Last week's class, January 26th
You say, "Thank you all for coming. I will be your teacher for the time you are here."
You say, "This course will show you basic techniques on getting started in illustration, and how to go about improving your skills as well as making a more 'presentable' picture to show to others."
Piccillo leans against his desk and
continues, "This isn't a traditional school, you will not hve to worry about passing a grade."
You say, "I will, instead, show you what I and others have done to imrpove our skills as an artist, and show you many techniques you can use to succeed. You will get what you decide to put into it, and nobody will try to tell you you are a 'good or bad' artist just because your style might be different from what you see normally."
You say, "There are a few rules, however, that I expect you to follow if you wish to keep coming to this class. I'll be breif as possible, so we can get to work."
You say, " One : I expect everyone to behave civily to each other while class is going. That means no swearing, doing anything annoying, and such."
You say, "Two: There will be no posting of anything that links, directly or indirectly, to a place where you can view adult art. This includes such massive sites as Furnation or the 'vixen archives."
You say, "If you don't have a site elsewhere (or at all) I'll be making one that will be used for the school's purpouses, and post your pictures for you there that apply to the class."
You say, "Three: The same applies for links to commercial sites. "
You say, "Forth and last : There is to be no recruiting for magazines, projects, fanzines, ect within the class. You may do so if you wish on your own time of course, but not while here."
You say, "Except on those four points, you'll find me pretty flexible :)"
You say, "Are there any questions on the rules before we go on?"
Atima umms "whatcha mean by the last one... I don't understand it at all."
You say, "Ok, the forth applies to people who may show up here to ask for volunteers to draw in magazines, fanzines, or recruit artists for other means."
Atima ohs.. well non of us are here to do that hehe right? O.o
Sherri says quietly, "oh, you mean if someone came in here and asked me to draw them, its a nono?"
Sherri says quietly, "While in class anyays?"
You say, "I have nothing aginst doing that, of course - but I want this room to have only one purpouse, learning about art."
You say, "Pretty much, Sherri."
You say, "This rule may seem odd now, I understand, but as you become more skilled artists you will find that - more and more - that polite requests start filtering in. Some not-so-polite. I never want an artist to feel pressure while in this room."
Piccillo nods to the later arrivals, "You've only missed the class rules, you can stay after class and ask about them if you wish."
Death softly speaks, "Do we have to publically show off our homework??"
Piccillo shakes his head to Death, "You don't have to, but I will provide an area for you to do so if you wish. And I encourage it for feedback. This is a beginner's course, noone here is going to be producing stellar work for you to compete with :)"
Piccillo nods to Yasha-Myr, "Sorry for the delay. What was your question?"
Yasha-Myr replies softly, "When did you decide to hold class?... its big help..... and wish to thank you for it for the rest of us... And is class weekly? "
You say, "The class will be at least weekly, more if the class as a whole wants more and we can find a time everyone agrees with later on. "
You say, "I've had the idea to start it for over a year...but recently I've been getting so many questions from people curious about starting out as an artist that I've finally begun formal classes to help."
Piccillo hrrms, "Well, we'll get back to Midnite in a minute. Your question, Death?"
Midnite nods. "Will you be giving out some advice on motivation as well. I have the basics of drawing down, but am rotten at making myself make time to draw."
Death softly speaks, "Most who know me know that i want to learn how to dray. I am keen on this class but i have one problem, unfortunately i am powerless to act against it. My time in this realm is limited. Is there a way i can record the lessons, or get notes?"
Piccillo nods to Midnite, "Yes, in fact this first class will be all about material and motivation. :)"
You say, "Yes Death, I'll be making a site for the class - I will log all the lesson and pertinent discussions and place them there."
You say, "Plus, if any student sees me on and wants to ask questions or catch up on work they just need ask if I have the time to spare."
