Analytical Figure Drawing

I'm a little confused about how the shoulder blade and arm work on the drawing on the left on the model's left arm.

All in all, my drawing today seemed to be a little better than last week. Last week I felt very stiff because I had taken 2 weeks off for vacation. It seemed to really show. This week I wasn't as rusty.

Feet

We worked on drawing hands and feet today in Analytical Figure Drawing Class at the Concept Design Academy. Kevin said feet and hands basically have the same structure. He said the big toe points up while the lesser toes point down. He said we should treat the foot as a box. He also went through some proportions.

Here's Kevin Chen's drawing of the foot put next to my drawing in the same position. I clearly have a lot to learn. I'm missing the weight on the toes as well as the clean geometry of the foot. Kevins attachment between the leg and the foot is very clear while mine is messy. I'm also still drawing too dark.

Hands

Kevin stressed today that we treat the hand like we treat the face because they are both very expressive. He said the pinky, thumb and index fingers have a lot of character but the two middle fingers can often be treated as one because they usually work together. When the fist is closed the palm is smaller than when the fist is open.

He also reiterated the use of straights vs. curves. On the hand there is always a straight side and a curved side. The fingers are straight in the middle and curved on the outside. The palm is not flat but has a slight arc. The arc is only gotten rid of by external force - which pushes a fat pocket on the side. On the hand and fingers the bottom is fleshy and the top is boney. He quoted Glenn Vilppu stating there is a flow from the arm to the middle fingers - if you don't draw it the arm will seem broken.

When drawing the hand it's not that important to have a lot of information on the inside it's important to have good design on the outside. Kevin said to study animation drawing to understand the hand. Kevin also told us to be aware of making the fingers too sausagey. He said to think of the finger as a box.

I've never really heard anything that I can remember about the proportions of arm and hand. Today, Kevin divided the lower arm into thirds. And then the 1/3 measurement could be used as the measurement of the palm and that measurement again with the same distance from the palm to the top of the figures. He also talked about the thumb coming out a 45 degree angle.

Arm Studies

Felt really lost with these arm studies. I need to work on this a lot more.

Final Color Studies - Hymn of the Pearl

I always imagined this story sepia toned. But it was interesting playing with color.

Tonal Studies - Hymn of the Pearl

Here on the tonal studies I did for the Sketching for the Environment Class based on the line drawing from the scene from Hymn of the Pearl.

Hymn of the Pearl

Thumbnail of the kennels
First Layout

Perspective Overlay

Detailed Line Drawing

I've been working on a graphic novel called the Hymn of the Pearl for several years. The middle of the story is partially inspired by the biblical Joseph story in Egypt. The hero, Gaspar, once a prince is now a slave in the Royal Kennels in Alexandria. At a certain point during his stay in the kennels, Odjit, the kennelmaster's wife, seduces Gaspar which leads to Gaspar's imminent downfall at the hands of Remmao, the kennel master. Before Gaspar is punished by Remmao, a shapeshifter, Neshera - part woman, part eagle rescues Gaspar from the kennels and his enslavement in Egypt.

These sketches are of Neshera, in Eagle form flying into the Kennelmaster's estate. The building in the foreground is the kennels. To the right is the family temple (chapel) The building behind the kennels with the awnings in the kennelmaster's mansion and the building in the top left is the workshops and servants quarters.

I did this as part of the work for Ed Li's Sketching the Environment Class at the Concept Design Academy