Melissa McCarthy and More

In April, I took an amazing gesture drawing class taught by the incomparable Glenn Harmon at DreamWorks. Glenn covered a ton of ground each week, giving us specific tips and tricks...and then immediately had us put those lessons into action with quick gestures drawings of a live model. Below are a couple of my lightning round sketches.

We were also given a sketchbook, which we were supposed to fill up each week with as many gesture drawings as possible. The first week, I was on a big Melissa McCarthy kick (when am I not?) because she was on a massive press tour for her movie The Boss. I basically DVR-ed every single talk show appearance that she made that week, then paused them a bunch to do quick gestures of her. It also doubled as research for my character Lilinoe...which Melissa McCarthy is a blatant inspiration for.

A lot of the sketchbook pages are of Melissa making her entrances, walking over to greet James Corden, Ellen DeGeneres, etc. BUT THEN she did the most epic Lip Sync Battle with Jimmy Fallon of all time! That was the most fun to gesture for sure! She killed it doing DMX...and then slayed "Colors of the Wind" with an industrial fan that nearly blew her backwards. Awe-inspiring!

Do yourself a favor and watch the Lip Sync Battle below...if you haven't already! Pocahontas would be proud!

        

Miss Scarlet

Here are some gesture drawings that I've done over the past few months. The models always deliver some really dynamic poses...not to mention some awesome old-timey costumes.

The first set is a model who dressed up like a sexy sailor circa the 1930s-ish. The class ran out of black sharpies by the time that I got there, so I used red ones instead. I like the results, it adds a boldness that was a fun surprise.

I couldn't see her right foot in this one (it was behind the box that she was sitting on), but I like to think it looks like she's dipping it into a pool...contemplating a lost love.

These were done with the tried-and-true black sharpies. There's a femme fatale quality to her looks, which just so happens to be one of my favorite subjects to draw. Channeling Barbara Stanwyck big time.

Making herself a little more comfortable.

Looking for her lipstick...or a pistol?

And then to change things up - a dude! This guy was doing a 1920s wrestler thing, complete with handlebar mustache. I approve!

Finally, I posted my storyboard sequence entitled Vulture Counter-Culture a while back. Before I started boarding, I did some sketches of the Andean Condor and King Vulture at the L.A. Zoo for research. Below is a video that I took of the Andean Condor as he expanded his massive 10 ft. wingspan!

Vultures always come back for seconds

Before I dove into storyboaring Vulture Counter-Culture, I did a fair amount of research about these intriguing feathered friends (or frenemies perhaps? Vultures are creepy y'all).

I started at the L.A. Zoo, which features two species of vulture - the Andean Condor and the King Vulture. These two birds might be related, but judging from their appearances alone, they are for sure third cousins several times removed (disclaimer - I am not a biologist).

The Andean Condor is gigantic as far as birds go. Their wingspan is ten feet, which is quite a sight to behold when they open them up all the way...Michael Keaton as Batman status.

I was fortunate/unfortunate enough to catch the King Vulture right as she was feeding. So that means I watched a vulture eat a dead rabbit. After initially being severely grossed out, I got over it and started drawing. In the end, I'm that glad I caught this...it's what vultures do best after all.

The main vulture characters in Vulture Counter-Culture, however, were not destined to be Andean Condors (too big) or even King Vultures (they have a turkey-flappy-thing on their beaks that just wasn't right). But thanks to the world wide web, I was able to scour some invaluable information and images to help narrow it down.

I settled on the White Rumped Vulture of Africa for Noir, the story's villain. With their bald heads, sharp beaks and black feathers, they look like the most typical vulture...which was perfect for the by-the-book Noir.

When it came to "cast" Violette, the sweet and unique star of the story, I wanted to find a vulture that was distinctly different and more colorful than the others. I could not BELIEVE my eyes when I stumbled upon the White Headed Vulture. She looks like what I imagine Tilda Swinton would look like if she were a vulture. Elegant, poised, sharp hair styling...and my god that collar.

