A NOT-SO-EPIC SATURDAY NIGHT

I love the little stories Megan Nicole Dong and Rad, among others, have been posting. I wanted to join in on the fun, except nothing exciting happens in my life. Here is proof;

MORE STUFF I'VE LEARNED ABOUT STORYBOARD

I posted this on the art center blog a few days ago, forgot to put it up here.

These next few tip sheets examine the elements of design; line, shape, space and value, and how to incorporate them into your storyboards to help direct the eye and clarify information. The focus here is not the cinematics of stroyboarding but the execution of idea to paper and ultimately how to utilize design principles to achieve desired results in an efficient way within a given panel or shot. Storyboarding is not necessarily about drawing 'good' but drawing effective.

NOTE: There are two other elements of design, texture and color. However they would only be used in rare cases with storyboards and when employed probably wouldn't be for design purposes but most likely for clarification (I.e. using colors to keep track of specific objects of similar size and shape in a given sequence, such as stones or gems, that each have varying story-specific trajectories).

Below are a few examples of how incorporating varying line thickness into a panel can help clarify not only the information presented, but the depth of the shot. There are many things you can do within a given panel to help focus or direct the eye to the important information. A simple way to achieve this is through contrast. Contrast can exist in many forms, and below we look at how contrast within a specific design element (shape, space, value) can create a focal point.

Now we can take these principles and incorporate them into storyboard panels.

I got a bit 'wordy' on the tip sheet above. I think the most important thing to take away from the sewer-rat example above is realizing that even though panel 1 and 3 are the exact same compositions, the shading can either greatly enhance (1) or greatly distract (3) from the important information. This holds true of the other design principles as well. Thinking about these principles while you are boarding can help in creating clear and easy to read compositions.

Storyboards, by nature, are disposable. They are not finished pieces of artwork. The main goal is to present ideas on paper quickly and clearly. Design principles can help sell ideas very effectively in storyboards. Below are a few more examples;

There is no single 'right' way to present an idea visually. The 'blimp' idea, for instance, could easily be boarded successfully in a variety of different ways. Ways that would vary in stylistic choices based on the artist, but that could all achieve the same goal of focusing the attention on the blimp. In fact there are probably compositions that could be more successful than the one presented.

So start experimenting with design principles and find ways to incorporate them into your boards that work for you.

As per my previous posts, I reserve the right to be wrong. These are simply tricks and tips I've picked up along the way that I've found to be successful in my own work.

-Hat

MORE SCRATCH

Sum more Scratch doodles. This time I copied a lot of David Gemmill's stuff. He's awesome, you should check out his stuff.


_Hat

DESK CLEAN UP: MEETING DOODLES

Cleaned up my desk at the studio today, I'm really bad about keeping my workspace tidy. There were piles of paper everywhere, but I did find lots of doodles from meetings/cereal breaks of past. Here is a compilation of desk cluster;




Am I the only one who's desk gets out of control? Nevertheless, when I do finally get around to straightening things up, I get a warm fuzzy feeling inside, perhaps one of those precious little parts of life that is often over-looked.

-Hat

SCRATCH DOODLES

I stole most of the poses from Rex Hackelberg.

-Hat

BI-DAILY: RAIN

BI DAILY: BEAR

I call this one 'Bare Bear Underwear'


After drawing it, I realized I really want that hat.

-Hat

BI DAILY: COLD FEET & EARTHY

Cold feet;
Earthy;

-Hat

HAN DRAWN STORYBOARDS

I recently struck up an online conversation with Han, an aspiring animator/artist. She just posted her first pass at storyboarding on her blog, which I was thoroughly impressed with (without question better than any of my first few attempts).

I had some advice for her, primarily some principles she could look to incorporate into her boards as she moves forward, that I think will really help take her sequences to the next level. She was kind enough to allow me to post my notes here, so that others could benefit and learn from her work!

To illustrate the principles and techniques, I took a single panel from her sequence and drew over it. I gradually built up a new panel using hers as a starting point.
(The entire sequence can be seen on her blog, however for the sake of clarity I chose to focus on one panel.)

