Everyday Folk...

Spottet a guy today that looked like this... Sort of shuffled along taking small (quick) steps, gazing into every shop window he walked by... His hair really was that long, & he had this very same expression on his face... I tried, but couldn't help starring as I walked past him...

-M-

Seasons Greetings...

***Merry CHRISTMAS to ALL, & to YOU ALL, a very Merry CHRISTMAS*** 
So in the spirit of this season, I'll be giving away ***3*** of my Faux Movie-Poster Prints (A2) tomorrow; FREE DELIVERY/ FREE SHIPPING!!! Stay tuned, by heading over to my FB Page to find out how you can grab one ;)

Lots of Love, Joy, Peace 'n' Good vibes, y'all.

God bless,

-MaX-

-M-

Sketch-A-Scene

Hey all here's a new exercise I've decided to give myself, titled, 'Sketch-A-Scene'... The main objective here being to capture a story, attitude & general emotions of a scene in a simple line drawing/ sketch... Think of it as though a film has been 'paused' in mid scene. I think this is a great exercise for every artist/ animator.

"ummm... JUST HAAANGE OOOON... I'LL GO FIND HELP!!!"

For animation, it'll help push the strength of your 'keyframes', & hold the structure/ guide-path of your animation together... Plus the stronger the 'key drawing', the more you'll believe what your character's going through, thus putting you right there in the scene also... & that's when you start making weird sound effects with your mouth, & contorting your face like a mad-man.

Betty: "... Darling, have you been drinking aga..."
Howard: "DAMMIT BETTY, I SAW IT WITH MY OWN TWO EYES!!!"

Give this exercise a go! You can even try it whilst watching a film, pausing it on dramatic scene, where for example, a character is in a rage, possibly threatening someone with a raised fist, or something (you know?).
Throw a little written dialogue in it & see if it reads & looks believable.

Anyways, hope this is helpful to someone out there. I'll be doing this for the next few weeks, so love to see what you guys come up with also!

Sketch page...

-M-

Star Trek (TOS) Character re-designs

Hey folks!! So I've just arrived back from an incredible adventure trip to Peru. I had an amazing time there, saw some incredible sights, met some amazing people & made some new friends. It's been a real dream of mine for many years to visit, so I'm very thankful I had the opportunity to go. If you ever have the chance, I encourage & recommend a visit; you won't regret it! Official post to come + pics & travel movie.

Ok back to business... Those who know me well will know I'm unashamedly a lover & fan of the Star Trek (the original series) franchise... Those of you who may not know me as well may remember this post I made back in 2010  declaring my love for the original Gene Roddenberry show & how I'd always wanted to create my own illustrated versions of the characters (for a future animated* project)... Well here are a bunch of the main cast members I actually designed last year, but only just decided I'd post up.

Kirk, Spock & McCoy...

Initially, I wasn't planning to share anything on this project yet till I'd developed the concept & vision I had a little more, but I figured it might be interesting to see what the response would be at this stage... I really grew towards liking the idea of designing the characters with no pupils or irises, only the white of the eye... The thought first came as I was roughing out 'Spock', & since he is after all half alien, I figured it'd give him an instant visual difference to the other characters... But then once I had the other guys in, I wondered how they'd all look with the same treatment... I really liked it! I liked the idea of them all looking slightly abnormal, which I think adds to the beyond-earth science fiction vibe + gives it a little dark/ mature-ish format, which is where I'd take a re-boot of the original animated series if I were ever to direct it. More in development...

Uhura & Chekov...

Scotty & Sulu...

-M-

Movie Night Doodles...

Hi folks! Here are some sketches done over the past week. I've just started a new A5 sketchbook & dedicated to sketching whilst watching classic movies... Most of these were done whilst watching the 1955 classic, "Daddy Long Legs" staring Fred Astaire & the lovely Lesley Caron. A very charming, fun & entertaining film if you haven't seen it. Here's the trailer: http://bit.ly/KX4EFH

 

 

 

 

-M-

Colour study...

Here's a rough colour study I worked up yesterday... Realised the girl just seemed a little too generic with no real story behind her... at first I actually saw her as maybe some sort of ballet dancer who had just been visited by an obsessed fan; but then kinda wanted it to be a little more darker than that, so threw in a pair of playboy bunny ears on her & a more interesting story just seemed to pop out!

In fact, would be great to know how you guys interpret this scenario... Once I've finished the piece then I'll explain what I saw too. Also, I couldn't quite decide on which of these two versions to go for; the only difference being the sort-of over-exposed hot spot in the second image where the light source is closest... I quite liked the idea of them being illuminated from below/ just off screen; as is the trademark lighting style in the noir genre, of which I'm huge fan.

Feel free to drop comments below, love to know what you think ;)

Fig: 01

Fig: 02

-M-

To Traditional... and Beyond!

Hi guys! My my, it's been quite some time, huh? Can you believe we're entering the 4th month of the year already!!? Hope you've all been well?

