Thoughts on Drawing - Justin Du

Here I want to show some cool drawings by some fantastic artists:

Yoshinari Yoh is a key animator (bigwig who does all the important/difficult frames), having worked for the likes of Gainax and Trigger, with credits on projects including Evangelion, FLCL, PSG, TTGL, and more recently Little Witch Academia. Here's a short documentary on the making of LWA, in which Yoshinari is briefly featured (if I recall correctly): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LgHOUTZ8Gc -- really fascinating stuff. Yoshinari's experience in Japanese animation shows in his sketches:

As a key animator, Yoshinari needs to draw upon his knowledge of both structure...

...and gesture. Here the expressiveness of the characters and the fluidity of the lines within and between frames is vital, contributing to the production quality that we all love from studios like Gainax and Trigger.

Some more sophisticated/complete drawings:


I don't remember the context of this, but it's basically a layout of an Evangelion Unit in Tokyo-3, from the series Neon Genesis Evangelion (Gainax). (But you didn't need me to tell you that.)


Amazing artwork for Kill la Kill (Trigger), which had a stellar team, a story on crack, and fresh and attractive animation. Actually can't recommend this series enough.

There are a series of sketchbooks out there called "Atmosphere's Sketchbooks." They're a collection of drawings by three Japanese illustrators who go by yone, ebisu, and tarou2. Although I don't know much about them individually, I believe they've made contributions for studios like Trigger, having done character design work for recent series like Kiznaiver. Really pretty.


A very idiosyncratic, aesthetic, and cute look.


Seems as if one of them has done work for Gainax.

If there was ever an illustrator to capture the hearts of the public though, it would have to be Kim Jung Gi. He's best known for his "live shows," where he basically illustrates these humongous murals impromptu with nothing more than a brush pen (this means no underdrawing or erasing), and no references. You can see an example here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rynxr6twe4w. But what I love most from his work are the small process sketches where his experience and skill really shine.

Early sketch. Not the most sophisticated drawing, but clearly demonstrates Kim's grasping of perspective. All objects look solidly grounded and three-dimensional. Through suggestion we can "see" the plane on which the computer and accessories are resting.

Another such drawing, not to be dismissed as a collection of idle squiggles. The experience (and patience) required to illustrate these figures must have been great -- to accurately represent foreshortened anatomy and drapery and in perspective at such extreme angles. I can already feel my head hurting.

Friendly reminder that this is out of one of Kim's "sketchbooks."

A cheeky color illustration. A cartoonist Kim may be, but nevertheless a master.

Here are some other artists and their drawings that I like:

Katsuya Terada, the "Rakugakingu" ("Doodle King"), a Japanese illustrator whose clients include not only the anime industry but also the likes of Nintendo, Marvel, and Dark Horse. Also draws big murals.

From a recent series called Hot Pot Girls.

Yoji Shinkawa, an illustrator with big contributions to the Japanese video game industry, with an especially prominent role in the artistic presentation of the Metal Gear series. See him at work here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouI8KXTdzhI.


Really cool sh*t.

My Art Timeline-Anna Munro

It’s possible people look at me and think “oh she’s an athlete, probably taking drawing just because she thinks it’s easy”, but that could not be more wrong. I may not be the greatest at drawing, but I have loved it my whole life. 

When I was little, I got a sketchbook for Christmas and I loved drawing in it. I had all these books to help you draw and they taught you the steps to draw different animals and pictures. I was never that great and would easily get frustrated because it didn’t look how I wanted it to.

In grade 9, we had to choose between art and music. I chose art and absolutely loved the class; I can easily say it was one of my favourite classes in high school. Everything that I knew about art and drawing before this year, which I can’t say was a ton, but was still useful, was from that class. Throughout high school, I wasn’t able to continue with art because I never had any space in my class schedule, but my best friend kept taking art classes and I would go to her art shows, especially because I missed the class. 

