Art & Comics Education | Art Blog

Figure Drawing – Do It Live, Do It Online

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A good representational artist (one who illustrations something that represents something in real life, despite whatever style it is drawn in) is always looking to improve their craft, whether by improving their fundamentals, studying new techniques, exploring different mediums, etc. Figure drawing is a basic fundamental that illustrators are always trying to improve upon. We study proportion, structure of the form, and anatomy. But ultimately, drawing a live, human body posing right in front of us … Read More

Art Blog | Sketches/Drawings

Sac-Con March 12th-13th, 2016

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Finally, after many years of wanting to, I attended a comic convention not as an attendee, but as a guest and vendor. Andrew Leung, owner of Toy Fusion and ToyWorth was nice enough to have me as a guest artist at his booth at Sac-Con on the weekend of March 12th and 13th, 2016. I wasn’t expecting to do much really, other than draw, pass out business cards and postcard samples, and see if anyone would … Read More

Art Blog | Process | Sketches/Drawings

Double-Page Spread Advertisement – Illustration And Design Process, Sacramento Asian Pacific Film Festival

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I recently needed to put together a double-page spread advertisement for a local film festival I volunteer for, the Sacramento Asian Pacific Film Festival. Since I was doing this for a group, and other people needed to approve the design, I did thumbnails. For myself, I only do thumbnails when I need to solve problems. Usually I know what I want. This time, I needed everyone who had a say in the final messaging to approve … Read More

Art Blog | Reviews

In With The New, Out With The Old… And Out With The New: Ralph Thomas’ Sketch Wallet Review

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Happy New Year everyone. 2016 will see more regular blogging from me, with new art-related (probably) posts at least every Friday. And I’m kicking it off with a review about a new accessory I picked up late last year: Ralph Thomas’ Sketch Wallet. On July 7, 2015, Ralph Thomas launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund his Sketch Wallet – a wallet designed to carry your cash, cards, and a refillable sketchbook. Suitable for artists on the … Read More

Art & Comics Education | Art Blog

30-Day Memory Drawing Challenge

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I’m issuing a challenge. To myself. It can be difficult for a busy person to draw everyday, but if one wants to get better, one should do it. I’m no exception. And there are many things I need to improve upon. Remembering standard architectural details of a building’s facade; a person’s posture during a certain mood; how a muscle flexes during a certain action. I could go on, but I won’t. I don’t need to divulge … Read More

Art & Comics Education | Art Blog | Sketches/Drawings

The Warm-Up Sketch Activity – Part 2

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This is a “warm-up” sketch I did on 1-13-2015: The goal was to limit the time spent doing the sketch. This time I chose to work on larger paper. My sketch from the previous day was done in a 5×7 sketchbook, which somehow made me want to work meticulously. It’s probably due to the page space being small enough to sketch fairly freely, but not so small that I was forced to go into “thumbnail mode”, … Read More

Art & Comics Education | Art Blog | Sketches/Drawings

The Warm-Up Sketch Activity – Part 1

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I have very rarely done warm-up sketches. I understand the value of warm-up sketches. I admit, when I was younger, I thought, “Why do I need to warm up my drawing muscles? Why can’t I just draw?” Of course it helps to loosen up the fingers, the hand, and the arm before doing any drawing that is meant to end up as a finished piece. But when you have a limited amount of time to spend … Read More

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