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Misc. Stuff · Uncategorized

A little update, and some thoughts regarding: Your kid and fan art

J R DunsterLeave a comment

I’ve been busy, just not working on this blog! I’ve done a number of artworks, which I’ll put in an upcoming post. I’ve also been busy attending online workshops, most notably with the wonderful Russian (now living in Spain) artist Arthur Gain. I encourage any artists to take his workshops, they’re wonderful. Here’s a peek at something I did in his course (link goes to Instagram).

Your kid and fan art

I’ve been recently reminded recently of my youth as a fan artist. So I want to talk about my experiences.

If you are a parent and your kid is interested in art, it’s very likely that they’re doing some sort of fan art. You know, from their favorite shows, movies, anime, whatever. And maybe you’re worried that they’re “wasting their time” or fan art isn’t “serious.” Some parents do worry that if their kid has an aptitude for art, that they are “wasting their talent” by using their abilities to make fan art. I’m here to say that it may not be so.

I started drawing seriously as a young teenager and all I wanted to draw was my favorite actors and actresses and scenes from my favorite movies. I was so obsessed that sometimes I’d do sketches of my favorite characters as I watched them on TV. (I didn’t freeze the frame, just kept on watching and drawing.)

Fan art can be excellent practice and training

Looking back, this was all excellent practice. When I sketched people as I saw them on TV, I was learning how to try to capture impressions quickly and work fast. And by doing a lot of drawings of famous people, I became more comfortable trying to capture a faithful likeness of someone. Everyone had an opinion about whether that portrait of Harrison Ford looked like him or not. It was great training, and quite humbling when people would tell me I had missed the mark. I learned to take criticism at an early age because of this.

Luke Skywalker illustration from an old “Star Wars” fanzine, pen and ink, 8-1/2 x 11″ approximately. (The original was “lost” by the printer — I say “lost” because I don’t know what happened, but I begged them to let me send a copy and not the original, and they insisted on the original. And then promptly lost it. And seemingly had no f’s to give about it either.)

I’m telling you all of this because I spent a lot of my youth trying to “justify” doing fan art, because I kept on being told it wasn’t “serious.” It was “trivial,” it was silly and childish. But yet, I credit it for helping me develop important skills sooner rather than later.

When I started attending art school, many of my class assignments required that we do portraits of known people. (I went to art school in Los Angeles, where the “Industry,” aka film industry abounded, so capturing likenesses of celebrities was extra important.) This is when I realized that my “silly” and “childish” penchant for drawing my favorite actors and actresses had really paid dividends. I was ahead of the game — I had years of practice already!

While attending art school, I applied some of the things I was learning by illustrating fan-published magazines. (“Fanzines,” which have fan-written stories and art based on favorite movies and shows.) Looking back, I’m shocked at how prolific I was. And yes, some of my art was a bit cringe. But drawing is drawing, and practice is practice, so it all helped me in the end.

As you probably already know, some well-known authors started out as writing fan fiction. Fan art and fan fiction can help a young artist or writer develop confidence and skills, working within a community of fellow enthusiasts and receiving critiques and encouragement. (It’s important, however, to vet the individual community to make sure they are supportive and healthy and not toxic.)

While fan works are not exactly adhering to copyright law, the movie studios and IP holders often allow the fans to continue because it encourages enthusiasm for the fandom or franchise, and why would they be against that? So we happily did our thing and as long as we didn’t get too zealous and try to make big bucks off of anything, the IP holders didn’t protest. (Which, I might add, is their right, as they are the copyright owners of the shows and films we are inspired by.)

A caution about anime and cartoon styles

I’m not trying to discourage any kid from drawing in any style they want. They need to enjoy what they’re doing, or else they will lose interest. So, if your kid loves anime or other cartoon styles, by all means, please do not discourage them.

The only caution I have about anime is that IF (and I emphasize “IF“) your child has aspirations for art school or going pro, then they need to be able to draw some other style besides cartoon or anime. Most art schools will expect to see portfolios and sketchbooks with realistic sketches drawn from life, realistic figure drawings, and basically, “realism.” The reasoning is, all cartoon styles are stylizations of reality, and if we can’t depict reality well, how can we do our own stylizations of reality? The goal in art school and in the professional art world is to bring something of your own to the table — not just copy and imitate current popular cartoon styles.

So, if your kid is talking about studying art and they refuse to improve their realism skills, you’ve got a problem. However, if it’s a hobby and a passion and they’re having fun, leave them to enjoy it in their way. Don’t try to pressure them to draw more “serious” or “meaningful” subjects — pressure and guilt never work. Don’t take their joy away.

Illustration for a story in a “Star Wars” fanzine — I remember doing this! The story included original characters (not the existing ones from the “Star Wars” franchise) and there was an animal that sounded very much like a six-legged cat. So that’s what I drew! This drawing was done quickly and … what can I say. I invented the whole thing up from my imagination with no reference, so I cut myself some slack.
Misc. Stuff · Uncategorized

Tracing vs Freehand Drawing: Where people LOSE THEIR DARN MINDS

J R Dunster1 Comment

One of the most contentious topics among artists is whether it’s okay to trace photos, use other drawing aids, or is drawing freehand the only way to go? These types of discussions often devolve into INSANITY. Why is that? Let’s discuss.

“Remi” pencil sketch drawn from life.

