AlexHeizer.com: Blog http://www.alexheizer.com/ personal blog of Alex Heizer en AlexHeizer.com: Blog http://www.alexheizer.com/typo3conf/ext/tt_news/ext_icon.gif http://www.alexheizer.com/ 18 16 personal blog of Alex Heizer TYPO3 - get.content.right http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Thu, 28 Jan 2010 22:54:00 -0600 Keeping Inspired - Drawing a Day http://www.alexheizer.com/blog/post/archive////keeping_inspired_drawing_a_day/ Keeping inspired is really important for an artist. Although I haven't been posting my Drawing a...
Since the purpose of my New Year's Resolution is to keep creative and keep moving, learning and growing in a positive direction, sometimes being creative doesn't mean it has to be an actual drawing each day. The big thing is to intentionally do something each day which helps my drawing, staying conscious of how the "something" helps me grow as an artist, and how learning or doing whatever it is contributes to getting to my goal as an artist. 

For as long as I can remember, origami, the Japanese art of paper folding, fascinated me. The idea that a simple flat square of paper could be transformed in seconds into a recognizable representation of something else gave me an almost magical feeling. One of the first things I remember doing with origami was in 1984 when I heard the story of  Sadako Sasaki of Hiroshima, who tried to stave off her death from radiation sickness by making one thousand origami cranes. Her classmates and other friends finished them for her after her death. I had learned at one time how to make a crane, and the story inspired me to begin making 1000 cranes as a symbolic way to wish for the end to the Cold War, which was escalating rapidly at the time. This year, one of the book stores had an origami-a-day kit which contains 365 sheets of origami paper and instructions to make something new each day. Doing this got me interested in other designs that I hadn't done yet, so one of my Drawing a Day things was a samurai helmet, shown here. 

Looking for origami projects (which led me to the samurai helmet) also led me to napkin folding instructions, to help make a table setting more elegant or festive when using cloth napkins. We have some cloth napkins here, but no iron or starch, so I practiced a few designs but the best one of the bunch was this Bird of Paradise motif. It could still use some ironing and starch, but it looks great just as it is.

The third Drawing a Day drawing I'm posting comes from another book store kit to help you learn Chinese watercolor painting. Watercolor has never been my strong suit, and the delicate tones and free movement that traditional Chinese watercolors display have always inspired me. I thought, if I could finally learn even a small fraction of the technique for capturing the feel and atmosphere of a traditional Chinese watercolor, I will be a much better artist and be able to convey more of my artistic vision to people seeing my work. So, this last photo is of a koi fish swimming in a stream in front of mountains. This is a bad composition, but it's actually two practice paintings on the same piece of paper. I just thought each turned out very well for me, and I did them at the same time, and it doesn't look that bad to have a koi swimming in a stream with mountains in the background. ]]> Drawing a Day Thu, 28 Jan 2010 22:54:00 -0600 January 9-11 - Can your Blackberry Do This? http://www.alexheizer.com/blog/post/archive////january_9_11_can_your_blackberry_do_this/ This manga drawing was done on my iPhone, using the Layers app. Although it took me 3 days to do, I...
It also fit within my philosophy of making sure that if you create something, you make it the best you can accomplish if you are going to do it in the first place. It's not the best piece I have ever created, but I learned a lot about using a new digital medium and in that way I did the best that I could on it given the restraints.

Hope you like it, and I hope it inspires you to look at something new and see the potential rather than the limitations. ]]> Drawing a Day Tue, 12 Jan 2010 04:34:00 -0600 January 8 - iPhone painting (Drawing a Day) http://www.alexheizer.com/blog/post/archive////january_8_iphone_painting_drawing_a_day/ This drawing is posted a day late. I wasn't able to use my computer yesterday but I did create...
Drawing on an iPhone takes a different technique. I managed to develop a technique which gave me good results, using a combination of brushes, erasers and color sampling.  For the subject, I took my inspiration from the artist Yuehui Tang, a contemporary artist whose work I love. I hope you like this one. ]]> Drawing a Day Sat, 09 Jan 2010 23:23:00 -0600 January 7 - Oni 2 (Drawing a Day) http://www.alexheizer.com/blog/post/archive////january_7_oni_2_drawing_a_day/ One of the big challenges that artists face is to create distinctive characters that are not... One of the big challenges that artists face is to create distinctive characters that are not grossly cartoonish in order to show individual features. It's obvious that Daffy Duck is different than Bugs Bunny. But in manga and non-cartoon comics, there's an expectation that the characters are going to have a certain level of consistency and realism* to keep a believable universe for the reader. This can present a challenge to the artist if they are unable to draw each individual consistently, and at the same time differently than other characters who share similar physical features in the same book. If a reader can't tell the difference between Peter Parker and Scott Summers because they both have short, dark brown hair, then a Spider Man guest shot in an X-Men comic could get confusing.

While working on the Oni character designs for my manga project, I needed to make all three of them unique, but also look like they all belong in the same book, while at the same time keeping a certain amount of realism in the drawing style.

The drawing I did today, which is the third character in the set (I drew number two last night), has a few similar features as number one. But I did not have to over-exaggerate the differences which make him unique. This allows me to create a character which is believable in the context of the book but can also be recognized individually.

