FIgure Drawing 101

It's getting colder in the nights. Winter's fast approaching.

But during the day, it's very Mediterranean-like. Warm hot sun, virtually no perspiration. Or what seems like zero humidity. I appreciated intense sun today as I was feeling a little feverish.

Last Saturday, classes with master draughtsman, Glen Vilppu, started. Taking these classes from him and Karl really puts me back right in the very beginning. I am constantly re-learning and correcting my old drawing habits. Like Karl Gnass mentioned once in class, "You must encounter resistance in order to grow."

Did I mention how everyone here is so so so good at what they do?

That's Glen showing me his little secret weapon for his guerilla washes, made with love using a small empty Altoids container, some putty, gesso and a clip! :D

Drawn to this

It was a hyped up weekend because of the General Elections. I'm glad that all the buzz is finally over. Actually, the weekend ended pleasantly with an open figure drawing class held at the New York University Tisch School of the Arts Asia. Tucked away in the greens of the Tanglin area, this school organises uninstructed figure drawing sessions not just to students, but to the public.

For the past five Sunday evenings, I've been going there with some of my schoolmates for these sessions. This is a gem an animation student like myself will prize - more drawing! And how generous of the school to keep these sessions open to all! Did I mention it's free too? Classes like these definitely make the drawing scene especially here in Singapore (whether you're an animator, illustrator or hobbyist) more alive. One of the highlights of this open class concept is the opportunity to be exposed and learn from the many various styles of drawing from artists of all walks of life.

Thank you, Patrick, for organising this. Sessions begin again in the Fall '11.

Penning thoughts

So what else is new besides the iPad?

Last evening, a couple of us from Eggstory popped by DigiPen's information session, something like an open house. Neat four year course in Animation. What was even greater was the tour of the campus and what our eyes feasted on. The above image is of their Drawing Room. Sure brings back memories of my days in California drawing on those benches! I guess I'm stuck with the $5 IKEA chairs that I have for now.

That's a wrap!

This past Monday, the class pooled together some money to rent costumes for our drawing class. It began a series of four weeks of costume/ character drawing for our still life classes! I remembered clearly my classes some 13 years ago in L.A. with models in various costumes too! I'm glad that Philip, our lecturer, introduced this to the class!

These drawings take a little longer that usual, especially since we have to spend more time understanding folds and how material wraps around a person. Not only do we work on drapery, we begin to venture into character studies! Most of all, it is fun and am looking forward to the next three weeks! :O)

Since we're coughing out our own money to rent these outfits, no guesses where the models are from... they're none other than our very own classmates! What a class effort this is!

The Zoo Review

Here's a sampling of my zoo field trip from my Kingdom: Animalia sketch book. The class met at 8:30am and spent 9 hours at the Singapore Zoological Gardens. I was wandering on my own 92% of the time... and like always, there was not enough of it. Spent a bit time reviewing my work with Philip after "school". Gotta work on speed, accuracy... and construction.

My first time drawing using ink, this method forces me to use cleaner and less lines. I was struggling for the first few pages trying to use that new medium! That's a long way to go and I definitely need to go back there again.

What a fun day! :O)

Kids stuff

I feel like a kid all over again.

Yes, that's an indemnity form. The kind you sign as a parent for your child's fieldtrip in very few words. Tomorrow is the zoo day. :O) I've gotten myself a set of watercolour pencils to accompany my sketches. May I be able to do wonders with it.

Yesterday, I accompanied Garcia to the PA Wearhouse to scout for some costumes. He wants us to practice drapery wrapping around the human body. What a brilliant idea!! Instead of drawing bottles and fruit or even just plain cloth pinched or resting on a table which are ultimately only assets (secondary items) in the 3D world, we will be drawing charcters (primary subjects) in a scene or period. We listed about 10 pieces we would want to rent over the next few weeks for our Life Drawing class. I may have to do the pick up and drop of of costumes??

Have been tasked to do decor for next Friday's Halloween gathering... am I looking forward to that or what?? ;p

Anatomical Engineering

Updates! I'm nine weeks - nearly halfway - into my first semester and am progressing good. I sometimes wish I had more time for homework though. That's the secret to getting better at what you do! But duty calls at Imaginative, so an Imaginator has got to do what an Imaginator's got to do. There's a lot of careful balancing of school and work in these past nine weeks, figuring out when's the best time is for homework, whether to stay back at school to do it, whether to take it home. Whether to meet client or get stuff printed out during the breaks. Thank you God for Your guidance each day!

I can relate this to my anatomy class. As Philip, our instructor, always puts it, "You must know what's in front, what's behind, what's behind the behind. It's all about construction." The lead in the above drawing is fresh on the pad from yesterday's class, and this is one class I can see improvements every single week, picking up new techniques from Philip, other classmates and cohorts. And like everything else... there's always room for more improvements! :O)