When I came to Duke, I found out that my roommate is quite the artist and we were shocked that we went all of first year without finding out about the Arts Annex. Upon it’s discovery, we both were ecstatic about the thought of an artistic escape from our academic and athletic responsibilities. Throughout my first year at Duke and even in high school, I would find myself sitting in class, slightly bored, drawing the person in front or beside me, or drawing something in my surroundings, and it makes me laugh when I study for my tests to go back and read my notes and see whatever I was doodling in class. 

Finally getting to take a drawing class was exciting, and even better, it was completely based off observation. Drawing from my imagination is most certainly not my forte, especially because I never practice it, but I love drawing off observation. The class itself was so different from my other science classes that I would appreciate having drawing homework because I could get into a completely different mindset for it. 

However, I soon realized that I don’t as much like being “forced” to draw. I don’t feel as creative, my drawings don’t come out as nice as I’d like them to and I don’t get the same satisfaction and relaxation that I would drawing on my own for essentially no reason. That was one thing I struggled with this semester. When drawing became homework, something that was an obligation with a due date, I struggled to enjoy it as much as I had enjoyed drawing before. With regards to my sketchbook, there are only a few sketches in there that I am actually happy with because the other ones were not as spontaneous and simply were me saying “hm I need to do another sketch now, what should I draw to check another sketch off my list?”. Instead, I loved the times when I could say that I was drawing a sketch because I actually truly felt like it. 

Another thing that I learned throughout the class is that most of the learning comes from the act of doing. I expected to be taught more techniques with words and explanations, but we would sit in class, listen to a short lecture and then draw. I remember for shading, I have never learned how to shade in my life and we were supposed to shade some objects and I just didn’t really understand how to do it. I would look at the girl’s beside me and her’s looked great and I would try to watch her and see what she was doing and try to learn, but I was struggling. When we had to do a final drawing with shading, I did the best I could but didn’t really understand what I was doing. Even with the drawings now, I don’t feel like I know how to shade properly, but I am thinking you must just learn through practicing and observing. I really do feel like I understand the importance of really observing, and preventing your brain from taking over, just trusting your eyes.  

Another thing that I found hard was making my drawings so big. I had never drawn on such large pieces of paper before and that was really difficult. Not using a ruler and trying to have straight lines for buildings was tough. I had also never worked with charcoal before and I still don’t feel like I understand or enjoy using it that much unless you fill it in completely black like for our negative spaces drawing. I would like to learn how to combine the pencil and charcoal as I’ve seen other students in the class do. 

However, one thing I really liked was the atmosphere within the classroom, I feel like I made some friends and met some friendly people and I liked getting to interact when sharing our thoughts for our big final drawings. It was fun to hear everyone’s ideas and contribute some of my own. It was especially fun to see everyone’s initial ideas and then get to compare that to their final product, examining everyone’s drawings was interesting and useful, as I definitely feel like I learned a lot just from comparing my drawings to others. 

In the end, I liked the drawing class, I liked that it was completely based off observation, and I liked that we had to do a big drawing per week so I could practice a lot and use my techniques and dedicate time to trying to improve my skills, which I feel like I really did improve on. I can’t say I really love any of my drawings or think they are that great, which is a bit of a shame, but I always seem to have trouble feeling satisfied with what I’ve created, since it never really turns out how I imagined it would in my head. I’m really happy I took this class, and even though I most likely won’t have any more time in the future to take many more drawing classes, I know that I will continue to sketch things on my own, and keep in mind the skills I learned in this class.

When I told my friends I was taking a drawing class, they were surprised, but happy for me. Other than drawing, my classes are all math or science. I can say that I am really happy about getting to do a different kind of work this semester, work my brain in a different kind of way, and get to draw every week. 

