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Monday, August 20, 2012

Vigorous Sketches as References

Hi, Friends, did you enjoy a weekend?
I've been working on the projects. One is at the stage of "character design." So, I have a brain storm for 24 hours per day.  Illustration is very a demanding work, but very much fun. I enjoy sketching between the projects and fine art work.  

"Capture subjects with simple, only necessary lines in vivid colours" is my style.  I seek a "lively and vigorous" outcome in work. 

My sketches are important inspirations and precious references for any work that includes character design. I can use photos, but I dare not to do it. I train my eyes and trust in them. Michelangelo did not have a camera, but created brilliant drawings with his eyes. 



Above, I played up the lady's widely opened moth and the colour of cheeks --- worked out to depict her emotions. I mixed a blue and burnt sienna for her jacket -- interesting washes came out.   
In my sketches, factual accuracy is not weighed. Think of a caricature. It's not physically meticulous, yet it tells who's who very well. Mood, emotions and personalities are more concerns.

My process is below. A case study is the event. I was invited and enjoyed the stage.
1) Check setting. Decide composition.  
Examine a stage, a ceiling, lights and seats in a theature = check value as a "whole."   
2) Set a focus. Simplify the whole. Not get lost in detail. 
Below, a camera man is the interest. 
3) Draw, paint quickly.    
Before subjects will be gone!!


French Ultramarine worked well.  Colour experiments are great fun.
Another sketch, an executive at a conference.  
Well ... no, joke, Friends! The agenda was on the hardship of writers' ( and illustrators' ) life. I'm happy to die in a gutter?!
Technically, I often sketch a person from different angles on the same paper to understand a figure in 3D. It helps me find the most impressive or dramatic angle for a portrait. Nice and fun.  

In sketching, quick watercolour gives me many advantages. First, briskness often comes up. Second, it's very appropriate to enjoy wet-in-wet or washes in sketches. As far as I know, all watercolourists, who create beautiful washes, make a painting in short time = Before paper gets dry too much, add another colour. Third, dynamic brush strokes make interesting textures. I always try to keep liveliness in studio work, too. 

However, an option of techniques depends on an artist's personality and what expects in outcomes. "Work on your style," is the best way.

Anyway, Friends, Happy Painting!! 
Enjoy sketching!



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42 comments:

  1. Dear Sadami your posts are always so interesting for me and they cause interaction.
    It 's true that Michelangelo did not have a foto camera, but the Venetian painters had a "camera ottica"(as Canaletto) for their needs.
    Equipment ancestors of the fotocamera are used by painters of past centuries and 800 Van Gogh and Degas have used photographs as reference. I love to watch my own pictures as the basis for my imagination.
    I study, modify and at the end
    After this study ,I ignore the photographic image because I touched something that was in my feeling of that image ... Sometimes a photo contains only the signs and the brush starts to follow them ... to reach a totally different place!Work in your style,as you write,is the best way!Thank you Sadami, for let me reflect on myself,through your wise word!!!
    Warm regards
    Rita

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    1. Dear Rita,
      Thank you for the interesting and helpful information. A "camera ottica(=camera obscura?)" came up, when I studied Johannes Vermeer and other artists work (but I did not know Michealangelo used it). The camera obscura created upside-down images that fascinated me how artists used them.
      Drawing and painting is fun. I hope you will enjoy using your own pictures for your imagination. I always listen to my heart, not a theory.
      Keep up!!
      Best wishes, Sadami

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  2. How wonderful Dear Sadami that while I was writing to you, YOU were writing to me!

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  3. Great sketches you shared today! LOVE the top one - was she shouting at someone; or singing?? ha ha Those reddened cheeks tell she was putting a lot of emotion into whatever she was doing :) Sadami, you would make an excellent teacher!!