So the past month or so (since my last post), as usual, I've been busy freelancing & working on some pretty cool projects; one of which was directing/ animating a commercial for a particular clothing retailer based over in the US, which I'll post a link to once it's all signed off...

Commercial work aside though, I have been working away on a few new personal projects; as well as some unfinished ones from last year. The latest being having a sudden urge to get back to doing some traditional artwork, & in the process, peel my eyes away from staring at a computer monitor... Mainly also to improve my skills in the areas of colour theory & better understanding how to control it. As with any form of digital media, there are many advantageous features & opportunities that are at our disposal, which we do not have as luxuries in the traditional world. On saying that, these "advantages" do at times also become handicaps in our creative lives, leaving us so dependent upon them, we can't even imagine how we ever lived without them... Obviously, when you think about it, this inevitably hinders our growth as artists or more generally, problem solvers/ thinkers...

More & more I've been seeing some AMAZING digital artists going down this route too (I guess maybe for the same reasons) & producing some brilliant traditional art! Which reminds me, I have to give a shout-out to these two talented young ladies, Eli & Oli [twin sisters in fact] who are two of such artists. 17yrs old & they're already more prolific than a lot of professional artists I know (myself included). Check out their stuff & show some support if you have a few mins.

... So yeah, with all the above in mind, over the past week or two, I've been raiding Art stores like a crazed hoarder! Picked me up some acrylics, a good quality set of paintbrushes, an easel, palette knife & a few other essentials. Below are just a few rough poses I did for this first traditional painted piece [in over a decade!]. I'm not planning to spend too much time on these, nor put too much pressure on myself; at this start-up stage I just want to have fun with it.

Fig: 01) Wanted to go for some sort of Noir-type 
"crime scene" feel; perhaps a character backed up into a 
corner making his last stand & going down fighting!

Fig: 02) Decided to throw a female in there to 

dramatise the scene up a little more... Yep, I'm a 

sucker for the archetypal damsel in distress situation... 

what red-blooded man isn't!!?

Fig: 03) At this point [in fig 02] I could now visualise 

the scene/ setup I wanted, & so decided to hop onto 

my comp [above] to tighten up the pose, body 

language of both characters & small details such as 

facial expressions, clothing & creases etc... I figured 

it'd be faster to do this on the comp than sketching 

it out on paper, feeling my way through till I go it 

right & wasting a few pages in my sketch book [as 
I said, I don't plan on spending too long on these pieces]. 

So now, TENSIONS are high, SUSPENSE is excruciating 

& ANXIETY is the name of the game... I name this 
piece in advance with the fitting title of, 

"Dead End Alley!!!".

Fig: 04) Light under-drawing transferred, & ready to 

begin!

... I'll keep you guys posted as I go. Have a fun weekend all!

-M-

Sketch-ercise #66 #67

Hi guys! Sorry for these sporadic posts these past few weeks; work's kinda heating up now, so organisational skills are ferociously being tested! I'll try to get back to the "dailies" as much as I can...

On another note, I now have a LiveStream Channel! I've done one or two streams just to "test the waters" etc, but I'll now officially be Streaming during some of my sessions, so please do come join me for a doodle; you'll get to meet some of the other guys who sketch with me, interact via the instant messenger chatroom + listen in on some of the crazy topics that get brought up... this week I learnt more about rats than I ever wanted to know... (((shudders)))... Tune in at http://www.livestream.com/maximajination...

Here's this week's Sketchercise sessions I had time to do...

"Fear"

"Love"

Oh, btw IT'S SNOWING here in ol' London Town (pretty much same timing as last year)...  I'm off out to declare war on local youths! (wish me luck)

-M-

Sketch-ercise #62 #63 #64 #65

Last week's Sketch-ercise sessions... Theme: "Performance, Acting, Emotion & Believability". As with anything, I kinda started off not so great, but felt myself loosening up towards the last few session of the week. For those new to my sketch-blog [or this theme I'm working on], a little while ago, I started feeling as though I really needed to work more on "expressions"... expressions, as in, facial expression, body language/ the general level of performance I gave characters whilst illustrating; [you can check out the full description of the theme here]... So for the past couple weeks, I've been doing a series of character in-situs, head shots & eyes/ mouth expression studies...

It's actually been a lot tougher than I thought... but in a good way... I've had to admit to/ come face to face with weaknesses I've had, & avoided for far too long... Found myself having to go back to basics to really try to grasp an understanding of this theme. As well as just trying to build my knowledge of human "expression" & "emotion", I've also been trying to apply it stylistically to the way [at this moment], I draw...




Well, that's all the time I have to make this post
but I'll continue my explanation/ findings on the next.
Have a great week folks!

-M-

Sketch-ercise #58

Friday the 13th January's Sketch-ercise...

-M-

Sketch-ercise #57

Thursday 12th of January's Sketch-ercise session...

-M-

Sketch-ercise #56

Wednesday 11th January's Sketch-ercise...

