nathanaardvark

Tutorial 138 - The Head in Profile

When beginning to work with the head in profile, it pays to memorize a basic pattern to avoid a disproportional design. 

By pattern I mean an outline that provides a basic design framework to follow, varying to suit a subject's profile and feature placement. 

I've illustrated a simple example. Note the alternating rhythm of left/right lines, red lines leaning left and green lines leaning right. Most faces will follow this rhythm, varying in angle and length to...

Tutorial 137 - Chiaroscuro

Chiaroscuro (ki-aro-sku-ro) is an Italian word, chiaro meaning light, scuro meaning dark. It was a technique used to full effect by artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Rembrandt and Caravaggio to name just a few. 

Chiaroscuro is a technique used in the visual arts to produce interesting compositions of light and dark that communicate a strong sense of volume. Usually the result is a powerful and dramatic image, striking and sometimes theatrical looking, but the main concern is...

Tutorial 136 - Rembrandt Lighting

Rembrandt lighting is commonly used in portrait photography and painting, cinema, animation and manga.

A triangle of light appears on the less illuminated side of the face, as form shadows generate compositionally interesting interactions of light and dark shapes. This is sometimes called chiaroscuro, a term which usually referrers to the strong contrasts of light and dark shapes, how they effect the composition as a whole, and how they establish a sense of three-dimensional volume. 2016-05-21 01:17:25 +0000 UTC View Post

Tutorial 135 - Lighting the Head

As an exercise, painting the head with a variety of lighting setups can help us understand the complex planes of the head and face. Learning the shadow shapes as they fall across different kinds of faces with different bone structures will teach us the commonalities. 

Try taking several reference photographs of a friend's face. Use a single light source positioned in front, from below and from above. Make simple studies of your references drawing the shadow shapes. See my previous...

Tutorial 134 - Occipitofrontalis

The occipitofrontalis muscle runs from the front of the skull (the frontalis, as illustrated) across the scalp as a tendon, to the back of the skull (the occipitalis).

The muscle is for expression only, raising the eyebrow from two areas, the medial fibers pull the outer corners of the eyebrows and the lateral fibers work the inner corners. 

Tutorial 133 - Depth of Field

Depth of field is a term to describe the range of acceptable sharpness within an image. 

Often used in photography to make areas pop by contrasting sharpness with blurriness, depth of field is an effect we can achieve in our work to the same end. 

When planning an image, try separating areas into planes of depth. The simplest method is to have an object on a near plane and the background on a far plane. For example, to make the object appear to pop out of the ...

Tutorial 132 - Camera Angles

Angles offer the storyteller an effective way to relate the audience to a scene and/or character. The audience's judgment of characters can be guided and influenced when using angles to enhance story. 

The basic principles are: 

• If we're looking down at a character, they appear generally weaker or more vulnerable.
• If we are looking up at a character they appear stronger, or more authoritative.
• At eye level we are "wi...
  2016-05-15 08:01:25 +0000 UTC View Post

Tutorial 131 - Framing (Field Sizes)

If you ever do sequential art like comics or storyboards, or if you're planning an animation or a film, then some cinematography basics will come in handy. 

The right framing will serve the story visually, captivating your audience. The wrong framing will bore or confuse your audience. 

Tutorial 130 - Caricature Action

When creating a caricature of a subject we have the opportunity to include an action or have the character placed in a situation. 

This should add to the comical feel of the image overall, and breathe a little more life into the portrait. 

Referring to my example image, I was lucky enough to snap a photograph of my baby niece eating sand, which I thought was a scene worth sketching. But, we're not always so directly inspired, in which case we can try to put the character in a s...

Tutorial 129 - Character Exaggeration

There's a tough balancing act at play in the creation of a character portrait, or caricature. 

The trick is choosing which features to exaggerate. For example, it might seem that exaggerating the size of the nose is the right thing to do only to realize that actually it's the eyes that need to be smaller and by effect, the nose appears larger. 

In the beginning, keep everything loose and free, don't get pulled into the details. Try to see the whole from a ...

Tutorial 128 - Baby Head Proportions

This is a general break down of the proportions of a young babies head (1 yr old). Of course, there are many different shapes and sizes, and arrangement of features, but there a few things we can keep in mind.

Height Spacing 

• From the side, the head fits fairly well into a perfect square.
• The bottom of the brow-line is roughly half way up.
• Dividing the face into equal thirds from the brow-line down; the point of the nose i...
  2016-05-12 05:13:13 +0000 UTC View Post

Tutorial 127 - The Grid Method

The grid method is not only a really effective and accurate way to transfer an image into a drawing or painting but it's also perfect for getting into your subject in preparation for a greater artwork, if you choose. 

I'll talk about using the grid method for creating accurate portraits a little after this next paragraph.

The grid method is a simple way of breaking down the reference image into small but abstract areas to draw from. Each square on the grid is seen no lo...

Tutorial 126 - Drawing Curves Freehand

Drawing curves without the aid of tools like the french curve or compass can be one of the most frustrating things for a learner or even for a seasoned pro. I bet even Leonardo Da Vinci struggled!

It's important to understand that drawing curves (or straight lines for that matter) won't be easy if you haven't been drawing for a few years already. But, with the right practice you can make huge leaps in just a few weeks, if you're committed, and it doesn't have to mean hours and hou...

Tutorial 125 - Pinkish Extremities

You might notice your fingers turning pink in the cold, or your nose, just before an awkward sniffle. This is blood rushing to your extremities to keep you from getting too cold. It's most noticeable on fair skin, but can be seen on all skin types. Other places we might see this color change are cheeks, ears, elbows, knees, toes, etc. 

