VAILL 385 Character Design Fall 2014

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Critiques

Criticism is something we can avoid easily by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing

-Aristotle

Bill Peet

Critiques are going to be one of the most valuable parts of this class. Lessons, demos etc. are nice, but this is where you will be doing the most growing, and getting the most attention, input and direction.

You will be responsible for leading the critique of the person who posted after you on the blog. each critique will take about 2 minutes. It is advised that you study the work you will be critiquing before class so that you can give an effective and succinct critique.

Hopefully everyone has by now had time to grow accustomed to and even excited about class critiques. If not, here are some guidelines for what I will be expecting from everybody during our class critiques:

1) BE ON TIME - not only for your own grade but also out of respect for your fellow artists. We are counting on your input!

2) BE USEFUL - A critique is useless if the artist just receives a pat on the back. Please expect and hope for some constructive criticism! Hope for compliments but be prepared for negative comments as well, and suggestions for further study in areas needing improvement.
Avoid comments such as "I like..." or, "I don't like...". Rather comments such as "The first thing I see is...", "This ___ stands out to me because of the ...size, color, placement etc."

3) VALUE - When your piece is being critiqued, take notes so that you can later apply them! Value the suggestions you receive and consider them an opportunity to improve. A willingness to learn and make changes is one of the greatest qualities you can develop in your life.

4) NOTE - Also make notes about any questions you might have on any comments made about your work. I will meet with each student individually after a critique to go over your questions.

5) PARTICIIPATE - Everyone needs to pay attention and participate in a critique. You learn as much from evaluating other's work as you do from having your own work evaluated.

Give the type of comments that you yourself hope to receive in order to become the type of Character Designer you aspire to be.

Thinking Dimensionally

"Copying the model with out awareness would be like copying a novel to learn how to write novels."

Walter Stanchfield

We are all here because we have been told that we are good at drawing. we have a natural talent for interpreting what we see onto paper. The next step is to move from copying what we see to understanding what we see.

So you sit down to draw an object, say a nose, foot, or maybe just a teapot. you put your pencil to paper and start drawing. What is the first thing your pencil starts doing? for many of us, we automatically see and draw the "outline" of the object, interpreting what we see into lines.

There is nothing wrong with this. we somehow have to see a complex 3D object and translate it into 2D in a manner that we can easily draw on a paper with our pencil. The overall result - a drawing of a foot, face or teapot might not change. how we think, read see the object as we draw can. As we learn to "see" better and more accurately, we will be able to better draw what we see or even what we have stored in our head that fuels our imagination.

Even though you are drawing lines, start training yourself to see shapes. Start thinking in 3D, not just 2D. when you see an object from the front, wonder how it might look on the back or at a different angle. how do the shapes you are seeing all fit together. This will be essential in helping you to draw objects from more than one angle without always needing reference and helping you draw more accurately from your imagination.

Some steps:
1) before drawing, just study the object for a second. break it down into familiar shapes, shapes that you feel that you could draw in your sleep from any angle (a sphere, a cylinder, a cube, a cone... maybe eventually a jelly bean shape, or a sphere cut in half) and correctly in perspective.

2) Float these shapes together to form a basic blockout of your object.

3) you know these shapes, remember? you could draw this same cluster of shapes from any angle.

you are now understanding this object further than its basic contours. plus, while you might forget the contours, you can remember the basic shapes that make it up and better draw from memory.

Rad How To - Breaking down the head

Rad How To - Breaking an object down into simple forms

Goals

Hey Everyone

Just a reminder to email me your Goals for this semester before the weekend. Just a quick sentence will do. This is how I will be able to judge your progress in class, grade according to what you are working on, and arrange lessons to help you achieve your goals.
If you feel stuck, come talk to me in class and I can help you fix a goal.

Zar Galstyan

Out of Class Assignment #4

We just finished talking about CONTRAST

straights vs curves
squash vs stretch
simple vs complex
etc.

Do 2 drawovers on your Pizza delivery guy from assignment #1, strengthening the design by establishing straights and curves. Think back to the excersise we did in class. try it out a couple of different ways.

Post to blog

this can be done with tracing paper scanned in or Digitally.

Due at midnight

Thinking dimensionally - drawing structure

The Skeleton:

The structure underneath clothing or flesh
no "broken" limbs
Following the spine can help understand the Line of Action
where the weight is
seeing a pose in 3D space - perspective
Believable proportions - (can still be exaggerated, but for ex. correctly having the arms reach just above the knees)

Hint: Act out the pose yourself to feel where your weight shifts and how your shoulders, hips and feet point

The Volumes:

Help see the 3D shapes
How the shapes move in space
Overlaps
How Clothing lines will stretch across the shapes
The direction openings point - sleeves, boots etc.