ShopTalk

Monday Morning Marty & Minnie -- One Defining Line

noreply@blogger.com (Ted Slampyak) — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 04:04:00 +0000

Which one's Marty and which one's Minnie?

Talk about simplification! This is a good exercise for artists to help define their characters, real or fictional, and help them distill the essence of their personalities: draw one line that best represents the person (or animal) concerned. Can you guess which one is Marty and which is Minnie? (I'm not sure I made the definitive lines for them, but this is a good start.)

Now, unlike other forms of simplification this one may or may not bear any visual resemblance to your subject, though it often can. Your line should bear as many of the same characteristics as your character's persona. Is your character swift or slow? Ambitious or lazy? Focused or all over the place? Honest or shifty? Smooth or awkward? Your subject's determining line should reflect that.

Now here's the payoff: when you draw your subject, try to use this defining line as often as you can. Look for places where the physical likeness and this defining line meet, and accentuate those points as much as you can. You'll have a portrait or a likeness that doesn't just convey the subject's look, but the subject's personality and character.

Monday Morning Marty -- The Lap of Luxury!

noreply@blogger.com (Ted Slampyak) — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 04:01:00 +0000

(Click on image for larger version.)

Since the last two Monday Morning drawings were of Minnie, I figured Marty was due.

This was drawn with a Pigma Brush #1 pen. The drawing is based on a photo, though not traced. The photo was actually Marty luxuriating on my wife's lap while she was on her laptop, but I only wanted Marty in the image, so I used a little creative license. But normally he only looks this happy cuddled up to her.

Monday Morning Minnie -- Fetch Girl Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Ted Slampyak) — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 04:01:00 +0000

I know, I know -- I just drew Minnie last week, with a tennis ball, and with the title "Fetch, Girl." But really, she couldn't fetch to save her life then. We'd tried and tried, and all she ever did was gnaw on the felt of the tennis ball.

Well, this weekend the most unexpected thing happened. Minnie suddenly could fetch! She ran after the ball, picked it up, brought it back, and dropped it off in front of us, or even in our hands! It was remarkable, and deserved a commemoration.

My apologies to the estate of Dr. Seuss, but this is just how Minnie looks. It's not up to me.

Tuesday Tutorial: How NOT to draw Silhouettes

noreply@blogger.com (Ted Slampyak) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 04:01:00 +0000

(Click on image for larger version)

When you read most instructional books on drawing, the advice given about drawing silhouettes is usually: draw in your figure as if it's not going to be a silhouette, then silhouette the drawing.

That's terrible advice.

A silhouette has to convey all the usual information about a figure solely through the outline. If you draw in the whole figure you cannot tell if that information is coming through until you fill the whole thing in, at which time it will be too late.

Take your favorite illustration and fill in the figures. Do they still read? Do they still work the same way? Now go find a great silhouette and fill in the details of the figure. Do they make sense?

The fact is, what works as a silhouette may not work as a fully fleshed-in drawing, and vice versa. You need to draw the silhouette AS a silhouette to make sure your pose, your details and your composition all work AS a silhouette. Those interior lines you're relying on are giving you a false impression of what your final drawing will convey.

By all means, if you need to sketch in the rest of the figure to help you figure out proportions or anatomy, do so. But as quickly as you can, get rid of those interior lines. It doesn't matter if the figure looks good with all those interior lines drawn in, does it?

Also: Another pitfall to avoid when drawing silhouettes is looking at the inside of the outline. Most artists, when they draw, they see the inside edge of their outlines as the edge of their object. But when that object is filled in, it'll be the outer edge that is seen. Make sure that outer edge is the one that has all the right details and proportions. Use the thinnest line you can to make sure your outer line is true.

Monday Morning Minnie -- Fetch, girl!

noreply@blogger.com (Ted Slampyak) — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 04:01:00 +0000

(Click on image for larger version)

Minnie's not much into fetch. While I throw the ball for Marty, who'd fetch himself to death if given the chance, I toss a second ball to Minnie. Sometimes she tries to catch it or pounce on it, and sometimes she tries to chew it and put it in her mouth, but usually she just gets hit in the head and ignores it.

