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So this week was a tough exercise. Based on all our previous experience we now had to draw 14 images of Anne Marie (from All Dogs Go To Heaven) on model. We were given 3 model sheets of the character (which I did not include in my upload). We were told to draw 7 images as exact replicas from the model sheets (5 headshots, 2 full body poses), and after successfully doing that we were told to draw another 7 unique poses of the character from our own imagination (5 headshots. 2 full body).

The copied poses that I drew are the top image, the original poses are the bottom image. I've included my specific feedback that I was given by Don Bluth on this gif. For the rest of this bio I am going to be re-writing my notes that I took from our lecture.

Let me first start out by reciting one quote he gave us from our lecture this evening. More or less he said...
"There is no right way to be an artist, it's all subjective, but we are learning how the classical artists did it and you can take from that what you want."
So keep that in mind when reading these notes.

We were told over and over again how important it is to use construction lines when building your character.
This is crucial to be able to keep proportions consistent when both drawing and animating a character. we were told,
"You've got to be able to look at shapes, understand their relationship to each other and duplicate them exactly!"
And also,
"Putting lines down and getting proportions right is one part of making an appealing drawing. The other part is giving the character enough believable emotion, real emotion, for them to look appealing."
There is a fine balance when making an accurate drawing but not making it look mechanical.. Precision and freedom in your art are both skills that take time to learn. Here's a good tip to help loosen up your work. You may have heard this one before. when you're drawing your sketch draw more from the elbow and less from the wrist. This is less so for detailed work, detailed work requires you to draw from your wrist for those controlled strokes (especially when drawing faces) but it is a fantastic habit to get into when you are sketching and finding your form. Really when you draw from your elbow you are using more of your entire arm, the shoulder and the back. You're using more confident strokes and these strokes carry with them more rhythm. You want that looseness when you sketch. It is desirable it is filled with life.
"Notice that really good drawings have busy moments in it [its' lines] and rest moments"
Another thing Don said was
"Drawings come from the subconscious. If you can take a lighter look on life, and if you can learn to like yourself (or if you already do) your drawings will get freer and a little more desirable. You can always tell from someone's drawings if they are a stressed person or an easy going one."

If you're having trouble with construction lines, here's a good exercise.

A lot of people spend a long time neatening up their sketches, tidying them up. I personally think this is for two separate reasons. 1) because it is hard to let go of an inperfect drawing. 2) because it is harder to start a new drawing than it is to tidy an old one. Either way, letting go and moving on is good. So long as the drawing is accurate that's all that matters, not the neatness (Glen Keane is a fantastic example of this). Work rough at the beginning before you nail it down. This will also help to make deadlines more manageable to reach because you will reach your goal faster, and if you have extra time left at the end you can always go back and make revisions later. Ultimately, meeting the deadline is more important than having a perfect piece of work. If you'll learning you will always see things in your work that you could change, tweak or fix. It's a good skill to know when to stop chasing that rainbow and submit your work. Take the lessons you've learned from this experience and apply them to the next drawing you do. Your skills will continue to improve and so will your speed in art.

Fun fact. It's easier to get proportions accurate when you draw small (this is why thumb nailing a drawing before sketching it out is good). For some reason, drawing acurate proportions at a larger scale is (usually) considerably harder to do.

On the note of perfection here is another quote that I quickly jotted down from our lecture, phrasing may not be exact but the point is made.
" There is no such thing as perfection, this will happen every time. Here is something that will happen every time. You've drawn something, you've given it your best effort, now leave it on your desk and come back to look at it the next day. Now you will see your mistakes. This is a good trick to help your brain process. Once you start seeing your drawing different, you can start fixing it and progress as an artist."
So based on that quote here is an exercise I have for you. When you're working on personal projects be your own director. Finish your work, set it aside, sleep on what you have done. Come back to it the next day and give this work feedback as though it were someone else's. Pretend you are the director to someone else's work. Photocopy it, draw over it, set it aside again and the next day come back and make those revisions. In this way you are practicing two desirable skills. 1) how to give feedback, 2) how to apply it.

A short synopsis of tips:

- break your figure down into shapes when you draw, understand the shapes that construct them, their relationship to one another, maintain proportional consistency. In short, USE CONSTRUCTION LINES.
- It's good to learn to copy because it trains your eye to see shapes.
- It is NOT cheating to measure how many heads tall your character is, and check that you are drawing them accurately. Use a ruler, scrap paper, figure it out. Use every tool in your arsenal to get your character looking right.
- Your drawings don't have to look neat they just have to be accurate.
- Draw more freely from the elbow when you are finding form, draw from the wrist when you are finding details.

And finally,
Find at LEAST one hour a day, every day to practice drawing something you love. Two hours is better. Go to your happy place, draw, practice, study, and maintain this habit.
"You're not going to have this [skill in art] unless you have a little bit of discipline."

I think that's enough for now. I have some more notes but I think I'll leave it at that.

