Back to Basics

I like to think I'm a decent artist, not great, but decent. I've taken a few drawing classes and have always been pretty good at copying other people's work, but I have never been able to draw something from my mind and have it look very good. I realized that none of my art teachers have actually taught me how to draw. They've taught me different techniques to improve a drawing, but I've been missing some of the basics.
In an effort to improve my drawing abilities I bought a drawing course by Riven Phoenix from www.alienthink.com called The Structure of Man: Learn to Draw the Human Figure from Your Mind. I'm not too far into the course yet, but I'm already seeing some improvement. I would recommend this course to anyone who wants to learn how to draw the human figure.
It's amazing how much it helps to go back to the basics; not just with drawing, but with anything (dance, music, animation ...) When you review the basic fundamentals, you can be reminded of important principles that over time you have forgotten; you might even learn something new that you didn't realize you had been missing. When you find you are struggling with something, go back to the basics; the answer to your problem may be simpler than you think.

Run Cycle for DART

boy vs squirrel update

     I finished putting in the poses for the boy! I still need to fix a few things with the boy and animate the squirrel. Here are some more images from this project (the ball is there as a place holder so I know where I want the squirrel to be.)

     I haven't had as much time to work on this particular animation as I would have liked, so it probably wont get done in time to enter into the competition. I've learned a lot from this project so far and whether I am able to turn it in at the end of the month or not, I think I'm going to try to finish it.

Boy vs Squirrel

Here are some images from the animation I plan on entering in the 11 second club's May competition. It's turning out to be more complicated than I expected, hopefully I can get it done in time. :)