Art House Co-op

Infinite Scroll | Patterns

The Infinite Scroll is a free project series is inspired by the surrealist drawing exercise known as exquisite corpse, in which a group of people work collaboratively on a drawing without seeing the other parts that come before and after. The prompt for this Infinite Scroll was Patterns.

See which similar projects that are open right now at Art House at: http://www.sketchbookproject.com/projects

Visit the Flickr Group for this project to see the the full album and artists who created each work! 

Tip Jar Thursdays

Project of the Day: Populating Your Sketchbook

By Tim Beard

I am a development artist for animation and I have participated in The Sketchbook Project 2011-2013 and The Sketchbook Project Limited Edition. I regularly post new work on my website which can be found at http://timbeard.squarespace.com/

What We’ll Be Making: In this segment we are going to explore some of the basics of character development. Drawing unique characters and experimenting with different designs is one of the most enjoyable parts of working in your sketchbook. I am going to show my process and the stages I go through to complete one of my sketchbook spreads and how I go about putting my characters together.

Materials:

• Your sketchbook
• A clipboard
• A few different sizes of pens. I love my Microns. Sizes 01, 03, 05 (or 08) and Graphic 1. I recommend that you wrap a couple different colors of tape around them so it’s easier to tell them apart faster (as seen in the above photo). Trust me this is a big time saver in the long run.

Estimated Time: Depending on how fast you work this will take from 2 to 4 hours.

Let’s Do It!

Step 01: Get out of the house! Go grab a cup of coffee, claim a park bench, pull up a seat at your favorite restaurant or take a seat at the mall. Find a place that you are going to be around a lot of interesting people to sketch. Observational drawing is a big part of honing your design work and people watching is the most interesting way to go about it. Also, resist the urge to slip on those headphones. At least for a little while until you can sort of absorb your surroundings. The things that you overhear or the noise in the room will really help flavor your drawings. It’s also a great way to get material to store in your brain for later.

Step 02: Now that you’ve settled in you can scan the room. Look for someone that sticks out to you. Try to find shapes that stand out. Maybe it’s the shape of someone’s hair, clothing, hands or face. I chose a woman on the other side of the room. Her hair and glasses were very distinct and looked like they might be fun to draw. 

Once you’ve found a subject just jump in. This is a very direct form of drawing. Don’t worry about doing any kind of preliminary pencil drawings. Starting with your middle gauge pen (I start with my 03) start laying in your initial shapes.

DO NOT stare so long at people that it makes them uncomfortable. You don’t need to be too intrusive when drawing in public. Just give your subject quick glances and go back to your sketch. Sorry to state the obvious here but I felt like it needed to be said. Now back to drawing.

Step 03: Whatever it was that caught your eye about your subject should be the first piece that gets roughed in. This will help you to get a feeling for how the rest of your sketch will go in terms of scale and style.

Step 04: This step is important. Once you have your initial eye-catching shape down you should quickly get the rest of the character drawn in. Keep thinking of your subject in terms of shapes as you go. This will help you to quickly get the rest of your character onto the page. Also, make sure that you work on the figure as a whole. Don’t get hung up in small details yet. Being in a real world situation means that you need to capture that pose or gesture fast before your subject moves too much or gets up and walks out that door.

Step 05: Now that you have your first character laid in you will want to take your thicker pen, in this case my 05, and go back over the outside outline. This can seem like a subtle addition at this point but it will be enough to keep your drawings separate as your page fills up with more sketches. 

Step 06: You are going to want to give your drawing some weight. Figure out where your subject is resting their weight. Are they leaning on the table? Standing more on one foot? If your not quite sure don’t be afraid to strike that same pose yourself. If you can feel the pose it will help you understand it better. Now that you know where the weight should be you can add it to your drawing. This is where your big thick pen (Graphic 1) comes into play. Bulk up your lines in the heavier areas where the weight is. You can also use the same pen to indicate the areas of shadow. All of this helps you achieve a sense of dimension in your line-work.

Step 07: Now it’s time for those details that you’ve been itching to fill in. Using your finest pen (size 01) start laying in some lines. This includes wrinkles, details in the hair, shadows or anything else that might be needed. Just remember this, don’t tickle it to death! Keep it fresh. Since this is your sketchbook there is no need to overwork the details.

Step 08: That’s one figure done so let’s move onto the next. Choose another subject and dive back in. I tend to just pick another spot on the page that feels right to me to start a new drawing. I saw a woman sitting on the other side of the coffee shop from me that had some great elongated features so she ended up being the next sketch.

Step 09: Block in the character the same way you did the first. Keep your eye on proportions and think about how you can distort or exaggerate them. This will help give your sketches some extra character.

Step 10: This is a good place to talk about contrast. As you start filling in your spreads always be thinking about how you are going to make certain characters stand out. Contrast is a great way to do this. If you have one character that is fairly light try making some of your adjacent drawings dark. This seems like a fairly obvious statement but it is something that should always be in the back of your mind while you are working.

