Priority Break!

Hi, ArtzDeeva here! I'm just here to say that unfortunately there won't be any art for today. In fact, I'm taking a break until I return with a finished piece for next Saturday.
I often struggle with prioritizing things in my life. I'm doing school, I've got my part-time job, I'm involved in a project I can't talk about, and I have my own artistic projects to work on as well. And I have a bad habit of getting the things that need to be done dealt with first, and by the time I get to the projects I want to work on, I've run out of time or stamina.
This week I really need to find the balance that I'm missing. That and I've got an accordion book to make a mock and official version of for class, so I really need to press on with that.
Worry not, I shall return next Saturday! By then I should have plenty of sketches and finished pieces ready for your pleasure-most of them back to original projects like Between God and the Devil, Arlecchino!, and Desoldri.

WildCard Wednesday #30

This week, we can expect: a pencil test! (if Blogger will upload it) I finished my class work early, so I started a pose-to-pose pencil test-here's my progress so far.

(School's been getting pretty busy and I haven't had a whole lot of time to draw, so I might have to stop doing Wildcard Wednesdays for a while-I'll keep you updated on that)

Valentyne Pencil Test: Unlike my previous pencil test (go to my ArtzDeeva Facebook page to take a look), this one is going to be pose-to-pose. It's pretty much what it sounds like. It's not meant to look smooth, and it blocks out the basic action-in this case, Valentyne throwing back his head in laughter. This is just an in-progress video, so the pencil test itself is not done yet.

Rise, Liberty

Rise, Liberty: We are about to enter a very different, frightening era in American history. There is a lot of fear, anger, and uncertainty.

But we must not go into these next four years with those things weighing on our hearts and minds. We must carry on with hope, clarity, and determination. We must be able to stand up for those who are suffering. We must be able to do our research, be mindful and educated, and think critically in the face of fake news and politics. We need to take action now more than ever. And on top of all this, we must find a way to peacefully come together again.

Tools: Pencil (outlining), Tombow grayscale markers, Faber-Castell watercolor pencil, Sharpie pens, and a Pentel Slicci pen.

Wildcard Wednesday #29

This week, we can expect: a devil and a Downer.

BG&D #15: It's been a while, but I'll be getting back to my Between God and the Devil concept. This is a mopey Valentine waiting for me to get on with it.

WHF #6: (Sorry for the quality of the pic-the scanner was being annoying and wouldn't let me crop the picture quite right) Another unlucky bobby in the way of Arthur's quest for escape.

Dream Scene #1

Dream Scene #1: I'm a vivid dreamer, and as part of kicking off 2017, I've gotten a new dream journal with the hopes of improving dream recall (2016 was kind of a crappy year in that respect). Drawing from the imagination can be very hard to do, and it's even harder when you're pulling your source material from dreams. So every once in a while, I'll create dream scenes, even if they go way back in the volumes worth (yes, that much) of dreams I've recorded.

Tools: Prismacolor pens and a Pentel Slicci 0.25 pen and Faber-Castell watercolor pencils.

Wildcard Wednesday #28-Study in Motion

This week, we can expect: what the title says, a study in motion! I got all of this done over the weekend and I've been dying to share these with you all ever since.

While I haven't taken any animation classes yet, I still want to get ahead of the curve by studying movement, whether from life or from videos. In today's study, I looked at a video of a fantastic German neo-swing dancer JustSomeMotion (I'll leave links to his YouTube channel and Facebook and Twitter pages below).

Dance Study #1: The first time going through the video, I started out with some very light gesture sketches and no pauses. Gesture sketches can be challenging, but they teach you to pay less attention to details and focus on the most important things - the movement, the line of action, and the basic form.

Dance Study #2: The second time through the video, I focused on the lines of action with each pose I drew (I did take pauses for this one). Clear lines of action help define the movement of a human form and make it more fun to look at by giving it character. The bottom right pose is a good example of the much favored S-curve that artists everywhere love.

