Facial Expression

The fussy, glossy style doesn't really appeal to me (nor does the surfeit of false modesty), but these expression drawings are excellent, reminiscent of that guy who does Blacksad-- plus there's commendable attention to the underlying principles too.

That artist Tracy Butler begins by knocking and mocking common goofs and cliches ("Smarm Brow" indeed) is a lot more endearing to me than all that affected self-bashing.  Ladies, can ya quit this?

JH

Hands and Feet

Feet! 
Here are simplified, rotatable solids for feet and shoes. Sketch your own versions to populate your mental library of SRSs ("Simplified Rotatable Solids").

When the heel is raised, the ball of the foot and toes will be pressed firmly down. Study how the smaller toes react to the stress of having weight put on them. It’s absolutely necessary to periodically draw some feet from photos or life to study them. This can help you avoid amateur errors like drawing the four smaller toes as identical little square Chiclet things, or having the ends of the toes lined up all in a straight row.

Feet are superimportant. It takes a long time to get feet to touch the ground believably, in perspective, and longer to get them to look like they are supporting weight.

Skip down to the bottom of this post to see helpful foot pointers from Jack Hamm.


Hands!
Hands are too flexible and complex for us to get much use out of out our SRSs (simplified rotatable solids). We must resort to a more situational set of observations. Let’s bullet back to basics to review things we know about hands. There are a few you may not yet know to keep you on your, uh, toes.

• Half the length of the hand is palm, half fingers.
• Palm is a wedge shape (Look at its outer edge).

• Outer edge of palm is straighter in women and kids, fully curvaceous in dangerous, muscular men like Dan Cooney and me.

• No set of knuckles exists in a straight line. All are arrayed along curves, with the middle finger’s knuckles most advanced.

• The fingers only taper in the outermost two bones (toward the finger tips). This is seen most clearly in a fist, where the base bones of the fingers--the punching surface of the fist--are parallel (though of unequal length), and the last two bones of the fingers taper and crowd together near the center of the palm.

• Straight wrists and straight fingers make poor gestures for talking characters. The result is a distracting “spear hand.” Great for the Silver Surfer firing a bolt of energy, pretty awful for a conversing human. Much more natural to have the wrist bent a bit and each finger bent a bit more than the one next to it. Usually the index finger will be the most extended, the pinkie the most closed, in such progressions.

• The poses of each of the four fingers should be closely related. The center two fingers are the most passive, echoing the index finger. The pinkie is more of an outlier, naturally bowing out the most and sometimes posed in a way that’s more extended than its mates, especially in feminine poses.
• Study smoking poses; they are natural and graceful.
• Don’t bend the outermost knuckles (the ones closest to the nails) more than a little bit--it suggests arthritis.
• To place a hand believably, very quickly and lightly sketch the whole arm, even outside the panel. Does it look like the upper arms and forearms are proportional? Is the elbow in a natural position, or is it awkwardly in front of the torso?
• When trying to fit hand gestures into a closeup panel, consider that some gestures look more natural close to the face than others. (Most of our gestures are roughly in the vicinity of the chest or shoulders, not the face.)
• GOOD: Drawing fingers with a mix of curved and straight lines and really deciding where the knuckles are.
• NOT SO GOOD: Drawing fingers with all curved lines, which makes them look pudgy and soft.
• KINDA BAD: Drawing female hands that are too angular, that lack a graceful, continuous “flow.”
• BAD: Drawing fingers whose individual poses are unrelated to the closest finger(s) and whose knuckle spacing and fingertip shape vary. Fingers should look like they are shaped the same as each other, and cooperating--imitating each other a bit.
• Please don’t skip the lines between fingers to give them that fused look. This is a silly affectation, not a cornerstone of your style.
• To draw hands better, get reference or a mirror and sketch some studies every couple years!

JH

P.S.: Here attached, some better material on feet and legs, courtesy of the great Jack Hamm.

Ellipses: The "Implied Cylinder"

So here is that video I made--actually a series of four short videos.

I reckon the key to working with ellipses is visualizing where the "implied cylinder" is, as a guide to how to orient the minor axis of the ellipse template. What's that mean? Imagine a plate on a table in a one- or two-point perspective drawing. Now imagine a cylinder of equal width projecting straight up and straight down from the plate. This is the implied cylinder. We would make the minor axis of our ellipse template point straight up and down to conform. The video explains.

The attached videos cover a slightly more involved example, in that here the implied cylinder points toward a VP.  (The car is drawn to a particular pair of VPs so the wheels must be too. Perspective is all about relating like to like--that is, one thing to a similar thing, such as the left rear wheel of a car with the right rear or left front wheel.)

(BTW, for simplicity the front wheels are pointed straight ahead in this example.)

Another note: My red underdrawing reads too strongly in the final videos. I'm sorry. Try to ignore it--your attention is best directed instead to the black pencil lines.

JH

That Darn Shadow Plotting

Note that this version is natural light, unlike the one we tried in class, which was local. (That not-insignificant distinction was lost to my shite memory.) The placement of the SVP and, straight below it, the STP are both dictated by the direction and length of the shadow of the post. Note that the rightward direction of the cast shadows of 1, 2, and 3 seems to contradict the direction of the shadow of the post! Completely counter-intuitive. Perhaps it is possible to know too much...

Click on it to see it animate. You may have to watch it a few times to grasp it.

