Piccillo nods, "Alright class, it's now noon. Class shall begin."
You say, "First of all, if you have not done so I'd like you to open out site at https://www.angelfire.com/art2/baac/"
Yasha-Myr sits pleaseantly
You say, "This is where we will post past logs, and also lesson aids for the day's class."
You say, "Now last week we took a long time discussing the various snags and hazards facing a young artist. Today we will actually get to starting to build on an image, based on your homework from last class."
ShadowWalker raises a wing
You say, "Yes, ShadowWalker?"
ShadowWalker smiles, "I accidently missed last week's class. I noticed there isn't any log for that week, when should it be on?
You say, "There was not a class last week I'm afraid...the January 26th class is currently the only one."
ShadowWalker openly sends to all ~~{ ahhh ok. That helps then. }
You say, "Sorry for the confusion. :)"
ShadowWalker chuckles "Quite all right.
You say, "Now you were instructed to get some pictures from fliers, and practice building body structures and lines along the way a body moves. We will start going over the basics of how this will help you understand and use this knowledge in your drawings."
You say, "Now I want you to refresh https://www.angelfire.com/art2/baac/ ... you will see a new link added - visual aids for Feb 9th. Please open it and look at the images there. I will wait a moment while you look."
Yasha-Myr will take a few minutes, her server is gooofy...
Piccillo nods to Yahsa-Myr, and understands. "Take your time then...we can afford another minute while studends compare and ask questions."
Piccillo settles back and resumes talking. "Now lets take a look at the first image. Here we see the model - which I clipped out of a store flier - with her first set of lines set in."
You say, "Note the small circles. These are what I call 'pivot points' for the figure. They represent joints, joinings, or flexible areas which can bend or change shape. On a normal human they are relatively fixed."
You say, "The lines represent relatively straight areas of the body, or the general 'frame' to which muscles will later be added to give it shape."
You say, "Note that while the shoulders on the picture are curved, the shoulders on the framework are shown as a straight line. This is the collar bone and chest area."
You say, "The spine is represented by a straight line in this picture, but it would be more accurate in drawing to think of it as flexible. For humans it doesn't curve about too much...although as we will discuss later, anthro's have an odd habit of 'bending' a lot of rules that apply to human anatomy ;)"
You say, "Now, does anyone have any questions about the first set of images, before we move down to the second set?
You say, "Now, the second set is more complex...and we'll take our time to discuss how it was made."
You say, "The basic body can be thought of to be made up of various simple shapes - cylynders, circles, and curves."
You say, "With the second picture, we are building on the 'framework' we made in the first picture, and starting to give it shape and form."
You say, "A lot of how a body is shaped is learned by practice...you just have to work at it to pick it up."
kodachi says, "sir don't you also need to keep in mind how your own body works as you draw?"
Piccillo nods, "Quite right kodachi, which is something this will be teaching you." :)
You say, "These early lessons will begin to familiarize the basic student with anatomy and proportions, before we get to the point where we will begin drawing from scratch."
kodachi smiles pushing her tented glasses further up on her nose.
You say, "Does that answer your question, kodachi?"
kodachi says, "somewhat though isn't it a good idea to begin with the 'wire' framework on any drawing to help hold the pose you want?"
Sherri says quietly, "You need to know basic proportion before you can wire up any pose you want"
kodachi says, "true true..."
Yasha-Myr replies softly, "Isnt wire the skeleton we do?"
Piccillo nods to kodachi, "Yes, although in this case we are not building a raw picture but working from a model...so we are using that as part of our drawing."
Piccillo raps a ruler on the desk, "Settle down now students." he myrss.
Yasha-Myr is showing page to rl gf, who likes the site as well
Sherri says quietly, "Could I have a repose or two please?"
You say, "When we do a free-form picture later on, kodachi, we will go more into depth on the how and why of bodybuilding...but for now, we can use the picture as a base to work from - to get our 'paws dirty', so to speak, and begin the creation process."
Piccillo nods to Sherri, "Ok, feel free."
Sherri whispers, "?" to you.
Yasha-Myr finally has pics up.. likes them
Piccillo smiles at Yasha, "Any questions so far, now that you can see them? And anything else, kodachi?"
