Luis' Illustrated Blog

ART – Why You Should Do Creative Experimentation

I was listening to an episode of the Lean Into Art podcast the other day and co-host Jerzy Drozd said something that really got me thinking when it came to experimentation. I’m going to get to what he said in a moment.

It just so happens that I’ve been experimenting a bit.  Just playing around,  and checking out some possibilities.  Below is one such experiment.

It’s a little animation test I did, to test out what might be possible with my characters using my copy of Storyboard Pro:

I’m debating whether or not I should do a little animated something.  I’m not sure yet.

Anyway, let me get back to what Jerzy said…

Experimentation Lead To…

Anyway, as I was listening to an episode of Lean Into Art, Rob Stenzinger and Jerzy Drozd got into the topic of experimenting. Then Jerzy popped in with this little “formula” of sorts, as if he’d memorized it from somewhere, about experimentation.  It went like this:

“Experimentation leads to Practice, Practice leads to Evidence, Evidence leads to Opportunity.”

What he meant by this, if it seems odd to you, is simply this: When you experiment, you create and practice new things.  Often, you do these things so much that you begin getting good at them.

When you get good at stuff because you’ve practiced or messed around with the thing you’ve experimented with so much, it become evident you know your way around the subject.  It’s evidence that you have experience with what you experimented with.

This often leads people to ask you about the subject you seem to know so much about.  It opens up opportunities for people to, either ask you to do it for them, to teach others about the thing, or to find other useful reasons to do that thing.  It’s possible to find many opportunities to use the knowledge you gained from what you originally began experimenting with.

I thought Jerzy’s little formula made a lot of sense and I thought I’d share it.  It gives you a very concrete practical reason to experiment as much as possible.

I wish I could remember what episode of the podcast I was listening to, otherwise I’d link directly to it.  Perhaps it’s better that I don’t remember.  That way, you have an excuse to go listen to the Lean Into Art podcast and try to find the episode yourself.

This isn’t the first time that I’ve been given something to really think about after listening to the podcast.  Rob and Jerzy often come up with some amazing things during their discussions.

I highly recommend checking it out if you haven’t already.

Lean Into Art

ART – The Power of Creating Model Sheet Turn Arounds

This week I’m sharing the model sheet turn around I just finished.  It took time so I didn’t get to work on a silly comic or anything fun like that.

The turn around is of my character Ariana who is an antagonist in the Draw Fu comic I’m working on.  Not having finished this one turn around has been the biggest reason why I haven’t gotten more work done on that project.

Now that it’s done, that project should really start moving forward.

Take a look at the drawings below and then I’ll go into why I think model sheet turn arounds like theses are very important if you’re making a personal project.

Why Model Sheet Turn Arounds are Important

Over the years I’ve come to rely more and more on model sheets and turn arounds.  The reason why is because they take the guess work out of drawing the characters in your project.

If you don’t have one, you’re inventing the characters over and over as you go.  Sometimes that’s good but most times, not so much.

You end up using your previous drawings as model sheets anyway just to see what you did with your character in previous panels.  If you have a model sheet with a turn around to begin with, your character will also be much more consistent through out the process.

For me, the greatest benefit of having a good Model Sheet turn around, is being able to literally place the model sheet under my roughs of the character so I can quickly and easily get all the proportions down as fast as possible.

So if I have the character running, walking, jumping talking, etc, I rough out the pose I want them to be in, then I enlarge or reduce my model sheet to fit the size of my rough. I then put the model sheet under the rough drawing and start drawing the character “on model,” by comparing the model underneath to my rough and I make adjustments based on the pose.  I don’t copy the model sheet pose since it’s stiff and boring, but I get all the proportions where they should be.

And sometimes, depending on the pose and view point, I just straight up trace the body part straight off the model sheet.

I do this at work all the time with the Simpsons Characters.  It saves me a lot of measuring time so that I know I’ve drawn the character proportions right from the start so I can worry only about the composition and the acting.

Model sheet turn arounds speed up the process immensely.

They are the answer to the question, “How do I get my character to look consistent through out my project?” The answer is, create a Model sheet turn around, then reduce and enlarge it as needed to put under your drawings to make the most accurate version of your characters.

If you want to see a video version of this in action, become one of my patrons on Patreon. I’m going to be making a video for my patrons that explains the process of making your characters look consistent very soon.

ART – Want Me to Draw Your Portrait?

The portrait above is of one of my Silver Level Patrons over on Patreon.

Among other rewards, the patrons on Silver level get this:

Once a Month one Silver Patron or higher will be chosen and I will draw their portrait in black and white from shoulders on up, anyway they want: caricature, chibi style, anime, realistic portrait, Simpsonized. Pick a style and I’ll give it a shot. I will send you a high resolution print ready jpeg of the drawing and the PSD file as well.

Patrons are randomly chosen for this and I remove their name from the “hat” when I draw them.

As of the time of this writing I have 4 Silver Patrons and 1 Gold Patron.  If you become a Silver Patron now, you’re chances of getting your portrait drawn are REALLY good. There’s even one less person worry about.

Not only that, but once I’ve gone through all the Patrons, I’ll put everyone’s names back in the “hat” and draw them again.  I may end up drawing you multiple times in multiple styles.

Don’t miss out.  Act now:

https://www.patreon.com/LuisEscobar

Art – Draw Over Videos

I’ve been doing a lot of drawing lately. None of which I simply post here.

Not because it’s work related but because I’ve making artwork for my next Draw Fu post. I can’t show that art until I’m done with the post.

Also, I’ve been doing a lot of “draw over” videos.  These videos were done for the winners of my Patreon giveaway last Month.

The winners could send me up to 3 drawings, and I would draw over their work, giving them tips and advice to improve them.

This took a lot of my drawing time away, so I wasn’t able to post any new drawings this week.

HOWEVER,  web cartoonist George Ward graciously allowed me to post them online.  They’re all over an hour long.  AND they’re only available to my patrons on Patreon.

Yeah, I know, that totally sucks, BUT they’re available to ALL patrons, at ANY level. Which means, if you pledge a buck, you can see the videos.

You’d also be supporting me and my work, which means more fun stuff for you.  So if you want access to these cool videos it’s as easy as becoming my patron.

Thank you so much for your support.

https://www.patreon.com/LuisEscobar

George Ward’s Draw Over Part 1 from Luis Escobar on Vimeo.

George Ward’s Draw Over Part 2 from Luis Escobar on Vimeo.

George Ward’s Draw Over Part 3 from Luis Escobar on Vimeo.

George Ward’s Draw Over Part 4 from Luis Escobar on Vimeo.