This illustration is based on a photo taken while Minnie had some interest in the tennis ball, but didn't seem to get what she should do. It was inked with a Micron Pigma Graphic 1 pen, and colored in Photoshop.

Tuesday Tutorial: Mock Woodcut

noreply@blogger.com (Ted Slampyak) — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 18:51:00 +0000

I've shown this technique before, but decided it should be covered in more depth.

This was a job I did several months ago for Miller WhiteRunkle in Seattle. They wanted a woodcut-style illustration of several objects, one of which was a poncho.

I began with this line drawing of the poncho, done in simple brush. I used this drawing as a guide for the final woodcut drawing, so what I needed here was clarity. I kept the lines crisp, and sketched in the shaded areas using an approximation of the line work I'd use in the finished illustration, but not concerned with the line quality.

The next step was to scan in the guide image, and reverse it. The woodcut effect is basically a brush drawing in negative, where the brush strokes you put down in black end up being white, and the white becomes black. So I needed my guide drawing to be in the negative as well. I then turned the image into a very light cyan and white. This made the image visible to me but not so visible to the scanner. You'll also notice I added parallel horizontal lines to the image -- I wanted my hatch marks to be horizontal, and these lines would help me keep them straight.

Here's a picture of the "final" art in progress, with me inking in the blue parts of the image with my brush. You can see the horizontal hatch lines that will look very "woodcutty" when it's all done.

It's at this stage that the tone for the image is determined. A tighter inking job with shorter, thinner strokes can give you a more engraved look, while a looser stroke with a heavier line weight and rougher edges can make a woodcut or linoleum block kind of effect. If more of the latter look is wanted, then I will try NOT to be too perfect with it. The more of those tiny "mistakes" -- ink going thin, stray line edges, smudges -- the more your drawing will look like a woodcut.

It's very hard to think in the negative, even with this close guide to follow. The thicker your hatching, which makes your work look darker while you're doing it, the lighter it will be when all is done. It takes a goodly amount of concentration.

When the image is all inked in, it looks like this on the left side of the final picture: a negative of the final image. After I scan the image in, and create a negative of it, clean it up and add color, we get the final image seen on the right.

Monday Morning Marty & Minnie -- Good to be back!

noreply@blogger.com (Ted Slampyak) — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 17:07:00 +0000

(Click on image for larger version)

First things first -- where have I been? I just finished a very long, very busy stint as storyboard artist on the new Terminator movie filming here in New Mexico! I'll have a post about that soon -- likely more than one. For now, I'll just say that the experience left me little time for other activities, including this blog. That's no excuse, though, and you do have my apologies.

Now on to the day's drawing.

Here's Marty and Minnie -- remember them? -- sunning themselves in the summer sunshine in our back yard, under a gorgeous view of the Sandia mountains. They've been doing well since you saw them last, frolicking merrily at my in-laws all day while I was at the studio, getting along very well and enjoying New Mexico summertime.

This drawing was originally going to be inked, but I liked the look of the pencils so I just decided to finish it at that stage. I started with the dogs, then went up and added in the background, then went back to the dogs, then the background. That's an important way to work a picture, especially with a medium like pencil, where you're likely to see a difference in your line work as you go. I tend to get darker and more bold as I go, so if I just started at one point and stopped on the other side, you'd see a marked difference throughout the image. Not that the image should look totally the same throughout -- just make sure your differences are intentional, depending on depth, texture or lighting, and not just the order you drew things.

Update: Mammalthon 2 Rescheduled

noreply@blogger.com (Ted Slampyak) — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 19:35:00 +0000

Due to a family situation, Mammalthon 2, which I wrote about just the other day, is going to be rescheduled for Saturday, May 3.

But this gives you even more time to collect your pennies and make a donation to The Wildlife Center, and get yourself a beautiful piece of original art in the bargain! See The Daily Mammal for the details.