Yasha-Myr nods.."Im fine sempai
kodachi says, "yes, this is to answer yasha's question. yes the wire framework is like a sckelliton
kodachi sits back and starts sketching an uber kwaii piccie of the teacher.
You say, "If there is nothing else I will continue."
Yasha-Myr gigggles as she writes notes
You say, "Now a good method for beginning to learn how these shapes fit into the body - and the method *I* used to do these series to show how it works - is simple, like all good methods should be."
Yasha-Myr likes it
You say, "I took the model pic, and drew the framework on it. Then, taking a white peice of paper, I went over to a window and pressed both onto the glass - the picture underneath. The light allowed me to see the picture through the paper, and I then traced the wireframe out onto the sheet of paper."
Yasha-Myr raises her paw...
You say, "For the second set, I drew the shapes for the body onto the picture again. The shapes, as you can see, follow the lines on the picture roughly. Holding it up again, I could trace them to make basic body contours."
Piccillo nods to Yasha-Myr, "Yes?" he asks.
Yasha-Myr replies softly, "Can you indeed see the lines through the page, if it printed on both sides? in window like that?"
Piccillo nods, "Draw the lines with heavy marker and you'll pick them up. For an example, just hold any picture up to a light source such as a lamp, with a peice of paper in front of it. As long as the picture isn't too dark, the lines will show up enough to see."
Yasha-Myr ohs and notes that
Yasha-Myr replies softly, "thank you"
You say, "You are welcome. :) Any other questions?"
Sherri says quietly, "might it be easier to use a photocopy? If theres something on the other side of the page you'll see that too... could get confusing"
You say, "Not really Sherri...a photocopy tends to make everything a universal color...your trace-lines won't stand out as well in the copy as they would in the original."
You say, "You can try it - and it may prove better for you - but I find this method easier. Plus it saves me running to a photocopier. ;)"
You say, "Hello Bakimono, and welcome. Class is nearly over, but please feel free to follow along and I can answer questions afterwards."
Bakimono nods
You say, "Now notice how the cylynder's are slightly curved in some places. While it's a bit harder to see in this sample, in people with bathing suits you can follow the lines of the body better. They curve around the basic muscles of the arms and legs, and help set the general body form.".
You say, "It will seem tough at first, but by doing this practice technique over and over (and yes, it does get boring) you will start to get an intuitive idea of how the body is shaped. Where the curves go, when do they start to bunch up and when they flatten out...it will become part of your skills, and not something you have to copy."
Yasha-Myr ooohhhs and likes that
<
Sherri nodnods and smiles
You page, "Hello there! :D I hope you are well." to Kratsminsch.
You say, "It's an important step to learn...once you grasp it drawing will become much less frustrating and far more fun."
Yasha-Myr did a few skeletons
Yasha-Myr liked it
You say, "Now we will turn our attention to the last picture of the set."
Yasha-Myr looks
You say, "Here you can see I've added more shape to my arms and legs, and filled in some hair and definiton."
You say, "I've added color to help distinguish the various body-parts from each other, and can get a good look at how they work as a whole."
Piccillo gives the class a few moments to study it before continuing.
Yasha-Myr replies softly, "thats the shades one? "
P
iccillo nods to Yasha-Myr, "Yes."
You say, "This is how I go about training myself...and it helped me a lot in two ways."
Yasha-Myr replies softly, "I like it.... its nice"
You say, "First, it helped me grasp basic anatomy. Not only *how* a body is built, but also how a body is built *realisticly*. Look at how the model stands, some parts of her droop as they are relaxed. Her hands are in front of her, one finger holding another. A very realistic pose, natural."
Yasha-Myr raises a paw to add another site in vcl she seen.. an artist do drawings of
You say, "If you were to just learn *how* to build a body and not *why*, you would become very technicly skilled - but your pictures might lack 'life'...a stance or pose that makes them come alive to the viewer."
You say, "No Yasha, VCL sites are not allowed to be spammed in the classroom as per the rules."
Yasha-Myr sorrys
Yasha-Myr replies softly, "I apologise"
You say, "I'm sorry hun, but I can't bend the rules."
