My 1st Commission!

When it was revealed that I was an artist I was asked if I could do a drawing a of grandfather. For payment!

I'm brand new to the whole art world but to be commissioned for my art??? Now that's way over my head! But, I found out what it's like to be paid for something you actually don't consider work and I must say, it's nothing like I've ever experienced before! It's actually pretty cool!

Here's the grandpa I was to draw:


Go easy on me for this one, it was my first time attempting a portrait. I know there are MANY of mistakes (for those of you that have done this countless times) on this one but the most important thing is that I learned a lot from this experience.

They'll be plenty more heads in the future.

gesture drawing class '08, the best of

Here are what I consider my best gesture drawings for spring '08. I'm pretty pleased at the results seeing how I jumped right in with the big dogs (see my Classmates links on the right) a week after being accepted into the program.

While others who were accepted with my group were out soaking up summer vacation I got a head start [diabolical laughter here]!! MUUH HA HA HA!!

Naw, knowing my luck they'll still draw circles around me when Fall classes start.
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These I consider my fashion sketches because I really accentuated the poses and clothes, which is what fashion designers do when they design new clothes. The model had tons of fun this day.

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Normally I had a bit of challenge drawing jackets but before we got started Ryan found out and informed us that the jacket the model was sporting was an authentic Vietnam war jacket and to incorporate a story in our drawings.

I think with this info I paid more attention to how I was going to design the jacket on the model, and the above is what resulted. Funny how knowing little history changes your outlook and attitudes on seemingly mundane persons and/or objects.

mas sketches

Here are some sketches I did when our class went out and sketched in different places.

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This first one was pretty successful, speaking of the profile of the man and not so much of my wife reading. I was working furiously quick to get the man down because I didn't know how long he was going to be stay in that position. However with my wife I took my time and tried some brush pen rendering. Didn't turn out as well as I'd hope.

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These next pages aren't my best but I'd like to post it so everybody can see what I'm putting down 90% of the time. Why aren't they good you ask? I think because I was too concerned with the individual parts than the overall attitude and gesture.

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For these pages we headed down to the dance studios and watched some dancers practice. There were a lot of fun poses and gestures but the trick was that they were held for a fraction of second. This is where memory and imagination came into play. As you can see, I still need to work on my memory and imagination.

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These were ballet dancers we were drawing from, but I was mainly concentrating on the only guy in the group because he had some strong gestures and plus, it's not everyday you get to see a guy doing ballet. I also tried to capture one of the ballerina's (if that's what you call them??) head (bottom head) because she had very roundish features that were interesting, but alas, I ended up giving her a large forehead and a face that slimmed down to the chin.

Also, mixed in there is a couple and a guy I observed in church.

clothes & wrinkles

another tool in the animator's toolbox is learning how to simplify the complexity of clothes and all it's myriad of attendant wrinkles, planes, and tones.

and yes, these are from a model wearing real costume and sporting real props.

exaggerated gestures

About half way into term for gesture drawing class our teacher assigned us to exaggerate the gesture in pose, proportion, and style. It was hard for me at first because this was the first time imagination was required. Up until now I was strictly drawing from what i saw, so it was a bit of challenge. Honestly, I thought making up portions of the drawing was a cop-out for "skills" but turns out that it requires more skills than just copying what's in front of you, like you gotta draw from memory and knowledge to make sure the drawing doesn't stray to far away from physical laws as we know it. Plus, it's a lot of fun! It's like adding spices and extra ingredients to an already delicious meal.


I had a hard time coming up with different exaggerations so I naturally drew opposites; skinny vs fat, jumping vs crouching, etc.

gesture drawing

I think many misconstrue gesture drawing for barely coherent scribbles. But I object. I admit that I used to think the same but after taking a gesture drawing class I've found it to be very rewarding.

Gestures are supposed to be quickly done but that doesn't give permission to throw out all accountability for a well designed and appealing drawing. In fact, it requires more so because all strokes must be executed with precision, accuracy (in that the resultant shapes must be believable and work together), and with energy. Gestures push you to see the "line of action" (I like to call it the "curve of action" because energy is not static but dynamic) and to let go of all the distracting details. It gets you to see big shapes and to design them so they work with the over all pose (I like to call this 'rhythm') and at the same time be appealing in itself.

I, by no means, claim to understand or even perform the gesture with mastery but, all concepts and theory aside, it's REALLY FUN!

Here is a small small sample of many many gestures I've done.

animal sketches!

Here's a couple of pages from the sketchbook I submitted for my entrance portfolio. Drawing dead stuffed animals is easier than drawing dancers practicing, yes siree!

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I totally misjudged the head size on the tiger, but oh well, that's what a sketchbook is, a place to practice and try out new things.

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This page serendipitously fell into place. It's nice when the art muses give you a break from time to time.

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I apologize for the all the boring black and gray drawings but that's all I can do for right now. In the future I hope to be getting into water color and other media that is fun and colorful.

The Ticket

I have yet to meet anyone that was accepted into the animation program on the first try. I'm sure they exist. Maybe it's because I'm not worthy to go where they are and remain in there presence.

Here's a sample of what it took to get me into the program.






All the poses were sustained for 2 twenty minute sessions with a 10 min break in between. For the first twenty minutes I spent on laying-in and for the second twenty minutes I spent rendering.

The Beginnings

So I wasn't always into animation and art, or at least I didn't know I was, until my class of beginning mechanical engineers (Me En 172 - Engineering Graphics) was assigned to create a wheel. Not only was it to meet technical standards (physical dimensions, strength, and force loads) but it had to look pretty.

No M.E. class was as fun or worth the tons of overtime I logged than this class was, which raised the first flag that maybe, just maybe my life's calling laid elsewhere.

After a couple of years of slowly wasting away my soul (not to mention scholarships and other grants) I finally took the plunge and signed up for Kelly Loosli's Intro to Animation class, and it was there that I found my life's calling.

Unfortunately, it would take another couple of years before I would be officially admitted into the Animation Program, due to months of convincing myself to start all over again (I was finished with 2 years of ME classes) and getting hitched. So, by the time I got my life back in order it was time to get serious about putting together the entrance portfolio, which I did, and also of which some of those pieces are forthcoming in a future post.

Anyway, below is the result of tons of overtime that wasn't required but worth the fun.





P.S. I won best composition by class vote, which was the last thing on my mind while creating, but it's a bonus.

The Introduction

Benvenuto! Ok, so I don't speak fluent Italian...yet, but I do speak fluent Spanish, but Spanish doesn't quiet convey the artistic feel (for instance some well known greats are Italian, like Micheangelo, Leonardo, etc.).

Anyway, I thought I'd create a place to hold all my drawings, both awesome, not-so-awesome, and just downright junk (aka "learning drawings")...on second thought, maybe mostly those that fall within the awesome and kinda-awesome range.

Although I love compliments I would LOVE it more if you shared with me any pearls of wisdom or secret art guild secrets.

Anywho, my greatest desire is that my work would inspire, enlighten, and make the world a better place to live in, but I'll also accept if you simply enjoy my stuff.

Buen provecho!

-Sky