1. ORIGINAL PANEL FROM HAN'S SEQUENCE:

Conceptually, it is a good.
-She has clearly established a screen relationship between two characters (left and right).
-Indicated an envirment (the mountain range in the background)
-Suggested a certain degree of depth.
My main note, push it! push it good! Push the depth! Push the background! Take the concept of this shot and push it to find a more interesting and compelling compostition.

2. DRAW YOUR GRIDS!

I started my redraw with a horizon line and laying down a grid.

Laying down your grid is something that's been pounded into my head by almost every feature board artist I've ever worked with. It'll help clarify your depth, and can be used as a guide for incorporating mid/forground elements (illustrated in Step 5.)

Trust me, lay down your grids, it'll help!

3. PUSH THE DEPTH

In her original panel, there is a lot of empty space around the characters, not particularly interesting visually. I drew over the characters, using my grid as a guide, and tried to push the depth.

By pushing the depth, bringing one character closer and pushing one further away, you can create a much more engaging composition, as well as utlizing the real estate of the panel more effectively.

4. USE THE BACKGROUND TO ENHANCE THE COMPOSITION

You can use background elements to enhance a composition and direct the eye.
The important information in the above panel is the charatcers, so everything else in the composition should support that. Keeping that in mind, we can use mountain ranges in the background to help lead the eye to the character.

5. POPULATE THE MID-GROUND

Put some junk in the mid-ground.

Populating the mid-ground can help in a few ways:
-Further help define the enviroment
-Help push the depth by incorporating over-lapping elements as well as visual depth cues (things getting smaller as they recede)

6. A LITTLE SHADING GOES A LONG WAY

In the original panel the shading was a bit too detailed yet oddly unspecific. You can simplify the shading by thinking about it in terms of foreground, midground and background.

I did a quick shade pass over the panel using each object's relative position in the composition, how close/far away it is from us, and shaded accordingly.
We can also use shadows to help direct the eye (just like the background) by having them point towards other important information.

Below is a gif of the progression so you can see how being concious of these principles while your boarding can really help enhance your work. UPDATE:(You may need to click on it to see it animate)

With storyboarding it is just a matter of getting sequences under your belt, the more you board, the better you get, plain and simple. Don't be discouraged if you don't see immediate improvement. It takes time for these principles to become second nature, the most important thing is that you are aware of them and how they can affect your work.

Han is off to an amazing start, I can't wait to see where she goes from here!

A big thanks to Han for allowing me to post this here. If you've taken anything away from this little break down, please visit Han's blog and thank her! It wouldn't have been possible without her hard work and generosity.

-Hat

BI DAILY: WATER PRESSURE

I was honored when Jeff Snow asked me to come up with today's Bi-Daily theme. I felt pressured to come up with an awesome theme, and then it hit me in the shower... "water pressure".

Below is my submission.

Perhaps one of my more cerebral contributions.

check out;
Dave P
Jeff Snow

Also a whole slew of Bi-Dailies from Steve Macleod.

-Hat

BI DAILY: SOUR

See other sour drawings;
Dave P
Jeff Snow

BI-DAILY DRAWING: PAMPER

Today's theme (technically yesterday's): Pamper

Check out all the others yo;
Dave P
Jenny Lerew
Jeff Snow

Normally I try and spend a little extra time on these bi-daily drawlings, to make em look nice, because quite frankly everyone else doing them is super awesome and their drawings are amazing, but I cranked this one out pretty quickly.

Dig in.

-Hat

BI DAILY: BATTERED COD

This was the first thing that came to mind;


Be sure to check out all the other guys' drawings, they are all awesome and hilarious, some of my favorites out of all the Bi-Daily batches so far... and who would have thought with a theme like 'battered cod'.

Jeff Snow
Dave P
Dave Derrik

-Hat

LINE UP

I was going through one of my older sketch books (from back before I knew anything about drawing), and came across a bunch of crude characters that made me laugh. So I thought I'd take a stab at updating their designs;


-Hat

BACK IN BUISNESS; BI-DAILY DRAWING: TRESPASSING

So according to Dave Pimentel, the Bi-Daily drawing challenge is back on! Every other day, new theme, new drawing.
Today's word was 'Trespassing'


As always, anyone interested in participating is welcome to join.

-Hat

WARM UP DOODLES

Some warm up doodles done recently prior to getting down and dirty on a comic I'm working on.