You say, "No appology neccesary, I'm glad you asked first."
Yasha-Myr replies softly, "I forgot of that.. its my fault"
You say, "Well, I'll forgive you if you forgive me for being a grumpy teacher."
Yasha-Myr puts a dunce cap on us both
Yasha-Myr giggles
Piccillo chuckles.
Sherri giggles and shakes her head
You say, "The second point, that makes it so important to learn this way, is imitation. "
You say, "If you learn from life, like we are with this, you will learn to draw in your own style - your own manner. Your pictures will start to develop and grow as you do."
Yasha-Myr replies softly, "I used to do that long ago... i forgot about that"
You say, "Now there are many artists out there. Many fine artists we'd all like to get as skilled at. Heck, I know I have my idols out there. However, learning by copying from another person's work leads to a lot of problems."
Yasha-Myr replies softly, "thats why i stopped immitating and forgot.. i thought it was bad"
Sherri says quietly, "It could bring up technical, and legal problems right sir?"
You say, "First, even if you become *just* as skilled as him or her - you will basicly *be* him or her. You will be 'the artist who draws like so-and-so' and not your individual self. While imitation may be the sincirest form of flattery, it probably won't be what you even intended to do."
Yasha-Myr used to do some of Appleseed art... tracings
Piccillo nods to sherri, "Only if you copy their characters and try to sell them. You can't *copyright* a style of art...doing pictures like someone else won't get you in trouble unless you use their characters."
You say, "Copyright violations, though, are a subject for another day. Right now let's stick to how this affects your drawings now."
Sherri sorries and nondods
Yasha-Myr nods
You say, "The second problem is mistakes the original artist made. Everyone makes errors, and some artist use shortcuts or have their own style that depearts from the status quo."
You say, "Let's take Appleseed for example. The artist, Mashamune Shirow, does incredible action scenes and his bodywork is superb. Guns and mecha are highly detailed...a worth artist."
Sherri loves good mecha
Yasha-Myr loved drawing the femmme chars in it, did only one of Nike... pawdrew the face... by scratch
You say, "However, he does draw in his own style - and you would pick it up if you learned just from him. He draws manga, which means his chracters have huge eyes and mouths that cn open up to the size of pie-plates at times when they are yelling."
Sherri giggles
You say, "You'd pick these up as you learned. Once learned, these habits will be *hard* to break yourself of."
Genevive nods,"That is the thing about learned habits.
Yasha-Myr has a drawings book of his as well... incredible
You say, "That is why it's so important to learn from live models - it will give you a chance to build your own style, make your own interpretation of subjects. After you have a solid foundation in your studies, you can start going to other artists to see how they do things."
Yasha-Myr hums Chicago's Hard habbit to break... ^^
You say, "I'll freely admit I look at other artists' work a lot to get new ideas and techniques. But because I took my time and built a solid foundation on my studies, I still keep my own sense of style and uniqueness to my work. "
Piccillo asides, "At least, I think so. ;)"
Sherri thinks you do
Yasha-Myr replies softly, "I like the fox at the top of page"
Piccillo checks the time, "Now, let's wrap this up and get to your homework assignment."
Yasha-Myr has a few artists she loves to try
Piccillo taps his ruler on the desk to get his student's attention.
Yasha-Myr yayys atta homework, and sweatdrops....
You say, "Now, you have your basic framework and clips with you, or can easily make some from last week's log if you don't. What I want you to do is work on 'fleshing it out'...build layes of cylynders and circles in the body. Do it a lot on different pictures, try to figure out for *yourself* how the anatomy of the pictures works."
You say, "It will seem impossible at first, perhaps, but after a few you'll find it's not so hard."
Yasha-Myr ooohhss and likes....
Yasha-Myr raises her paw.. sheepishly
You say, "I want you to set a few of your best ones aside though. Next week we will examine them - and more improtantly, we will go into how to start turning these rather 'icky' humans into something more pleasing - an animal morph."
You say, "Yes, Yasha-Myr?"
Yasha-Myr replies softly, "Im sorry for my cheering.. I just love the homework..."