Mammalthon 2 Is Coming!

noreply@blogger.com (Ted Slampyak) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 02:20:00 +0000

My amazing, talented wife Jennifer -- the force behind The Daily Mammal -- is launching Mammalthon 2 next week. Here's an excerpt from her post about it:

Last December, 36 beautiful, generous, animal-loving art aficionados participated in the first Daily Mammal 24-Hour Mammal Marathon. I stayed up for 24 hours straight and drew a mammal an hour (almost). People who donated to Defenders of Wildlife got to request a mammal, see it appear during the 24-hour mammalthon, and then receive the original drawing in the mail. It was unbelievably fun, and we raised more than $800 for Defenders.

It's time for Mammalthon 2! This time, the contributions will be going to The Wildlife Center, a wonderful wildlife rehabilitation hospital in northern New Mexico. Spring means baby season and hundreds of injured and orphaned baby animals that need a place to recuperate and some help getting back into the wild. Your participation in Mammalthon 2 will help make sure these babies, and all the other animals The Wildlife Center rehabilitates, get the care they need.

* * *

Go to her web site to learn how you can get a beautiful, original drawing of the mammal of your choosing and be part of a great cause all at the same time! If nothing else, stop by on the 19th and cheer her on! See you there!

Tuesday Tutorial: Make it dirty!

noreply@blogger.com (Ted Slampyak) — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 20:17:00 +0000

(This is my first of what will eventually be a regular weekly feature: the Tuesday Tutorial. Because of my aforementioned storyboard job, I can't guarantee I'll be able to make weekly updates in the near future, but I will try my best.)

When you're working with photographs, adding new elements or combining pieces of other images, one important rule to follow is to make it dirty! Photos are never perfectly clean and precise, the way computer-rendered images are, and so it's important to give them the same imperfections as the photo, so they'll blend in seamlessly. We'll follow a rather silly example I've put together to (hopefully) demonstrate what I'm talking about.

1. Add the Additional Element. For this example, I'm starting with a photo of Minnie, after she got her first and so far only bath, above. I'm going to draw a simple cone paper hat onto her, and try to make it look real.

Here is a close-up of the image of Minnie with a simple cone drawn on her head in Photoshop. Though I did a fine job masking out her hair and shading the hat, it still doesn't quite fit in the image. (You may need to click on these images to see the larger versions.)

2. Add Noise to Additional Element. Every photograph -- and this includes photos of paintings and artwork, of course -- has some degree of graininess. This graininess runs throughout the image, and if your additional element doesn't have it, it will stand out.

I went to Photoshop's Filter menu, and to Noise. I added 2% noise to the hat. You'll need to look at the photo up close to see that the amount of noise you're giving matches it.

Keep in mind, it's important to make the hat on a separate layer, and to keep it on the separate layer, throughout this process.

3. Add Blur to Element. Every photograph -- even the world's best photograph -- is out of focus, to some extent. It may be the tiniest amount, but there's liable to be some bit of blur to the image. You need to blur your new image element to match the surrounding objects.

Note that in many photos, the amount of blur will vary from the foreground to background, so the right amount of added blur can help pinpoint the perceived depth of your new element.

I went up to the Filter menu again, went to Blur, and selected Gaussian Blur. I then gave the hat a small amount of blur -- just 0.7 pixels.

4. Do Whatever Else It Takes. As you can see from the finished piece, below, Noise and Blur were all it took for the texture of the image to match the photo. There may be additional steps depending on the photo -- if the image in the photo moved, and has a directional blur, adding Motion Blur may be needed. Sometimes lightening the opacity of the picture -- say, to 95% or so -- will allow background textures to show through. This usually ony works if the background behind it is fairly plain, without detailed objects. You also, of course, will need to make sure the colors work well too. But these first two steps -- blur and noise -- will get you on your way.

Monday Morning Marty & Jenny

noreply@blogger.com (Ted Slampyak) — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 17:26:00 +0000

(Click on image for larger version)

Last week I started a big storyboard job that will take up all my time for the next month or two, so I didn't have time to draw up a new Monday Morning drawing today.

So instead I took a really sweet photo of Marty and Jennifer and applied a few Photoshop filters, did some nudging and finagling, and came up with this portrait of the two of them. Hope you like it.

Monday Morning Minnie -- Variations

noreply@blogger.com (Ted Slampyak) — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 02:15:00 +0000

(Click image for larger version)

Taking the simplified image of Minnie from last week, I've made some simple variations to convey a series of moods or emotions.

