poor picture quality. I have to keep the camera resolution low or it takes forever to upload images.