I had the privilege of attending a costumed gesture class at work today, taught by the talented artist and story supervisor Dave Pimentel. This gave me a chance to test my Modbook in a "drawing class" environment and I am happy to report that it was a huge success.
For this session I chose to use Autodesk's Sketchbook Pro mainly for it's simplicity and functionality. For the quick 1 - 3 minute poses I used a graphite pencil at about HB to 2B hardness and a chisel-tipped pen set to the minimum point size of 2.0 I tilted the Modbook upright (or Portrait mode) occasionally to gain more drawing space for standing poses.
I did grab a wad of sketch paper and a drawing clipboard in case this experiment went south but sketching digitally was a cinch.
Putting technology aside, it's been quite a while since I've done any king of drawing class so getting some much needed pencil (or stylus) time was a welcome experience. Capturing these quick gestures is a great exercise in laying down attitude and action without heavy pencil mileage. This is especially helpful during the rough stage of boarding or during the hectic hustle of re-staging sequences for reels.
I definitely plan to attend many more drawing classes as schedule permits, and post the resulting sketches here.
For additional technical details and images, click HERE for my companion post on Modbook Junction.
9 comments:
Wow these are impressive! You seemed to have nailed every one on that top page. And it really does look like traditional media.
You're using a modbook! I remember quizzing you about tablets etc. a while back... I gave up and just settled on a stationary cintiq, but now I'm jealous, cause gesture drawing has become a staple of my week, and looking at you great work, I foolishly think, maybe the mod book would be just the magic bean to make my drawings the way I want, ha ha!
Can you explain what you mean by tilting the modbook up? My understanding was that it would only work in landscape (long-rectangle) mode and not in portrait (tall-rectangle) mode. So, if you've been using it in portrait, how did you get that to work? I had read that screen rotation was somehow disabled in the operating system.
I've been checking in on modbook junction a bit because I'm considering becoming a modbook owner.
These are great! All of these cowboys have such distinct personalities. Makes me want to go to figure drawing again.
Bobby,
Thanks! Yes the simulation on Sketchbook Pro is top notch. However I don't think digital will ever completely replicate the look and feel of traditional media.
Celeste,
You certainly don't need any kind of magic bean because your work is already quite exquisite.
But the portability of the Modbook, or any tablet for that matter does make things like drawing classes somewhat easier in terms of not having to scan the sketches afterwards. Great hearing from you!!
green weaver,
I apologize but it's my fault for not completely clarifying this in my original post. Basically the Modbook and Mac OS 10.4 will only display in Landscape format. If you wish to draw in Portrait mode, you will have to physically tilt the tablet upright. The screen orientation however will remain in Landscape mode.
I added a clarification to my post in the Modbook Junction blog post. Thanks for your comments!
Amelia,
Thanks! Keep that pencil (or whatever drawning implement you are currently using) moving!! One can never attend too many drawing classes in my opinion.
Impressive as usual. I once used my powerbook with my tablet, but it seems like modbook is the way to go.
The revolution begins, no more messy conte.
These kick ass!!!
Calvin,
I did the same thing for years including putting together all three of my books on my powerbook and a Wacom Graphire. Needless to say it was tedious and I had to get used to drawing on the tablet while looking at the screen.
Having the digitizer screens (Cintiq and Modbook) simply works like magic.
Robert,
Thanks for visiting. I like the moleskin sketches in your blog.
AWESOME!
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