Figure and Drapery Studies

Tonal Figure Drawings, Graphite and White Chalk, (2)8.5"x11"

Figure Drawing, Graphite on Paper, 10"x10"

Drapery Study, Graphite on Paper, 10"x10"

Here's an animation by a Cal Arts student.

Academics- Intermediate Project pt2/ Kazuto Nakazawa

Dark Forest LRRH, Acrylic on Illustration Board, 9"x12"

Dark Forest Color Comps, Acrylic on Illustration Board, (6)2"x3"

I managed to finish one of my environments for the illustration project. I developed greatly and picked up all types of habits from Bunny, my instructor for the class, and gained some technique as well from constantly looking at N.C. Wyeth and Ivan Shishkin. Placing their masterpieces in front of me while I paint was one of the best habits I picked up. I know there are flaws and mistakes everywhere but I couldn't solve them in the painting. The next few rounds of environment design should be better. The class was also about process and I tried to follow it, especially using the black and white rendering as a guide and using the color comp we had chosen. Achieving a piece by going through the development process was the most important lesson to me.

Also, over the course of the semester, I delve more into the animation and film realm. One day I was flipping through one of my old sketchbooks and stubled upon an artist and director, Kazuto Nakazawa. He's worked on a few animation projects such as Samurai Champloo, Animatrix, and Kill Bill to name a few. I've been a big fan of his work, since I saw Samurai Champloo, and thought I'd share some of his work here... enjoy! (sorry for the lack of subtitles)

Telos Blackbook

Gesso, India Ink, White Out, Pen, Sharpie, and Sticker, 11"x17"

Pen, Sharpie, and Sticker, 11"x17"
Graphite, Pen and Sharpie, 11"x8.5"

It's been awhile since I actually did one of these... Telos asked me to do a piece in his blackbook. I put some pages out of book so people can see his work. It was really fun to do and a nice way to vent and do personal work for a change. It's always an honor for someone to ask you to put something in their sketchbook and a high degree of respect for anybody to enjoy your work more than you would so I was pretty stoked that he asked me to do a piece. Flipping through a graffiti artist's blackbook was inspring because I saw a different type of an artistic process. I thought one of the most unique features in a writer's blackbook is how other artist's are welcomed in it, so I also saw other artist's that he met.

Figure Drawing- 002

Graphite on paper, 8.5"x11", 1 minute

Graphite on paper, (2)8.5"x11", 2 minutes

Graphite and Ballpoint pen on paper, (2)8.5"x11", 10 and 20 minutes

I've been learning new techniques as well as mastering old ones over this semester. I believe Professor Chai showed us a Vilppu video and explained to the class that we should take our time with the drawings. Many students in the class were trying to get full figures completed resulting in a rushed drawing.

There are so many things I had to keep in mind in these drawings. I always find some trouble in retaining the gesture of the figures after constructing and placing in anatomy. Proportions were also an issue for me because I grew a habit of exagerrating poses which led me to relearning previous studies. Using the Vilppu and Walt Stanchfield techniques were very helpful and I'm currently trying to finish those up thoroughly so I can I apply those concepts and hopefully it'll remedy those problems. study study study.

Academics- Intermediate Project pt1

Here's some of the work from the new criteria for the Intermediate Illustration Project Class. It is a forest design for a version of the Little Red Riding Hood story called, The Grandmother's Tale. The story had a very dark atmosphere and maybe you can read it... here. So based on the tale, a concept was designed by my friend, Cory Peckham who was assigned to be my art director for the assignment.

I had also done another forest but I don't feel I conveyed the idea as well as the "evil" forest. I'm planning to redo the project over this break because this was also an introduction to landscapes, in which I completely got slaughtered in. We're currently working on our color comps for the project so I'll be posting the those along with the final as well.

Draw Off- 001

Here's some drawings from a game the crew plays while we are working in the art building. We just call it "Draw Off." Usually everyone contributes an attribute and then we design a character but generally, the game is to just work around an idea. Sometimes we play a version where we draw a character that's already been designed and just sketch from memory. These usually come out insane looking and sometimes random but these are my better ones. We'll probably get a blog soon because we have a ton of these drawings but I don't know... we'll see.

Draped and Hand Study

Here's some sketches done late into the night in the art building. The "Draped" drawing was just a sketch I drew around a drapery study. I'm currently listening to MF Doom's new CD, Born Like This, and it's well worth a listen. MF Doom has some of the craziest imagery in his lyrics and his rhyme schemes are amazing, the guy can rhyme anything... good stuff. The semester is almost done, just pulling through the last haul.