Look, emulate, learn... and improve!

Sometimes it's beneficial (and fun!) to copy the drawing(s) of an artist whose work I admire. My goal is not to copy, but to learn - get inside the thinking process, and discover first-hand how they construct their drawings - to find out what's going on beneath the surface, so to speak.

I had been admiring the awesome comic artwork of Raul Moreno. So, I thought I'd take a page of his sketches for a spin.

04/28/14
Study of sketches
(after Raul Moreno)
Non-Photo-Blue Pencil
8 1/2 x 11"

Copy of character by
Raul Moreno
Blue ArtStix and Marker
11 x 17"

It's amazing how much more I appreciate his artwork, now that I have gotten down to the nitty-gritty and seen how well-constructed and well-thought-out his characters are. His linework is great, but it's the construction of the characters that allows his linework to really shine.

One thing I learned from the exercise is that the simpler and stronger the shapes of the underlying structure, the more the drawing holds together, the more 'solid' and convincing the forms, and the better the drawing - no matter what 'style' it is rendered in.

04/29/14
Character Sketches
(Penny Dreadful)
8 1/2 x 11"
Pen

Last night I watched the season premier of Penny Dreadful. I thought the show has some potential, and I liked some of the characters. So I sketched on them for a bit.

Victor Frankenstein
(Penny Dreadful)

After the Raul Moreno studies, I took another look at the sketch of Victor. I thought it could be much better, so I redrew it. This time, I paid attention to what I learned from the exercise.
And I think it was well worth the extra effort.

04/29/14
Victor Frankenstein
(Penny Dreadful)
Blue ArtStix and Marker
11 x 17"

Victor Frankenstein
(Redraw)
No-Photo-Blue and
HB Pencil
4 x 6"