My Thoughts on Drawing --- Alex Xinrui Li

I can’t really recollect when exactly I fell in love with art. All I can remember is that as a child, I have always enjoyed making things with my hands. Starting from a young age, I have been hand-making gifts for all of my family members’ birthdays. Gradually, the simple crafts that I made became more and more detailed and delicate. I started to paint and draw on top of these small objects in order to make them more visually appealing. Fortunately, even though I grew up in a traditional Chinese family where my parents pushed me to attend an overwhelming number of extra courses in Math, Chinese, Science, and English outside school, they have been very encouraging when it comes to supporting my passion for arts and crafts. My mother actively found me teachers of traditional Chinese paper-cutting and painting. Through the variety of classes that she allowed me to be exposed to, I have enjoyed the process of absorbing the knowledge and skills, as well as seeing my own progress in making art works. Nevertheless, I never got a chance to receive formal art education in school. Therefore, coming to Duke, I have always wanted to find the opportunity to take an art class here. 

Senior year became the prime time for realizing my passion in art. I am taking both this Drawing class and a Photography class, through both of which I have gained so much happiness and skills that I will be able to carry with me in the future. I truly appreciate this valuable opportunity. Knowing that this class grades based on our own developments has made me less stressed about the outcome. Rather, I have become more obsessed with the process of art making. From the study drawings in the beginning to the fictional drawing at the end, I have been constantly challenged by these assignments. However, I learned to calm myself down and just enjoy the drawing process that I love. Sometimes, it would already take me hours to come up with a good idea for the assignment. The drawing process itself would take up to twenty hours. But drawing to me is no chore. I would find a lazy morning, brew myself a cup of coffee, turn on the music, and just immerse myself in the world of art unfolding before me on that Bristol board. Though I can get really tired after hours and hours of drawing (manual work!), I also feel a sense of fulfillment and pure enjoyment seeing my own creation. The fact that I am now able to draw all these figures that I had no idea I could draw just a few months earlier made me become extremely proud of my growth. I am grateful that I have chosen to take this drawing class at Duke. If I have the chance, I wish I can participate in more art classes in the future. 

My Thoughts on Drawing -- Ryan Bloom

Ryan Bloom - My Thoughts on Drawing

There are many things about drawing that I like as well as a few that I could definitely do without.  I feel that the toughest part of every drawing is getting started.  I often find myself struggling to determine where and how to start each of my pieces.  However, once I get going, I love getting lost in the process.  Often times, I’ll be working on a drawing for hours and not realize how much time has past.  Once I get in a groove, I find drawing to be very relaxing.  Also, before taking this class, I used to struggle with the scale and relative sizes of the objects that I would draw.  However, this part of the drawing process has become much easier for me due to the new techniques that I’ve learned in this class, such as using my pencil and my thumb as a sliding scale to measure objects’ sizes.  

I enjoyed drawing the still life works that we drew at the beginning of this semester more than I enjoyed the landscapes, and I believe that this is because of all of the minute details that are present in the landscapes.  I’m very detail oriented and like everything to appear just as it is in real life, and it was difficult for me to try to move away from this way of thinking when drawing the objects in the backgrounds of the landscapes, which as discussed in class, should have less detail than the foreground in order to demonstrate that the objects are further away.  Additionally, the vastness of the landscapes were slightly overwhelming as I started each project.   

            

Furthermore, my favorite part of the actual drawing process is shading.  I believe that this is my favorite part because the shading is what really brings the work to life.  It always amazes me how a little shading can make such a drastic difference and have such an impact on a drawing.

           

Finally, my favorite types of works of art are hyper realistic works.  Although, often times, hyper realistic drawings don’t allow for as much creativity or the ability to tell a story or narrative, I believe that hyper realistic artists are among the most talented artists out there.  Throughout my work, I always try to depict whatever I am drawing in a realistic manner, and I believe that hyper-realists have taken this goal to a new level.  I admire the time, effort, and attention to the most minuscule details that must come along with being able to produce such realistic drawings.  I have included a few of my favorite hyper realistic works below.  It never fails to amaze me that these are actually drawings and not real object.  I have been drawing for a long time and am glad that I got the opportunity to draw in college.  I hope to be able to continue to draw in the future as well. 