-Warm Hat

OTTERS IN ACTION

Another Pokemon piece. It was actually inspired by Rad Sechrist and the stuff he posts on his blog. He is crazy good, his compositions are so dynamic and interesting. I've been trying to get better at those kinds of things, so this was an attempt at that.

-Hat

OTTERS IN THE HOOD

I go through phases where all I want to draw is pokemon... I am currently in one of said phases. If I had my own pokemon, after he battled this is how I'd let him relax and regain his strength. Pokeballs are animal torture.

-Hood Hat

PS- Just noticed this is my 200th blog post... and I posted a drawing of myself, barefoot, carrying a pocket monster in my hood...kind of a waste of a landmark post. Oh well, I'll try again at 300.

RUNNING WITH OTTERS

Realized I hadn't posted anything in a while so did this little drawing.


-Hat

POKEMON INSPIRED PIECE

Following up on the last post, here's a little piece I did inspired by Ken Sugimori.

I did a version that I had shaded, but liked this one with the flat color better.

-Hat-Man-Do

KEN SUGIMORI; POKEMON PERFECTION

When I heard they were making a whole new generation of Pokemon I was pretty excited. I've been a fan of the franchise for a long time due in most part to the artwork and character design of lead Pokemon artist Ken Sugimori.

This guys is amazing. The amount of character he can convey in a single pose is mind-boggling. There are certain Pokemon he has designed and posed to an extent such that you know all you need know about that particular character from one drawing.

He has crafted, with Pokemon in particular, a style that is beautifully minimalistic yet complex at the same time, specifically in the anatomy, which contains brilliant subtleties all while maintaining the overall appeal. The hierarchy of details in his designs is unmatched. He has an uncanny ability in understanding where high volume areas of detail, as well as low volume areas, need to be in order to suggest types of fabric/skin/fur all without drawing attention to itself and distracting from the overall harmony of the design.

When I saw the 5th generation of pokemon I was, to say the least, underwhelmed with most of the designs. It's not that they were bad per say, it had more to do with the concepts behind a majority of them which seemed somewhat questionable for what I knew as 'Pokemon'. However, I got over my initial uncertainties about them, and at this time most of them have grown on me. So I decided to draw a few.


-PokeHat

NEIGHBORS FROM HELL BOARDS

About a year ago I had the chance to board a sequence for 'Neighbors from Hell'. I recently found the clip I boarded online and figured it'd be ok to post the work I did. The show was awesome to work on. I like the designs a lot and I had a lot of fun drawing and posing the characters.

I think I've gotten better at drawing since having done this sequence and I can see things that I would have drawn differently, but I'm pretty happy with the shots and the flow of the sequence.







Below is the clip, the first 35 seconds is the stuff I boarded. The animation team did an amazing job matching and enhancing the poses and shots I boarded.



I'm not sure what happened to the show... I think it got canceled? I don't have a TV so I never saw it, did anyone see it?

-Hat

PIMENTELL ME TO DRAW

I recently had the pleasure of catching up with my good friend, mentor and all-around awesome guy Dave Pimentel. This past year has been quite a challenge for me artistically. As I began storyboarding on my first animated feature I came to realize very quickly how far I needed to go in terms of drawing ability in order to get my sequences up to par with the other incredible story artists at the studio.

Reconnecting with Dave and listening to him talk made me realize how much fun drawing can be... and should be! He has reinvigorated my passion for drawing and inspired me to strive to get better. Dave is one of the main reasons I am where I am today and I owe much of my success to him.

I've taken Dave's words to heart and been drawing at every chance I get, even going as far as sketching during cereal break at the studio. Below are some doodles from said break;

Some 1 and 2 minute gesture drawings;

Random sketch book page;

A couple caricatures I did for and of some dudes at the studio;


If any of you ever get the chance to attend a Dave Pimentel talk or class DO IT! You will not be sorry.

-Hat

SCREAMING CONTEST

They are having a screaming contest, for keeps!

-Hat

20!! THE INAUGURAL BLOG-URL

Hi

Happy new year!

Thanks to all the peoples who stopped by my blog this past year, you are awesome. I hope this year I get a chance to meet some of you that I only know by artwork.

May all your dreams come true, and all that is true become a dream... not sure what that means but it sounded good.

-Hat