Reading Notes 12 - March 13th

100 Tuesday Tips

Straight against Curves

- Straights lead the eye quickly while curves slow it down.

- Breaking down more complex shapes using straights and curves.

- Weight and function.

Hands

- Group fingers to simplify the overall gesture.

- Create a silhouette that will read quickly and clearly.

- Create a clear line of action.

Feet

- Similar to hands.

- Feet can say relaxed and confident or nervous, shy, awkward, etc...

- Toes are like a staircase.

Rules of Cropping

- Crop at 2/3 or 3/4 marks (creates comfortable breathing room)

- Do Not crop at joints or edges!

Generic Female Body Proportion

- Basic 8 head proportion.

- Stylized: everything gets pushed a little more (longer neck, smaller waist, more pinch at joints...)

Hand Design: Masculine vs Feminine

- Mass: Wide vs Lean

- Shape: Square vs Pointy

- Neutral Pose: In vs Out

Head Basics and Foundation

- Skull and planes of the head!

No Straight Lines

- Straight lines kill the fluidity of a pose!

- Curved lines give a ton of information.

- Switch curvature to give rhythm.

Floating Hands

- Drawing hands first can help with gesture and structure.

- Foreshortened poses are often focused on hands.

- Hands don't support body weight in standing poses.  They can be placed to provide clarity and appeal.

Eyes

- Match the eyebrows to the shapes/expressions of the eyes.

Ears

- Think of ears as volumes.  They can be very useful in "over the shoulder" shots.

- Can help indicate position of the head/perspective.

Nose

- Remember, the bony part doesn't move.  The fleshy part does.

- Simplify!

Hair

- Keep hairline and part in mind.

- Always start with big shapes.  Break down to smaller shapes later.  Keep it flowing!

Skull and Bones

- Remember: Same bones under different body types (muscle/fat).

Visual Anchors

- Use clothing to express volumes and direction!

Clothing

- Use folds, edges, etc. to suggest volume and perspective.

- Pay attention to tension and gravity.

- Begin with big shapes (like hair) and then add smaller details.

Folds

- Combination of contour and "kind of straight" lines for the silhouette.

- Pay attention to tension!

Leg Support

- Easy to understand weight when holding a heavy object.

- Consider own body weight as well.  Especially when standing.

Face Profile

- Enables the artist to play with many different sizes and shapes.

- Watch out for the ear and back of the head!

Asymmetry in Facial Expressions

- Asymmetry expresses anything looking for a solution.

- Tilt of head can add even more.

Simple Shadows

- Simplify areas of shadow.

- Less is more.

Body Shapes

- Repeat a similar shape within a main body shape to unify a basic character design.

Teeth

- Understand the basics first!

- Remember the lower jaw can move around quite a bit.

Watch Your Back

- Different body types, same basic foundation!

- Some back muscles wrap around to the front. (Teres major, lats)

Reading Notes 11 - March 8th

Color and Light

Chapter 11 - Light's Changing Show

Serial Painting

The creation of multiple plein-air studies of the same subject under different lighting conditions, or the making of a set of closely related studies one after another.

Tips:

1.  Choose a motif with a strong sense of atmospheric perspective.

2.  Paint/draw on a single board taped or divided into different sections.

3.  Keep the drawing consistent each time so the only variable is the light and color or shadow shapes and value.

4.  When beginning each study, don't look at the others.

5.  Paint/draw the subject at different times of day and, if possible, different seasons.

At the End of the Day

Themes of James Gurney's Color and Light:

1.  Color and light are not separate topics, but rather closely related.

2.  Viewers will see the subject, but feel the color and light.

3.  Choose a lighting plan and stick to it.

4.  Know your wheel.

5.  Know your gamut.

6.  Vision is an active process.

7.  There is not a single brand of realism.

8.  Compare, compare, compare.

9.  The outer eye fuels the inner eye.

10.  We are fortunate to be living today.

Graphic LA - pgs 78 - 95

 - Good value design is the clear, simple arrangement of a few tones.  (a simple progression of tone)

 - Don't get hung up on one way to make art.  Try out what looks right to you.

 - Make the next brush stroke exactly what you want it to be.

 - Reduce, refine, interpret.

(Draw something a few times - Reduce to simple, clear geometric shapes and simple, clear form.)

Reading Notes 10 - March 6th

100 Tuesday Tips

Push it

Push character posing to make a clear statement.

Define line of action and a clear silhouette.

The 3 Steps

Character Drawing/Posing Process:

1.  Quick, bold, gesture

2.  Shapes and angles

3.  Volumes

Simple Volumes

Suggest volume and perspective through receding curved lines.

