The final Slide for the Exam...

Draw Batman

Draw the image above ...remember to build with shapes to get a more complex image. Fill in the dark areas, but leave all the folds white.

Exam Review

It's that time of year to see what we have learned so far...

The reason for tight sketches and character design studies...

Art is a process. By establishing good habits early we can develop good working habits that can yield outstanding results.  The design process is critical to what we do, and develops skill sets beneficial both in an outside of the classroom. 

Once we have our challenge we need to develop our solutions. We begin through using methods like thought trees, word associations, actor/stage/action, and other methods. After which we begin writing what we see to help compose our idea process that we will test in thumbnail sketches. These thumbnail drawings will evolve. 

After our thumbnail sketches we were to begin doing character studies.  One of our jobs on this project was to reimagine the characters in already successful book. We are to re-interpret the characters in a fresh new design. Character design is an evolution from concept to a more finished design.

Once our characters are developed we need to place them using the rule of thirds into our compositions. Thumbnails will help us test this. Once a quick thumbnail drawing looks like a good solution, we develop it further into a tight sketch will be our final blue print for our finished piece.

Tight sketch...

Finish... the quality isn't an accident. There was a process in creating it. 

The palette to success...

Children's Book illustration

Your final children's book is Due December 7th. 

Must demonstrate use of reference. 

All accessories and background should be referenced too.

Must Use the rule of thirds or have a valid reason for breaking them.

There must be a clearly defined horizon line.

There must be clear hierarchies. 

There must be a border.

Final image size 9 * 12 with a 1 inch border.

The image must be based upon text in the story and clearly illustrate the plot of story.

The character design must be original. 

If you use the same character design as the book or another found one on line you are clearly violating copyright. This is a violation of the law and will result in being Fired. 

Final Children's book thumbnails and character designs due...

Your final children's book thumbnail drawings and character designs will be due on November 27th. At this time you should have exactly what page you are going to be designing for selected and be refining which thumbnail was the best. Your character design should also be finished at this point. 

There are so many ways to approach your design as every day we have discussed a fresh approach to improving our work. 

Thumbnails are to test the possibility of an idea. If it doesn't work you have only spent 5 minutes on the concept. You move on and create again. 

They are also the blueprint to your success as they will guide you to when produce your larger image. 

Remember to use the rule of thirds. Just as grammar guides the rules of composing our written language, there are artistic principles that guide our visual language. 

Push your boundaries, we can always learn a trick to make us better, but you first must discover what it is that you would like to do. Let your imagination run wild. Have fun! If you are not willing to do this... then your audience won't have fun either. 

Our job is to make the ordinary extraordinary!

Your imagination is the director! Your skills are the special effects department. If there is something you can't figure out how to do simply ask or look it up. There are resources everywhere. 

We want something to transcend our boring everyday lives.

Empower yourself and again most importantly have fun! The more you care the more your audience will too.

Don't Be Scared...Hands and stick figures

 

Don't be scared!

If you can draw stick figures great! We've been learning on how to use stick figures to create complex forms. One of the hardest forms for young artists to draw is the hand, and feet can be tough too. 

No one likes being called out for being afraid but a lot of young artists hide the hands because they are scared to draw them. However, look at how wonderfully they convey the story!

We look to faces and hands to tell us if someone is dangerous or friendly. We look at hands to evaluate what people's intentions are.  We use hands to express emotion. 

Hands are a critical part of the story! Don't be a bad story teller. Here are some tutorials on how to draw hands.

Again don't be scared hands can be fun!