Character Designs

In an alternate universe, pink robots of all sizes that were created by the government have evolved and developed emotions. Realizing that they had been enslaved by humans since their creation, the robots left to start there own civilization. Yet there was a grudge against the humans for what they had done, and a sector of robots decided to wage war upon the humans. After many hopeless defeats, the humans organized into military districts and trained using new methods and weapons to destroy any attacking robot.

Sorry, can't fix the orientation.

This is Yoshimi. She's an elite Robot Fighter from Japan who lost her previous partner in an intense battle. She is stern and hard working, but is fueled by revenge and sometimes puts actions before reason.

This is Jared. He is the worst fighter in his class, but the son of a highly respected Robot Fighter, so he has always had an opportunity to take a few short cuts. This influenced Jared's cocky, laid back, and sometimes cowardly behavior. This attitude changes after becoming Yoshimi's new partner, after he sees how much of a skill gap there is between them, and once he realizes how serious the real battles are.

This is Peter Kruse. Kruse used to be a scientist who worked on the robots while they were still in human control. He went rouge after the robots revolted, because unbeknownst to the rest of the world, he was the one that secretly sped up the process of emotional development in the robots. He planned this rebellion, and then went off to live with them, hoping to befriend them and eventually rule over them.

Alright, now that I got the story out of the way...

I've actually had the characters Yoshimi and Jared long before this project. They are, along with Kruse and the story, based on an album by the Flaming Lips called Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (I know, geeky, right?). Jared pretty much looks the same as how I always drew him, except he has a more defined face using a different style than I usually use. Yoshimi's outfit is the only thing new about her for this project. I wanted Jared and Yoshimi to both have a futuristic sci-fi look, while Kruse needed to look simple and more plain in order to separate himself from other humans and gain the robots' trust. The environment ranges from sparkling futuristic city, to destroyed city, to wasteland where the robots and humans fight, or to the lab where they were created. My finial drawing will be in the wasteland where a battle is taking place.

Look at that Critter Go!

This is probably my least favorite piece, but the process really helped my understanding of using prismacolors and drawing the motion of an animal. The prismacolors worked well up until the point where there was too much of the background showing. I kept coloring in order to hide it, but that made layers of different colors near impossible for me, as well as emphasizing the value in the fur of the animal. I think I would have been more successful if the drawing was larger (the small space was also part of the challenge) and if I had chosen a different paper color for the background. The animal itself is much too large (I call it my prehistoric donkey) and it looks too flat, as if the donkey is simply raising its leg. The only way to see the emotion behind the action is to look at the donkey's expression, which looks nice but was not the point of the project. I probably struggled the most with this piece than all other projects we've had so far, but it was a great learning experience and the first time using prismacolors.  

Figure Drawing

For some reason the image will not rotate. Sorry.

People and the figure are one of my favorite things to draw. Before drawing full, mostly detailed pictures, we practiced with 30 second figure drawings and learned how to capture the motion and use correct proportions. Having the right proportions is extremely important to a figure drawing. If the proportions are off by even a little, the realism and quality of the drawing are reduced immensely. The mass and volume of the drawing are best expressed through the shading (although there isn't much here) and placement of correctly scaled parts of the body. You want it to be clear to the viewer that the person is moving, or falling, or leaning; that some force is visible within the drawing. I found that charcoal worked best when doing the figure drawings. It has a nice flow and is much bolder than pencil. It is also easier to blend and add value.The challenges that I faced were properly placing everything where it needed to be. Even if I had been perfectly proportioned, my eyes would always find something too wide or too long even though that is how it is supposed to be. I guess that's what happens when you draw more cartoons than realistic people.

Oh, The Places You Will Go! - Part 1

When I heard the theme for this project, the first things I thought of involved going somewhere mentally, like dreams, afterlife, or even a drug trip or hallucination. Then I thought of virtual reality; going somewhere in your mind, but motionless in real life. It also has a futuristic approach, with both the advanced technology of virtual reality, and the futuristic place being shown on the monitor. For this project, we had to use pen and ink, which I am familiar with. We learned how to show value using pen and ink, which is shown in my drawing with stifling (dots) and lines.The lines on the monitor were the most difficult. No matter how carefully I lined up the ruler, my lines seemed unbalanced and crooked. I'm actually glad it turned out that way, because it gives it a more static-y look, like white noise. The building was also frustrating, because I have little experience drawing large structures. I really love how the girl and cords came out, though. The stifling really made the cords seem rounded and real. Virtual reality is something I have always wished for, so I had a lot of fun putting my vision on paper (although I made this image kind of surreal, with the cords and all).

NOTE: This is part 1 because I have been asked to work on this piece further. Please wait until part 2 for the final piece.

Zuzu Sees You!

When I was thinking of ideas for this project, my miniature dachshunds, Zuzu and Ilsa, kept popping up. I would remember how funny they look sitting on the bed and looking over, especially because they are so tiny and my parents' bed is so large. I tried to draw from an ant's point of view, or slightly under her. I had never drawn from this point of view so that was my first challenge. This perspective makes it seem like she's leaning towards you, ready to jump. I chose to use charcoal because I liked using it with my paper bag, so I wanted to use it again, mostly because it is easier to blend. The most difficult thing with this drawing was the fur. Zuzu has really short fur, so it was harder to make realistic. Using small highlights was a good technique I learned to improve the fur. Also, she has a wide range of grays and blacks in her fur, so I wanted to make sure they stood out in all the right places. My favorite part of the drawing are the eyes. This drawing was mostly a success, but if I had to redraw it, I would try and make the head/muzzle longer and more realistic.

Paper Bags

During this project we explored using charcoal and creating values in our artwork. I decided to use charcoal for my paper bag because I felt that I could get darker values by using it. Value is important because is gives the viewer a sense of depth and reality. It makes a drawing pop rather than look flat. Using value with the paper bag drawing emphasizes the creases and folds present to make the drawing seem more realistic. The most difficult part of this project was shading the parts of the bag that were caved in instead of folded. There are also places where I could have gone darker. Overall this project was successful, it looks like a pretty decent paper bag, and I learned a lot about shading and charcoal in the process.   

Backgrounds and Blood 0_0