Finally Some Sketches!

So, if any of you have been thinking what I have (and I know you probably have), you're wondering whether it's even okay to call a blog sketch adventure and post so few sketches lately.
You'd be right in thinking this.
So, here are a bunch of sketches of Sawyer, who grows increasingly fun to draw as he ages and figures out how to get into more stuff. These sketches were done in pen when I should have been helping my wife, Allison, with our crazy baby. The simple color was done with ye olde photoeshoppe when I should have been working on my film.
But, I wanted to share some sketches, so I hope you enjoy this little tangent as much as I did!
Back with more sketches soon.

Talk Is Cheap

I've been gabbing on and on about how I was gonna post some sketches.
Well, here they are.


A pal of mine, Becca

Kindergarteners from campus--BYU actually has a pretty great elementary education major, and as one of the perks, there is a kindergarten class that meets in a little classroom on campus. Anyone who's feeling sneaky is allowed to watch them from behind one of those secret mirrors. A bunch of classmates and I went to observe and sketch for inspiration for our film (since the main character is a little girl).

When I get stuck designing, one of my crutches is to put characters into a card game. Go figure.





Also, I haven't been to the gesture drawing session in forever it feels like. These are from today--ranging from 30 secs - 2 mins.




Hope you enjoy! Also, hopefully I'll be getting some more wokr done this weekend so that I can have more fun stuff to show you early next week. Till then, weekend responsibly!

Sketchosophy

You know, for a blog called Sketch Adventure there sure haven't been very many life sketches around here lately. About that...
I realize I'm probably preaching to the choir here, but I've been thinking a lot about what sketchbooking is lately. I have a pretty heavy schedule right now, so my opportunities to get out and draw are fewer than I usually like. But this just means that I've got to make sure to squeeze the most learning out of those times when I'm able to just go draw. I've tried to change my mentality about how I'm approaching drawing by attempting to focus on the basics again. Often that doesn't make for exciting sketches, but it does make for great learning experiences.
Anyway, I don't want to get too wordy (especially since I don't really know what I'm trying to say). I guess what I'm really getting at is that it continues to be valuable for me to switch things up--methods, media, subjects. And what has really helped me lately has been to actively think while I draw "what is it that I'm trying to learn from this drawing? Am I studying proportion, likeness, gesture, value, caricature, skeletal/muscular structure, narrative, or (hopefully) some combination of these?"...by doing that I feel like I get more out of each exploration, even when I don't have a tone of free time for lots of life drawing.
And here's some recent sketch explorations...some are better than others, but learning doesn't always mean a great product!

Morning Sketch

It's getting pretty cold round these parts lately, so this sketch happened from the safety of the temperature controlled indoors. I was conducting interviews with Japanese 201 students, and while I was waiting for the students to come in for their interviews, I had a little time to sketch this--a little view of BYU campus with Provo High and the IHC hospital, and Utah Lake.

What seems like many moons

It's seems like it's been awhile. Here's some new sketches--I hope you love them!

Baby Sawyer-saurus under attack.
A dudette with a rose-laden hat.
Raar.
Sometimes, when I'm bored in class, I like to pretend that I'm Lupin III.
Or I doodle aimlessly on Japanese homework. I like defying the laws of natural physics.
A hooded figure from a recent figure drawing session.
And I can't take all the credit for this last one. Sawyer and I went for a walk when we saw this El Camino; Sawyer was strapped to my front side at the time, so he helped me draw it...and asked that I post it here for everyone to see.

T'is the Season

Yup. From our friends at Man Groomer.com--everything you've been waiting for. So, I don't know that this is necessarily any scarier than a home paternity test, but the idea that an adjustable-armed back hair trimmer is available for purchase to the general public kind of frightens me. There are some jobs that only a professional should attempt. And even then, I feel sorta sorry for the professional whose job it is to take care of the hairy back of society.

On a related note, today our little family happened to travel up north to visit some close family friends (who are practically family) for a dinner get together. On the way there we counted a number of billboards that advertised either laser hair removal or liposuction--I can't believe how obsessed we are with our bodies; it's unhealthy.

But, I digress--now, onto the funny pictures!


Here are some recent sketches from around church and school.
The look on this kid (the one on the right hand page)'s face was priceless. His parents walked away and he had no idea what to do with himself. Of course, instead of helping him I drew him.

And speaking of helpless children. Here's one of Sawyer at dinner time...which is another instance of me drawing instead of helping. I'd better be careful before this becomes a habit.

On Thursday of last week, Disney story artist Mark Walton (who is also the voice of the hamster Rhino in the upcoming Disney feature animation Bolt) came to lecture at our school. He sort of looks a little bit like Sigmund Freud, but Mark is Mormon so I'm pretty sure he doesn't smoke--let's pretend it's a bubble pipe.

A sketch of somethin' brewin' in m'brain.


Some dudes from church today. After not drawing with this pen for so long, I forgot how much fun it is, but I really like my Uniball Jetstream 0.7 mm ball point. Unlike other Uniball pens, the ink doesn't come pouring out the minute you touch the pen to the page. Groovy.

Dairy Scary: and other offerings

In honor of the upcoming Halloween holiday (hooray!), I am making a scary post...of sorts. The other day, while flipping through the paper for coupons, my dear wife, Allison found the image noted below:

Yep. You read right. "Imitation Pasteurized Process Cheese Food." You know, there's a reason that imitation food-like items such as this are only 89 cents a go. I hope none of us have to be brave enough to find out exactly why that is.

I'm just trying to get you warmed up for Halloween. This is only a little bit scary, I'll admit--but hey, it's still early in the month.

Anyhow, here are some recent sketches from my school notebooks.

There is this totally radical (replica of a) traditional Chinese horse sculpture in the Asian and Near Eastern Languages department office at BYU. I took a moment to sketch it before a meeting with the professor that I work with (I'm a TA for Japanese 201 in my spare time).
More fun faces from classes.
My favorite part about this is that the fellow pictured on the left-hand side of the page below had such floofy hair and a great jersey on (which I didn't get, since I was taking notes beneath the drawring). He looked like a baseball star from the 1970s...I don't know what to tell you about the lady to his left.
This is a sketch I did a little while ago--a design for an upcoming personal project. I have so many things brewing on back burners that my creative stove top sometimes feels 17 feet deep...I can't even reach some of the ideas that I put on the back burners ages ago. On the other hand, though, maybe it's best to let some ideas stew for awhile--like a delicious curry--then hopefully it'll get tastier with time.

And here are a couple of concept character sketches from an illustration project for work that I've got due at the end of this month. It's about a family, but so far I've only really gotten a feel for the boy and the father. More to come as it becomes presentable!