My Thoughts on Drawing

Drawing has always been something I deeply enjoyed. When I was younger, I remember anxiously changing out of my P.E. clothes, hoping to get up to Ms. Cirigliano's art studio as fast as possible. I remember the soft and sweet smelling ivory paper she gave us to draw on. It actually was more yellow than ivory. It wasn't smooth, but it was so soft--it felt like a mandolin slice of a cashmere sweater. We had wooden blocks with twelve shallow, little holes to support the 12 Magic Markers pegged into the wood--each stood up a little crookedly. We always got to draw after clean up and before our homeroom teacher picked us up from Ms. Cirigliano’s. This was the best time. Dulled edges of these over used markers bled, sometimes rich, sometimes dry, ink into the cashmere paper. Swirls and strokes of these 12 pegs made some beautiful creations of fantasies that my little mind cooked up. With immense pride I would inscribe “To: MoMmy” to bring them home as gifts. 

When I was a foot older, I remember being sat at dinner next to one of my mother’s insanely cool clients. At this age I did not know the difference between clients and friends, so I was immediately comfortable with her, “knowing” she was a beloved “friend” of my mothers. She was a fashion designer with a collection coming out in the spring. She was from Italy, but she was accent less. Tall and slender with a “boy” haircut she was the definition of chic. I remember she pulled out a cocktail napkin and a pen from her bag and taught me how to draw a fashion figure. 9 heads, shoulders and hips bent, long eyelashes, with broad shoulders. She handed me the pen and on my marinara stained napkin I was initiated into what would become an obsession. She gushed at what I assume were pitiful attempts, but nevertheless her instructions were carved into my brain. I bought books and watched videos, my goal was to practice always and perfect the illustration of the illustrious fashion figure.

As childhood obsession do, eventually mine diminished. However, I still doodled the 9 heads in the loose-leaf present mindlessness that often was school. From 6^th grade until my freshman year of college this was as deep as my involvement in art went. While utility was definitely absorbed from my margin drawings, by the time I was a freshman here at Duke I needed more.

Last year, I started really focusing on my 9 heads—practicing, planning, and completing colorful and clean lined outfits, all in “trend” for fall 2015. Maybe it was because I got no fulfillment from giant lectures? Or maybe I was just bored? The obsession resurfaced in the form of Amazon Prime shipments of hundreds of different colored markers and pencils. I found myself hunched over, careening neon pink markers through smooth, cold printer paper. It was incredibly cathartic—a way to block out the noise that was my freshman year mind. That was my roommate. I was drawing all the time, and I was getting good.

By Spring semester I wanted to be more formally trained in drawing, I wanted to understand perspective, understand depth, understand texture. I promised myself, with help of goading from my peers, to take Drawing 101. So that I did.

At first I was astonished at my inability to understand sharp and straight lines, my mental block and confusion to processing the morphology of wooden boxes and mannequin legs. I was so used to curves and the asymmetry of the human body. I was used to imperfection and eraser marks.

Aside from feelings of pressure for “perfect” drawings, there were so many questions that muddled my understanding of drawing and undermined my confidence as an artist. I have to consider light? Perspective? I have to hold my pencil out and twist it to understand angles? How do I shade? Why is charcoal so messy? What I thought would be a class that would continue to provide the cathartic support I got from drawing in my dorm, was actually giving me a little anxiety! But with practice, guidance, and time my aversion to drawing still-life, architecture, and furniture became a lot less daunting. And with more free-form assignments I was able to dabble in my preferred drawing of human figures and clothing, but paired with realistic backgrounds and props.

I definitely have grown immensely as an artist and drawer this semester. I have found my strengths and weaknesses, and have found an incredible sense of peace while doing so. Drawing has provided a sense of fulfillment and therapy that could be achieved through nothing else, and for that I am extremely grateful.

My Thoughts On Drawing // Leeshy Lichtman

As a person who loves artwork, appreciates creativity, and spends endless hours painting - had you told me a drawing class would give me anxiety - I would have laughed. Considering the fact that I have done several projects before, I would never have thought I would have been so anxious when it came to drawing.

I originally decided to take this course because, given my love of art, I wanted to take an art course at some point in my Duke career. My decision of a drawing course specifically stemmed from the fact that I already love to paint. I wanted to understand the stylistic techniques of drawings in order to gain a background in sketching, in order to improve my paintings and to foster a basic drawing skill which I did not believe I had.

