Puppet and rhythm sketches

I enjoyed sketching these compositions in the theme of puppet on a string and rhythm as it made me focus on the main shape of the pose and not consider the detail, I thought of it as recording movement than trying to draw well in that short amount of time.
Using charcoal, pencil and marker pen were the best mediums to use as it allowed me to record the movement and add a tone to the piece, for instance if the model was looking down I would be able to smudge the charcoal to give shading to the face, to give the illusion of the model looking down with in the sketch.

I added a diluted purple liquid acrylic to highlight some of the poses which
I thought were dynamic to show the volume of the piece. I preferred the stance
which was couched down and another which was half knelt, about to stand back up pose.
These both differed in atmosphere but worked better with the addition of the purple tint.

Long and short poses

For the long pose I had 20-30 minutes to draw the pose, which felt more relaxed than the previous quick sketches. I mainly drew in graphite using a range from B-6B for shade; I used graphite as I felt that I would still be able to maintain a level of detail rather than using charcoal or pastels to draw in.

For this pose I focused more on the curves and contours of the
body and began to shade to give volume to the figure. I
felt that this was my favourite composition through both the pose
of the model and the proportion that I had used.

For this pose I just could not get her legs right, the perspective was hard to
sketch as her right leg was at an angle which when drawing the leg made
it hard to gain the right length and attach this to the main body. However
I do like the torso and head of the drawing as the perspective works well
and the addition of detail is semi-realistic. It was interesting to draw her hands
as they were both at different angles, and I felt I drew them well, considering
I normally run away from drawing hands.

For this piece, I felt that I got the perspective right however
I made the head too big and which effected the legs, making them look
short. I added depth to the image by tinting the image with a purple
liquid acrylic which worked well as the colour didn't take away
from the piece but highlighted and emphasised the figures pose.

I didn't really like this piece through the proportion of her head to her body,
again I made her head bigger than her body. I do however feel that the figures
proportion and perspective works well.

  

For the next set of images, I had to draw with in the time limit of 5-10 minutes of poses that involved a push or pull force. Having this time limit made me capture the main shapes of the figure more than I did for the long pose, having this time limit made me draw faster maintaining a figure that worked well with the model in mind. I believe if I had forced myself to draw the main body of the long poses with in 5-10 minutes of the time limit I would have produced a better perspective.

This composition works well as I was able to maintain perspective
however I felt that I drew the figure too small, which is partly due to how
far away I was from the model, If I had drawn closer I could have added more
detail, but I still believe that the piece works well as the figure still obtains
contours with in the pose.

I added a blue pastel to this pose as to capture the main structure of the pose,
the arch of the models back and to give depth/volume to the figure.
I prefer this design to the rest of the push and pull compositions
as the blue shade emphasises the curves and volume of the body.

I added pastel to this pose as I wanted to show the direction of the light; I used pastel
as I felt that it was the best medium to use that was soft and would work with the main flow of the
contours of the body. I liked this composition as I had kept the proportion however I had to draw the left
foot after the 5 minute time limit, which meant that I had to guess the placement of the foot.

This piece works well through the slight shading and use of shape that
shows the contours of the body well.

 

La Joie de Vivre

La Joie de Vivre was created by Anthony Gross and Hector Hoppin in 1934, whom teamed up to create the animation company Animat, which was later renamed Societe Hoppin et Gross.
In their animation, La Joie de Vivre, the characters figures are depicted in elongated proportions which reminds me of a mixture of fashion illustrations and art nouveau through the style of line and the facial features. The use of the solid fill of either white or black makes the figure stand out more even though the lines that variate in thickness are quite simple. The lines capture the main contour of the figures shape and as the characters dance, the movement is fluid and smooth, which works well with the illustrative style of the animation. This form of drawing inspired me with my quick 10 second sketches, as the thick black lines reminded me of charcoal and marker pen, which I began to use when sketching.

La Joie de Vivre from Icosahedron on Vimeo.

Ryan Larkin

Ryan Larkin is an Canadian animator who is well known for his animations "Walking" and "Street Musique" and is regarded as an Avant-Gardist in animation, inspiring animators today.

Larkin's 'Walking' is an animation that uses mixed media, such as watercolour and scratchy lines made with fineliner and graphite which form to depict characters walking as they merge into one another through perspective and angles. The characters are all locked with in a walk cycle par from a few images that show crowds intrigued by the walking movements. Larkin manages to character different variations of the human form, depicting this in mixed media that emits differing atmospheres to the audience. For instance, one of the walk cycles involves a negative of a figure with watercolour and ink showing this empty space, and the atmosphere from this can be interpreted into alienation or depression through the void left without any description, any information of detail.

Ryan Woodward

Animator and storyboard artist, Ryan Woodward, has worked on animated feature films such as The Iron Giant, The Powerpuff Girls The Movie, Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, and feature films such as Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Thor: The Dark World.

Woodwards animation style is beautifully presented with in the frame, as he uses a mixture of long and medium shots, to emphasise the movement of the characters.
The characters are drawn sketchily with the use of a graphic tablet and a digital program such as photoshop, however the movement is fluid, smooth and kinetic as the different actions and poses created flow into another. Woodward uses anticipation and secondary actions to the main action that makes it all that more alive; it gives personality to the character and makes the audience connect with the characters through how little movements, a twitch of sort, defines them.

Woodwards animation style relating to the characters remind me of an life drawing approach to his work through the use of contoured lines that capture the main stance of the character, with tints of shade to give volume to the body.