Attempts at pinups and a large sketch dump

Like I promised the last time, I have gotten a bunch of sketches from some life-drawing sessions. As well, I have gotten into my head to do a sort of "Pin up" girl drawing. And I ended up with a drawing which I actually made entirely out of my head referencing only the anatomy to more or less correctly know where to place the masses. Here is the drawing:

I have done it in a blue Caran d' Ache pencil, which, tbh, is turning out to be one of my favourite weapons of choice! I really like how I can be quite soft with it, and whenever I do the lines, I end up making quite cool flowing results which I enjoy so much. This whole thing took me about 2-3 hours, which is quite a bit. Here is a sketch that started the idea:

This was just a quick pen doodle I did trying to figure out what the pose should be. I redrew the final from scratch, following the way Clair Wendling mentioned that she draws, allowing me for more practice. I also did another attempt before that, but I ended up partially referencing the pose from a model picture, which I cannot say was what I wanted. Here it is:

I tried to play around with proportions, but I gotta be honest, I am not a fan of how it turned out. She got a bit too curvy for the way I pictured it, and I feel I didn't capture what I wanted to get out of the pose. I might come back to it, but I will need to think of some more additions to the design. I really like the old-school pinup drawings, such as those done by Gil Elvgren:

I like the fun in these drawings. I always wanted to do 1 or 2 of such pinups, but maybe with my own twist. 

What makes these interesting to me (beside being a guy, i guess:) is that unlike so many other drawings that are done now days, these aren't of women with some unbelievable proportions (think J Scott Campbell girls, which, in my opinion, tend to get really annoying now days), but rather of natural looking women, someone real, alive. The Marvel style stuff, however "cool" it might be in the nerdy/guy sense of thinking, feels like plastic dolls and to me, and borders on the feeling of cartoon porn rather then interesting and tasteful art. And these old-school pinups are a lot more intricate in the way they display the idea. But I guess that is just what was found interesting back then, the "Marvel" girls of those times... But hey, at least they do not make women look like they should stuff themselves with silicone and stop eating to look beautiful!

In any case, the best part is that while doing that drawing I really came to learn a ton about anatomy. And boy did I ever had fun drawing! This is probably one of the more finished works I have done so far, albeit without a background, but that will at some point change. I am also thinking of trying my hand with some watercolors next time. I will try a couple of drawings straight on the watercolor paper, and see what I can come up with. Probably will be a disaster, but her, what the heck!

Aaaaaaaaanyway, here is the rest of the stuff I sketched from the last month or so that I missed putting up here:

Till next time!!!

-DK

Morning update...

I already managed to create a sort-of routine for myself in the morning where I go through all of the most recent updates on the blogs that I follow and maybe try to catch a glimpse of a few great pictures and/or animations to get my own self a bit more cheered up for the day to come. Today I came across a very interesting post from "On Animation" blog by Daniel Caylor, where he posted a link to a great spreadsheet that has information from anonymous sources about the salaries in different companies for different positions in the Games/Feature Film industry. You can have a look at it here: https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0Aou3k7ExaTQjdHZ0S2dKMjhfY0lmN2tmTDRESEhjbHc&hl=en&authkey=CNDxyJwF#gid=0

I guess noone can be 100% sure of the validity of those numbers considering you can put whatever you want there, being anonymous and all, but I think that generally people are interested in contributing and seeing information from others as well, so I gather it shouldn't be too far off. Either way, it is quite interesting to see, and was rather a surprise for me as I imagined many of the studios that are there to be paying a lot more then they seem to (according to the data), and vice versa for others.

Also, here is a trailer for what seems to be a wonderful animated film - "My Dog Tulip". I think I would really like to watch it. Will need to find a way.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLqkJJEEGlU

And finally, here are a two sketches I did in the morning. First one with the head is just a page of doodles which I end up making everyday while waiting for different functions that my computer tends to execute (usually within the engine, or Max) and freeze. The whole thing is entirely out of my imagination. The long dude with what should be a saxaphone (but isn't one) was something that sprang into my mind while listening to some jazz.
The second sketch was done over lunchtime. I decided to get out of the office and have a look at what should be within my limitations of sketching the outside world. I think it came out better then my attempts prior to this one, but of course, there will always be millions of areas to improve. If you feel like commenting, I'd greatly appreaciate it!

