Bagel With an "N"

Past 2 weeks figure drawing

2012-03-01T12:26:00.000-08:00

5 Minute Head Drawings

2012-02-11T22:29:00.000-08:00

Some Master Studies

Some figure drawing...

2012-02-08T11:27:00.000-08:00

The Alchemist Project

2012-02-06T08:58:00.000-08:00

ALL CRITS VERY WELCOME

Tanks & Plane Sketches

2011-12-20T16:49:00.000-08:00

Character Crit by David Coleman

2011-11-17T17:25:00.001-08:00

Thought i'd share a critique i received yesterday from David Coleman. For those of you who dont know him, do a google search and check out his sites:

www.davidsdoodles.com

www.davidcolman.blogspot.com

He's a great artist and exceptional character designer working in the animation industry for dreamworks, disney, etc.

The main points of the critique focused on the characters readability and silhouette. As you can see with the blacked out silhouette on the top right, it's hard to discern the characters arms and legs. This is something the untrained (me) didn't quite see when designing out the shapes. His quick gesture lay-in with the red in center will better help pop the individual things going on.

Secondly, the structure is another aspect to focus on. Even though I felt like I was focusing on that in this assignment, I need to really understand the form. The character's face flattens out in areas where I dont spend the time to really delve into that side of things. However, with that being said, there are some kudos I got for other areas. I suppose what i learned here is that I need to analyze each part and fix what's not working.

Designing the hair was another aspect to him that was important. Soft, rough, etc. and using the appropriate shapes to show this. I think I could practice that a little more.

Lastly the design of the whiskers and the smoke could have used even as much as 15 minutes to think through the nature of them. They seem a bit last minute, which in all honesty they were. I was trying to get a little spontaneity that I saw in Steadmans ink work, but even his seemingly chaotic nature is still thought through. Crazy how that works right?

Thanks David! This will go into my memory vault for quite sometime. Look forward to showing you the next set of things i come up with

Steadman & Seuss inspired Disney's Thumper

2011-11-15T19:43:00.001-08:00

So I was having trouble coming up with something original on a thumper redesign. What I did instead while surfing the web for great art, I decided to say "How would Dr. Seuss and/or Ralph Steadman" design thumper? Here's the process and resulting image. I spent about 3-5 hours on this because I really wasn't sure about the style's of each respective artist. The resulting image in my opinion lacks the spontaneity I see in Steadmans work and I would like to have designed the whiskers a bit better.

Hand & Feet Sketching

2011-11-15T19:42:00.001-08:00

Animal Redesign

2011-11-11T19:40:00.001-08:00

This was a fun little exercise. All together I spent about 5 hours on this project. I noticed various animal features that I wanted to incorporate into my creature design. Although the final piece is not as good as I think I can do, the process to figure out what I wanted helped. I created a list of animal features first. Then a little background on the climate. And lastly I figured out why this animal/creature exists. There could've been a lot more depth in all of that, but I didn't want to split hairs. With a basic back story I was able to be satisfied with the final design. The pose i feel could've been pushed more like I was able to do in my initial ballpoint sketches. Enjoy!

Animal Drawing

2011-11-11T19:38:00.001-08:00

Took a trip to the zoo and learned quite a lot about how to break down complex beasts into more simple to draw shapes and forms. Hopefully these read well, but I know that I need more practice at it.

A Creature Concept Sketch Inspired by Natural History Museum

2011-11-04T23:48:00.000-07:00

So here is my NAGELASAURAS, named after me of course the paleontologist that discovered the beast!

I did a lot of sketching initially that just wasn't going anywhere and I couldn't see any weapons, chairs, architecture, etc. I ended up choosing this creature concept because I really liked the thumbnail shape and I wanted to explore it some more. As with all art/design I wish I had more time to really flesh this sucker out because I just started really getting into the back story of the creature as I learned more about the design during the process.

Sketching at the Natural History Museum in LA

2011-11-04T23:46:00.001-07:00

Insect Re-Design

2011-11-01T20:43:00.000-07:00

Insect sketching

2011-11-01T20:41:00.000-07:00

Some Characters from my Frankenstein Project

2011-10-25T19:27:00.000-07:00

VIC FRANKEN CHARACTER SKETCHES

LIZ CHARACTER SKETCHES

MONSTER CHARACTER SKETCHES

JUNKYARD DOG "THUD" CHARACTER SKETCHES

Designing a cute animal

2011-10-25T19:24:00.000-07:00

I really struggled with this latest post for 2 reasons:

1. I don't know animals that well. So I tried dogs, bunnies, pigs.

2. I was concentrating so hard on trying to make it mechanical that it lost it's character and I find it hard to make something cute that is mechanical.