You say, "If you could send them to me as well, Yasha, I'd love it :)"
Death softly speaks, "thanks, i will appreciate it. Now if i may be exscused, trouble is looking for me"
Piccillo nods, "Ever a busy reaper. Good luck, Death. :)"
You say, "Very well then, let's begin with our first lesson : Materials, motivation, and setting up!"
You say, "First let us go over the first basic staples you'll need to be an artist, what you will create with. "
You say, "What you choose to create with is your 'media' [trendy art buzz word]. This can be a pad and paper, inks, clay or even something like photoshop or other computer art programs."
You say, "Now a trap that many artists fall into when young - and can cause a lot of frustration - is that certain media is best used for certain things and can be hard to use for others."
You say, "Now propably all of you have some sheet of paper nearby to draw on. I want you to pick it up and examine it while I continue, and think about how it applies."
You say, "Paper has a texture to it, thickness, and ability to hold certain pigments and liquids. Each type of paper is made to accept one of them better than others."
You say, "Some are made with 'low compression'. That means, when the paper is pressed flat, it isn't pressed as flat as it could be. This makes it more absorbant, in the way a sponge is. It also makes it a bit rougher. These types of paper are good for using dry media on; such as pencils or colored chalk."
You say, "Other types of paper have been heavily compressed, which means they will not soak up liquids well. These were made to accept things such as ink or markers."
You say, "Very heavily or waterproofed media, like painting canvas that has been coated, are made not to absorb liquids at all."
You say, "The problem arrives when you use one type of media for a sytle it isn't suited for. Have you ever tried doing ink lines, but find they get a fuzzy look on them - especially when you draw them heavy? That is due to a low compression paper soaking up the ink, and spreading it out through the fibers of the paper."
You say, "Or maybe you tried pencil, and found it always smeared or you had to press really hard to make dark lines. It could be highly compressed paper, which doesn't have the roughness needed to catch the graphite of the pencil in it's surface."
Sherri thinks thats the case with her paper but its better in a way because you can shade easier?
Piccillo tsks at Sherri for not raising her hand :) He answers, "You *can* get used to the style and media and *force* it to work. However, you will be fighting to produce results a bit harder than you have to be if you have the right materials."
You say, "Identifying what kind of paper you have is easy, once you know what to look for. Just keep in mind that certain paper works better with certain tools. If you wish to work in pencil, get the paper best suited to the task."
You say, "Sometimes you just do have to work with what's at hand though - but always keep an eye out for something better if it comes along."
You say, "The same problem can exist with what you are drawing with. Some pens have very fine tips - good for detail but not for heavy drawing and darkening. Some pencils are especially hardened graphite and won't put down much line at all, while some are softer than normal and put down a lot of smudgable line."
Yasha-Myr raises her tailtip...."Are ball point pens better than fine markers like sharpies?
You say, "Well, no and yes - depending on the way you look at it. Let me explain."
You say, "No, as sharpies give out a fine even ink in a reliable line. The ink blends well with lines next to it, so darkening is no problem. Ballpoints don't put their ink out evenly - it's more concentrated at the center than at the edges. That means trying to put two lines together to shade will leave a slightly lighter 'filling' in between you wouldn't get from a sharpie."
You say, "Trying to darken a line to add thinkness or shading with a ballpoint won't look as good as a sharpie will."
You say, "On the other paw, yes depending on what effect you are trying to acheive. They are excellent for laying down one quick line you won't darken. Plus, they have the advantage of being dirt cheap - the price of one sharpie pen can get you half a dozen ballpoints."
You say, "That does bring up an interesting point I was going to make later but I'll do so after this question is fully answered."
Piccillo nods, "Does that help answer your question?"
Yasha-Myr subtitles... "Yesssir"
Piccillo pose nods and smiles, and continues. "This is a motivational issue, especially with younger artists - and another 'hidden snag' that can foul you up. However, unlike paper it's not so easy to identify until someone points it out to you."
You say, "This little demon is known by the evil symbol '$'."
