Walk Cycle

Throughout my blog posts I've talked a  great deal about walk cycles, but I've given little information about them. Walk cycles are crucial in animation, as they make up the majority of actions in any given shot, and according to Richard Williams, are "about the toughest things to do right" (102). There is a general formula that most walk cycles follow, but as Williams writes time and time again, "All walks are different...no two people in the world walk the same" (103).

This is the general formula for walk cycles. If you look closely you will see a set of curved lines around the head of the walk cycle, and that line is the golden rule. Almost every cycle follows those lines. According to Williams, the above image is a "normal" walk cycle, where the weight goes down just after the step and the weight goes up just after the passing position (108).
When I tried this method, I followed the example above. The positions are labeled, and I found William's method a very easy and simple one to use. What are some things I could add to make varying walk cycles?

Straight ahead VS pose to pose

In The Animator's Survival Kit, author Richard Williams describes two types of animation: Straight Ahead and Pose to Pose.
Straight Ahead animation, as described by Richard Williams, is "[to] just start drawing and see what happens - like a kid drawing in the page corners of a schoolbook - stick the numbers on afterwards" (61). Frame by frame, an artist can work to complete the piece without worrying about the technicalities, and can include as many spontaneous twists as they would like. This method allows for a lot of artistic liberty, and can be very fun to do. On the other hand, however, this method can be wandering, messy, and inconsistent (Williams 61).
In order to try this method, I animated a simple walk cycle. Instead of planning out what I was going to do, I just began making frames and adding whatever I liked. It was very fun, but as just as Williams warned, was messy and unstructured.

The second method of animating is called Pose to Pose. In this method, the key frames are placed first, exactly where you need them. Then, the blank frames in between the key are filled with tweens. This method is far more structured than straight ahead, but it can be less fun and more predictable. Williams lists "Where's the magic?" (62) as a con, and when I tried this method I found myself agreeing.

This method, although easier to space out, felt much more mechanical and less stylized. My question is: is there a noticeable difference between the two animations?

A relaxed attitude about drawing

So far, we've examined lines, and the emotions they convey, as well as how they affect the outcome of the drawing. We've examined different ways to warm up before we draw to prepare our mind for artistic expression, as well as the job of the onlooker in a piece of art. Finally, I will leave you with a lasting outlook on drawing, and the art you create.

Art and artistic expression has been around since the dawn of humans. We have always tried to express ourselves through less and less logical or conventional methods. One of the more simpler expressions is drawing. Today, I want to impress upon you the importance of having a relaxed attitude about your drawings and creations. 

This outlook is very important for every artist for several reasons. First: It allows your body to not be tense, to feel flexible and even spontaneous. Second: Ultimately, an artist must express themselves, and, as Clayton states, "The process [is] more important than the product" (5). Third: It allows drawing to be a lot less of chore, and more of a fun release of creative energy. I struggle a lot with trying to draw precisely or not relaxed, and it makes my drawings stiff, and frankly, terrible.

Here are some quick drawings I did, for no other purpose than to relax and have fun.

Do you find that drawing to relax produces better results than drawing to produce results?

Clayton, Elaine. Making Marks: Discover the Art of Intuitive Drawing. Atria Paperback, 2014.

Tweens and Keys

No matter what it is you're animating, one of the most important concepts to understand is the difference between key and in between frames.

Key frames, as defined by Richard William in the Animator's Survival Kit, are "The drawing or drawings that show what's happening in the shot" (57). These frames are the ones that tell the actual story, and they are crucial to understanding what's happening. These should be your most powerful and dynamic drawings, as they need to clearly illustrate what's happening in the animation.



In contrast to keys, there are in-between frames, or tweens. These drawings fill the space between each key, and they are crucial in a way that is far different than the key frames. Without these drawings your piece would appear choppy and discontinuous. Tweens keep the continuity of the piece fluid and smooth.

In order to practice these methods, I drew a series of key frames in a walk cycle. Through these few drawings you can easily make out what is happening in the picture, and I found Richard William's advice to be very helpful while completing this. What do you guys think about this?

Perception of lines: A creative approach

In my past posts, I have talked extensively about how different lines affect the mood of a piece of art, and this week, I will further this concept. Previously we have explored how lines feel, and now we will look into the role of the viewer of a piece of art.

