One of the hardest things in teaching life drawing is convincing students of the value of gesture. Gesture drawing has a lot of confusing meanings and uses, everything from just loosening up to much more. The more can be defined as establishing the movement or pose of a subject or object as well as the [...]
Eons ago I thought of becoming a cartoonist. I even had a strip in a few small newspapers for a while. But plans change and other stuff took over. I guess the kids' books have been the later expression of that dream. Never the less here is a sketch I found from that time. I [...]
I went today to the Royal with my students for a day of sketching. Didn't get much done other than assisting students, but then, that's what I was there for. However near the end of the day there was some time to myself. Posted below are a few done for myself. Wish I had time [...]
I recently found a note that I wrote to myself following a book I illustrated in 1998. It was pertinent then and still is now.I need to glue this to the wall in front of my work area. Especially find exclusive time. August 1998 Plan!!!Find exclusive timeOrganize § sketches§ photos§ pages§ spaceo Establish characters§ Location§ [...]
My granddaughters were up this weekend. Flora at 3 months is just a feeder, sleeper and giggler. A joy to draw. Should have done many more. More to come.
Today is the 100th anniversary of the real Winnie - the bear cub who went to England with Canadian troops and inspired A.A. Milne to write the stories so beautifully illustrated by E. H. Shepard.I've always loved the drawings of Shepard and can never look at them without amazement at the man's ability. Shepard was [...]
During one of Vilppu's demos I grabbed my pad and sketched him drawing. It was fascinating to watch his hands carve, almost caress the drawing out onto the page. His hands moved elegantly, feeling the form with lines and tone emerging seemingly effortlessly, yet within his mind there must have been innumerable calculations going on both [...]
day one combined study of 5 minute poses with Vilppu's notation in red below.Today I had the great fortune to be a participant in a weekend drawing workshop presented by Taafi, the Toronto Animation Arts Festival International featuring none other than the master Glenn Vilppu. As anyone in the animation industry knows, Glenn Vilppu is [...]
today I met my new granddaughter and had a moment to sketch her. Amazed that her eyes were following her mother's voice.
Too many mornings I leave to walk the dog along the river only to regret not taking a sketch book with me. Usually because there's not a lot of time to stop and draw. This morning despite a pressing schedule on a new kid's book the sketch book came along.For a few minutes I paused [...]