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    1. Hi, Rhonda,
      Oh, shhh... the lady was a presenter at a conference, shouting how hard a writer's life! You are an excellent teacher for students, aren't you! Enjoy teaching, but please be kind to yourself. Take it easy.
      Kind regards, Sadami

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  4. Another post of lovely watercolours Sadami. I think I understand when you say about brisk watercolours....by going in sketching and painting quickly you get movement plus omit unnecessary detail. It is so easy to get 'lost' in detail isn't it. Have a great week. Happy painting.

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    1. Dear Ann,
      Yes, you very well understand what I say and BEAUTIFULLY summurize the post. It's said, "Understanding a say is a half way through." Next step, take an action and apply it -- then, fully understanding. Me, too, work hard!
      Cheers, Sadami

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  5. Wonderful job Sadami, i love your sketches, warms regards

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    1. Dear Mari,
      Thank you so much for your encouragements!! Let us enjoy drawing!
      Kind regards, Sadami

      Delete
  6. Hello Sadami:) How are you doing? I love your sketches. You're such a great artist! It looks like it are simple sketches but if you take a good look at them you can see they are not. At least you have to know a lot about the human body and you do! I love it. And you always know how to use the right colors. Keep it going!!

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    1. Hi, Renate,
      Thank you. I'm busy! Your comments are spot on!! Yes, simple sketches require good knowledge of a human body, body language and highly trained drawing skills. Colour use requires good eyes to distinguish values.
      You, too, enjoy drawing and painting!
      Kind regards, Sadami

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  7. You really have a gift for capturing expressions and gestures! I could never do that so well, even with a photograph. I can't imagine how you do it while the person is right there in front of you! These are wonderful! Will you give them to the people, or offer them for a price? Or do you just keep them?

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    1. Dear Katherine,
      Thank you very much for your encouragements. Sketches are offered for a price and some sketches remain in a studio as references.
      Kind regards, Sadami

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  8. I am in awe of all my blogger friends that are able to paint plein air or by imagination like you!! I have tried and failed. I think its wonderful to be able to have this talent. These watercolor sketches are absolutely beautiful full of wonderful color, Sadami! I LOVE the expression in the first one!!

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    Replies
    1. Dear Hilda,
      Thank you for nice cheers. I'm sure you, too, have the wonderful talent! Please never say, "I have tried and failed." Regarding drawing skills, all what we need it practice, practice, practice. 3 minutes everyday drawing will give you amazing drawing skills in the future. The most important element is "perseverance" and share joy with others. Celebrate any small achievement day by day. One day, you'll find how far you will have come in the journey of art.
      Best wishes, Sadami

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  9. Como siempre, fantásticos trabajos Sadami. ¡Tus personajes tienen vida!
    Un abrazo.

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    1. Estimado Onera,
      ¡Gracias! Sí, mis personajes están vivos! Vamos a divertirnos en el dibujo!
      Saludos, Sadami

      Dear Onera,
      Thank you! Yes, my characters are alive! Let's have fun in drawing!
      Cheers, Sadami

      >>>Onera said...
      As always, great work Sadami.Your characters have a life!
      A hug.

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  10. Wow, that angry lady is brilliant! The other sketches are very beautiful too. Have a great week, Sadami!

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    1. Hi, Blaga,
      Thank you! You, too!
      Cheers, wink, wink, Sadami

      Delete
  11. I like watercolor much more than it likes me. And when I see your sketches, I collect more power to practice, to learn, as I see these amazing examples of watercolor's advantages and strength.
    Good luck and happy painting!

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    1. Dear Irina,
      Thank you very much. I, too, learn lots from you. And you do NOT need to add the phrase, "more than it likes me." Learning skills takes "years." One condition applies -- "you like it like a little child and keep on and on." Let us keep enjoying watercolour and learn it.
      Kind regards, Sadami

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  12. J'admire tes portraits depuis un certain temps....Quelle leçon ! Ils sont carrément foudroyants de vie et de vérité...y compris tous ces dos qui expriment tant de choses !

