Luis' Illustrated Blog

ART  – Romana 1 and 2 From Doctor Who, Patreon Art.

Yet another bit of artwork done for one of my patrons on Patreon.

When someone supports me at Gold Level on Patreon, I let them have a link on my websites.  I let them post there banner in a special supporters page.

In this particular case, my patron didn’t have a banner so I thought I’d draw her one.  Her site happened to be a Doctor Who site.  I’m a fan of The Doctor so I was excited to draw the banner.

Here’s a quick mock up of a header version of the art:

And here’s the banner I made:

How The Banner Came About

I was originally thinking of doing a banner with all The Doctors peeking out to the Tardis. Each would be by themselves and then would fade into another, creating an animated banner. I didn’t want to just draw one Doctor.  It’s a problem when creating any general Doctor Who themed art.

As I was working on roughing that out and wrote out the name of your blog to get an idea where I should place it. That’s when it dawned on me that it was called “Romana Ramblings.”

Although, I would have had fun drawing all the Doctors, when I read the title of the blog, I pictured Romana not The Doctor.

I prefer drawing women (cause they’re purty), and Romana is not just a companion but a Time Lord.  I also hadn’t seen too many people draw her. Especially for a Doctor Who blog.

It would be unique. So decided to draw both versions of Romana instead. Side by side, “rambling” to each other since there was room.  I also added the Tardis, as I had originally planned. But then I thought I’d put in The Doctor as well. Only to get away from drawing a specific one, I have him peeking out of the darkness in the Tardis.  You only see his eye and his hand.

Now he can be any Doctor.

What do you think?

Want Some Art From Me?

If you’d also like some art from me, the best way to get it is to become my patron over on Patreon.  You can get all kinds of art from me there and personalized stuff too, depending on your patronage level.

Click the link below to take a look:

https://www.patreon.com/LuisEscobar

ART – Dragon Portrait Patreon Video

Over on my Patreon page I draw portraits for my Silver or higher Patrons.  More often than not, I simply draw a portrait of my Patrons.  However, this time around, this particular patron, Gregory Gangfinger a.k.a. “Imaginaut,” asked me to draw a portrait of his character Gilead.

I asked his permission to share the video I made for him and he graciously gave it.  Here it is for you to watch and enjoy:

https://vimeo.com/142008378

If  you want to check out Imaginaut’s work, you can find his art at: theimaginautdragon.deviantart.com/

Want More Videos From Me?

This is the second of two videos I did for Imaginaut. If you want to see the other, you can watch it by going to my Patreon page.

Not only that there’s quite a few other videos there too.  Some are for everyone, but most are for Patrons only.

Click the link below to go to my Patreon Page:

https://www.patreon.com/LuisEscobar

You can access ALL of them by becoming a patron at ANY level. This includes the one dollar level.

In any case, I hope you enjoy the video and get something out of it.

What do you think? Would you like to see more? Comment below.

ART – How Best to Take Artistic Critique

Getting your work critiqued is a skill set all of it’s own.  It’s something I’ve rarely heard anyone talk about.

As a storyboard artist, I get my work critiqued a lot.  Over the years I’ve learn to take critique.

I’ve learned from other storyboard artist, watching them take critique, what the best way to approach it is.

In the video below, I give you tips six tips on how best to approach getting critiqued:

Here’s what I talk about in the video above in a nutshell:

1. It’s all about attitude.
2. Stay positive.
3. Be open – No mater what, there’s something new you can learn or affirm.
4. Be humble – You are NOT the greatest artist on the planet.
5. Take it with Gratitude – You are not owed any kind of critique.
6. Don’t take it personally – What they are critiquing, and who YOU are, are two separate things.

ART – Style Vs. Versatility in Art. Which to Pursue?

Which is more useful for an artist, acquiring and honing a style or pursuing a more full versatile artistic skill set?

This is question that came up in a discussion I had in Facebook a while back. It was inspired by a comment that J. Scott Campbell gave in an interview regarding diversity as an artist and how it related to Branding yourself.

The interview is posted further down. It’s fantastic and absolutely worth watching.

He said in the an the interview that being diverse may actually hurt you (25:33):

“If you’re fantastic at everything, you’re not known for anything in particular.”

This got me thinking. Below is a video on some thoughts on the subject:

The link to the Frank Frazetta post  I talk about in the video can be seen here: Developing a Unique Drawing Style.

Below are the points I make in the video, in a nutshell.

Style vs. Versatility Pros and Cons

Style:
Positive

• What you’re known for.
• Makes you money
• The general public gravitates to style

Negative

• What if you’re style goes out of style
• You’re a one trick pony
• You don’t grow as an artist

Versatility:
Positive

• Make you a good draftsman
• You can draw anything in any style. ALL styles are open to you.
• You’re evergreen

Negative

• You’re not known for any particular expertise
• Public or employers my not see your versatility as an asset.

The J. Scott Campbell Interview

Here’s the interview in question:

Concerning the Term Style

One clarification.  In case the term style is getting a bit confusing.

The word can mean two things:

1. Style as: the active design choices an artist uses in a particular way of drawing.
2. Style as: the telltale unconscious way a person draws, similar to handwriting.

As an animator, I never cultivated a “style” (design choices). We pride ourselves in being able to draw in any style (design) at will.

That said, it’s impossible to escape yourself. What I’ve discovered is that, no matter what you draw, in whatever “style” (design) you draw, you will always draw like you.

On the Simpsons we ALL draw the characters on model, in the style (design) of the show. BUT we can always tell who draws what scenes because everyone draws the characters “in their style” (unconscious handwriting.) Like handwriting, we all learn to write the letters the same way but everyone does it different. We can’t help it.

So rather than pursue a “style,” (design) it’s better to pursue great draftsmanship. “Style” (unconscious handwriting) will just happen on it’s own.

What are your thoughts?