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Observational and volumetric drawing is what was missing in 95% of the portfolios I reviewed while I was at Disney Feature up till 2019. 95% of my opportunity mentoring newer artists was solely focused on building their drawing skills. Drawing is so important!
Here’s how: focus on proportions first. Draw still life objects. Measure things out accurately and definitively as much as you can. Sometimes the biggest difference between Rapunzel and an ordinary generic girl is the subtle relationship of proportions!
Use a unit of measurement and gauge your distances between elements. If you look at Nick Marlet’s construction notes on Baltimore.. he uses a circle to measure out proportions for the whole body.. be clear, be consistent and be thorough in your Thought process and execution!
Sorry.. Nico Marlet on Balto.. typo*
Next focus on volume. Look at the animation book by Preston Blair. Practice drawing 40s classic animation designs. Draw them to a point where you can’t tell the difference between a pose you created vs a production drawing. This is an exercise in proportion and volume and...
Performance. If you have gotten to this point you’ve sailed past those 95% of people I referred to in the beginning. This is where things get more interesting and creative. Not only do you need to draw volumetrically but also accurately on the right relationship..
What that means.. is that you not only have to draw fingers accurately in space.. but you can’t twist them or warp them.. in a way that feels broken.. you need to understand the limitations of each joint on the body..
At a certain point you need to “feel” the poses your characters create.. so they don’t feel broken.. and hit the right tone or emotion you want from the pose.. sometimes it’s a matter of the “right” head tilt that does it.. or the right spine twist.. nobody will know it but you..
Now is the time to slow motion through YouTube videos and really understand how people walk move react etc.. the best way to analyze these videos for me is to “feel” the poses in movement just like you do with drawings..
I ultimately realized too that it wasn’t just internalizing performance but thinking about how it communicates graphically on screen.. which is the next thing.. how do you communicate graphically the best way on what you internalized in a performance?
Which is composition. How do you use the pictorial elements on screen to design a pathway for the eye? Composing Pictures by Don Graham was helpful in that respect for me..
Learning all of this beforehand is probably the best thing before even starting to collect your drawings into a portfolio.. so you can solely focus on the conceptual side of the process when you do get hired.. but you may just not be that financially capable to do so..
Focus on doing your job as best as you can. Be as efficient and economical as possible. And the fastest way to draw is to know what you are doing. That way you have time to do other things.
