Now that Comic-Con Megaman Cosplay insanity was done, and Final Fantasy Football was wrapped up at Anime Expo, I decided that for far too long I had neglected to do what is perhaps most important for an artist animator and draftsman: Fill sketchbooks. I was terrible at making myself sketch in college and for five years out here, and it was time to get to it. It was intensely uncomfortable at first. Just going from the Cintiq back to paper was an adjustment. With any luck, the progress is evident as these are in chronological order. About halfway through I had just turned in what I felt was another terrible female model session. I couldn't do good faces quickly with a few strokes, or nail down appealing body shapes. I sat down with a veteran guy at WB, and for about an hour he pawed through my sketchbook. He gave me tons of abstract advice, none of which I remember verbally, but that I think showed it's affect on the work that took place afterwards.
THESE ARE AN ARRANGEMENT OF 1 to 5 MINUTE POSES, PERFORMED BY MODELS THAT BROUGHT COSTUMES AND PROPS.
THE MOST TIME SPENT ON ANY ONE GESTURE WAS 10 MINUTES, WHICH ONLY HAPPENED IF I REALLY LIKED A POSE, AND NOT THE ONE THAT CAME AFTER IT.
RIGHT CLICK AND OPEN IMAGES IN NEW TAB TO ZOOM FULLY. THESE ARE HIGH RES.
Let's start with the bad and improve from there. Not every single pose made it into these panels, so consider them the highlights.
"The Mermaid"
"The Gangster"
"The Goblin"
"The Genie"
"The Bob McKnight Effect" occurs.
"The Demoness"
"The Bruce Lee"
"The Nurse"
"The Chieftain"
"The Swordsman"
Please feel free to drop opinions, critiques, or general thoughts. What appealed to you more? What appealed less? What caught your eye, for good or for bad? What was your favorite page? Why?
I really like the nurse and demoness poses. The poses feel more pushed and grotesque in some ways. They look dynamic because of it. In the opposite direction, I find the gangster poses pretty boring because they are so normal. Honestly it may just be a better model or you being fully warmed up.
ReplyDeleteAnd of course the chieftain poses are a favorite as well... though I might be biased ;)
Thank you kindly for responding! The nurse ended up being my favorite, MUCH to my surprise. She had an incredible creepy energy about her and small mannerisms and movements. She was so... off, and she never dropped character, so I think that was just how she moved.
DeleteThe chieftain was one of my least favorites, but only because he kept picking poses he couldn't hold, and nearly fell off the stage a couple times. Adding war paint with a red sharpie caught the eye of a couple classmates during the "lets all look" session. It was fun trying to unleash some creativity and add things to the drawings that weren't originally in front of us.