I have repeatedly spoken to the importance of using lines in art, and the effect it has on a viewer, and now we will put ourselves in the role of the viewer. Elaine Clayton states, "We use our five senses to give context , or meaning to everything we encounter. Art forms such as lines and shapes represent elements from our experiences in the world, either symbolically or literally" (26). In other words, the artwork that an artist produces is only the beginning of the artwork, and the viewer's interpretations complete it.

This picture is an example that Elaine uses to demonstrate how to use your interpretation of drawings. The lines and shapes alone seem to more sad than energetic. The downward slope of the line, and the gentle wave creates this emotion. Although it has no recognizable shape, we can still see the emotion behind it.

Here we have the same picture, but rotated. The rotation brings to light what the shape actually is: an eye with a tear drop. We saw the saw the shapes as themselves, unattached to a finished product. Art is what we make of it. Do you find this to be true?

Clayton, Elaine. Making Marks: Discover the Art of Intuitive Drawing. Atria Paperback, 2014.

Research

Getting to understand an artist- what time period they lived in, what they went through, and their own personal beliefs- can have a effect on the meaning behind certain pieces. Doing research allows you to connect better, almost as if on a personal level. We know all about Picasso, we know about his taste in abstract art and unique pieces without even having to know much else about him. He was also alive until the 1970's, which is not well known information, and also show why his art style has had an effect on modern art. By just doing a bit of research, our perception of the art can change immensity.

Johan Idema talked about how museums often give very minimal information about the artist, only really talking about them if it effects the piece, (when it was made, the general background), and not much more (27). Getting a better understanding about what the artist was going through also has an effect, and is something that you often have to research on your own. Van Gogh had depression, and learning that small, tiny detail, can actually have a big impact on his art. Before he committed suicide, his art wast perceived or as glorified as it is today, because not understanding his struggle, not adding a tragedy to his story, made his art less then what it actually is. "Getting familiar with [they're] ideas, hesitations, presumptions, private philosophies and life story is essential to comprehending the work" (Idema 27). 

Gathering additional information is very interesting as well, since you get to understand the person more and connect to them better, as well as understanding their piece more. In fact, just learning about a piece can allow you to understand the artist more, as the meaning of it reflects off of their character. Zhi Lin made an entire exhibit dedicated to Chinese migrants to help build railroad systems across America, who were taken out of history. They wrote the names of the know migrants on rocks, (both in Chinese and English), and stacked them all in front of a video recreating a picture taken to celebrate the final product that was the railroad system, and how all of the Chinese workers had been taken out. 

I was able to learn more information about the artist and the exhibit itself simply by reading a blurb that plastered against the wall. Zhi Lin thinks that its important to tell the stories of the forgotten, and the stories of those who's lives were purposely removed from out history books to give America a better name. They made a memorial of sorts, dedicated to all of the underappreciated and forgotten workers who helped set up a railroad system that connected the majority of the country together. 

It allowed me to connect to the artist and the art more, as understanding what it was about, and the historical importance of the piece had a strong impact on my view of it.

Do you like to research about certain topics to understand them better?

Idema, Johan. How to Visit an Art Museum: Tips for a Truly Rewarding Visit. BIS Publishers, 2014

Landscapes

Art comes in many different forms, often accompanied by people, but there are some art forms that are not. Landscapes and still lifes are more complex, as when there are people in painting, its easier to see the story that the art trying to tell. Landscapes are made to be interpretative by the viewer, but understanding the artists point of view when the piece was created can also be helpful. It may allow for more emotions to be provoked, as well as just add another level of understanding.

"Panoramas are almost always idealized... or even entirely imaginary. It's all about what the author wants you to see" (Idema 3). Landscape painting are not simply that- they are expressions of creativity and imagination. The point of art has always been about how an artist can express themselves, and about how the people looking at them interpret the art. Being able to see how someone could come up with an entire piece of scenery is very important to understanding the purpose and meaning behind it.

The time period also has an effect on what a landscape can stand for. Johan Idema wrote about how landscapes developed, starting with precision, but moved closer to impressionism as time went on (3). Art is something that is constantly developing and changing, so the art style used can easily have an effect on your interpretation of the piece.