Description
So this week was a tough exercise. Based on all our previous experience we now had to draw 14 images of Anne Marie (from All Dogs Go To Heaven) on model. We were given 3 model sheets of the character (which I did not include in my upload). We were told to draw 7 images as exact replicas from the model sheets (5 headshots, 2 full body poses), and after successfully doing that we were told to draw another 7 unique poses of the character from our own imagination (5 headshots. 2 full body).

The copied poses that I drew are the top image, the original poses are the bottom image. I've included my specific feedback that I was given by Don Bluth on this gif. For the rest of this bio I am going to be re-writing my notes that I took from our lecture.

Let me first start out by reciting one quote he gave us from our lecture this evening. More or less he said...
"There is no right way to be an artist, it's all subjective, but we are learning how the classical artists did it and you can take from that what you want."
So keep that in mind when reading these notes.

We were told over and over again how important it is to use construction lines when building your character.
This is crucial to be able to keep proportions consistent when both drawing and animating a character. we were told,
"You've got to be able to look at shapes, understand their relationship to each other and duplicate them exactly!"
And also,
"Putting lines down and getting proportions right is one part of making an appealing drawing. The other part is giving the character enough believable emotion, real emotion, for them to look appealing."
There is a fine balance when making an accurate drawing but not making it look mechanical.. Precision and freedom in your art are both skills that take time to learn. Here's a good tip to help loosen up your work. You may have heard this one before. when you're drawing your sketch draw more from the elbow and less from the wrist. This is less so for detailed work, detailed work requires you to draw from your wrist for those controlled strokes (especially when drawing faces) but it is a fantastic habit to get into when you are sketching and finding your form. Really when you draw from your elbow you are using more of your entire arm, the shoulder and the back. You're using more confident strokes and these strokes carry with them more rhythm. You want that looseness when you sketch. It is desirable it is filled with life.
"Notice that really good drawings have busy moments in it [its' lines] and rest moments"
Another thing Don said was
"Drawings come from the subconscious. If you can take a lighter look on life, and if you can learn to like yourself (or if you already do) your drawings will get freer and a little more desirable. You can always tell from someone's drawings if they are a stressed person or an easy going one."

If you're having trouble with construction lines, here's a good exercise.

A lot of people spend a long time neatening up their sketches, tidying them up. I personally think this is for two separate reasons. 1) because it is hard to let go of an inperfect drawing. 2) because it is harder to start a new drawing than it is to tidy an old one. Either way, letting go and moving on is good. So long as the drawing is accurate that's all that matters, not the neatness (Glen Keane is a fantastic example of this). Work rough at the beginning before you nail it down. This will also help to make deadlines more manageable to reach because you will reach your goal faster, and if you have extra time left at the end you can always go back and make revisions later. Ultimately, meeting the deadline is more important than having a perfect piece of work. If you'll learning you will always see things in your work that you could change, tweak or fix. It's a good skill to know when to stop chasing that rainbow and submit your work. Take the lessons you've learned from this experience and apply them to the next drawing you do. Your skills will continue to improve and so will your speed in art.

Fun fact. It's easier to get proportions accurate when you draw small (this is why thumb nailing a drawing before sketching it out is good). For some reason, drawing acurate proportions at a larger scale is (usually) considerably harder to do.

On the note of perfection here is another quote that I quickly jotted down from our lecture, phrasing may not be exact but the point is made.
" There is no such thing as perfection, this will happen every time. Here is something that will happen every time. You've drawn something, you've given it your best effort, now leave it on your desk and come back to look at it the next day. Now you will see your mistakes. This is a good trick to help your brain process. Once you start seeing your drawing different, you can start fixing it and progress as an artist."
So based on that quote here is an exercise I have for you. When you're working on personal projects be your own director. Finish your work, set it aside, sleep on what you have done. Come back to it the next day and give this work feedback as though it were someone else's. Pretend you are the director to someone else's work. Photocopy it, draw over it, set it aside again and the next day come back and make those revisions. In this way you are practicing two desirable skills. 1) how to give feedback, 2) how to apply it.

A short synopsis of tips:

- break your figure down into shapes when you draw, understand the shapes that construct them, their relationship to one another, maintain proportional consistency. In short, USE CONSTRUCTION LINES.
- It's good to learn to copy because it trains your eye to see shapes.
- It is NOT cheating to measure how many heads tall your character is, and check that you are drawing them accurately. Use a ruler, scrap paper, figure it out. Use every tool in your arsenal to get your character looking right.
- Your drawings don't have to look neat they just have to be accurate.
- Draw more freely from the elbow when you are finding form, draw from the wrist when you are finding details.

And finally,
Find at LEAST one hour a day, every day to practice drawing something you love. Two hours is better. Go to your happy place, draw, practice, study, and maintain this habit.
"You're not going to have this [skill in art] unless you have a little bit of discipline."

I think that's enough for now. I have some more notes but I think I'll leave it at that.