(Thanks to Jack Atkins for the idea -- the "surprise" variation was his!)

My apologies for the lateness of this post. Blogger is having a problem uploading image files, and I've been trying since yesterday. It wasn't until now that it occurred to me I could upload it myself and then just link to the image here. Duh.

Monday Morning Minnie -- How Simple is Too Simple?

noreply@blogger.com (Ted Slampyak) — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 06:13:00 +0000

(Click on image for larger version)

As you can see, I'm pushing the simplicity thing a little further this week! This is the first Marty/Minnie illustration I've done in vector format with the Illustrator program.

Monday Morning Minnie & Marty -- 2-25-08

noreply@blogger.com (Ted Slampyak) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 16:26:00 +0000

(Click on image for larger version -- as always!)

Continuing on my 'simplification' kick, this week I decided to make Marty and Minnie into cartoon characters.

Last week I mentioned the importance of exaggerating the differences between your subjects. Marty here is a good deal shorter, and stockier than in real life. It's hard to make Minnie even skinnier than she really is, but I did a little.

I also tried to get across Minnie's eager spirit, and Marty's friendly attitude -- at least toward those he knows.

Notice another feature of simplification -- choosing what to include and what not to. Minnie's tuft of white on her chest is very distinctive, as are Marty's spots. And of course Minnie's "crazy eyes!" Sometimes making these choices means leaving out some peculiar elements that, while accurate, may work against the general look you're trying for.

Monday Morning Minnie & Marty -- 2-18-08

noreply@blogger.com (Ted Slampyak) — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 17:31:00 +0000

(Click on image for larger version)

This week I've returned to my quest for simplification, but as you can see the results were mixed. Minnie's tufts of fur and Marty's musculature proved too interesting for me to gloss over. That's okay, because overall the image feels the same. Well, except for Marty's face. It's perhaps a little too simplified, and those eyes are too big. He looks a little too "Muppet Babies" for my liking.

Actually, upon closer study, I think Marty's whole body is a bit more simplified and streamlined than Minnie's. That's not necessarily bad, either -- when you're drawing two subjects, it's often important to highten the contrast between them. Since Minnie's fur is longer and wilder than Marty's, the drawing should exaggerate the difference. I've started drawing Marty more short and stocky since we got Minnie, because she's thinner and lankier.

Monday Morning Marty -- February 11, 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Ted Slampyak) — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 05:47:00 +0000

(Click on image for larger version)

It seems all I post anymore are Monday Morning Marties and Minnies!

This little portrait of Marty was done in pencil, then scanned and the tone grayscale tone work was put in digitally.

It looks like Marty is looking to someone hoping for a treat! (Don't worry -- he got one!)

Monday Morning Marty -- February 4, 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Ted Slampyak) — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 05:06:00 +0000

(Click on image for larger version)

This week I continue on the theme of simplification.

These gesture sketches of Marty (and one of Minnie -- can you guess which one?) show the value of simplification. The idea is to get the gesture, the movement of the dog, not to dwell on details like fur markings or shading. This is a good technique to help learn anatomy and proportion.

I recently learned that some people don't know they can get a larger, more detailed version of the images here by clicking on them. If you don't know that -- you do now!

Monday Morning Minnie -- 1-28-08

noreply@blogger.com (Ted Slampyak) — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 05:01:00 +0000

Following my push last week to simplify my dog drawings, this one is very simple indeed. Minnie is a shock of black with those captivating orange eyes -- one of the workers at the rescue shelter where we got her used to call her "Crazy Eyes."

One of the secrets, in my mind, of effectively capturing a likeness or impression in a simple drawing is to first draw it out from memory. You're more likely to put down the noteworthy, unique attributes of a character and leave out the unnecessary details if you can't see those details in front of you. I first did this drawing from memory, then I called Minnie in -- she always comes when you call her name! -- and double-checked the general proportions and such.

Monday Morning Marty -- 1-21-08

noreply@blogger.com (Ted Slampyak) — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 05:01:00 +0000

For this week's Monday Morning Marty I decided, still thinking of my recent post about details, to try and draw a simpler Marty.