I'd really love some critique on how to push these.

I did one which I think is "ok" which is the dog design at the bottom. I suppose pushing to incorporate shapes, character, AND make it mechanical feeling was tough. But, hey, 1 day i'm happy with the results.

Dynamic Sketching Week 3: Plant Redesign

2011-10-21T16:39:00.000-07:00

FINAL REDESIGN

Dynamic Sketching Week 3: Plant Redesign Quick Back Story

Dynamic Sketching Week 3: Plant Redesign Thumbnails

Dynamic Sketching Week 3: Arboretum

2011-10-21T16:02:00.000-07:00

Character Design Sketches: Crazy Monk

2011-10-19T21:00:00.000-07:00

Spent about 1 hour just sketching a mix of Jim Carrey's Voice / Cynical / Older Brother in the form of a MONK

Intro to Character Design: Ghost Project

2011-10-17T23:28:00.000-07:00

GHOST 1 - GRANDPA CHARLIE

GHOST 2 - LITTLE SALLY

GHOST 3 - JACK

Great Video: Pascal Campion

2011-10-16T22:09:00.000-07:00

I like what Pascal has to say about finding the emotion in his artwork and telling a story. It's great to be an amazing draftsman, but I believe you need to connect with your audience to transcend the ideas and statements you have to say into the minds of your viewers. He also makes a good point about showing your work, as that is when you define finished!

Inspirational Artists: Pascal Campion from Onyx Cinema, Inc. on Vimeo.

Dynamic Sketching Homework Week 2

2011-10-15T00:19:00.000-07:00

HOW TO PROJECT

2 PGS 5 FORM RELATIONSHIP

2 PGS FORMS W/ CONTOURS & TEXTURES DISSECTED

2 PGS FORMS W/ CONTOURS

2 PGS TEXTURES

Intro to Product & Transporation Design: Drill Project

2011-07-12T20:08:00.000-07:00

Intro to Product & Transporation Design: Car Project

2011-07-12T19:56:00.000-07:00

Viscomm 3/4 Front Views of Cars

2011-07-12T17:28:00.000-07:00

Started to get the hang of this a lot more after quite a few hours figuring out the actual form. I did this by using countour lines unlike I did in my previous bus drawings This helped me better use the market to communicate the subtle form changes. I still had some issues with a few as you can tell, but it's getting a little better.

Viscomm Side Views of Cars

2011-07-12T17:16:00.000-07:00

Here's my first attempts at cars. Learned some interesting things from the previous assignment in busses that I tried to apply here to communicate form a bit more and get my sketches to become a bit more loose. I big thing in changing is being too conservative. I admire those that just let it go and dont think too much like I do. I think there's a definitely a balance, but it helps a lot to get some interesting shapes, lines, and form evolving out of a loose style.

Viscomm 3/4 Front Views of Busses

2011-07-12T17:09:00.000-07:00

The simple fact is, a side view of a drawing only communicates so much. I found it interesting to try and communicate the same forms in 3/4 front views. The process was simple, but the forms in my humble opinion were difficult to figure out. In hindsight I think i could have explored these shapes more and done a much better job with showing the form via contour lines, etc. 1st attempt, and the future designs will take what i've learned and apply it better.

Viscomm Foam Forms

2011-07-12T17:03:00.000-07:00

First attempt at getting a piece of foam and carving out what I thought looked like a cool form. It's an interesting process of using an exacto blade and then sanding it. What I learned was that dull blades add a cruddy looking surface. But it helps you when you create a drawing of a a shape and relate how the light hits it to describe the overall form.