Dance Study #3: Now incorporating everything I know about basic gesture and line of action, I went through the video a third time (with pauses) to practice drawing the basic human form in motion. It's a lot different from drawing a human form that is standing still, as there are constant changes in shifting weight, wrinkles in clothing, etc. But it's good practice.

With all these things, I finished off the study with...

JustSomeMotion: ...a finished pose in grayscale.

And that's my study in movement! I hope you enjoyed this-there will definitely be more of these in the future.

Also, check out my Facebook page-I just put up a WIP pencil test! (Blogger doesn't seem to like me making hyperlinks, so just mouse over the empty sections)

JustSomeMotion Links:

YouTube

Facebook

Twitter

Floral Pattern

Floral Pattern: As an artist, I'm not really into patterns or abstract pieces. But sometimes working with patterns and abstract forms are relaxing to do after spending so much time on real forms like people and environments. And after focusing on planning on my New Year's Expansion plan and other things, this was just what I needed.

Tools: Faber-Castell watercolor pencils.

Wildcard Wednesday #27

This week, we can expect: a new venture into chess!

Chess #6: I picked up a new sketchbook at Michael's on the first day of this year, and I'm revisiting my old Chess concepts. Despite the fact that I've got four projects I'm going to have presentation-ready (another 2017 goal), there are a few other projects I have on the side that I'd gradually like to build up as well. My chess figures are some of my visually strongest pieces out there, so I'm working on improving designs, creating environments, and finally settle on a good story line.

Chess #7: Some studies on one of the main characters, a black queen-side pawn named Emily. She is unlike her pawns - she is the weapons master, skilled in high-ranking as well as low-ranking combat, and full of ambition. This will be a problem for her in the main story (in development and spoilers!)

Happy New Year!

Hi, ArtzDeeva here! (It is still me, M³, but with a new name for the new year)
Happy New Year, everyone! 2016 was quite the year, wasn't it? While it had celebrity deaths, divisive politics, and horrible things like Aleppo coming out the wazoo, for me personally it managed to have a few ups in it. One of those ups happens to be this blog! I started it in either April or May in conjunction with PAX East and have been valiantly doing my best to keep it up.
But as we take the plunge into 2017, there are going to be some changes.
While I build myself up as an animator, I want to get my art out there and share with people what I have, what I learn, and who I am as an artist. So think of these changes as expansions to this blog. My goal was to have everything ready and going by today, but life happens, so I'll let you know when progress is made.
One of the first things I'll be doing is opening up a Tumblr blog! That way I can make my art accessible on there as well (thinking about Instagram, not decided yet).
Secondly, I'll be creating watermarks and other such protective means to put on my art. I know, watermarks aren't fun, but especially when I take my art on Tumblr, I want to do as much as I can to protect my art. Once the watermark is made, I'll slap it on all my previous posts (except maybe on Wildcard Wednesday sketches). It should be showing up in about two weeks.
The watermarks are very important because thirdly (in the more distant future of the year), I'm planning on putting up a shop on the blog! It's still too hard to say at this point, but the soonest I can guess that this'll be open is possibly in the fall (it may end up being 2018's new thing).
I'll also be putting up a Facebook page soon-that will probably be one of the first things that gets done.
And lastly, I will be running a YouTube channel! This is probably the change I'm the most excited for, and hopefully I can get started at the beginning of February. My videos will mainly consist of speed draws, animatics, art slideshows, two fun tutorial series I have in mind, and also vlogs. The vlogs will be two types: project vlogs and personal vlogs. Project vlogs will give you more information about the original projects I'm working on, and personal vlogs will be, well, personal. But they'll also go into my animator's journey and what's inspired me to do art. I'll probably come up with more ideas, but this is just a starting point.
So that's basically the plan for 2017-giving this blog a super huge boost. I can't wait to get started, and I hope you all are as well!