RIP Pres Romanillos

Wow... This really makes me sad. Although I have not known much about Pres Romanillos, today, when visiting Cartoon Brew (who doesn't have this site bookmarked, DO IT NOW!), i learned that he has passed away, and I can't help but feel saddened. He has been a serious attribute to many a cartoon that I have enjoyed. You can view his blogs, "Pres Romanillos" and "Life is a Pickle", or watch Aladin, or maybe Pocahontas (yup, he has them both in his filmography and has done plenty to make these projects real...), and see, just how incredibly talented the man was. It is truly sad that one has to go sometimes at such an early time of their life... RIP.

Pres and Jeannine Romanillos. Photo by Tim Hodge

A renaissance of my mind

Another trip, and once again to Italy! But this time around it was truly a trip worth remembering for many years to come. Anastasia and myself had planned a triple-threat experience of the three places in Italy each and everyone has to visit in their lifetime, but ended up having much more then we even thought would be there.

So the plan we had was as follows:
- 3 days in Venice
- 3 days in Florence
- 1 day in Pisa
- and another 1 day in Venice on our way back

But this is what it ended up being:
- 3 days in Venice mixed in with the Lido Island
- 2 days in Florence
- 1 day in Pisa
- 1 day in Sienna
- 1 day of partial Venice, and Murano + Burano Islands

Simply astonishing trip. Probably the most notable moments I should mention is the complete overthrowing of so many ideas that I had in my head of my own self that have occurred while being in Florence, and the magnificent and spontaneous trip to Sienna, which ended up being the most beautiful place I have seen in my life. Now I need to make sure I sharpen up on painting before I head there again, because I cannot afford NOT to paint that place.

To describe what I mean by the renaissance of my mind I need to start by saying that there is probably no human being in history who I have looked up to more then Leonardo da Vinci. I in no way want to say I feel as genius as he was, but I have to say I can relate immensely to the way that he always hungered for knowledge in so many areas of his life. I cannot say that I will ever be willing to just focus on one area alone as my main focus of life as I simply feel that whenever I start attempting that, I start loosing the feel of what I really am, of what I can do and achieve. Whenever I look around me, I realize just how much there is to learn, how amazing this world is. Just look at the bubbles of this coke on my table, those bubbles alone represent some amazing combination of chemicals, molecules, biological products and what not to create the taste, the color, the gas inside. Then think of how that taste is interpreted by our mind. How the color is interpreted by our eyes, the smell. How it then affects our body, or maybe not just our body, but the environment at all.
Then I look at the orange I toss in my hand. And it suddenly hits me, that for that object to go up in the air, my own hand has to create a force which is greater then the actual force of gravity! Just think of that in the scope of what we, humans are capable of! Sure, it is not something new, none if this is new, but the sheer realization of these marvels make it feel absolutely overwhelming. I then realise how those people such as Newton or Leonardo himself felt when those ideas hit them. Yes, for them the ideas were at the right time, but even as times change, and Newton's laws are a common thing of understanding, and even have been proven to not be always right if applied on elements which are much much smaller then those we perceive with our eyes, STILL the feel of Marvel in the face of this world makes it so much more interesting to wake up and keep going trying to understand this Marvel we call Nature, and it's creations. All we really need to do is to open our eyes. We just need to LOOK! There is so much to see! Those who cannot look, need to listen, as there is so much to hear! And those who cannot see or hear need to touch, for either of these three sences have the ability to discover so much about our world that it will fill our life with amazing feel of constant discovery! Yes, we need to read books, but just like it was said by Leonardo "Wisdom is the daughter of experience" ("Leonardo da Vinci Notebooks", Irma A. Richter, T. Wells, M. Kemp, 2008 Edition, Oxford World's Classics) meaning that without the experience of our own, none of this knowledge will matter to us.