Trying to put myself in the artists place, and playing closer attention to details helped me understand the landscapes better. Learning about the time period that it was made, while also noticing those small, little additions made me also appreciate it more. I often felt nostalgic while looking at the art, which was surprising, as I never found myself to be drawn towards nature, but also felt natural. Using different point of views helped me understand it more as well.

What is your favorite landscape painting?

Idema, Johan. How to Visit an Art Museum: Tips for a Truly Rewarding Visit. BIS Publishers, 2014.

Security

We often ignore security officers in our day to day lives. We try our best not to interact, intimated by their stature and their uniforms, but, in the world of museums they can often be quite helpful. Johan Idema talks about how security guard are not seen as people full of knowledge, but simply people who are meant to protect and prevent items being stolen, while they normally have inside information about the topics of certain exhibits (1).

I was able to talk to a security guard at a museum during my most recent visit, and I got a lot of additional background information about it. Idema stated, "many guards would speak with great passion, if only we asked them" (1), which I found to be the case when I talked to one.

While at the Bellevue Art Museum, there was an exhibit open called "Searching Home". While talking to the security guard working at the museum, I was able to obtain additional information about the piece. The entire exhibit was carved out of wood. Suitcases, bar link fences, everything. The artist behind it, Humaria Abid, was told when she was young that she would never be able to work with wood, as in her country, carpentry was seen as a mans profession. Abid was able to over come those stereotypes, and built this exhibit to represent immigrants and immigration. With out talking to the guard, I would have never learned this information, and would have just simply thought it was cool, but never be able to understand the deeper meaning.

What kind of information did you obtain from an unlikely place/person?

Idema, Johan. How to Visit an Art Museum: Tips for a Truly Rewarding Visit. BIS Publishers, 2014.

Origami Triangular Prism

Origami prism 

one of the most greatest reward you get when creating origami models is that it further your development in the wold of origami and also creates opportunity to produce individuality. Unlike the other origami building a triangular prism involves cutting.  "there are already so many possible ways to fold most models and no cuts, that when you lose these restriction you lose a sense of direction"(Shaffer 18). when making origami many people always go back to the rules and guidelines and refuse to cut cause they refer to that as a cheat and cheap way to make origami when in all actuality it just expands your creativity and sense of setting new guidelines.

"A triangular prism is a prism composed of two triangular bases and three rectangular sides." (Shaffer 23) When creating the triangular prism it is important you follow the whole product based off the bases and sides because of the alternate sides on the origami.

do you think cutting in origami is ethical?

Shaffer, Jeremy. “Origami to Astonish and Amuse.” Amazon.com, 6 July 2001, www.amazon.com/Origami-Astonish-Amuse-Jeremy-Shaffer

Drawing an Automobile

For my fourth post, I will be drawing a car or an automobile, and I will be using linear perspective to help make it look a little more realistic. In the book, the Willenbrinks explain to us that, "Perspective is what gives the illusion of depth to a picture. It affects almost anything we see, if only in subtle ways...,"(32) which means that drawing with perspective is essentially giving your drawings sort of a three dimensional like feeling. There are three parts to using linear perspective, there is the horizon line which is,"...where the land or water meets the sky," and it is explained that it, "...Influences the viewers perception of a scene and determines where its sight lines should converge,"(Willenbrink 32) and then there is the vanishing point, which is the point where lines converge, and the vantage point, the point  in where the viewer sees the scene(Willenbrink 32).

For this exercise, I will be using two-point perspective, which is just one-point linear perspective but with 2 vanishing points.

Reference picture

First i followed the instructions of the book and drew a rectangle in two-point perspective, which took me a lot of tries to get right and even now i still don't think i did it right.

Then i added in some details:

And finally i added in a few more details and came out with this:

This is quite obviously not my best work. I struggled with getting the rectangle in two-point perspective and the car is a little tilted

What do you think I could've done better? Do you use linear perspective in your drawings as well?

Willenbrink, Mark, and Mary Willenbrink. Drawing for the Absolute Beginner: A

     Clear & Easy Guid to Successful Drawing. Cincinnati, Ohio, North Light

     Books, 2006.

Final way to Draw

After all the blogs I've done on the book Drawing for the absolute beginner. After all of  that the author is trying to tells us that it doesn't matter if you use lines, shapes, dots or whatever. Their are many techniques to have your drawing advanced and more appealing to look at. Even if you use those techniques or not you'll still get a drawing that you created by yourself with your own hands and that everyone is an artist. I think that is what the author believes and which couldn't be more agreeable. " Our belief is that everyone is an artist, and that includes you!"(Willenbrink 7).

These are my shot at the techniques this book teaches and things I've learned throughout this blog series. I've learned a lot new things after reading this book.
   

Do you plan on drawing something of your own soon?

Willenbrink, Mark, and Mary Willenbrink. Drawing for the Absolute Beginner: a Clear & Easy Guide to Successful Drawing. North Light Books, 2006.

Drawing the Side View of a Cat

For my next post, I have decided to follow the book and draw a picture of the side view of a cat. This exercise will include using shapes again, but this time I will also be shading my drawing.

The first thing that the Willenbrinks informs is to sketch the legs and body of the cat by using a baseline to get the correct proportions. They explain that, "A baseline is used to establish the placement of your subject and to help work out proportions of a drawing,"(Willenbrink 72) which is similar to the last technique I practiced in my last post, structural sketches.

The reference picture that I will be using is this one:

The first step that is mentioned is to sketch the body shape of the cat by drawing a rectangle and drawing vertical lines that go all the way down to your baseline(the line at the bottom). Next, the book instructs us to draw an oval head that is overlapping the horizontal line at the top. Finally, it tells us to add lines for the neck and legs. (Willenbrink 72)

Here is how it turned out for me:

Next, the book instructs me to add the details of the cat (Ears, tail, etc.):

Finally, the book instructs to "Use back-and-forth strokes to the cat's fur, varying the lights and darks to imply form"(Willenbrink 73). Because the cat in my reference picture had a white fur along with black fur, I didn't shade in the entire cat, but here are the results:

As you can see shading really isn't my stronghold.

And that concludes my post. What do you think i can improve with my drawing? Do you have trouble with shading when you draw? If not then what techniques do you use to simplify it?

Willenbrink, Mark, and Mary Willenbrink. Drawing for the Absolute Beginner: A

     Clear & Easy Guid to Successful Drawing. Cincinnati, Ohio, North Light

     Books, 2006.

Learning from other types of drawing

The past blogs I've been drawing and sketching things that looked easy for me, but in the book Drawing for the absolute beginner the author the opposite and wants you to try new things and never be comfortable. "you may have a knack for drawing faces but feel like you can't draw a building in perspective to save your life...then you will not gain experience...Challange yourself" (Willenbrink 54). The author is suggesting that if  for example your good at drawing trains and automobiles but can't even try to draw a house than your not challenging yourself to get better and gain experience.

I've always had troubling drawing animals because I would never get their body parts to be same. But I decided to challenge myself by trying out to draw a swan. I still think I messed up on some parts of the swan like its beak, But now I have the knowledge to fix future mistakes such as the beak.

Can you still learn new experiences from being in a comfortable spot all the time?

Willenbrink, Mark, and Mary Willenbrink. Drawing for the Absolute Beginner: a Clear & Easy Guide to Successful Drawing. North Light Books, 2006.

Using Contrast

I never noticed how important contrast was until I came across the chapter "Values" in the book Drawing for the absolute beginner. This chapter shows how you need contrast to show the differences between the subject and background, just like a photograph you need to focus on the subject and blur the background out. "Values are the degrees of light and darkness in a drawing. They give additional dorm and depth" (Willenbrink 48).



This drawing is about wood and how contrast separates it from the rest of the picture. Also shows how dark the space is below the wood.

Do you think that having a lot of contrast in a drawing in a picture gives it depth and makes the subject stand out?

Willenbrink, Mark, and Mary Willenbrink. Drawing for the Absolute Beginner: a Clear & Easy Guide to Successful Drawing. North Light Books, 2006.

                             

Drawing A Horse

Alright, I think that out of all the drawings I did for this project, this one was my favorite to draw. The horse section of this book is the longest of all the animals at four pages long, but once I started, I found that it was the easiest drawing to do of the ones in this book. The 6 Week Drawing Couse book that horse are an excellent subject because you can see many of their muscles (Barber 106). I got the chance to be very close to the horse and have it tethered so that it was very still for the most part. Barbers book states that you should get the main shape down as quickly as possible (108). So I did that, and to not keep the horse out in the cold too long, I skipped taking a picture of the first sketch.

But I’m very proud of how this drawing ended up, and would love to draw a horse close up again.

What do you think I could have done to improve? I attempted the cross hatch shading recommended by Ansleigh Coplin, and I think it turned out okay, but what do you think?

Barber, Barrington. 6-Week Drawing Course: a professional programme for artists.
     Arcturus Publishing Limited, 2014.

Sketch of a Coffee cup

For my second post, I will be doing a structural sketch. The Willenbrinks explain that, "A structural sketch is the basic linework in which values and details are built upon" (Willenbrink 16).  I will be following the Willenbrinks and draw a coffee cup for this exercise.

To begin, the Willenbrinks explain that "A structural sketch will help you observe and understand the underlying structure of the subject,"(Willenbrink 16) and also that, "A structural sketch helps you see how a subject is constructed"(Willenbrink 17). With this, the Willenbrinks are essentially saying that structural sketches is a good technique for beginners to see what makes up the object that they intend to draw, similar to how shapes give an idea of how something is structured, and that it is a good way to warm up before doing a sketch or drawing in another style (Willenbrink 16). 

The reference picture that I will be using is this one:

So, the first step that is instructed is to,"Sketch the outer forms of the mug and the most relevant structural guidelines, such as those that indicate the placement of the rim. the bottom of the cup and handle"(Willenbrink 17).

Here is a picture of the structural guidelines of the cup 

And here is what it turned out to be

This exercise was also a bit difficult for me to use. There were a lot of lines so sometimes I would get stuck trying to figure out how to fit the object within the lines, but the lines did give me an idea of where what should go.

What do you think about this technique? Do you think it'd be useful to you or would it actually make it more difficult for you to draw? 

Willenbrink, Mark, and Mary Willenbrink. Drawing for the Absolute Beginner: A

     Clear & Easy Guid to Successful Drawing. Cincinnati, Ohio, North Light

     Books, 2006.

Laying Out Your Calligraphy

I would never think to place 1 1/2 margins on a piece of paper while doing calligraphy. If a calligrapher decides to make their calligraphy very artistic they will come across all the ideas for layout, design, and skill. Calligraphers will create margins to help with the spacing and lettering to make their art look impressive (54). When I was tracing out my letters for my first blog I was free handing and guessing the space between the letters because I did not know how far apart to place them. The second time around I drew the 1 1/2 inch margins and I had carefully spaced out the letters apart as best as I could from each other to help give them space.

The layout could be used for poems, texts, and invitations. Taylor suggests the technique of creating a 1 1/2 border to please the eye. "The design and layout of a page or piece of calligraphic artwork is as personal as a painted picture, but calligraphy written on a single sheet, or a page of a book, always looks more impressive if you leave generous margins. It's hard to plan the size and spacing of lettering when you are given a sheet of paper and asked to fit a text into a particular area. Neither beginners nor professionals enjoy working this way. It's much easier to write on a larger piece of paper and trim the margins later to what you think looks nicest  (probably equal-sized boarders on the top and sides, and about 1 1/2 times that size on the bottom)" (Taylor 55). I feel that this technique did not work for me as best as my first technique. The boarder had limited me to my side space on the paper and I think that was my cause to write my letters smaller. I feel that not all techniques work for people and to do your best you need to find the technique that works best for you.
Do you work better with techniques or no techniques?
Taylor, Peter. Complete Calligraphy. Heatherton Victoria Austrailia, Hinkler
     Books, 2013. Print.

The Roman Alphabet

The Roman Alphabet

The Blackletter alphabet was very easy for me.  This is why I felt the need to take on a challenge.  The Roman alphabet gives just that.  This may be, for me, one of the hardest style to do.  There is no way to ensure correct spacing, as it is done by the eye (Bennet 118).  Not only that, you also have to add serifs to the letters.  However, hard work pays off and I was very proud of the end results of the alphabet. 