First, my personal disclaimer:

  • Drawing and art tools are just tools. There is no such thing as “cheating” (as long as you’re not dishonest) and the use of a particular method or tool does not make you “not a real artist.”
  • Nobody is telling anyone what they MUST do. If you’re happy with how things are for you now, keep doing what you’re doing!
  • If you’re relatively new(ish) to drawing and painting and feel a little overwhelmed by anything in this post, just bookmark it and check back in a year or so. No rush. Just keep drawing and painting and enjoying yourself!

WHY THE INSANITY WHEN IT COMES TO DRAWING VS TRACING?

I think it’s a combination of ego, defensiveness, purism, and … defensiveness.

Let’s identify our two groups:

  • Artists who believe that freehand drawing is an integral part of drawing and painting realistically.
  • Artists who say, “Whatever works!” and “da Vinci used drawing tools so it’s good enough for me!”

Some of the “Drawing is integral” crowd can get very “purist” and make claims that anyone who doesn’t draw isn’t a “real” artist. That’s carrying it too far. There are many artists who use drawing tools a lot, perhaps because their freehand drawing is weak. But their artwork looks great and they sell. How is it that they’re not “real” artists?

Some of the “da Vinci did it!” artists are too dismissive and (sometimes) butthurt when anyone suggests that there should be more freehand drawing in their life. Maybe they’re in denial. “I can draw but…” or “It doesn’t make any difference!” The hard-core defensive ones will even say, “People say they draw freehand just to brag. It’s a bunch of extra work for nothing.”

(Before I go further, I’d like to point out that “Da Vinci did it too!” but he also drew these sketches of cats, lions, and dragons, things he couldn’t have been capable of drawing without good freehand drawing skills. Tools were tools, but he wasn’t overly dependent on them.)

And so, we have egos clashing and craziness. And we keep on coming back to debate it again and again. (Me included!)

I’M A DRAWING EVANGELIST, NOT A DRAWING PURIST

Okay, so I’m one of the freehand drawing people. I occasionally use a four-square grid (like you can see here on my other blog) but not that frequently.

I’m a drawing evangelist because it is a skill that has given me many opportunities and advantages.

Because I can draw, I can draw from life (not copy a photo). Photos “lie” to us and when we always use them as reference (as we are forced to do if we can’t draw well freehand), we get stuck in a rut of repeating the “lies” that photos show us in colors, values, and edges. And our paintings suffer for it.

Before and after studying under the amazing artist Adam Clague.

BEFORE AND AFTER

“Before,” I could draw accurately (the “before” painting was, ironically, painted from a live model). But I didn’t like my colors. They were too warm, they didn’t look natural. I sold my art, but sales were often “meh.”

The “After” painting was done after I attended a workshop taught by Adam Clague. That painting sold only a few hours after I first put it up for sale online. (Which happens sometimes—but not that often! 😉 )

Long story short, Adam teaches his students a different way to “see” color, values, edges. He prefers to have his students work from life (rather than photos) when possible. What he taught completely reformed how I painted.

After attending his classes, I immediately started to sell a whole lot more paintings. It’s not an exaggeration to say that this changed my art life.

Even when I use photos as reference, my paintings look better than they did before. That training I got in Adam’s class helps me know how to better adapt and work around the shortcomings of photos.

AND HOW FREEHAND DRAWING MADE IT POSSIBLE

Adam’s teaching involved a lot of working from life and being more completely aware of the limitations inherent in photos. The best way to learn this is to work from life a lot more.

And that’s why I’m an evangelist for freehand drawing. Because those who can draw freehand are not stuck with only using photo references. And not being wholly dependent on photo references is where it’s AT, baby, it’s where it’s AT.

“Matthias” 8×10″ oil on canvas panel. Painted from life at Adam’s studio. I hadn’t really started taking lessons yet but was starting to show some improvement under his influence.

WORKING FROM LIFE: YOUR ART MAY LOOK DIFFERENT (BETTER)

I like this blog post from the Oil Painters of America site and often refer to it when this subject comes up. But will people read it during the heated debates? I fear not.

So, to summarize:

  • There are benefits to painting more from life and less from photos. In order to paint from life, you need to be able to draw well. (I’ve already covered some of this.)
  • The paintings of those who always copy photos often have white highlights, black shadows. That’s the color information photos give us but in real life, there’s far more nuance and beauty in shadows and highlights. Photos miss a lot of this beauty.
  • Those who copy photos a lot tend to depict all edges as sharp because that’s how a camera captures the edges. This is not how the human eye “sees” edges so paintings with all hard edges may not look as natural.
  • Artists who only copy photos often have no difference in the color temperature of the lights and shadows. This is not how color temperatures work in real life.

The author of the blog post says they can often instantly tell who paints from photos all the time and who doesn’t. That is a very revealing statement. It means that those who are too dependent on photos have a “look” to their paintings that can be spotted right away—and that is not necessarily a good thing.

SO THAT’S WHY…

It “matters.” Schools, teachers, and ateliers who insist that their students draw freehand are NOT making them work needlessly just for the sake of working. There’s a genuine benefit there.

If you don’t want to add more freehand drawing to your skillset? I get it; you’re not alone. Maybe you were taught years ago to use tools and you figure, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. You don’t want to be nagged or made to feel guilty. I understand.

But I’m an evangelist because I worry that you might regret missing out later. And that’s why I wrote this whole post. (Hope it wasn’t too annoying! 😉 )

RESOURCES:

Please remember that you don’t need a class to work from life! Just draw or paint anything you see around you. It’s all good. (However, a heads-up. If you use mostly photo references—even if you always draw freehand—you might go through an “adjustment period” as you get used to working from life. Don’t be discouraged. You’ll get through it!)