Line of Action

 - Easier to see on characters without as many limbs and in mid-air.

 - Spine is always part of the line of action.

 - Props and can/should become a continuation to the line of action.

Power/Dominance

 - Dominant characters should be higher on screen/composition.

 - Use clear lines of action to define relationship of power.

 - Open vs closed = confident vs unsure.

Gesture Drawing

 - Don't overthink it.

 - Keep it simple.

 - A few simple lines are often more direct than making it very detailed.

 - Putting the character in a simple situation can give feeling.

More Tips on Gesture Drawing

 - Interlock curves to create rhythm.

 - Keep limbs clearly defined.

 - Emphasize the leg which carries the most weight.

Shorthands

Strip your character down to big shapes.  Only keep what can be used.  Use and re-use over while creating a story or composition.

 - Animals can usually be stripped down to the spine.

 - Certain head positions can be used and re-used.  They should become second-nature.

 - Shapes, stances, and attitudes should be represented in just a few lines.

More Acting, Less Anatomy

 - Simple characters should be used to explore the acting possibilities.

 - Suggest clothing and shadows if they add to your story.

 - Sketching should be fast and loose.

Reading Notes 9 - Feb 22nd

100 Tuesday Tips

Glitter

Suggested steps at digital glitter effects:

1.  Begin with local color.

2.  Add darker texture (separate layer)

3.  Add lighter texture (separate layer)

4.  Color dodge light texture.

5.  Add starts.

Process Painting

1.  Thumbnail sketch

2.  Pick a color comp.

3.  Clean up drawing from color comp.

4.  Final painting

*There is no right or wrong way to paint.  This is just a suggestion at approaching the process.

Reading 8 Notes - Feb 21st

Color and Light

Color Relationships - Chapter 6

Monochromatic Schemes

Artwork composed of any single hue taken through a range of value or chroma.

 - Throughout history, monochromatic schemes were used to plan the value process in painting.

 - All that is needed is one tool (graphite, charcoal, one hue of paint, etc.)

Warm and Cool

The idea of warm and cool is all in the viewer's mind but the effect is real.

Warm and cool colors tend to be thought of as the top and bottom of the color wheel, respectively.

Emotion can be played to when using certain colors in certain scenes.  Also, it can be played to when placing certain colors next to one another in a scene.

Colored Light Interactions

Additive color mixing: one light is added to another when mixed together on a plane.

Complementary shadow colors: If you have two light sources of different colors shining on the same form, the cast shadow from each light source will be the color of the other source.

Triads

Composed of any three basic colors, but not necessarily full-chroma colors.

 - Pick three colors. (Could be anything)

 - These different colors go through a whole set of variations to make up the scene.

Color Accent

An accent attracts the eye to the center of interest.

Color accents are usually a complement or near complement.

If most the image is monochromatic, a complementary color accent can help liven your color scheme.

Reading 7 Notes - Feb 20th

100 Tuesday Tips

Color Comp

Color thumbnail approaches to what your final color would be.

 - Begin with an idea of the basic color combination you want.  Ex: Blue and Orange.

 1.  Do different combination of the same hue, but change the saturation and value of the hue.

 2.  Pick three and do different color comps.

 3.  Pick one and do a final.

Use an Anchor Color

Pick one color to use as an anchor and apply basic color theory to create a simple color palette.

 - Use Triad or Complementary colors to create a basic color palette.

 - Experiment with darker and lighter versions of each color.

 - Pick one and do a finished painting.

Color 101

1.  Basic Hue:

 - Primary

 - Secondary

 - Tertiary

2.  Color is relative - the temperature depends on what you put next to it.

3.  Basic color theme:

 - Triadic: red, yellow, blue

 - Monochromatic/Analogous: three colors next to each other on the wheel

 - Complementary + Split Complementary: colors across the wheel

90-10 Rule

"Rule of Contrast"

 - Your eye will always go to the area of highest contrast/difference.

 - 90% of something and 10% of the opposite. (Put the 10% on the most important part of your piece.)

   1.  Value: positive and negative shape

   2.  Hue

   3.  Saturation

70-20-10 Rule

Basically the rule of contrast with an accent.

 - 70% of one general color, 20% of a different color, and 10% of an accent.

Color Palette Split Complementary

Complementary Colors are colors directly opposite of each other.

Split complementary colors, the opposit color is split.

Creating Easy Color Palette

1.  Find an image.

2.  Filter - Pixelate - Mosaic

3.  Color Pick a general color.

4.  Increase the saturation of the color closer to the original painting.  If you don't do this, the painting will be desaturated.