Step 11: One more thing that you should be thinking about is how you vary your shapes and sizes of body parts. This can give you limitless options in terms of character design. For example, in the picture above you can see how I elongated this girls neck and and really emphasized the size of her hair when compared to the scale of her head and facial features.

Step 12: If you do decide to overlap your characters on the page they might have a tendency to flatten out and the eye can’t easily separate them. You can start to see this happening in front of the above characters face.

Step 13: The easy work-around for this problem is to add tone with a your smallest pen. This can emphasize the impression of depth in you line-work.

Step 14: As you pile up your characters be conscious of the negative spaces that you are creating. What if someone walks in that you would really like to draw but you know that they aren’t going to stick around long enough to do an in-depth sketch of them? Those little negative spaces are great spaces to stick quick portraits.

Step 15: Working quickly and directly in pen is going to lead to the occasional awful drawing, as you can see above. Sometimes these things just don’t work out the way you want.

Step 16: There area couple of options for that bad sketch. You can let it go and move on. This is usually what I do. Since you are trying to get so many drawings onto one page the terrible drawings just don’t stick out as bad once you have everything filled in. The other option is shown in the photo; to just cover over it with something else.

Step 17: Obviously when you are working in pen your only option is going to be to go darker. So just plan out how to best strategically cover the problem area and fill in.

Step 18: Here is one last thing to consider while you are drawing. I believe that most artists have certain types of shapes that reoccur in their drawings. It’s part of what makes your style uniquely yours. To give your drawings more interest contrast your normal shapes with their opposite. I have a tendency to work in more organic shapes so to give more punch I try to throw in some angular or straight lines.

You should also leave some negative space on the page. This gives your eyes a place to rest and also controls the flow around your sketches.

The Wrap Up: Let me say that I am not an artist who considers “reference” a dirty word. Far from it. There are some things that you are not going to find in your every day life that you want to draw. For those particulars you are going to need find a photo to inform your drawing. There are some problems in using reference however.  A big one is that your drawings start to stiffen up. The more you draw from life the more natural your work will feel and the less you will have to rely on those reference photos. That has major value when you are designing characters from your head.

I think that using this direct drawing method helps build your confidence as an artist. If you can get used to quickly putting permanent lines down in your sketchbook it will make things easier for you when you do work on those long, thought-out pieces that require more prep-work. Pull out your sketchbook and make sure that you draw for yourself for AT LEAST 5-10 minutes everyday. All of the tips and principles that I have mentioned here work for whatever you choose to draw; architecture, animals or even trees! So get out into the world and keep your pens moving!

Tip Jar Thursdays

Project of the day: Let’s get on the good foot and draw James Brown!

By Matthew Lord, Participant: The Sketchbook Project 2012

Today I’m going to create an illustration, taking it all the way from the sketchbook to the final artwork. I’ll be showing my process for sketching and character design, and sharing some drawing tips as well. Hopefully the end product will be super bad! 

Materials Needed:

• sketchbook
• Bristol board
• Xacto knife and ruler (for cutting your Bristol board to size and gridding the drawing)
• pencils for sketching (I use 4h or 6h)
• micron pens, tip numbers .005, .01 and .05

Estimated Time: 8 to 12 hours (3-5 for sketching and prep, 5-7 for final drawing)

Step 1: Nailing the likeness down  

When I’m drawing a person, I always start by collecting reference materials and then do several preliminary drawings to capture his or her or her facial 

features. When executing drawings, I lay down a quick pencil sketch and ink over the top of it. Often, I’ll write notes to myself denoting distinct aspects of my subject’s appearance. On James Brown I noticed a square jaw 

and face, a wide nose with large nostrils, squinted eyes and a great smile.

From what I’ve observed doing these sketches, I’ll be able to place the head in an original position that isn’t derivative from a photograph.

Step 2: Just the right pose

When drawing the Godfather of Soul, it is of utmost importance to capture a properly funky pose. Luckily, there are droves of videos online that you can peruse for inspiration. 

Here I did quick 2-3 min gesture drawings of some poses that I think encapsulate the essence of his performance style. The arrow indicates my favorite pose.

Step 3: Refine the sketch

At this point I take my pose and start adding some detail. I wasn’t quite satisfied with the initial results, so I sketched out another quick pose that pushed my original idea a little farther (lower right hand corner). 

Note that I’ve turned the head, pushed the shoulders back and widened his stance to give him a more dynamic look.

Step 4: Make it tight

Now that I’ve got the pose that I want, it is time to tighten up the details. I’ve got the hands and face positioned the way I want 

them, now it’s time to think about clothes. I’m going with a jumpsuit

jacket combo, always a fashionable look. 

