Figure Drawing for Cartoonists: Improv Comics

 

My perennial favorite challenge in Figure Drawing for Cartoonists is when we have a model improvise a narrative from pose to pose while we improvise comic panels. 

It's one thing to draw figures effectively. It's quite another to draw them effectively on comic pages, composed in relation to the graphic elements, staged in appropriate camera angles, and finished in ink. Do all that on the fly, improvising dialog off the top of your head, allowed five minutes per panel, and I can't think of many challenges that are more fun.

Here are some recent examples of mine: 

More examples are here and here and here. 

It’s so great having models to study from. In this class, we tackle each topic from reference and imagination one week and from the model the next. It’s the best way to learn. 

Classes are slated to start February 1. Let’s draw figures!

@svacontinued

"Draw Two Panels" spinoff: The Deckless Wonder

 Here's an experiment that's been languishing in my files. I've written already of my work with Isaac Cates on his Draw Two Panels game. It inspired me to test an idea for this spinoff:

I drew two cards that pose a simple question: is our heroine dressing or undressing? Where the cards are placed in the four-panel sequence would direct the answer.

After completing the first strip, I toss a coin twice, choosing one of the original cards and one of the new cards. Then I make a new strip, placing the cards wherever they can be made to make sense. 

I'm struggling to recall the exact rules. In each new round, I toss a coin to choose one old and one new card. There should always be four cards available for each new round, from which two are chosen.

Here's an alternate game, placing the first two cards in a different order:

This procedure can go on indefinitely, though I wonder whether the story can ever go anywhere,... 

...small wonder that I stopped after three rounds. On the other hand, a story stuck in time is interesting in its own way.

This general idea of drawing comic panels on index cards and moving them around is something we'll explore in my upcoming online course, Comics Inventions, enrolling now.

Figure Drawing for Cartoonists Student Work

Skeletons at the park by Lindsay Ducey

We had a dynamic group in Figure Drawing for Cartoonists last semester. I managed to document a couple of the amazing pieces by a couple of the amazing people, Lindsay Ducey and G. H, Yamauchi.

G. H. Yamauchi opted to work on skeletons of children.

In this class, we practice our figure drawing by tackling an array of challenges. We begin by looking at the human skeleton, along with the work of Posada and Holbein, in order to practice joint breaks, twist, silhouetting, and other figure staging concerns. Getting skeletons to look alive sets us up for more vivid finished art.

Then we work through topics like forces, foreshortening, muscle groups, and style, working from models, photos, reference, and imagination, leading up to the fun activity where we apply figures to the comic format, composing comic pages improvised from a costumed model.

Yamauchi bravely knocked out her comic in ink.

That one's so fun, I can never resist playing too:

...aaaaand, we proceed from there to plan a comic scene and complete a page or two. The class is informative, challenging and fun. The new semester begins January 28. Sign up soon, tell your friends, and like that. Thanks!

Amazing Art Models

One of the perks of living in NYC is the high quality of art models around town, and one of the perks of teaching is that the best of them model for SVA. Planning this post, I discovered that I have so many great examples to show, I think I'll make this the first of a series.

Cacia Zoo is, deservedly, a social media rockstar. I was honored to have her pose for my Figure Drawing for Cartoonists class last spring. The feeling was apparently mutual. She thanked me on her Instagram, "Your ink drawing is amaaazing! Hope to model for you again some time."

Below are my drawings of Cacia from Drink and Draw NYC a few years ago. More of my Cacia drawings can be found here.

Greer Samuels brings an intense theatricality to his poses. When he saw these drawings I made in my Figure Drawing class this summer, he felt vindicated for his hard work. Life drawing is a truly collaborative process.

When model Ume saw my drawings of her at Drink and Draw NYC not long ago, she invited me to take part in her upcoming exhibition, 30 Bodies, which will be a pop-up show opening Thursday Sept 19 at 7pm and on view through Friday Sept 20 at Con Artist Collective, 329 Broome St. Work by 30 artists will be auctioned and proceeds donated to a charity that brings artists to Puerto Rico.

Below are some of my Ume drawings from Drink and Draw. I actually played with color for a change. More can be found here.

 

These and many more amazing models appear in my classes Figure Drawing for Cartoonists and Inking Comics. I'll post more examples soon, I hope. Classes are enrolling right now and begin in mid-September. The information session is, well, tonight (Aug 20).

Come draw with us!