March Question Month Answers, Part Five
Mar. 22nd, 2012 05:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kybearfuzzFrom the master artist ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
designerotter:
- How did you get to the point where you could create superheros so well through your drawings?
- Was this a long process of trial and practice?
- Did you take figure drawing classes? i.e. how did you get so proficient with anatomy?
I put the answers behind the cut to save space as I tend to get wordy about drawing and stuff. I also put some old and new cartoons behind the cut, all work safe.
I'll answer these three together. I never took formal art or figure drawing classes. I took art classes in junior high, but they were basically arts/crafts, like making images out of rolled up strips of colored paper. Fun, but not really useful. I thought about taking actual art/drawing classes in college, but the supplies were a bit expensive for a poor college student.
I started drawing like most kids when I was little. I just never stopped and practiced almost daily. My mom didn't necessarily encourage it, but she didn't discourage it either as our family seems to have some natural artistic talent. Mom can paint, make ceramics, knit and crochet, do woodworking to a degree, and more. Her dad could draw and paint, etc. All of us are self-taught through lots of practice.
When I was five, my teenaged cousin Stephanie bought me my first comic book, Wonder Woman #250. It cost her a whole quarter. After that, I was hooked on comics because they were full of action and color, like Saturday morning cartoons on a page that I could revisit anytime I wanted. I started drawing superheroes soon after that, originally as stick figures then as more detailed drawings. I remember thinking that I wanted my drawings to look like those in the comic book. Last night, I was digging through some albums and found a few early drawings of mine that my mom socked away.
My art gallery at age 8
Sunstar, an early attempt at a new hero (left);
Hourman (center) and Scooby Doo (right)
As a kid, I would often spend hours and hours drawing when I should have been out playing. After I drew on both sides of a piece of paper, I would just throw it away. Years of doodle pages were just tossed. I wonder how many trees I killed. I still tend to throw doodle pages away, but I at least put them in my recycle bin.
Through high school and college I still drew pretty much daily. I tried over the years to improve the way my heroes looked by reviewing how my favorite comic book artists drew superheroes. In recent years, I have used fitness magazines to see different images of anatomy (among other uses) and have bought some art books on dynamic anatomy for reference.
College Toons from 1995
The Knights, a high school hero team (left) and
Bronco, an unused hero (right)
At 39, I still draw on a nearly daily basis, a doodle here and there, still looking for ways to improve the way a finished cartoon looks.
----------------------------
March is Question Month. If anyone else would like to ask a question, you can post it here. You can ask anonymously if you'd like, IP addresses are not recorded for the month. Comments to this entry are screened and if you would rather I not identify you, please make a note of it in your post there.
designerotter:- How did you get to the point where you could create superheros so well through your drawings?
- Was this a long process of trial and practice?
- Did you take figure drawing classes? i.e. how did you get so proficient with anatomy?
I put the answers behind the cut to save space as I tend to get wordy about drawing and stuff. I also put some old and new cartoons behind the cut, all work safe.
I'll answer these three together. I never took formal art or figure drawing classes. I took art classes in junior high, but they were basically arts/crafts, like making images out of rolled up strips of colored paper. Fun, but not really useful. I thought about taking actual art/drawing classes in college, but the supplies were a bit expensive for a poor college student.
I started drawing like most kids when I was little. I just never stopped and practiced almost daily. My mom didn't necessarily encourage it, but she didn't discourage it either as our family seems to have some natural artistic talent. Mom can paint, make ceramics, knit and crochet, do woodworking to a degree, and more. Her dad could draw and paint, etc. All of us are self-taught through lots of practice.
When I was five, my teenaged cousin Stephanie bought me my first comic book, Wonder Woman #250. It cost her a whole quarter. After that, I was hooked on comics because they were full of action and color, like Saturday morning cartoons on a page that I could revisit anytime I wanted. I started drawing superheroes soon after that, originally as stick figures then as more detailed drawings. I remember thinking that I wanted my drawings to look like those in the comic book. Last night, I was digging through some albums and found a few early drawings of mine that my mom socked away.
My art gallery at age 8
Sunstar, an early attempt at a new hero (left);
Hourman (center) and Scooby Doo (right)
As a kid, I would often spend hours and hours drawing when I should have been out playing. After I drew on both sides of a piece of paper, I would just throw it away. Years of doodle pages were just tossed. I wonder how many trees I killed. I still tend to throw doodle pages away, but I at least put them in my recycle bin.
Through high school and college I still drew pretty much daily. I tried over the years to improve the way my heroes looked by reviewing how my favorite comic book artists drew superheroes. In recent years, I have used fitness magazines to see different images of anatomy (among other uses) and have bought some art books on dynamic anatomy for reference.
College Toons from 1995
The Knights, a high school hero team (left) and
Bronco, an unused hero (right)
At 39, I still draw on a nearly daily basis, a doodle here and there, still looking for ways to improve the way a finished cartoon looks.
----------------------------
March is Question Month. If anyone else would like to ask a question, you can post it here. You can ask anonymously if you'd like, IP addresses are not recorded for the month. Comments to this entry are screened and if you would rather I not identify you, please make a note of it in your post there.
