Tuesday, August 20, 2013

08.20.13 More Dancing, More Drawing!!

Hi there!
Thanks for stopping by!  This week I'm posting more dancing drawings--I got to draw a dancing workshop that was put on by Company BLU, a totally amazing dance company from Italy.  Here's a link to some youtube videos of them:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRsckd-yAjI

They were so nice and fun to work with! I love drawing dancers because even when they are just standing around talking to each other they can't help but move.  They either stretch an arm or kick a leg or something--they don't even realize they are doing it--I love it! Here are some pages from my sketchbook:

Stretching Sketching!

I really like how the figures all work together in these to spreads.  I have a lot more, of course, but for the sake of time and space I will move on to the movement sequences I made:

Company BLU, 2013

Dancing Arms, 2013

Twirling, 2013
I really love what I've been able to do with movement within this project.  I am going to be able to draw classes at the U next month and I'm so excited!!!  Here are some solo figures....I suck at titles so I'm just calling them "Solo..." and then a number....I know, boring.  But I'm not relying on the title to say what I want, so I guess it's not super important.  Anyway, here's some solo pics for you:


 I love the very different feeling these two images have. They perfectly illustrate how important body language is in conveying how we feel, which is one of my favorite things about drawing people and characters.....and one of the goals of this project.

  So here is the poster for the Company BLU show that was here.  I love how it turned out and I can't wait to do more:


  Well! It was really fun to share with you but I have to get right back to work.  I'm getting so near the end of this coloring book, I can see the finish line!!!  And once that's done, I have a whole other project in line to take its place. Sigh, my life is so full of......work. And that's a GOOD thing!  (:  Every time I make one of these coloring books I feel like I'm 9 again, when I would color in coloring books and think:  "I could do this.....and I would do it much better!"   I was so right on, dude.  Life is so funny.  (:
  Oh wait, before you go here is a fun, fun pic of me and my two friends who just got legally married in MN (we are SO the best state in the union!!!!)

So blurry but so fabulous! 
We had so much fun!  I love those guys!  And then there was this awesome indie music/art/comic convention here in Minneapolis, called Autoptic, which reunited me with all my college buddies from every spectrum of my MCAD life.  OMG, art school memories.....hee hee hee....
SIGH.....I had such a great weekend.  :-D
Come back next week for more art from me for you!!
Love, Beckarooooo!!!!

Monday, August 12, 2013

08.12.13 Line Drawings!

Hi there!
SO....as stated many times previously I'm working on stuff I can't post right now.... because of that I've decided to re-post some of my line drawings--I always just scan them and tuck them away immediately upon finishing them so when I was moving a couple of weeks ago I was surprised to see how many I've so far accumulated--WAY too many to post all of them, which is a shame, so I just went through and picked out a few to share.  I think I could tile an entire wall with them now....
  The reason I don't usually post these is because they are just the first step in my process and so I tend to view them as unfinished and therefore not worthy of posting on their own.  However, I've recently changed my point of view:  these simple, black and white line drawings are a perfect way to highlight my drawing skills b/c there is nowhere to hide laziness or bad drawing.  For example:

"Trio, Journeying"  2012   from "Hero's Journey" 

 So, as you may notice in the above image, there is very little depth and all the lines are blending together.  But if you take the time to look closely you will see that everything is working together technically and compositionally and it did end up looking fabulous when it was done...which you can see on my tumblr. (link at the end of this post!)
"The Chandelier, lines"  concept art for "The Phantom of the Opera" 2013
"The Masquerade, lines"  2013  concept art for "The Phantom of the Opera"

The above two images for "The Phantom of the Opera" are really good examples of how you can't cheat with simple black and white lines.  I say "simple" but really, there was nothing simple about these two images.  It was months of drawing to be able to draw this space (which I've never seen in real life, BTW)  at this level of detail--tons of research, tons of sketching.  Okay it was more like two years of that before I could draw it this well....sometimes it takes that long--and have you looked at how ornate this space is?  There is something on everything.  And I can draw this space off the top of my head now so THERE!!
  So, as simple as black and white lines may seem, they are very difficult, very specific and unforgiving BUT ultimately very rewarding. When I found these again after months of not looking at them, I was pretty happy with how my skills have developed. (:


"L'Ennui, lines" 2012
This image has been re-blogged so many times!  People really like seeing images of pretty people being sad, apparently.  But she's actually more bored than anything, hence the title. 
 Boredom can be torturous, trust me on that.

"The Frog Prince, lines" 2012
  This is an image that has yet to be finished...I should get on it!  It's already half-way done, actually, but then another project came up and I sorta forgot about it...it happens!!  It's on the list of things to do when I have some extra time...whenever that may be.

"The Princess and the Dragon, lines" 2013
  And my original fairy tale:  The Princess and the Dragon.   I love how this one looks--you should print it, color it like a coloring page, scan it and email it to me!  That's my favorite thing about making coloring books--each year I send one around to all my friends to color in.  You're never too old to enjoy coloring books.  At least I'm not.

  Well, I'm off to work on more coloring books, line drawings, fairy tales and what-not.  I love it.  Really.  This is exactly what I wanted to do when I grew up....I hope when I finally do grow up I'm still doing this.
 :-P  before I go I will post these two images:

After!  
4.5 inches!!

I highly recommend cutting all your hair off.  It's SO liberating and refreshing and a new haircut is the perfect complement to a new apartment.  Everyone go and cut all your hair off!!!  :-)
  You can see all these images in their finished state (except for the ones I told you I never finished!) on my tumblr:
http://beckylaff.tumblr.com
Be well friends, and thanks for the visit....back to work now.  (:
Love, Beckarooo!