Seeing and Drawing

Continuing with the “Gesture Drawing with Alex Woo” class, Lesson 4 focuses on Space.

• There are about a dozen way to convey depth and space into our drawings: Linear Perspective, Overlaps, Light & Shadow, Atmospheric Perspective, etc.  These are called “Depth Cues”.
• On this lesson, we focus on the use of perspective to get rid of the “flat effect” and better convey the ground plane in which the model is standing.
• Akin to what we did on Week 3, we will have slightly rotate the model in our drawing to improve both the silhouette and a sense of depth.
• Alex stresses the importance of :
  1. Adhering to a time limit of 1 minute per drawing – no extra editing or line polishing.
  2. Try out drawing with your non-dominant hand (left, in my case).
• Below is assignment from week 4:

Continuing with the “Gesture Drawing with Alex Woo” class, Lesson 3 focuses on Silhouette.

• Silhouette is all about readability
• Often times, when drawing from a  model, you’ll find yourself on a position or at an angle that gives your a weak silhouette.
• Your task is to change the angle with your imagination, so you get a stronger silhouette.

  Below are my assignments from week 3:

Continuing with the “Gesture Drawing with Alex Woo” class, Lesson 2 focuses on Shape.
Akin to what we did on lesson 1, we practice developing a shape that encompasses the idea/story of the pose based on:
1) What is the main idea (or story) of this pose?
2) How can I best represent that idea with a shape?

Below are my assignments from week 2:

Now that the Schoolism Subscriptions have started, I feel like a kid at Xmas morning. Yet, instead of toys I’m receiving access to most awesome online classes!
First in line is Gesture Drawing with Alex Woo.
On lesson 1, we study and practice the Line of Action (LOA). Rather than thinking of it as the main line that runs across the body (like arm to spine to leg), Alex is encouraging us to analyze it under 2 main premises:
1) What is the main idea (or story) of this pose?
2) How can I best represent that idea with a line?

Below are my assignments from week 1:

Since mid September, my good friend Rommel Ruiz and I have been attending Mark McDonnell’s Gesture Drawing Class at the Animation Guild in Burbank, CA. The class runs from Sept 16th to Dec 2nd 2014 and we are now on week 9.

Mark is one of the most animated and humorous teachers I have had: Every time he is drawing a character he embodies and becomes such character through his voice and demeanor, making the whole class giggle and laugh while learning.

Two big highlights are how Mark gives comprehensive handouts and fosters such unique learning  environment:
He encourages us to take risks and go much further that just drawing a figure floating in space, instead he help us to add and design key elements, in order to tell a story.

Below is the class syllabus, along with some images and photos from the class:

• Week 1: Fundamentals and Warm-Ups
• Week 2: Importance of a Sketchbook
• Week 3: Utilizing Silhouettes
• Week 4: Using “Cheats” / Pushing the Pose
• Week 5: Gravity & the Ground Plane
• Week 6: Fleshing out the Story
• Week 7: Using different Mediums
• Week 8: Using symbolic Color/Color linking
• Week 9: Adding Finishing Touches
• Week 10: Professionalism – Completing your Sentence
• Week 11: Professionalism – Presenting your Artwork
• Week 12: Final Thoughts