* - By "realism", I mean a representational style of graphic art, compared to the cutesy cartoon styles of shows like Mickey Mouse, Invader Zim or The Simpsons. Even characters with super powers or magic are expected to behave in a manner consistent with their drawn universe, and will have body proportions that don't stray too much from real humans (except for the stylistic purposes of the artist).]]> Drawing a Day Thu, 07 Jan 2010 23:23:00 -0600 January 6 - Oni (Drawing a Day) http://www.alexheizer.com/blog/post/archive////january_6_oni_drawing_a_day/ One of the things I've been rediscovering over and over again in recent years is that there are no... One of the things I've been rediscovering over and over again in recent years is that there are no easy paths to creating something great. While greatness is an ideal rather than a goal, the primary motivating force behind wanting to create something great is the desire to create something that you believe in so much that you put everything inside you into its creation. Some people refer to this as taking pride or taking ownership in your work. But what it simply means is that when you do a thing, do it with an intent to do it the best that it can be done, as though it is what you are meant to do. Don't be lazy, don't take short cuts. Honor the work that you perform if you are going to invest time in it.

I encountered this recently as I have been working on a new manga project. The story includes some flashbacks of the main character who is being pursued by thugs. Wanting to work as quickly as possible on what I believe will be a long story, I quickly drew the thugs as being very awkward and ugly. When I was done with their frames I thought they didn't turn out as I had envisioned, and they basically ruined the page. So I started over again, choosing to depict them as humans, but with the heads of Oni, Japanese demons. Again, I drew them quickly. And, again, they fell far short of my vision. 

Today, I took my time to carefully craft my drawing, comparing it to my vision, reworking it when it wasn't correct. By giving myself permission to draw it right rather than draw it quickly, I was able to assess it every step of the way to make sure it matched how I saw it in my head. In reality, it actually didn't take much more time to draw than the last version of the thugs in the story, and it certainly didn't take as much time as the two bad versions put together.

All in all, it reaffirms my belief that the only good shortcuts are those that help you save time or gas and avoid traffic when driving.
]]> Drawing a Day Wed, 06 Jan 2010 20:14:00 -0600 January 5 - Drawing a Day http://www.alexheizer.com/blog/post/archive////january_5_drawing_a_day/ I normally don't draw flowers or other foliage, unless it's in a generic sense as...
I didn't use those flowers as a live model, but instead I used my memory of them in the other room. I wanted to create it from my recollection and from the feeling I get when I think of them, rather than making a faithful record of their existence. 

I drew it using pen on paper and then imported it into Photoshop via my iPhone to color it. ]]> Drawing a Day Tue, 05 Jan 2010 08:16:00 -0600 January 4 - Drawing a Day http://www.alexheizer.com/blog/post/archive////january_4_drawing_a_day/ Because of business and personal stuff happening during the day, I wasn't able to make a drawing on...
I drew it in pencil and inked it before bringing it into Photoshop via my iPhone.  ]]> Drawing a Day Mon, 04 Jan 2010 14:08:00 -0600 January 3 - Drawing a Day http://www.alexheizer.com/blog/post/archive////january_3_drawing_a_day/ Today's drawing was to play around with some of the different boolean functions of VectorDesigner -...
One thing I learned from this is that I have a hard time simplifying and not putting in too much detail. The car and city are incredibly simple, while the wheel and tire are more complete. However, I used some boolean functions for creating the wheel, so I actually didn't stray too far from the purpose of this drawing. I also now have a decent foundation drawing that I can complete later if I wish.]]> Drawing a Day Mon, 04 Jan 2010 04:24:00 -0600 January 2 - Drawing a Day http://www.alexheizer.com/blog/post/archive////january_2_drawing_a_day/ Here is today's drawing.For this one, I used VectorDesigner, which I think is a really great...
For this one, I used VectorDesigner, which I think is a really great program for doing vector illustrations using Mac OSX's built-in rendering capabilities. Usually when I create vector illustrations, I use the pen tools but rarely the predefined shapes. For this one, I tried to use predefined shapes as often as possible, even if I modified it after creating  the basic shape.]]> Drawing a Day Sun, 03 Jan 2010 07:42:00 -0600 A New Year's Resolution - A Drawing a Day http://www.alexheizer.com/blog/post/archive////a_new_years_resolution_a_drawing_a_day/ Lots of people make New Year's Resolutions. This year I have a few, but the only one which may be...
Today, I was going to draw a manga figure. That wasn't unique for me. So, I decided on a Ferrari. Not unique for me, either. I decided to just make a blank canvas and start adding color and let the drawing come to me on its own. As I began sketching a vague idea formed for an idyllic desert oasis. This first drawing was done in Photoshop using my Wacom Intuos graphics tablet. I have a cool watercolor-type brush, and played around with some other brushes for texture. I normally use Photoshop as a kind of digital airbrush, so it was fun to learn about how some different brush settings will affect the brushstrokes.

Hope you like it! If you do, please feel free to share these with anyone else you think may like it using the "Share" button below, and leave me a comment letting me know what you think. ]]> Drawing a Day Art Sat, 02 Jan 2010 07:47:00 -0600