Artwork sequences in videos

[Shmush]

In making your videos I am always amazed at how you create progressions of the artwork used for demonstration purposes when you are obviously using completed art pieces. Is that time consuming to create?

[Mike Sibley]

In making your videos, I am always amazed at how you create progressions of the artwork used for demonstration purposes when you are obviously using completed art pieces. Is that time-consuming to create?

Errrr... Yes! It's often very time-consuming.

For example, although not my work, in the last video I wanted to use Escher's "Three Worlds", as I do in my Drawspace Intermediate course. In the course PDF it's easy, because it only involves stills. But in Negative Drawing Part 2...

It took 3 days to carefully extract the trees from the image - including painting in all the gaps created by the leaves.

Polly-trees.jpg

It took another day to separate out the leaves and the fish. And then invisibly fill the holes in the fish.

Then, returning to my own work, you can add a full day to cut out around the Cairn Terrier in my drawing "The Barn Patrol". Of course, once I'd done that - accurately:

Polly-cutout.jpg

I could save time by using it as a mask to remove itself from the background:

Polly-background.jpg

And it HAS to be accurate (erased right up to every edge), so I can throw a stroke around it to create the "line drawing".

Polly-line.jpg

Then add another full day to cut out all the parts of the final composition and prepare them for animation.

It IS a lot of work, but I apply the same thinking to it as I do to my drawings... I NEVER think about how long anything will take. Everything will take as long as it needs, and hurrying will spoil the result. For example, I had no idea of how long the White Peacock Butterfly drawing would take to complete. Working 2-4 hours a day, it took 16 days - I'd guessed at 7 - so, I estimated the total time as 38 hours. Why only 2-4 hours? Because it takes another 2-4 hours to log all the camera footage and begin the edit.

I love to be creative, and I'm loving these video creations... but it IS a long process.

And it's full of things that the how-to-video books don't tell you. You can't just pick up a pencil and draw. Oh, no! Even after you've set the white balances and focussed all the cameras, I have to repair the damage to my hands (caused by whatever I've had to do around the farm). And file my nails... and apply hand cream to my ageing skin... and... Well, you get the idea

Sorry - I got off-topic there. But - Yes, it is time-consuming, but if the result justifies the time, and gets the message across clearly, then I think it's time well-spent.

[Shmush]

Wow! It is amazing how the amount of work required can get past you when all you have to do is enjoy the results. It is like when I watch an ice skating or dance routine I say "I don't know why they are breathing so hard, it took no effort at all to watch the performance."

The quality is all the more amazing since you are doing it all. No computer geeks helping with the details or a camera crew setting up the video shots!!!

[Mike Sibley]

The quality is all the more amazing since you are doing it all. No computer geeks helping with the details or a camera crew setting up the video shots!!!

As there's only one of me involved, it's a long steep climb of a learning curve, but very enjoyable.

I like to use animation, which is time-consuming, but I think it best does the job.

I could, for example, physically show you how to do X, Y, or Z. With 41 years of experience behind me, I really could. But I think that's a poor choice. Anyone with 4 months or 4 years of experience might be dissuaded from trying.

But animation just says, "this is how it's done. Now go ahead and try it". It can be very clinical, and clearly show how and why something can be done, or why something happens the way it does.

I tend to think visually as I'm writing the script, and that's when I think of the most suitable animation. Then you have to think in terms of layers on the timeline and break the image down until you have all the parts separated to be animated.

Here's a fairly simple one from the next video (which still needs a beginning and end, but the middle part is complete):

These are the parts of one sequence:

Contrast-parts.jpg

Some of it is clip-art that I've modified, some is my own creation, and the photos and artwork are both mine. There are text graphics that go on top of these. And they all combine to explain how light can be used to create or control contrast.

Total screen-time... about 2 minutes.

Total creation time: maybe 2 days - possibly longer.

Which reminds me... I have the end to write... and then the beginning

[Laurene]

We all appreciate the value of this video series that you’re creating Mike, although I’m certain that none of us quite realized how much work and effort go into the process. Thank you. This new one already has me hooked! Can’t wait!

[Mike Sibley]

Thanks, Laurene. About an hour ago, I completed the first full edit. It's 19 minutes long (surprisingly!) and I'm doing my best to have it ready to launch over the weekend.

Watch out for CONTRAST and MOOD

[Laurene]

Another great video full of valuable information! As I mentioned before, the whole subject matter of mood, lighting and composition completely fascinates me. I still appreciate the technical side of rendering a subject accurately of course, but setting a mood can really pull the viewer into the world the artist is creating. Lighting, contrast, recession, and even a subtle change in a subject’s face or posture can all contribute to creating mood. Easier said than done though!!

[Mike Sibley]

...but setting a mood can really pull the viewer into the world the artist is creating. Lighting, contrast, recession, and even a subtle change in a subject’s face or posture can all contribute to creating mood. Easier said than done, though!!

Where the Basic Techniques videos were aimed purely at technique... these Creative Technique videos have a different agenda.

First, they're based on my Intermediate course at Drawspace, so some knowledge of the basic techniques is assumed. Now we're concerned more with the mental processes - the thought behind the actions or intentions.

Drawing is storytelling. With no story to tell, the work becomes illustration, and I find that particularly soulless. And storytelling requires some knowledge of how to create, or suggest, reality.

The problem is... lighting, shadows, recession... we instinctively understand those things. We have a subconscious in-built system to handle them. And that system is essential, because we need to instantly read and understand the clues in order to move around the three-dimensional world we live in.

BUT... In order to draw with any sense of realism, we need to be CONSCIOUSLY aware of those visual aspects of our everyday life. We need to look at the way shadows fall; to understand why the recession we see occurs; and we need knowledge of how different lights create different shadows.

So, I intend this video to focus on SEEING YOUR TWO-DIMENSIONAL DRAWING AS A THREE-DIMENSIONAL WORLD. There is a science to shadows and lights, but we'll tackle those in later videos.

Right... I'll get back to writing the script