Sorry for the dead moment there.   We Finished up the filming for Templar Nation last week, and now we are trying to get our ducks in a row for post.  Got some heavy CG coming up, so I have taken this week to rest before the next sprint.

Unfortunately the time that has been required to be on set and in meetings, have kept me from painting or drawing much at all.  But I was able to sketch a few things this evening, that I thought I would share.

These sketches were done in Mypaint.  I really should get into this program more often.  Or at least use it to touch up some of my work in Gimp.  There is a whole slew of tools waiting to be  discovered and used.

I have switched from Ubuntu to Kubuntu recently, since I bought a new system.  Thinking that I should try out a new interface.  (Also because Ubuntu sometimes feels clumsy to work in, because of recent updates to the UI.)  So far I am really liking Kubuntu.  Has the feeling of OSX, without all of the restrictions (user friendlyness) that comes with the Apple name.

A little of a heads up on my future posting.  Over the next month or so, the posts will be less. I just don’t know exactly how much time I will have for personal projects.  But I will try to post what I can about Templar Nation withoutp\ getting in too much trouble.  Right now they have me working on a trailer.  Here is a link to the movie’s website if your interested  http://www.templarnation.com/

Also, an apology for my friends at Draw Night.   Sorry I didn’t make it this evening, I woke up sick, and haven’t been in the best of moods today.  Thought I should spare you all the discomfort of a grumpy Will this evening.

I know the black and white isn’t quite as interesting as something with color.  But I am having fun practicing value with light and shadow.  It feels like I am starting to get a better hold on it all.
I spent about a half hour on this, with no reference.

Also I have been playing around with the whole left brain right brain thing.  And I am seeing if I can quickly jump into a right brain mode and notice when I do so.  I have been running through the chapters  in Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain.  Just the chapters on how and why children draw the way they do.  Its a good read to see if I still have some bad habits from my adolescents.
Its interesting to realize how much I have lost the ability to not worry about how “good” my drawings are, and just draw.  For the sake of drawing.  The book says I am rediscovering the childhood artist within me.  We’ll see.

I would like to make some suggestions to anyone who is trying to become an artist.

First one is the book that I mentioned above.  It seems that this book has almost become a cliche art education, just because it is a book that we have all seen before.  There is a reason why teachers use it.  But a little warning for this book.  The book presents some useful techniques, such as understanding negative and positive space and some of the contour line exercises.  But unfortunately the author uses this left-brain and right-brain “science” to say that the reason why you can’t draw is because you aren’t using your right brain enough.  So everything is about forcing you into this right-brain mode.  There is no real instruction on perspective (which is a vital foundational skill for representing anything accurately on paper, and is a left-brain activity, supposedly).  There is no instruction on composition and stylization, which are important as well (and are left-brain activities).  Basically this book teaches you how to draw what you see.  And that is a good thing, and a skill that every artist should have.  But remember, when reading this book,  it is not the end all of your progression as an artist.  And that there is still much to learn in becoming an authoritative artist.  you can get it for about 2 dollars at this link  here .
I don’t think I have ever read it straight through, but instead pick at the parts that I feel I am struggling with at the moment.

Another suggestion, are the two 10 Top Tips To Becoming a Better Artist on the cgsociety forums.  I read these regularly and it helps me to focus on what is important to do in relation to becoming a better artist.  The first one is at the top of the forum, and the next one is a little down the page.  both are written by great artists, who have been spending years helping other artists improve their skills on cgsociety.org.


I hope that some of you will take a peak at these suggestions,  I know that they have really helped me to improve my artistic skill.

Here is another sketch that has been sitting on my tablet for a while.  its been interesting not having the luxury of pressure sensitivity to draw with, but it is nice to have the convinience of being able to do digital art anywhere I go.  Without having to drag around a laptop.

(Can’t wait until they get that pressure sensitivity for tablet computers).

Also, I don’t know about the red eyes.  It seemed like a good idea when I started.

I did a quick sketch for a friend of mine, and I thought I should post it because it has been a while.