Week 42: 2D Overview and Reflection

This week has taken on a slower pace in comparison with the previous. While we have started working on the 3D modelling for our characters another focus has been to look back on our own work with drawings and painting through the year and reflect on it.

Early on in the 2D course I tried to absorb as much knowledge as I could on method and anatomy along with depth and perspective. It was a frustrating period to overcome, especially when surrounded by much more experienced artists. But my teacher always had good rhetoric on hand: Everyone has a thousand bad pictures they must make before being able to proceed.

This proved true as I learned to see a shape rather than to draw its structure correctly on the first try, as is evident of my first attempt at drawing dragons. At first I had no idea what I was doing and kept having undesirable results, so I slowed down and reconsidered my method. I made it easier for myself, working on a 2D-perspective just to get an idea of the shapes without having to worry about an angled appearance. I started slow, created a basis for the head and went from there. What proved to be most critical was when I switched to a smaller brush stroke. That’s what it really comes down to in the end: Understanding what it is you see and knowing your tools to some extent. The rest is just practice.

Looking over my work with fellow students, feedback was mainly positive. In overall my drawings were solid, but the brush strokes lacked flow. A result of an insecure hand I’ll admit. While I’ve improved on this in terms of human characters, more can be desired of other animals. When I get uncertain I tend to redo trivial details time and again until I feel satisfied and loosing track of the overall picture without freeing myself to explore and try new things when doing a sketch. I’m simply put rusty when it comes to capturing the overall picture without getting bogged down in details early on, and it’s something I’ll need to keep at in order to break loose.

Shading and the application of values is certainly a stage that I enjoy despite its sometimes lengthy process as it enables the image to truly display depth in ways I couldn’t do with simple lines. While the detail was considered to be good and solid in its portrayal, the ways in which light was reflected could be improved upon. Making sure you know where your light source is and how it interacts with the rest of the picture is paramount to avoid making it seem off and keeping it consistent. In this particular case I was trying something with a strong light source from the back, with something more distant from the side. Another thing to consider was the material. The cloak was perhaps a bit too shifting for this scene, and should probably have been made longer and straighter in its appearance, reaching down to the floor. To remedy this I could probably look into various textiles and see how they look and feel in order to determine how they would look, especially in terms of weight. As the example above demonstrates, it might have benefitted more from the previously mentioned modifications as it would imply more weight to the material.

There are many things I need to improve on despite my progress. Personal milestones aside, I really should start organising a more persistent practice schedule in order to make real progress away from the basics. Taking advantage of my course literature should not be underestimated, as it provides excellent insight into drawing and its something that I should go back to even when I feel like I’ve learned everything. Apart from that I really just need to keep practicing on the drawing itself, capturing the essence of the picture as quickly as possible. The rest is just adding details.

In short, I have made a six month plan with milestones every second month. This will include the following three goals.

Month 1-2

Reread course literature.

Month 3-4

Exploring musculature and variations of it.

Month 5-6

Draw both human and other animal bodies with fully realised anatomy with variations in both realism and style.

Björn Erik Berndtsson. Graphics and Game Design.