The beginnings of Violette's design.

The Photoshop Bikini

Thought I'd post some of my recent gesture and figure drawings. But before I do...a word about the Photoshop Bikini. A subject of great controversy (in my head).  I realized that I had never posted nude figure drawings before, and at first I really didn't think anything of it. Then I was like, wait, can you post nudity on Blogger, even if it's drawings? I checked their policy, and they basically said: no... no you can't, unless you concede it's porn and let them put an age restriction on it. So, I'm pretty sure I'm just being crazily paranoid (per usual), but I threw on a charcoal brush bikini in Photoshop JUST to be crazy. Does anyone really even care if there are nude drawings on blogs? I hardly ever see anyone post them. If anyone really wants to see the original nude figure drawings, I guess just ask me and I'll email them to you...ok, now that makes them actually sound like porn.

ANYWAYZ, here are the non-nude gesture drawings. First of some sassy 1920s ladies...boy do I hate cigarettes, but god damn do I think cigarette holders are sexy.

Warrior ladies straight out of a Frank Frazetta book cover.

And now...PHOTOSHOP BIKINI

Gestural Joys

Before May slips away, I thought I'd post some gesture drawings that I did recently. The model was pretty cray cray, and I wasn't really sure if he was portraying a preacher, or a hobo, or the Penguin playing golf. So in other words, he was the best gesture drawing model ever, and I decided to draw him as all three.

First was the persuasive Preacher...who I imagine has some fairly shady business up his sleeves. That Bible looked like it was from a motel drawer, just saying.

 

Then there was the sad hobo. He just can't seem to catch a break, can he?

And then the Penguin played some golf.

I also went to the Intelligentsia in Pasadena to doodle with some friends. That's right, we voluntarily pay $5 for coffee sometimes. I sketched some unsuspecting people sipping on their organic/fair-trade/over-priced cups of joe (except for the Geisha...she wasn't there, but I really wish that she had been).

Gestures Yo!

Pausing Post Modern Muses for this post...but there are more coming. Much more. Tease. But first, a collection of gesture drawings that I did during classes taught by the uber talented Rad Sechrist and Anthony Holden.

Here is a fun Moulin Rouge-y Can-Can Dancer/Rococo Lady. She's rather flirty.

 

Come hither.

And then there was this dude that was like from Arabian Nights sort of. We pretended that he was being chased by birds. I added red to them to make them stand out in Photoshop...is that against the rules?

And lastly, a Saloon Girl that has the leg up (if ya know what I mean) when it comes to playing poker with Cowboys. Again, I messed with the opacity in Photoshop to make her stand out and for him to recede...cause she gonna win (and also because it was originally hard to read).

Maximum Proactivity

Welcome to my new sketch blog! I'm calling it the Proactive Dreamer Blog because I'm constantly dreaming/imagining of stories and images...and I like to think of myself as a proactive type of guy. SO I wanted to create this blog as a much needed creative outlet/motivator for maximum proactivity. The ridiculously talented Story Artist Dave Pimentel says "Inspiration - Expression = Depression." I say let's get to it!

Speaking of Dave Pimentel, the following drawings are from his Gesture Drawing Class. They're from the last couple of months...because this blog JUST started. But from now on I'll post them as they come. And I'll post other stuff, too! Yay!

First up, a sexy French maid takin a breather. Drawn with my favorite utensil aside from my Cintiq pen...a Tombow pen!

 

And now a cray cray naked woman...Tombow yo!

 

A door-door salesmen who has been walking all over the city trying to sell vacuums or something. Hence the HUGE bunion on his toe. Ew. Tombow.

 

This naked lady was done in Sharpie...because my Tombow ran out of ink :-(

 

This is the time I tried using this really cool Japanese brush pen...but the ink was really hard to get out...so everything looked kind of dry. But this angel girl on a cloud turned out ok I guess.

 

Cowgirl who has had enough. Tombow yay!

This Zorro type is so brave...he climbs TNT boxes and stuff. Tom-bow fo sho!