In future entries I'll go simpler still, and see how basic I can make an image that still captures the essence of my dogs. Most people think that drawing with more detail is more difficult, but just the opposite is true; finding a way to distill the essential elements of a likeness in as few strokes as possible cuts to the very core of what is most important in an image.

Details, Details...

noreply@blogger.com (Ted Slampyak) — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 21:49:00 +0000

How much detail is enough in an illustration? How much is too much? This is an important question every illustrator has to ask. There's a tendency among artists starting out to think that every inch of an image has to be filled with detail, that the merit of their work will be in how much detail there is, and how much it looks like its subject. They think they need to make their illustration like a photograph -- as if photography were somehow superior to what they were doing. Absurd! (And, of course, the best professional photographers go out of their way to limit the detail in their work, with lighting, focus and cropping techniques.)

So just how much detail do you need? Well, before you answer that, you need to ask: What is the purpose of illustration?

The purpose of illustration isn't to look good; it's to tell a story. Oh, make no mistake -- the illustration better look good. I mean, who wants to look at an image that doesn't? But what makes it a good illustration isn't just that it looks good: it needs to tell a story.

By "tell a story," I mean it needs to get something across, to convey something. It might be a narrative, or it might be a mood, or a concept, or a setting. That's the purpose of every illustration. And once you recognize that, the question of how much detail to apply becomes a lot easier to answer.

Detail that enhances the story is good; detail that detracts is bad. Seems simple, right? Well, of course it's not. It's still hard to decide exactly what's necessary to get across that mood, or concept, or story. But at least now you begin with a specific goal in mind.

In sequential illustration, the need for detail varies from image to image. The sequence I'm using to illustrate this point is from my comics work -- specifically, from an early Jazz Age story -- but the ideas apply to all kinds of illustration.

Each of the panels in a comics sequence needs to convey something different, so although they all need to have a consistent feel to them, in a way they're all separate illustrations. Some panels establish the setting of a scene, or perhaps they're meant to be slow-paced, and contemplative. These scenes are often more full of detail than others. This isn't just to get across the factual information of where the characters are and what they're doing -- it also gets the reader to physically slow down his or her reading, taking in the scene and its details. This is a subtle way the illustrator can try to manipulate the pace that the reader uses in reading the story. Lots of detail in every panel will help give the feeling of a slow-paced scene, as if the characters in the story are also noticing these details.

A faster-paced scene -- like some of the action panels in this sequence -- lets the reader "read" the panels faster. It speeds up the reader's experience of the sequence, just as the characters in the story, running or fighting or whatever, wouldn't be noticing the background details either.

Detail in illustration is like pace in fiction writing. I made the comparison to photography earlier, but illustration -- especially sequential illustration, though not exclusively -- is also akin to another storytelling medium: fiction. Fiction writers know how to control the feeling of unfolding pace in their story by the details they throw in. A slow-moving introduction to a new day might be full of long, detailed descriptions of the landscape, the light of the morning sun through window lace, or the slow meanderings of a fly on the wall. But when the action picks up, a good writer knows not to clog up the action with too many details.

"Lefty Adamson, the uncle of Little Jerry, threw a haymaker punch at Rocko, his $300 Rolex watch glinting in the mid-day sunlight that filtered in through the latticework outside the back porch, where Lefty's aunt used to grow tomatoes until her hip began giving her too many problems. This was, of course, before they decided to rent out the twenty-year-old New England style duplex..."

Enough! We want to get to the fight already! We're (hopefully) vested in these characters, and we (should) care about what happens to them. So let's just experience the fight as it happened and leave the long-winded discussions for later, okay?

It's the same with visual storytelling. Give the reader -- or viewer -- just enough to get the point across. That point may need lighting, perspective, landscape or any number of things to fully get it across. But if it doesn't, leave it out.

Monday Morning Minnie -- 1/14/08

noreply@blogger.com (Ted Slampyak) — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 05:01:00 +0000

I decided this week to try a portrait of Minnie using the woodcut technique I've used a couple of times with Marty -- on August 27 and December 10 and last year -- which I figured would work out even better, since Minnie's all black and the starkness would show pretty well.

