CHALLENGE: Fill a roll of Concept art sketches | Day 1: 5.60meter

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• published: 06 Jan 2015
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CHALLENGE: Fill a roll of Concept art sketches Day 1: I sketched 5m60 of sketches. It took me about 3hours +. See more at: http://thedesignsketchbook.com/tip-93-7days-roll-of-fax-paper-challenge-to-accelrate-my-sketching-skills/ ---- Music from Boogie Belgique. Forever & Ever https://boogiebelgique.bandcamp.com/album/nightwalker-vol-i ---- 7-DAYS ROLL OF PAPER CHALLENGE I started without knowing the lenght of the roll. But I needed to set up a time limit to the challenge. I took 7 days, fair enough. The challenge is not about making each sketch a piece of art, but a design journey to study and explore “new sketching territories”. What really matter here are: How am I able to multiply ideas How my sketching skills will improve Know better my self WHICH THEME ? I decided to focus on 1 theme to get more results. I decided to explore bots, mecs, spaceship from Concept art. MATERIAL NEEDED WHICH PAPER? A roll of paper for fax, width 210mm. The length is up to you, different lenght are available. You can find some Fax paper roll on Amazon. WHICH PEN? a Ballpoint pen: Thin lines and great pen pressure – great for drawing details a Sharpie Ultra fine point: Deep black pen, slide great on paper – great for loose sketching. a Pilot Twin marker and a Papermate Flair: Thicker than Sharpie – great for focusing on simple shapes (you can’t draw much small details with it). To me, the Papermate Flair is better than the Medium tip of the Twin Marker. Know more about the pen I used here. THE DIFFICULTIES I MET DURING THE CHALLENGE KEEP CONSISTENT At start I was super motivated. I draw more than 5m the first day. The day after, I did half of it. Then Wednesday and Thursday I took a break. Plus, I was busy with other things (Making the first sketching video tutorial included). TIP: I personally like to take some break. I spend some time at studying pictures from Concept artist works such as John Park, Feng Zhu, Scott Robertson and many others. Keep in mind that looking for reference is part of the sketching process. KEEP INSPIRED If a Blank paper scare you, relax. There is couple solution to start being Zen. Use reference pictures 1- Don’t be ashamed to look at reference pictures. Sometime, I like to look at concept artist for 5 minutes or more before starting a drawing session. My brain calibrate itself viewing things better volume with outlines. Plus I try to absorb that Concept art mood. I like to look at great artist such as John Park, Feng Zhu, Scott Robertson, Daniel Simon… TIP: I draw a lot following my feelings. If I draw a vilain, I try to imagine myself being a mad men. My lines get naturally more edgy. If I draw a Despicable Me Minion, I imagine having one beside me as a friend ! It’s fun and my line get smoother and rounded. 2- I open Google image on Ipad. Anytime I get some pictures from any kind of machine, spaceship, motors and so on. If you have books, it’s even better. TIP: Try to type your keywords in multiple language to get wider your results. I type my keywords in English and French. Give yourself a story If you don’t have any ideas, then provoke them. Start with what you like. What was the recent movie you watched ? Use the “What if” technique. Or draw something you already know, and try to improve it or adding in new elements. Start with many small sketches When we are beginner, we like to start 1 sketch and stick to it for hours. However we skipped an essential step: the phase of research. This is when we create and multiply ideas drawing many sketches. Each of them may take 10 sec to few minutes only. KEEP FOCUSED: ELIMINATE THE DISTRACTION This is maybe the biggest enemy we have nowadays. The distraction is virtual. It come from your phone, Facebook, email, Instagram, Youtube. To be able to finish the roll on time, I need more discipline as usual. It’s good to shut down the phone and computer (not in sleeping mode but shut down). I only allow Google image on my Ipad or Instagram artist for reference. TIP: Go out for drawing. I like to go to some cafe and draw. It may be more noisy, but my brain can focus more on the task. There is a cafe nearby I like. It happenned I stayed there from morning to evening. I had lunch, cafe, dinner keeping studying new stuff and drawing all day. Time flies. TIP: Music ! Put your earphone and get ready to sketch for hours. Do not shuffle your music among different artist or style of music at every song. Don’t listen to music from Youtube playlist. The advertising will interrupt your concentration. You could make some playlist with Soundcloud. How to start from scratch. 1- Start drawing spaceship with an abstract shape, yet symmetrical. 2- Add Spaceship details ! This exercice is not that easy, but it’s definitely very fun ! ------