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    1. Cher Corinne,
      Je vous remercie beaucoup! Vous faites de belles aquarelles. J'admire vos esprits challening et les viscères. Laissez-nous profiter dessin et la peinture!
      Cordialement, Sadami

      Dear Corinne,
      Thank you very much! You make beautiful watercolour paintings. I admire your challening spirits and guts. Let us enjoy drawing and painting!
      Kind regards, Sadami

      >>> Corinne said...
      I admire your portraits for some time .... What a lesson! They are downright withering of life and truth ... including all those backs that express so many things!

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  13. Even though your method and materials are so different from Etegami, I still learn so much from your posts. And I love the way you use color!

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    1. Dear Debbie,
      Thank you for cheers. Your Etegami posts are so beautiful and very interesting. Keep up wonderful work. I look forward to next!
      Kind regards, Sadami

      Delete
  14. hola Sadami,
    es un placer visitar tus trabajos,
    geniales todos.
    me fascinan, un abrazo desde Spain.

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    1. Hola, Jose,
      Thank you so much! Vamos a animarnos unos a otros y disfrutar de dibujo y pintura!
      Cheers, Sadami

      Hi, Jose,
      Thank you so much! Let us encourage each other and enjoy drawing and painting!
      Cheers, Sadami

      >>> Jose said...
      hello Sadami,
      is a pleasure to visit your work,
      all great.
      fascinate me, a hug from Spain.

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  15. These are really great Sadami, well, everything you do is great and I am so happy you share them with us.

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    1. Dear Teri,
      Thank you for nice cheers! I'd say, thank you for sharing your wonderful work with us. BTW, your art work gets better and more sophisticated. I wonder when you'll have an exhibition.
      Cheers, Sadami

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  16. I do love how you employ perspective in your paintings...never boring! never static! You paint wonderfully

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    1. Hi, Celeste,
      Thanks million! Let us enjoy drawing!!
      Cheers, Sadami

      Delete
  17. Great Work Sadami !
    Best regards from Paris,

    Pierre

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    1. Hi, Pierre,
      Thank you! Keep up your wonderful photos!
      Cheers, Sadami

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  18. I love your blues so much Sadami. You know how to use them and you know how to set them off so well.

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    1. Hi, Wren,
      Thank you so much! I often think of your ongoing project and the blog. I always learn lots from you. Just the other day, I got Shaun Tan's "Sketches from a Nameless Land" ( = his roughs, story board of "Arrival"). Like you, Shaun used a clay model. Readers probably will not know illusrtators' huge amount of backstage work. I admire you!! Look forward to your upload.
      Kind regards, Sadami

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  19. Unos bocetos llenos de fuerza y vida, me encantan, como los anteriores, pese a no comentar mucho tus trabajos los sigo sin perderme uno, saludos.

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  20. Querido Francis,
    Muchas gracias! Eres tan humilde. Tengo la sensación de que usted puede hacer buenos dibujos de figuras. Sólo tienes que darle una oportunidad. Sería divertido. Estoy desafiando algunos paisajes, pero siempre vuelven a cifras.
    Un cordial saludo, Sadami

    Dear Francis,
    Thank you very much! You're so humble. I have a feeling you can make good drawings of figures. Just give it a go. It would be fun. I'm challenging some landscapes, but always come back to figures.
    Kind regards, Sadami

    >>>Francis said...
    Some sketches full of strength and life, I love, as above, although not comment much your work I still miss the one, greetings.

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  21. Hi Sadami - thank you for getting in touch again. I do love your juicy sketches and I'm in awe of your work process. It's a great lesson to us all in capturing the essence of a subject without finessing the details. x

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    1. Hi, Gillian,
      Thank you. Lovely to hear you again!! Your success is amaxing and ongoing! What a wonderful thing -- your beautiful work is blooming out!! Keep up. I heartly hope everything will go well for you.
      Kind regards, Sadami

      Delete
  22. Magnificent post. Magnificent sketches. Magnificent lessons - what more can I say?

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    1. Hi, Dan,
      Thank you for encouragements! Let's have fun more in drawing!
      Cheers, Sadami

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