HOW TO DRAW YOUR DRAGON: GRONCKLE

Here's a quick n easy way to learn how to draw Gronckle from How To Train Your Dragon. I created/drew this "how to" book a couple years back as part of a movie promo we did with Carls Jr. So these books were part of their happy meals n all that. So here ya' go!

Click on the pic to make it larger

Rules of Thirds

I use it on a daily basis. It's what helps make your drawings and paintings more dynamic and its something that I learned while at art Center.

Pretty much what you should always do, is divide your composition into 1/3's. you do this at the concept, exploration stage. It's kinda like the foundation to the drawing or painting. What this does is create for 4 points of tension where the lines cross. Your goal should be to align the objects in your drawing as close to these points as possible. They're focal points. It creates a more dynamic piece of art as if you would have just centered the object, smack in the middle of the canvas.

Here's an example of a digital painting I did once where I applied the rules of thirds. I did my version of a futuristic Grand Canyon, one that has been colonized n all that stuff. If you notice, I brought out one canyon edge out, about a vertical 1/3. I then placed a little city/dock station on the horizontal 1/3 that crosses it. I did the same thing at the bottom. At the tension points in the bottom is where the Colorado River bends.

Of course its NOT the tell all rule to follow. You can have good composition with out having to follow the rules of third. But it is the backbone of good design. So try it out and let me know what you think!

       
      Using the Rules of 1/3's                                       What it looks like without the guides.

More Muertas

Getting into the Day of The Dead mood with a couple more sketches. Drew these while watching/listening to TV. I can't just sit and watch TV, I feel like I have to be doing something....might as well sketch.

Kat Von D Muerta

 And I finally gave in and got a mechanical pencil. Hadn't used one in YEARS, but it helps alot with the finer details. I used it for the bottom drawing.

Laying Down Curves

Basic Shapes When Drawing

Everything you ever draw, will break down to 3 basic shapes, a circle, triangle, or square. Everything you see, breaks down into those 3 basic shapes. They're like the skeleton to any drawing you ever do. Knowing this will also help you simplify your drawing, which will lead to faster and more efficient drawings. It's something I do when doing quick sketching If I need to crank out a bunch of art work. 

Po here is a perfect example. The drawing below is the sketch and the one with all the red lines shows all the basic shapes that Po is made of in this pose. He's a round guy so he's a bit easier to draw when it comes to shapes. His basic body shape is a giant TRIANGLE. The longest edge of the triangle is on top, helping guide your eye across the whole drawing into the direction that he's kicking. You then add a bunch of circles and BAM, you have a flying kicking Po. 

Simplifying the drawing just gives you a cleaner and crisper read. So there you go, give it a try!

Basic Shapes

Regular sketch

Lunch Time Sketching

Some sketching from lunch time. I discovered a new pencil to use. A Faber Castell PITT PASTEL, made in Germany. Pretty badass. It's extremely soft, almost like drawing with butter, so you get that soft shading, tilt it a little and you get the hard line. Pretty exciting stuff!...............

Day of the Dead Gurl

Sunday afternoon sketch to warm up for some more drawing and painting for the rest of the day today. Gonna juggle that n watching the Olympics closing ceremony........lets see which one wins.

Capturing the GESTURE

A gesture drawing is like the artist warm up exercise. Just like athletes warm up before running or swimming, artist too should warm up with some quick gestures. A gesture is normally about a minute long, no more than 2 or 3 minutes. It's meant to capture the feel and motion of the subject model. 

A dynamic (full of energy) gesture drawing always has at least one line of action. It's the energy flow of the drawing, and how you guide the viewers eyes through your drawing. It's something you keep in mind while drawing OR can draw the line before hand. What ever works best for you. 

Here I did a 1 minute quick sketch of this sword dude. He was pointing to something off in the distance and my intention was to convey that. He's leaning his body forward and if you see, I aligned his shoulders and arms to form that action line. There's another action line going from his right foot to the tip of his hat, once again to channel his energy forward. 

So try it next time you draw. It'll improve your drawing, composition, pose, and help you tell that story that you want to tell with your drawing. 

2 GIRLS 3 MIN. POSES

Charcoal pencil on Newsprint

Lunch time workshop

Hit up the drawing workshop today. Good model. This here is a 5 min. pose. Back poses can sometimes be boring, BUTT I made the most of it.....ha. 

Day of the Dead