When you paint skin, try shifting the hue a little in these areas.

Tutorial 124 - Texture Before the Terminator

Texture is going to be visible depending on the depth of the textured surface and the lighting setup in a scene. 

If the lighting is mostly ambient or soft then we'll see a fairly well defined texture throughout. However, things get a little different in hard light situations. 

Angled, single light sources, like a spot light or low level sunlight will cast long shadows and most objects will have an area on the form called the terminator if there are other objects near...

Tutorial 123 - Ambient Occlusion

Ambient occlusion is a painting or rendering technique which adds realism to an image. 

As light is hitting a variety of surfaces, all points that aren't absolutely hidden from light are illuminated to some level. 

Any surface that is angled towards another surface will reduce the amount of light those areas are exposed to.

The level of ambient occlusion depends on how accessible an area is to ambient light rays. Creases, inner corners, dents and bumps, and places...

Tutorial 122 - Reverse Gradation

Here's a quick tip to help your subjects stand out from their backgrounds. 

Used often in cinema and photography, reversing the gradient of the background will give  greater contrast without pushing the values. 

When used to the extreme, the effect is more dramatic, adding a mysterious or moody element.
 

Tutorial 121 - Simple Shadow Shapes

Here's a quick process often used in observational drawing. 

Learning to simplify the shadow shapes and other forms is a great exercise which will transfer skills to other areas of your work. 

Give this one a try next time you are out sketching and there's a strong light source.

The more you practice simplifying complex forms, the stronger your observational skills will become.

Tutorial 120 - Depth with Occlusion

To go a bit further on spatial depth, I've illustrated how objects are most effectively placed spatially using occlusion, or overlap. 

Occlusion trumps all other depth cues including perspective, size and color, etc.

If we want to be really certain about which objects in a still life or which parts of the figure are in front (occluding) and which are behind (occluded), we can use overlap.

This example image explains how objects closest to the eye will appear to overlap...

Tutorial 119 - Box Construction: Hand

We can simplify complex  forms and body parts into simple boxes and tubes

Though quick and effective, construction techniques are best employed after a we have gained a good understanding of the various plain changes and landmarks along the form surfaces.

We'll delve into this in upcoming tutorials, but for now, try recreating the forms you observe as basic building blocks.

Tutorial 118 - Continuity

When we wish to create a composition to lead the eye around an image, then we can use the gestalt principle of continuity.

The eye will follow paths that are clearly connected until the line of continuity ends or hits an object. 

A path can run through an object if the object displaces to make way. 

A path can be made up of several objects which don't touch or overlap but appear aligned.  

A path or line may even lead the eye off the...

Tutorial 117 - Figure Ground

The figure / ground principle describes how we tend to separate elements (figures) from their environment (ground). It's impossible to have a figure element change its outline (silhouette) without also changing the shape of the ground. 

Figure and ground can be illustrated simply as a dot on a page, the dot is overlapping the ground, the figure is specified. But it's also possible to create a figure ground relationship that confuses the eye by switching or fluctuating the overlapping ...

Tutorial 116 - Closure

Closure is perhaps the most important gestalt principle for the sketch artist wishing to use economical marks to convey information, playing on the viewers own inventiveness driven by the memory of familiar forms. We are simply connecting the dots when we see closure in action.

Impressionists use this principle and digital speed painters apply marks made with cleverly designed brushes to imply form. Wherever we see lost edges in an image, that's closure at work. To see...

Tutorial 115 - Minor Key Variations

By now we should have developed a sense of what we mean when we talk about key as it applies to visual art.

Here are some examples that explore a few ways we can vary the minor key to make adjustments in our image using color and scale.

Note: when the minor key begins to overwhelm the major key then that color/value can no longer be called the minor key, the balance has shifted over the tipping point and that element is now the dominant majority, the major key.

Tr...

Tutorial 114 - Major and Minor Keys in Color

Here are some color arrangements to demonstrate a measured application of major and minor keys. 

The major key is the dominant, majority color in an image. It sets the general tone or mood and might be able to trigger a subtle emotional response from the viewer.

The minor key is the color that is being used to create color contrast in your scheme. It may be a small accent than can add an element of vibrancy to an otherwise d...

Tutorial 113 - Major and Minor Keys

The last tutorial (112) explained how high, mid and low value ranges can be applied to give us some options for mood and story.

This tutorial goes a bit further. We can play with accents to add a bit or interest.

High Key Major:

In general, the key is high range, except we are choosing to add low accents to bring interest and make some areas pop.

Mid Key Minor:

In general, the key is mid range, except we are choosing to add low and high acc...

Tutorial 112 - High, Mid and Low Key

Here's a visual example of how to make value arrangements based on the concept of delegating key value ranges.

You might notice that the key of an image can effect the mood or story quite effectively.

High Key:

Can also be called high key minor (we'll look at minor and major in the next tutorial). The values are restricted to anything above mid-grey. The darkest darks don't get very dark but we can go to full white, which suggests a lighter mood for a scene or...

Game of Thrones Tribute Show in LA - Tonight!

Hey homies! 

Just in case any of you guys live in LA and are around the Pasadena area later there's a show over at the Pop Secret Gallery in Eagle Rock, about 10 mins away from Pasadena. 

Featuring incredible works from all these awesome artists. Maddie has even made a life sized sword! ...Sick!!

I'm showing some prints too and I'll be hanging out there tonight. I'd LOVE to meet any of you in person - it would seriously make my day! 

Addres...