JH

FINAL PROJECT

The week-by-week breakdown of the rest of the semester's assignments:

Complete an illustration 12" x 16", or larger at the same scale, to accompany the text below, either Snow White or Sleeping Beauty. Your image must be as realistic as you can make it and very detailed. Grades will depend on the communication of the narrative, drama, drawing, accurate perspective, reflection and shadow plotting. It is your responsibility to ensure that your illustration demonstrates as much as possible of what you have learned during this course.

For Meeting 13
Submit 2 roughs using 2-point perspective,  2-point vertical  or  3-point perspective. Different perspective in both. Use each perspective to its best advantage to bring drama to your concept. These can be freehand but should be clear and easy to read as you would send to your client. Value/shadows should be indicated but not plotted accurately. 8 1/2" x 11" or bigger.


Decide where the horizon and VP(s) are at the earliest opportunity. It is suggested that you treat several ideas in thumbnail form before settling on two.

For Meeting 14
Draw up the chosen visual at full size, accurately, in line, using a square grid, correctly ruled perspective and foreshortening. All constructions must be shown on a separate overlay/copy (VPs, DVPs, horizon, reflections, projections lines, a- and d-lines).  There must be a demonstration of accurately plotted perspective. Flap your overlays.

For Meeting 15
Alter according to Wk14 critique. Add value/shadows accurately – color rendering is optional. You may work in any medium.

Direct reference is not permitted for this homework, except that you may reference the fashions of a particular period and the architecture.

A B-/C+ example-- VPs in too close, looks unfinished, stiff!

hard not to love this one--its lack of realism helped

Option #1 - Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Inside the dwarfs’ tiny cottage stood seven little beds with seven pairs of slippers. On the wall were seven mirrors and seven hooks with seven little coats and seven little hats. The long table had seven little plates and seven little mugs, one for each little man. And when they had finished supper and every dwarf was contented, round and full, the seven dwarfs - standing no higher than her waist - danced with Snow White to the jolly strains of the fiddle. They were all too happy to notice the ugly old hag that glared at them bitterly through the window. Show all nine characters.


Option #2 - Beauty and the Beast
Pick the most dramatic moment from this short scene: 

C- Final. Lacks shadow plotting, uses sampled art, lacks feeling

This one got an A+ even though it underplayed the drama

Every night Beauty and the Beast would sit by the hearth in the ornamental great hall and talk. The Beast's stories were fascinating to Beauty and his smile was kind in the firelight. Soon she found that she was anticipating her evenings with the Beast all day long.

One, summer night the Beast dropped to one knee and looked into the eyes of his companion.
"I know I am ugly - horribly ugly - but I have to ask. Do you think that a lady as beautiful as you could ever marry a Beast?"
"Never,” Beauty said with a tear in her eye. "I love you for the honest, gentle soul you are but no, I could never marry a Beast."

At that, the Beast fled the hall and Beauty did not see him again for many nights.

BONUS THIRD option!  School Trip

An unusual "B" example. Back view of zombie kids "buries the lead."

Miss Blake dragged herself out of the twisted school bus, stumbled across the waterlogged street and collapsed. Her thoughts were snarled by the collision. What was that decaying, faltering thing she had swerved to avoid a minute earlier… and where was everyone from the town, and why had no one come out to help?

The rain had finally stopped. She looked around her. The lifeless bodies of her students were scattered about the wreckage like rag dolls: some strewn across the asphalt, some hanging from windows, some hidden inside, but all were broken and still.

Rough by Chad Weatherford

Final by Chad Weatherford (A) Some problems with where "up" is.

Was she the sole survivor? As the town clock struck twelve there was a shifting from inside the bus. She froze - the children! Miss Blake watched in terror as the ruined corpses of thirty eight year olds pulled themselves from the school bus and began to limp hungrily towards her…

JH

Hamm on Feet and Shoes

Hamm is the man! Many useful tips here.Only the first page or two repeats material from my recent handout.

JH

Reflection

Here's the text of this week's assignment, followed by a tip to aid accuracy in your reflections.

HW11

Description

    Create an illustration for the story of Snow White. Research and design your characters and locations to fit the country/era in which you decide to set the story.

    Your style must be 100% literal/realistic.

    Illustrate the passage below using the 2-point perspective mirror construction you learned in class. We should see both the Queen and her environment reflected accurately in the mirror.

    She must be shown from head to toe - and at least three other items must be seen in the room as well as reflected in the mirror. Don't forget: this illustration must show as much accurate reflection of objects as possible and will be graded accordingly.

    Important Tip: Use the whole wall as the mirror until you get your reflections in place, then decide where to place the mirror frame to fit with your reflection.

    Your line drawing should be 9" x 12" or larger at the same proportion. Keep it neat, clean, and accurate. A single line should indicate edges; straight edges should be straight and organic shapes clear and effective. Ensure that this drawing is as professional and precise as you are capable of producing. Add no value at this time.

    INCLUDE A CLEAR OVERLAY SHOWING YOUR CONSTRUCTIONS.

    Snow White Text

        News of Snow White's death sent the Queen rushing to consult her magic mirror. She fled to the top of the tallest tower and entered the secret chamber where all her terrible spells were boiled and bred.

        Lighting a candle she locked the chamber door and turned to question the mirror that watched her silently from the far wall.

        'Mirror, Mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?'

        There was a long silence as her reflection scowled back at her from within the glass.

        Then, finally, the mirror spoke...

Here below, an animated GIF that shows an already plotted reflection and uses its VPs to refine the positions of that reflection. Click on it to watch it animate. It starts slowly to give you a chance to read.

JH

P.S.: the GIF I posted didn't animate for some reason. Let me try this one, above.. Yeah, it works. You have to wait a few seconds for it so start--it cycles slowly, repeats.