Step 5: Put it on the Bristol

Up until now everything I’ve done has been in the sketchbook, but I want my final illustration to be large, so I’ve gridded it to transfer on to Bristol board.

One month ago, Koosje Koene presented a Tip Jar Thursday on creating a grid for life drawing. Definitely check it out if you haven’t already. I’m using the same principles to apply my sketch to a larger scale.

The ratio I’m using is ¾” to 1”, so my final piece will have a 13” by 10” drawing area, with a 1” border surrounding it.

Step 6: Let’s start inking

I’m right-handed, so I try to work from the upper left corner down to the lower right when I draw. I start by outlining the area with the .01 tip micron, and lay it on darker in the shadowed parts. For the skin tone I use a hatching technique with the .005 tip micron. The .005 tip is also excellent for fine detail work.

Step 7: Head and Face

For the hair I start by outlining where the highlights will be with my .01 pen, and then fill the black with the .05 tip. Once again I am inking in the facial details first and laying my skin tone after. It is a good idea to start with a lighter tone and gradually make it darker.

Step 8: Clothing

I’ve decided to keep James’s outfit white with simple line work. This will create a nice contrast to his face and hands while adding to the visual flair of the illustration. 

I try to be very deliberate with my line work and take my time so that I don’t overcomplicate the clothing.

Step 9: Distinguishing details

During the early stages of this project, I purposely looked for interesting minutiae that help shape James Brown’s distinctive look. I noticed that James’s microphone cord was taped to the stand and he tended to dip the stand a lot during performances. He also wore jewelry, (but not too much), and his footwear usually had a heel.

I’ve worked these details in and now he is ready to “get on the scene…you know the rest.”

Step 10: Clean it up

At this point, my drawing is complete, so I erase all of my pencil marks.

So there you have it, a drawing worthy of the “Hardest Working Man in Show Business.”

Check out my website: matthew-lord.com

Got any questions? Contact me at info@matthew-lord.com

Tip Jar Thursdays

Project of the day:
 Create a grid to make drawing from life easier



By Koosje Koene

Participated in:
 The Sketchbook Project 2012
, The Sketchbook Project Limited Edition,
The 4x6 Exchange 2, 
The Sketchbook Project 2013



What we’ll be making


When drawing from life, it’s important to see the proportions of your subject, so you can draw the subject realistically. By making this simple grid, you can simplify this.

Materials: An old picture frame, or passe-partout, or a piece of cardboard
- 4 threads
- Tape
- Ruler
- Pencil

Estimated time:
 20 minutes



Let’s Do it!

Step 1, 2 and 3 Measure your passe-partout and divide into 3 parts





Step 4 and 5 Use the tape to adjust the thread, connecting the measured dividing points

Step 6 This is your grid!





Step 7 Set it up in front of your object and use it as a helpful tool to see the proportions of your subject





Step 8 and 9 draw the grid on your paper

 and you’re all set to start drawing

The Wrap Up:

You can recycle and use some old piece of cardboard to make your grid. It doesn’t matter what it looks like – it matters what it does for you! Your grid can function as a viewfinder, to help you decide on your composition, and it will help you to see and understand the proportions better, and translate them onto your paper. 

If you’d like to learn more handy tricks and take your drawing skills to the next level, check out the online drawing course that’s starting October 1st. There’s still a few places left!

http://koosjekoene.blogspot.nl/2012/08/exciting-news-online-course.html

TOUR MAIL & the Prismacolor Drawing Table

At the start of the day, the markers and colored pencils are arranged like flowers in glass jars, the paper carefully set out in stacks symmetrically on either side. Setting up the Prismacolor Drawing Table before a show has somewhat of the air of setting the dinner table as you expectantly wait for guests to arrive. Whether they came to look at Sketchbooks or were just passing by, visitors are inevitably lured over to the Drawing Table by the bright Prismacolor materials and the possibility of making a piece of art. 

When they ask, “What’s going on over here?” it just gets better as I explain Tour Mail, the art swap we’re running as we take the Sketchbook Project to cities across North America. The colorful creations folks make at the Drawing Table are put inside envelopes, and they then get to choose which subsequent tour locales the surprise pieces of Tour Mail end up. In exchange for “sending off” some Tour Mail, participants receive a piece of art that someone at an earlier show created and designated for recipients in that city.

It’s been such an amazing experience to watch people sit down and spontaneously  create the words and images they’d like to send off to a total stranger. It’s even cooler to watch people open a piece of mail and receive an inspiring hand-lettered message from Portland, a child’s doodle from the Chicago, a sketch of the view from a window in Brooklyn—all of these incredible words and images made along the way of our Tour. Someone in Vancouver described it as a way to capture the happiness that in is the air at the Sketchbook Project shows and pay it forward. 

By the end of the day, the markers are strewn around the table amidst colored pencil shavings and a few remaining pieces of paper … and you know that everyone had a great time.