Monday, December 08, 2008

Seven Common Beliefs about Drawing and Painting

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

you got a cintiq!
oh, i think i hate you now..
no cheeseburguer for you! ;_;

Hey, this might be an
interesting idea..
a quick video review about
some good digital art
hardware and software.

it'd be nice to hear
the opinion of an real artist
for a change..

R.

Mark Chong said...

No chzbrgr? NOES!!!!

I'd been toying around with the idea of a "tools of the trades" episode since a lot of people ask me about the programs and tablets that I use, so I'll gather everything up and talk about it soon.

Justin King said...

Hey,

I just wanted to say thanks for the amazing site! I remember your sketchbook on CA.org from a couple of years ago (not sure if I ever posted in it; my handle is Onir on there) and I recently saw you had some work on Gorilla Artfare. I still look back at your CA sketchbook for inspiration, so I must say it's nice finding this site and having a large number of videos to watch and learn from. I'm slowly watching through them (mostly been going back and looking through the topics you've done) and they have all been quite helpful so far.

Nothing I really have to ask at this moment--there's still alot I need to look through hehe-- but I did just want to show my support and give my thanks for all you've done. Keep up the great work!

-WJKing

GOGOPEDRO said...

Wow.
I stumbled into this blog off of the drawing board, and I am Stunned.

You have some good stuff here that I'd very much like to watch. I will have to find some time after the holidays to sink my head into some of these tutorials.

P

Georgewoolfe@gmail.com said...

fantastic keep them coming!

Anonymous said...

you got annoyed! that was funny lol
i came across this by accident
your blog is awesome!

fjaslfjda

i shall keep watch!

glenn who btw?

lol

Mark Chong said...

Ha ha yeah! Although most of the stuff I learnt over the years wasn't obvious to me back then, it seems clear as day and obvious to me now.

For example: "The shape of the skull is a more vital detail to draw correctly than the shape of a nose."

Each time I have to state something like that I can feel the audience rolling their eyes and goin' "DUH! No sh*t Sherlock!"

So when a few too many people lose sight of something that seems obvious, I'm put in this position of having to call it out and look like an idiot to some people!

When I gotta call out obvious stuff, I hope that the annoyance I show rubs off on a few people and that they'll also come down like a ton of bricks on the big, obvious things.

I want people to be able to critique their own work and to be able to say: "This is obviously wrong because of this-and-this and that I gotta change the way I do things so I don't feel like an idiot for doing this same mistake again!"

'Cause one of the biggest problems within the art world is the notion that art cannot be judged. Judgement can be a good thing! We need to be able to separate the good from the bad, to know what's better and what's worse, to know what's right and wrong. Judgement is vital for self-improvement as long as it's well-informed and geared towards making things better!

What makes me a better artist is not some innate, invisible talent, but my own judgement, which I build constantly.

Mark Chong said...

(Glenn Who?)

Glenn Keane - amazing Disney animator who worked on The Fox and The Hound, Tarzan, Pocahontas, etc.

His work communicates motion, mass and character emotions very effectively, and his line work shows a very heavy contrast between thick and thin, and he also incorporates a lot of surface shading.

His action images make the viewer want to go: "HULK SMAAAASH" but he's probably not roaring at the top of his lungs and stabbing the paper with his pencils when he's at the drawing table.

Anonymous said...

That was some good information!

The way you explain points is quite thorough. None of the conversation seemed scripted, like you were actually thinking about what you were saying!

I'm shocked, really.

Most professors at my university (even in the art department) simply recite from some tome written by self-loving pricks who thump dictionaries and thesauruses like holy doctrines. There's more concern about grammar and punctuation than the actual educational content.

Your style, however, is a refreshing change from all that. It's very personal and straightforward. Bravo!

In this particular video, you reinforced a lot of what I learned about character design I picked up in various other blogs and books, but you explained it in a way that is much more helpful to me as an amateur artist. Much appreciated.


btw, I've been lurking in your archives and while I'm impressed by the information in your tutorials, I have have some very bad habits that are getting in the way (hard to build on a bad foundation).


So, do you have or plan to create a tutorial about tips on "how to draw 'properly' for wannabe artists with bad habits"? Or if one already exists somewhere else, do you know where it can be found? Or even a book / DVD?

I've never been able to shake this horrible "hairy line" habit I picked up from my peers in high school, and since then, everything I draw ends up looking like a furry (bah!). Sure, it's alright after I trace it over with some nurbs in Photoshop, but the details are rarely clear enough to decipher and I often have to re-invent them after I scan in the sketch.

Sadly, my teachers are perfectly fine with my sub par drawing ability, and they call it my "style". Bollocks!

Anyways, if you have the time, a reply would be great.

- Zemmax at yahoo dot com

Anonymous said...

Hi Mark,
I hope you see this comment.

I'm a 3D art hobbyist and i know a lot of information about modeling, texturing and rendering.

I've been watching your videos ever since I saw the link on blendernation:
http://www.blendernation.com/2007/03/21/learn-drawing-techniques/

as i'm sure you already know. it's somewhat difficult to start a 3d project without a 2d concept art first.

my problem is when i get a piece of paper and a pencil to sketch out the concept, i get this fear that my drawing is going to suck. and it's very hard for me everytime to hold the pencil and start drawing because i can't overcome this fear.

the last bit of your video here talked about practicing and choosing the right technique, can you elaborate on that and maybe address my problem? and what would one need to think about and consider if s/he decided to start a hobby or a profession that involves sketching and drawing..

thank you so much for your lessons.. they are priceless..

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