Folk Art

Exploration and creativity exercise -

Next Thursday, bring in a tear sheet (a bunch of pictures made to fit on one or two pieces of paper) or a book with some kind of folk art or cultural motifs.

we will be designing a character in class based off of the folk art you bring in.  The character doesn't necessarily have to be from the cultural art you are using - you can just use motifs, shape language, rhythms etc.


some examples:

Russian Folk Art
Lascaux cave art
Prehistoric art
African textiles
Scandinavian Folk art
North west Indian art
Indian Petroglyphs
Cambodian Wall art
Chinese calligraphy and glyphs
Japanese tableau's
Medieval Tapestries
Celtic illuminated manuscripts
Indian Sand painting
Sumerian carvings
Grecian pottery
Henna Designs
Maori tattoo designs
Aztec carvings
Taino wood carving
Nazca Lines
French Rococo Design
Art Noveau
Art Deco

just a few artists who have elements or influence of Folk Art in their Design

Nico Marlet

Mary Blair

Sam Bosma

Eyvind Earl

Mike Mignola

The DaVinci Device - Shape Exploration

Drawing is the process of dreaming while awake – We actually already know how to draw perfect people, characters, landscapes etc. .. We draw them every night in our sleep. - Ian McCaig

Boston

One way to practice the dialogue between what we know and what we draw  is to find or make stained paper.  stained perhaps with spilled coffee or smeared paint or even mud. Let the paper dry and then try to see images in the stains. Reinforce these images with pencil or pen or colored pencil. This is so-called “da Vinci device”.

You already know how to draw, but old habits of seeing interfere with that ability and block it.

We tend to see what we expect to see or what we decide we have seen. …Learning perception through drawing seems to change this process and to allow a different, more direct kind of seeing. The brain’s editing is somehow put on hold, thereby permitting one to see more fully and perhaps more realistically.

The painter draws with his eyes, not with his hands. Whatever he sees, if he sees it clear, he can put down. The putting of it down requires, perhaps, much care and labor, but no more muscular agility than it takes for him to write his name.  – Maurice Grosser

The truth is, you can cause yourself to see what is actually not there, and you should strive for this phenomenon.

Drawing on the right side of the Brain - Betty Edwards

There is no ONE way to do this.  try several.  Experiment.  and however you do it, keep practicing your character designs!

http://cupodoodle.blogspot.com/

try using negative spaces

 How many things can you create out of the same shape?

Head Designs

I think sometimes when artists are first learning, they're taught to draw a generic face shape and then they stick with that shape. I also think that when people are designing characters for a "serious" story, they think they can't caricature the shape of the face too much or their drawings will start to look "cartoony" and not appropriate for the serious tone of their work.  But even in real life, there's an incredibly variation of shape within the faces of people.

Mark Kennedy

Different Types Exist- Broaden your perspective

The University of Massachusetts has a HUGE  DATABASE OF FACES

Be observant... Look around you.  Mankind is made in a huge variety of shapes.  If you are using generic shapes, then you aren't paying attention.

Once you start using the variety of shapes that exist, every character becomes very distinctive and cannot be confused with another.  If you are working on a group of characters, you should make every character's face shape recognizable and different, so that it is distinguishable even as a scribble.

The whole thing about making choices of face shapes, facial features and beard shape is that it should all come from the personality of the character you're designing. Every choice you make should accentuate and enhance the personality of your character. 

Be Creative

When drawing heads for a character design, the #1 battle is breaking away from whatever it is that you usually do.  We all have a generic head shape stuck in our head.  It is essential to stay loose and not confine yourself to one head shape for all characters (see anime - this is a no no).   Also, each character you design has their own personality and story - thus, they deserve their own shape and design!

In short -

There is no ONE way to draw heads.  However, whatever your process, it is ESSENTIAL that you know the basic and anatomical head structure.  Foundation first, if you don't know it you've got to learn it.

The Foundation
Andrew Loomis: Drawing the Head and Hands
How to Draw the Head from Any Angle

Breaking Away

Concept artist and Character designers are notorious for finding creative ways to help themselves break away from the norm and to find new and unique shapes.  There is no ONE WAY to do this, just as there is one correct head out there.

Techniques may include:

Scribbles,
Ink/paint blots,
Clay,
Found shapes - popcorn, shoe scuffs etc.

Here are some demos and examples of Artists using these techniques:

SCRIBBLES - Turning loose abstract concepts of shape into unique an un-routine heads. - with Ron Lemen Studio2ndstreet.com

OCTAVIO RODRIG
 Making faces out of Shapes - "This process I find helps to keep you loose and also keeps it fun as you discover shapes you wouldn't normally create"

VARYING PROPORTION - how moving the eye line, adjusting eye spacing, you can vary the proportions of a head design. - varying proportion can apply to other aspects of the head as well. Ex: forehead vs. chin sizes, nose vs. ear, mouth vs. eyebrow etc.

And if you think you're exaggerating too much... think again!  Its always easier to pull back