Studies

Well, I finally got around to making some use outta the older Preston Blair books I've had for a while. John K is an inspiring person for me, and he swears by Preston Blair as THE animator to emulate if you want to learn solid drawing skills. So, here I am, taking that advice, even though I've been drawing for the better part of my existence. I can never learn enough. I may not be a traditional hand-drawn animator, but I admire the skill and have a great deal of respect for people who really can do animation by hand. I want to carry as much of that knowledge as I can into what I do on a computer. A strong drawing ability will aid absolutely anything you do that pertains to graphic arts and animation, regardless of the medium and it's frightening for me to think that I might ever let that go.

I'll start with this Porky Pig, that isn't by Preston Blair. This is copied from a frame grab of an old Looney Tunes cartoon that John K posted on his blog a while back.



And below are the Preston Blair studies I've done, from the first few pages of the book.









Not from the original book with the better drawings, but I paid for these, so I might as well use 'em.

A few more graphite etchings

Or "sketches," as some people like to call them.


He's playing Rock Paper Scissors with his imaginary friend...




This guy's playing his own weird hand game.



Nice view.




An old co-worker of mine.




This is Christina Ricci... well, the two on the right. Back when she was super cute and not a bag o' bones like she is now.




This is Moe's happy face.




This was one o' those random line experiments to see what I could come up with based on a few scribbles to start with. These are fun exercises to do.