The spacing between the letters of the Roman alphabet may be the hardest part of it all.  As Bennett writes, "The problem is complicated by the fact that measuring and putting equal distances between letters won't do the trick" (Bennet 118).  If you try to put the same amount of spacing between the letters, they will look like they are spaced unevenly and sloppy because of the shape of the letters themselves.  Just like I have suggested for the previous styles of writing, you may want to use a nib width so that you can focus your attention on not only making the letters formatted correctly, but also looking at how the spacing should be.  The nib width will help you see how the the different letters need different types of spacing.  Personally, I didn't use the nib width at first since I wanted to give myself a challenge.  Don't feel hopeless if you need the assistance of the nib width, with practice you will become less and less dependent on it.  Some key advice is to make all the white spaces between the letters seem equal in length,  even though in reality you placed them in unequal distances.  The letters with straight sides need more space and the rounded sides need less space (Bennet 118).  Using these techniques were a little hard at first, but after using them for about five letters, they became very easy,

The serifs are also a bit of a challenge that come with this alphabet,  The serifs need to be placed in the correct positions and have to be not too big or too small.  The best part is that there are different types of serifs, so you can experiment the one that is the easiest for you to make.  The first is the Slab Serif, the one that I use and find the easiest.  The Slab Serif is made after the letter has been draw and is just a straight line (Bennet 118).  There are also joined Slab Serifs that are drawn as the letters are being written.  These serifs should be made with 20 degree pen angle (Bennet 118).  Finally, there is the Pedestal Serif.  This serif is just like the Slab Serif, except instead of a straight line, there is a curved line.  Finding a technique that is the easiest for you will help make your life a little easier while doing this technique. 

I enjoyed this style of Calligraphy since it gave me a challenge that I didn't get before using the other styles that I've tried throughout this journey.  What style was your favorite?

Bennett, Jim. Calligraphy for Dummies. For Dummies, 2007. Print.

Drawing a Zoo Animal

Now, most people don't go to the zoo with the sole intention to draw. Most go to just look at all the animals and maybe take pictures. For this section of the book, I got the opportunity to go to the zoo with the sole intention of drawing. And I have to say that the next time I go to the zoo, I'm definitely bringing along my drawing pad. My chosen book 6 Week Drawing Course by Barrington Barber states that is you go places like a zoo you "usually have limited opportunity to move about much and you may not have a wide choice of viewpoint" (110). This was very true, especially around the more popular animals, which coincidentally were the easiest animals to draw, like the giraffes, lions, bears. So after roaming the entire zoo for an animal with less of a crowd, I settled for a penguin. This was one of the more difficult drawings because, not only was there a sizable crowd at the penguin exhibit, but I was also drawing them from a bit of a distance. I took a picture before it got even more crowded and I needed to walk away from the exhibit to get out of the way.

While I was forced to move away, I had been able to get down the basic shape of the penguin, which was alright, because as Barber states, "detail is less important that with domestic animals"
(100).

Then, going off of the picture, I got most of what I still needed to complete the drawing.

What could I have done to improve this drawing? Please give me any feedback down in the comments.

Barber, Barrington. 6-Week Drawing Course: a professional programme for artists.
     Arcturus Publishing Limited, 2014.

Drawing a Bird

Personally, I've never like drawing birds. There aren't many near my house, and any that are near are about the size of my palm and are still for only a few seconds, which makes it very hard to get their rough shape. When I saw birds in  6 Week Drawing Course, I was hoping I could just skip over it. But while I was doing the drawing for the next post, I had an opportunity to draw a bird so I decided to follow what the book said on drawing birds. The book states that " although they aren't often motionless, they have fairly straightforward shapes and can be drawn quickly" (Barber 100). Since I was already at the zoo for my zoo animal drawing, I headed over to the avian section and found a bird called the spur-winged lapwing and took a photo, even though the book states that " Taking a quick look and remembering what you saw is a very good discipline" (Barber 100).

I quickly sketched out the rough shape of the bird, with the only really noticeable movement being the leg.

Since there were a few of the birds, I was able to get the markings down with relative ease.

I think with a bit more practice I could learn to love drawing birds. What do you think about drawing birds? Or do you have a way that I could improve my drawing? Please let me know, I'm always looking for feedback.

Barber, Barrington. 6-Week Drawing Course: a professional programme for artists.
     Arcturus Publishing Limited, 2014.