-M-

Sketch-ercise #55

So here's the first warm-up Sketch-ercise session of 2012... Still working in the theme of, "Performance, Acting, Emotion & Believability"; this week I decided we'd go back to basics & simply work on head-shots, as opposed to full-body... Bit of a rough start, but hopefully things'll pick up over the week.

-M-

Sketch-ercise #53

Thursday 1st December 2011's Sketch-ercise....... P'KOOW!!!

-M-

Sketch-ercise #52

Wednesday 30th Nov's Sketch-ercise........ BRAKKA!!!

Poitier & Stewart...

-M-

Sketch-ercise #51

Here's Tuesday 29th Nov's Sketch-ercise... So the theme for that week was "Performance, Acting, Emotion & Believability", but forgot to mention I had chosen to explore this through characters in situ of being shot... "why?"... I guess I felt it'd be a good challenge. Have you every really watched people in movies [particularly 80's/ early 90's action movies] get shot...? more specifically, by a machine gun...? it's kinda like some sort of interpretive "tribal dance"... almost "ballet" when in slowmotion or over-acted, as this re-edited epic clip from "Commando" so exquisitely shows [skip to 1:15 to see Arnie "Matrix" unleash a 100x ultra combo on Benetts ass]. I've always wondered whether stunt-men have training workshops on this sort of thing; like how to convincingly move their bodies to accent the impact of bullet hits etc...

Anyways, I digress, but that's pretty much my reasoning for choosing this as a concept for my theme... to explore the physics of how the body might move & react in this situation; & convincingly capture pain/ emotion in facial expressions & body language.


Here's my other favourite "Ren & Stimpy" scene; this time for the performance given to little Anthony's Dad. I love the slow pace of it & the little personality traits/ gestures given him that really sell his character as this traditional hard-working, authoritarian dad. Watch this opening scene where he has them up against the wall, then skip to 1:40 where he has them trapped in... the DEN!!!

A few more Silver Screen greats.

















-M-

Sketch-ercise #50

Hi guys! Here's Monday 28th Nov's Sketch-ercise... "What delightful theme could this possibly be" I hear you ask? Well, for a little while now, I've been feeling like I need to work more on the "Performance, Acting, Emotion & Believability" of my characters/ general design... I've never felt I've fully understood the laws & intricacies of these key subjects, so over the next few weeks, I'll be looking into them further as the basis for my themes...

I really believe, like actors, characters [creature or human] should convey a strong/ clear sense of emotion & expression relating to whatever situation they're in or personality you've given them. I think it's safe to say, anyone can draw a circle, add a few lines to create an angry, sad or "smiley face" & have pretty much everyone in the world recognise it as one of those generically basic emotions; but to capture the little things... subtleties... or those, what I call "sub expressions" like cautious, weary, ashamed, snide, anxious etc, again, like acting, they need time & lots practice to make them truly convincing... and so the study begins!

I've always been a huge John K fan, & I remember listening to this interview one day where he was explaining how there are many more expressions that can & should be explored using those basic happy, sad, angry, tired etc emotions... Over at 'Spumco' [early 90's], when "Ren & Stimpy" was in full swing, he'd always encourage his team of animators to really push the variety of expressions... Although in this case, the "Ren & Stimpy" style of expression & acting focused on hyper exaggeration, but the true principles of "Performance, Acting, Emotion & Believability" was very much applied... Here's one of my favourite "psycho Ren" scenes, where Ren looses it with his Austrian cousin "Sven" & as usual, Stimpy too; the performance given to Ren in this is brilliant!

Something also worth checking out when you have the time is this "Label" compiled list of blog post by John of all things under "Acting"... This is a GOLDMINE for any animator or illustrator out there; some seriously informative stuff worth noting/ practicing.

Lastly, here are two of my all time favourite actors, Charlton Heston & Kirk Douglas... BELIEVE ME, I could spend another hour on here, writing on what I love about both! But alas, it's already like 4am here in London, so I'd better retire now.

Well I hope I haven't bored you too much with my thoughts, ramblings & run-on sentences folks.

Later!

-M-

Speed paint #44

Hi guys, here's Last week Thursday's Sketch-ercise... Meet Frank- the greasy auto mechanic.

-M-

Speed paint #43

Here's last week Wednesday's Sketch-ercise... [done last week Wednesday]. Meet Charlie... he owns a newspaper stand. Has never had a day off & can be found in his booth during the worst of weather conditions, still running business as normal... "One thermal flask'a hot coco + whisky, a can'a'tuna & the latest issue of Popular Science... that's aaall I need!"

-M-

Speed paint #42

Tuesday's Sketch-ercise [done on Tuesday]... Having less & less time to prepare myself for these now after I get home from work so probably will be little to no colour on the next few posts; at least till I have time to go back on them... Meet Stefano... Restaurant owner & rare wine collector... He's a self indulgent tripe an idiot.

-M-