Figure Drawing Workshop + Master Copies: Practicing Value

2011-06-22T13:17:00.000-07:00

Environment Sketching Homework Week 3 Restaurant Sketches

2011-06-22T13:13:00.000-07:00

10 Pages of sideview bus sketches

2011-06-21T11:44:00.000-07:00

Notes from crit

1. Windows

A. keep them simple

B. have them help the vehicle look fast and moving forward

C. Bump up the contrast on them

2. Detail indication

A. exhaust

B. Running lights

C. Rear View Mirrors

D. Cut lines

C. Rocker Panel lines

D. Bumper Lines

E. Compartment cutlines

3. Marker

A. Really bump up the value on these

B. Really bump up the ground line and connect the tires to the road

C. Really thicken the bottom rocker panel line to add visual weight to the bottom of the bus

Head and Figure Drawing SU11: Week 3 - Lighting and Value Notes

2011-06-20T13:38:00.000-07:00

Head and Figure Drawing SU11: Week 3 - Lighting and Value Notes

Analytical Figure Drawing SU11: Week 3 - Basic of Forms Notes

2011-06-20T13:35:00.000-07:00

Analytical Figure Drawing SU11: Week 3 - Basic of Forms Notes: "Notes on Form and Overlap: Breaking the body down into simple forms (drawing through and closing off forms): Treating the shoulder as a cone..."

Figure Drawing Week 3 at CDA

2011-06-20T00:54:00.000-07:00

Today we touched upon forms: SPHERE / CYLINDER / CUBE

The simpler the better when constructing, that way you dont have to spend a lot of time on something complex and find out you screwed up and have to go back through all of that work. If you start simple, with proportions and the silhouette and just blocking in the shapes, then the form will follow.

Each basic form has it's pros and cons.

Sphere:

Pros: Quick lay in
Con: No direction of the sphere

Cylinder

Pros: (I already forgot! I will remember and write this in)
Cons: It's hard to show 3/4 and also hard for perspective

Boxes

Pros: generate the most direction
Cons: slow to lay in by being most complex shape

Environment Sketching Homework Week 3 Perspective in Architecture: Americana Glendale

2011-06-19T09:05:00.000-07:00

Environment Sketching Homework Week 2 Historical Landmark Pasadena City Hall

2011-06-16T20:50:00.000-07:00

Environment Sketching 2x4

2011-06-16T20:46:00.000-07:00

Checked out some landmarks in Pasadena: the Library and the Court of Appeals (go figure!). Did a few sketches of them from the inside and outstide. Also did 2 from Art Center South Campus. although, those two suck.

VisComm Homework: 10 Hairdryer Sketches

2011-06-15T17:20:00.000-07:00

VisComm Homework: 10 Ray Gun Sketches

2011-06-15T17:17:00.000-07:00

VisComm Homework: 10 Drill Sketches

2011-06-15T17:14:00.000-07:00

Analytical Figure Drawing SU11: Jonathan Nagel: Week 2 Homework Part 2

2011-06-14T20:59:00.000-07:00

Analytical Figure Drawing SU11: Jonathan Nagel: Week 2 Homework Part 2: "So I found my new little figure drawing niche for Tuesday nights if anyone wants to join. It's off Figueroa and York from 6-9 basically. ..."

Jonathan Nagel: figure drawing at CDA week 2

2011-06-12T22:00:00.000-07:00

So today we learned to block in the figure with 3 steps:

Group head & neck
group body
Skirt the figure to quickly show the legs
The final silhouette should read in this basic.

Viscomm Ray Gun, Hairdryer, Drill In Class

2011-06-10T12:17:00.000-07:00

This was a fun day. We essentially passed around the paper in class adding to the form as it evolved. After about 5 people we began to add the details and solidify the forms, add buttons, etc. As it evolved over 10 passes, the design in front of us was ours to finish. It was interesting to see the various combinations created in class with 15 people working on each one.

Viscomm Glassware Homework

2011-06-10T12:04:00.000-07:00

Assignment was to see how glass works, sketch some examples, then design a composition and render it how you wish. I decided to render with prisma color pencils on black canson. I think it turned out nice, although the perspective is a tiny bit skewed, but I believe it still holds up well.

Viscomm Flower Analysis

2011-06-10T11:55:00.000-07:00

This is a design analysis for a flower called Protea. It was fun to see how a simple flower could unfold into so many possibilities for ideas.

Viscomm Homework

2011-06-10T11:49:00.000-07:00

Some homework and sketches... nothing too cool...

Visual Communication & Form Development Homework: Perfume Bottle Sketches

2011-06-10T01:11:00.000-07:00

Environment Sketching 2x4

2011-06-10T00:31:00.000-07:00

In Old Pasadena at Starbucks and in a courtyards area. All was in the evening, and I think I should have pushed the values darker, but will work on that next time. Used prisma pencils for the majority and then pen and ink on the last few. These were all 5-10 minutes max each.

Figure Drawing Homework Week 1

2011-06-09T16:27:00.000-07:00

Environment Sketching Homework Week 1 - Film Study from Bladerunner

2011-06-09T16:18:00.000-07:00