When I use the word anxiety - this is not necessarily in the negative sense, rather simply as an observation of my personal reaction to an art-based class. This “anxiety" pushed me out of my comfort zone in a way that taught me several things about myself and the practice of drawing. 

So - you might ask, where did my anxiety stem from?

Well, for one: the length of the process of drawing. This semester I couldn’t just ‘do the assignment’ the night before. I needed to prepare a time for myself, generally several times, where I could sit and really work on my drawings. I had to make the time to do the study drawing, to analyze where I could improve, to work on the final, and then to make the edits I felt were necessary before I could submit my piece. This lengthy process also came with the cost of location - I didn’t want to carry my drawing board to every place I went to study, so I really needed to dedicate hours to a location and to the task of drawing. This was particularly difficult for my in the empirical drawing - spending hours on the floor of the library rather than in my standard drawing location of my apartment. 

Reason number two came from the difficulty in seeing perspective. My brain and my eyes have definitely had their fair share of differences when it came to creating works for this course. I have really tried to draw exactly what I see, and somehow my brain, what I know exists, has come to take over what comes onto my paper. That said, it is for that reason that I particularly enjoyed shading - while my line-work had difficulty deciphering between information coming from my brain and eyes, I enjoyed working with the different pigments that the pencils were capable of producing. I felt that I had the opportunity to add elements of depth to my pages without necessarily creating those with structured lines. The topic of shading also most reminded me of painting - even though it was all still grey-black, the option to choose the depth and strength of the color was one that i appreciated. 

Reason three came from my comparison of my work to other’s. From this process, I have come to conclude that my talent is not in drawing realistic images. There are people in the course who have created masterpieces, and have a deep passion and love for drawing realistic images. While I appreciate their works, I felt embarrassed for my work to be placed next to theirs. I felt that my work was unworthy of being placed next to such works of art - and this is something I found difficult to overcome. 

However, from this experience I realize that have grown to have an appreciation for the artwork that others have produced in a way that I have yet to experience. Even though I have produced artwork in the past, I have never taken a course in the topic, and I wholeheartedly believe that  the countless hours with my pencils, paper, and erasers have more deeply developed my appreciation of art and detail.

Overall, I have really appreciated what I have learned in this course, and am very glad to have taken it as one of my last courses here at Duke. I definitely see a drastic difference in the works I have produced and the way I see lines and objects in spaces. I really do believe that I have improved over the course of the semester. That said, for me, I have come to understand that my handiwork in realistic imagery is still at the 101 level. While I definitely have an interest in continuing to improve in that sense, I am excited to explore the opportunity to sketch more abstract works!

In addition: I have included some of my favorite sketchbook drawings below!

Thanks again for a wonderful semester!

My thoughts on drawing

I never considered myself to be a very talented artist, however I have always loved making mandala/ tribal style doodles and prints. I took this class because I wanted to expand my abilities and experience. Unfortunately, I did not expect the process to be such a struggle. This drawing class has been a challenge to say the least. I can definitely see improvement in my work, but it did not come easy. I had to spend much more time than I had anticipated in order to make my pieces cohesive and carefully drawn. 

One thing I wish had been more heavily emphasized in class was techniques or how to’s for those who had relatively little experience. I know instructing drawing is difficult because everyone has their own style and it can’t be “taught” per se, but I think more instruction during the initial part of the class would have been helpful. However, I did like the process of doing a study drawing one week and then receiving feedback the second week. I think it helped everyone to refine their ideas and help with questions or gaps they might be having in the process. I also enjoyed seeing the unfinished versions of my peers.

Overall, I am happy I took the class because I have a newfound appreciation for the skill it takes to create realistic drawings. Some of the pieces my classmates have drawn just amaze me, especially now that I actually understand the process an artist goes through in order to produce that piece. Sometimes I look at the drawings and I actively feel like I’m experiencing the scene; that is something I didn’t really feel before this class.