You say, "You would think buying the most expensive pens, and the best art pad in the store would be a *good* thing for a starting artist to get. And it might be...but it can cause problems."
You say, "When you start spending a lot of money on supplies, you start attaching 'value' to what you've bought - and you start wanting to get your value's worth. As a beginning artist, you'll want to do lots of work to start honing your skills, but you may feel pressured to make each one a 'masterpeice' to justify you spending all that cash on the pads and paper."
You say, "Heck, *I* have a pad I bought a month ago. Cost 15 dollard for 10 sheets of premium bristol paper. And I won't touch the thing - keep waiting for 'the perfect drawing' to put on it. :/"
You say, "A lot of frustration can result in worrying about chucking out peices of paper that cost lots of money to buy. If you are going out for supplies, I suggest buying a book that's not the best, but good paper for the type of work you want to do (rougher for pencils, smoother for inks) and not the best pens that all the big-name artists recommend do the best works."
You say, "Forget the Prisma Markers and such, get stuff you won't be afrid to *use* and that may help take a hidden block off your beginning studies."
You say, "Okay, now we were talking about models - or more importantly, how to get free ones since none of us wants to pay to have someone sit there when we want to practice sketching. "
You say, "Now the first source of models is probably an annoyance you've seen many a time before. These are the various department store fliers you find stuffed in your mailbox and your bags as you leave a store."
You say, "Now, in each section they usually have photos for their current clothes line, and they show happy smiling people wearing the clothing they are trying to sell. Now this is an unexpected boon for the artist - not only are the models there for us to view, but the cheap paper is easy to use a dark marker on to lay out lines for perspective and form."
You say, "You can easily get several every time you visit the store - I've yet to have one store tell me *not* to take their fliers - and it will be a good source of poses and cheap reference for the rest of your artistic careers."
Yasha-Myr replies softly, "What you mean by lay out lines.... like tracing?"
Piccillo nods, "Yes, that is part of it. Human (and furry) bodies have a 'range of motion' that they cannot break naturally."
Yasha-Myr subtitles... "foreshortening? is that it?"
You say, "Yes, that's a good example.:)"
You say, "Also laying out how you want the body to move and pose. Limbs and arms have a certain way of lying or being held depending on the activity they are being used for."
Yasha-Myr ahs and also has a small posable dummy for 10 dollars
You say, "There are a lot of artists out there, good ones too - not just beginners - that with time you will be able to recognise aren't putting their arms just right."
You say, "This is what I would like you to do. I'd like you to gather a few of these fliers for study. Use them to trace, draw lines along where the bones lie, get a feel for them. But save one unmarked - next week we will be studying body form and positioning, and I will show you how to break down the model on the paper and 'block' out his pose."
You say, "Body modeling will most likely be the biggest hurdle you'll have to face - it still stumps many artists as to how make a picture look 'natural' in some of the wild poses called for."
You say, "You should also examine your media - decide if it's the best thing for what you want to draw like. Remember, you'll be going through paper quickly as you learn."
You say, "Now that should be enough for everyone to get started on. But a few things before you are dismissed ;"
You say, "First, I'm your teacher - but not in the 'high school' sense. I'm doing it purely to help - because I *wished* when I was learning the basics someone was doing this when I was learning. I don't want you to feel you have to wait until next class to ask me questions or seek advice. Feel free to ask when you see me about, and if I am not busy I'd be glad to help."
You say, "There is nothing *mandatory* about this class. When I give you assignments or tell you to do something, it is ok if you can't or won't do them. Do what you want - you will get what you put into this class, and noone will tell you you have to do more."
Midnite woofs, "So the homework this time is to add a skelitak system to a newprint model?"
You say, "The class will be at noon on Saturday, although I may do a Saturday midnite one if there are enough people who'd prefer that time frame. I know some of us keep vastly differnt hours."
You say, "Your homework is to add various lines to the models - skeletal and otherwise, to get a feel as to how a real body lays out."