So yea, this was a rumble of thoughts that I had after this trip. To finish off the rumbling about, I leave you with some sketches and a drawing of Michelangelo's David from the original sculpture while sitting for 3 hours in front of it in Galleria dell Accademia in Florence.

Thoughts after visiting Side, Turkey and Milan, Italy

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Hmmm, what a contrast... One is supposed to be a paradise for relaxation and true vacation spot. The other is one of the biggest fashion centers in the world. When I was walking down one of the most expensive streets of Milan I thought that maybe there needs to be a coalition. And it should be called STRAW:

S - Save
T - The
R - Rich
A - And
W - Wealthy

What we should do is buy some of the most expensive stuff Milan and such other cities have to offer and donate it to the rich people. Just think of how many innocent rich souls we can save! All those amazing people who advertise MacDonald’s to the kids, sell cigarettes and promote them, advertise some of the worst snacks to children under 6 and profit immensely from it! All those generous and magnificent parts of our society who care so genuinely for their wealth and so little for other undeserving souls. So lets help these creatures prosper and let poverty take its much needed path towards larger spreading!

Ok, enough of my failed sarcasm. But seriously now, just look at all of these things! Walking around the streets of Milan I never imagined just how many people can be so obsessed with shopping and their looks. Noses held high, they stroll along the streets, looking at you and evaluating you from head to toe, and if you are "under par" to their expectations, noses just go that much higher up.

Another amazing moment of culture: a classical concert was being played in front of the magnificent Duomo Cathedral. Fabulous music by Giovanni Sollima and the Orchestra of Teatro alla Scala, the majestic view of the enormous gothic cathedral on the background, amazingly warm night... Basically something that can make your whole trip be worth it. The concert is coming to an end. Applauses fly into the air, people stand up, the music and the show has truly being something. The lead musicians leave the stage for a few seconds. As tradition stands, the audience is supposed to stay in their place until the whole orchestra leaves the stage. And yet, what do you think happens? As Giovanni Sollima starts coming back, everyone is already leaving!!! In the middle of an unfinished concert, in such unique conditions, with such unbelievable music... We couldn't believe our eyes... And this happens here, in Italy, one of the, supposedly, most cultured countries in the world... I have to say that it felt not just disturbing, but crushing, as it truly was symbolic how some of the most respectful traditions no longer hold in the modern society where everyone is on the run to feed the consumerism hunger along with trying to cope with the need for more money to support that hunger...

Then comes the memory of Side, Turkey. Sandy dry streets, paved not just with concrete but by an enormous amount of shops. It felt more like the streets were built where the shops were, rather then the shops along the streets. The locals in these shops are the best representation of a southern market folk who still live by the old traditions of bargain and sale. Sounds amazing on one side, but when you start looking at how much these people make and their general state of well being, something strikes very odd. I felt like I really grasped the whole meaning of that resort at one particular moment when we were having a walk along the shore line and I had a chance to have a clear look at the main area of the island. It seemed magnificent, with all the beautiful buildings, palm trees, the gorgeous sea, the beach...and yet, there was a very artificial feel to it. As I looked more carefully, what I realized was that all the beautiful buildings and the whole beauty of the place was there only because everything you could see were hotels and places for tourists! Sure, that is what places like these need to survive, but the sheer amount of it all! Every 5 out of 6 buildings were hotels. Most other buildings were shops. People work there day and night. After some talks later with the local folks I also got a glimpse of an average wage in that area... 500 Euros a month was considered a decent wage... Oooof....

I have no idea what to say after such 2 contrasts. Yes, I like my comfort, but why does it have to occur at such human expenses? And why are there still entire cities....forget cities... COUNTRIES! that do not even realize that these places exist. Last week I saw people desperately trying to sell me a 1 euro gift that would allow them to keep living, the next week I saw people judging me for the fact that I wasn't wearing Armani...

Here are some sketches of anatomy I did from Bridgeman and a small (quite ungly, but I still like it) sketch of an area in the Duomo cathedral with some notes after visiting the Milano Castello galleries: