David Colman
Burbank CA USA
Illustrator working in film as a designer and storyboard artist- known as the "animal guy" for my passion for doodling animals. insta @davidsdoodles
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bernard_van_aalst
added comment inFantasy Reference Assignment
3mo
Asked for help
Nice exercise. Tried to guess the skeleton structure, redraw it with that in mind, and redraw it from other angle as well in another pose.
Of course I’m not satisfied with the results, but that’s seldom the point of course exercises - I learn a great deal with this.
6d
GREAT but I think you need to do more thorough breakdowns as its evident in the imaginary step youre losing the structure and weight. They are becoming more cartoony. Which is fine but lack the volume and understructure that you should be learning from the initial exercise. Have a look at some of the other students work- note the clarity of forms in their breakdowns
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3mo
Asked for help
I attempted Demogorgons from Stranger Things. The likeness of apes was not apparent at first but as I progressed I could find similarities and definitely leaned on what I could remember using the skeleton and my new knowledge as a guide. The parts that were different gives me new insight in what to pay attention to during future animal studies. Now I need to get to the extra credit and get to drawing from my imagination and see how that goes. Any feedback is appreciated.
6d
looking good .... You seem to have a good grasp. Go the extra mile and draw from your head now.
3mo
Asked for help
I would always first draw the pose from the picture, and than try to imagine it from another angle. Sometimes it was quite hard to imagine another angle but it helped alot to get a better understanding of the threedimensionality of the forms.
I think i will focus on further muscle- and life/videofootage-studies for now, but will do some more fantasy reference-studies soon again. Feedback is appreciated
6d
Slow down a bit on the breakdowns and with this exercise clarity is key.
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6d
GREAT.. this is what I hoped to see. I think you need to spend more time on the breakdowns but this is what drawing from your imagination will do. It points out what you need to work on,.
3mo
Asked for help
I plan on attempting some figure rotations over the next week! Thanks!
6d
SOLID work... Try to implement more straights at the joints. But overall youre approaching this spot on
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3mo
Asked for help
nice exercise. I like how the very different characters have the same underlying figure structure, just the proportions and details are different. Also thank you for intruding me to Bernie Wrightson, his drawings are amazing. I will try to draw the swamp monster from different angles and poses tomorrow.
6d
Good steps for you. Glad you see the value. Sometimes learning this way can be tedious but it helps connect the dots for your overall skill level
3mo
Asked for help
playing around with the swamp monster, trying to imaging what it will do after the pose from the reference drawing
6d
GREATl.. love seeing you push yourself. Design tips- watch the parallels on the arm to leg on your second one. And with foreshortening use line weight to show the spacing and distance. So is hand woiuld be heavier line and his body would be lighter and less detail, Its basically using the camera as a tool to execute the foreshortening.
6d
SOLID work Samuel.. very impressive. This step is really going to help your own work. AND I love you even are implementing some nice form design like on the iliac crest of the Pale Man. Some areas start to lose dimension like on the Frazetta Nightstalker. But cant win them all.
3mo
Asked for help
My assignment. Not too many drawings this time, however I understand the value of a breaking down and studying the anatomy of a made up creature like this.
8d
You did the assignment and thats what counts Youre gaining knowledge too. Good volumes but they lack straights. Introduce more straights to add strength to your work
3mo
Asked for help
Working on Demogorgons from imagination. Any feedback is welcome
8d
Alot of fun energy and poses but they become a little cartoony at times and thats okay yet it loses believability. Drawing from imagination is hard and you did a great job . I would attempt this exercise again and be willing to let go a little bit. It doesnt have to be perfect. Some great weight on bottom left and love the hands on bottom right
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3mo
Asked for help
Starting out, more to come :)
8d
SOLID.... chiseled.. Really great!! You fell in love with this process I can tell. I want to see more because this shows so much of what you know. No need to do more now but it will be evident in your work moving forward
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8d
Hi...well nice and loose. But you either ran out of time or lost interest. Either is fine but suffer a little bit and you will grow and benefit from this exercise. Finish these off- explore, discover, endure the pain of growth. You have a great loose lively style- I would love to see you finish these to completion.
2mo
Asked for help
It is an interesting exercise. I tried to make lines more gestural (looser). For the moment I have not worked on other angles, but that will come. It's so much fun to study beautiful creatures like these!!!
I LOVE seeing the work of other students, it's stimulating!
8d
Nice job on these. Very diagrammatical and clear. I like seeing the flow youre finding too. It does get a little too simple at some points indicating knowledge not fully there but it will come. Good job all around- This will help your personal design work.
2mo
Asked for help
These are my breakdowns that I managed to do. It is eye opening to be able to study these instead of usually doing human breakdowns. I look forward to study more of these soon.
8d
LOVE that you are breaking your mold. I think you could go a little further to learn even more Nice job on the cave troll- alot of weight but then on Bernie Wrightsons Swamp Thing it becomes a little too ambiguous . Try to simplify from the final look model Each nook and cranny doesnt have to be caught in the breakdown just the objective forms
1mo
Asked for help
Another study from the masters. This time I used characters I love from movies (Oz and Labyrinth) and from one of my favorite artist Jean-Claude Mézières (Valérian). I did squelette from memory. Sooooo hard! My fellow learners, you have to try this. it's a good exercice...
8d
Nice but pay attention to volumes and weight. Youre losing some essential form and surface area of the understructure- dont just copy but analyze and problem solve. The pose in each final model conveys weight so the study should do the same.
28d
Asked for help
Some anatomical breakdowns. I chose to do one over Kerchak from Disney's Tarzan as well, even though he's just a normal gorilla, but I wanted to analyze how the Disney artists would design one. I think Glen Keane is the artist.
8d
Nicely done.. Actually Glenn did animate Tarzan but I am unsure he did that one right there. I see some of your notes and its important to realize dont let anatomy draw your drawings , use it as a guide and take artistic liberties as your own. Its only there to keep you on the tracks. Especially when dealing with animation friendly designs the anatomy is present but it never dictates the design choices. I think you need to revisit some of the breakdowns to see how the under structure conveys weight for the final topical image. Try to understand the angle of the pelvis better..etc
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8d
Asked for help
Hey @David Colman, here's my re-submission for this chapter's assignment. I wrote down your feedback on stickynotes, stuck them in front of me while I studied and drew, and rewatched Chapter Ones' 'What Is Design?' lecture with more focus. I've been studying J.C. Leyendecker's anatomy from his book and have found a lot of inspiration from Carter Goodrich in particular, but also Bill Pressing, Hans Bacher, and Brandon Ragnar Johnson.
I think I've improved but what do you think? I would love a critique, cheers!
8d
Some nice flow and simple silhouettes but lacks balance of straight and curves even the work you are inspired by has some evidence of curve and straight balance. Pressing is very curve but he has structure in those curves that I am not seeing in your form design here. And watch your balance- push your shapes but make sure there is a balanced relationships between your exaggerated shapes. Pilot above A is falling over and B all you did was add a larger head but look at how he feels top heavy and his torso and legs are same height. You have to counter one push with another. Hope this helps...
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David Colman
22d
28d
All great.... see my note above the same applies. Dont pause the video let it loop and see how you observe the action not the still frame. You have some chops for sure just need to move to next level by incorporating more life into your work. Let the gestures be one harmonious pose and not a summation of parts
28d
These are nicely done. You have some good rhythms but draw thru the forms more- think about and show whats going on the other side of the viewers perspective. Dont be so concerned with clean silhouettes right now. A clear read is important but finding the energy will be hindered if too focus on the perfectly proportioned silhouette and contour.
David Colman
28d
