One of the most important concepts to know and understand as a visual artist is that pictures, scenes and still images are arrangements of value; light, dark and gray shapes. It’s these light, dark and gray shapes that the human mind assembles as a cohesive picture.
Being able to see the world as shapes of value, especially colored shapes and objects, is a master skill to cultivate as a visual artist. It’s important to the artist because in order to compose and arrange shapes in our pictures, we must first see and understand their inherent grayscale value.
The most basic and abstract pattern of dark and light shapes (A) is the first ‘read’ the mind makes. This happens on a visceral, almost subconscious level. As more information is processed, like details and color, the mind can then assemble a more refined and sophisticated image (D).
How do we train our eyes to see the world in value? There are some very simple strategies we can use when we observe the world around us. The first step is to learn how to deal with color information.
To see these strategies in action, watch the video below or continue reading for the in-depth breakdown.
This digital painting and demo video was recorded live during a long pose workshop @ Concept Design Academy. Approx. 2 1/2 hours from the model. Scroll down to watch the digital painting tutorial videos (playlist).
“Rajiv From Life, 2/13/13″. The final image. Drawn and rendered in Photoshop.
Yes it is and it is long overdue. I’ve been asked countless times by students, friends and artists in training about getting good reference for figure drawing and head drawing studies. With the unfortunate lack of a centralized and well organized image gallery, it’s about damn time this issue is settled once and for all.
I’ve posted some of my personal reference collection here in one place, also known as The Official Freshdesigner Good Reference Gallery (GRG). There’s a ton of great reference I’ve personally gathered and hand-picked from various sources.
In the section ‘Where To Find Good Reference‘, I’ve listed the best photographers, websites and books that I know of. These sources produce ideal reference and stock photos for artists. The GRG and the list should be more than enough to keep a hungry and motivated artist busy for a while .
If you want learn how to find your own good reference, read on…
The webinar series on Head Drawing for Illustration will continue tonight. The handout below are the notes from the webinar episode on proportion. This is a simplified model that describes the core measurements that I use over and over again. The next webinar will be tonight, 11/27/12, @ 6:30 pm (PST). Click here to watch the live stream on the webinar page.
This is the handout from the ‘Planes of the Head’ lecture from the Live Concept Art Webinar. There’s also a critique of a student’s homework below. The assignment was to sculpt the simplified ‘Planar Model’. Thank you for all the great homework submissions. To join the live webinar or view past shows, visit the webinar page. Our next meeting will be this Tuesday, 11/13/12 @ 6:30pm.
Simplified Planar Model.
Critique of a student’s homework submission. Great job on the sculpt!
This critique is a segment from the live Webinar recorded on October 16th, 2012. The purpose of the critique was to improve the drawing, design and composition of the character illustration. Topics covered include: gesture, structure, design, shape language, lighting, shading and rendering. To view the entire Webinar episode or to participate in upcoming webinars and live critiques, visit the webinar page.
Tuesday evenings @ 6:30pm I will be presenting an informative series called ‘Head Drawing For Illustration’. These tutorials below are the notes from the presentation. If you want to watch live, click the link below to go our new Webinar page:
Join us tonight on Livestream @ 6:30pm (U.S. PST) for a free, weekly webinar. I will be presenting a new series on ‘Head Drawing For Illustration’. This is going to be a weekly on-going series. There will be homework assignments and live critiques of your work. Click on the banner or follow this link:
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