I was right!

We love how Minnie sleeps curled up with her head on her back feet like this!

Self-Promotion and the iPhone

noreply@blogger.com (Ted Slampyak) — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 17:01:00 +0000

Yes, I got an iPhone for Christmas. Both my wife and I got one. Wow, it's neat. For those of you who've heard how neat it is -- it really is that neat. And of course, it's ideal for freelance illustrators.

You can check and reply to email while away from your office. I really find it a great way to pass the time while waiting in line at the bank or supermarket checkout. (I know, I know -- who waits in lines at the bank anymore? I was opening a new account. Can't do that from an ATM machine -- yet!)

They're also great for surfing the Web while in said lines.

But they're not great for surfing this website, because the artwork sample pages are in Flash, and for some inexplicable reason the iPhone's Web browser can't view Flash. Sigh.

(Mental note to self: when you get the chance, make an iPhone version of your site without Flash. It'll be ready just as they launch the next upgrade to the iPhone system that allows Flash on its browser.)

But I found an even better way to show people my work when I'm networking and talking to people. I put the samples from my website into the photo library.

Jennifer and I visited some artists we know who have a studio near us, and after seeing their work, they were disappointed that we'd forgotten to bring samples of our work as we'd promised. Luckily I remembered my iPhone! The pictures are nice and big and bright, and you can just flip from one to another.

There are only two downsides to using the iPhone this way:

1) People may be more impressed with my iPhone than with my artwork, and

2) Now that the iPhone goes in the back pocket opposite my wallet, there's no room for my business card holder.

Monday Morning Marty & Jenny!

noreply@blogger.com (Ted Slampyak) — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 05:01:00 +0000

This week the Monday Morning Mammals (ha ha) are Marty and my lovely wife Jennifer! (I'd originally described them as "my first dog and my first wife," but then thought better of it. Now if only I'd thought better than to include this parenthetical comment...!)

Jennifer is the artiste behind The Daily Mammal, which recently had its successful 24-Mammals-In-24-Hours Marathon (or as we like to call it, the Mammalthon.) So many people requested mammals for that, along with their donations, that she's still drawing them.

The drawing was done with markers, based on a photo I'd taken a couple of weeks ago. We all love to hang out on the couch together. Of course the dogs are only allowed up if we invite them, and are very good at waiting and staring until such an invitation comes.

One New Year's Resolution: Watch The Hills!

noreply@blogger.com (Ted Slampyak) — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 16:45:00 +0000

I usually don't make big New Year's Resolutions (with the big "R"), as such. I'm more the type to make little resolutions (with a small "r") throughout the year, as the ideas come to me. So this resolution (small "r") just happens to come to me on January 2nd. Coincidence.

I'm working on some storyboards for some anti-drug ads, aimed at teenagers. So I'm drawing teenagers. I've never been too fashion-conscious, especially young women's fashion, and I know I need to do better with that. My wife Jennifer likes to point out how often my "trendy" young people tend to look more like they're following the trends of the 1980s. Oops.

So my resolution is to observe current fashions more and try to note them whenever possible, so that I'll be more familiar with what the kids today are wearing and not have to go look up reference all the time. Specifically, I'm going to watch The Hills.

For those of you who are like me, and who otherwise wouldn't know, The Hills is a so-called "reality show" following a group of young women in L.A. and watching their terrible tastes in young men. My wife likes to watch it -- it's one of her few "mindless" programs, what she calls "comfort TV." I'm not a fan, but I'll sometimes watch it with her because she likes it, and I like her.

But now my resolution is to watch it carefully, noticing the fashions and talking to my wife about them. She has her finger of the pulse of current pop culture, and will be able to tell me which outfits are the most popular, which are no their way out, or not appropriate, or whatever. I may even do some sketching while I'm watching. But either way, I'll make fashion awareness a major reason to watch.

Well that, and to see if Heidi finally dumps that Spencer dude once and for all...!

Monday Morning Marty & Minnie -- 12-31-07

noreply@blogger.com (Ted Slampyak) — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 05:01:00 +0000

Here's wishing you a New Year full of warmth and togetherness!