Kyle 4/30/10

This one really took me a while...I'm just not used to markers...not used to how they move, how to blend them, how they work in my hand...its getting better though. I really need to get the skin tone set and a cool gray set if I want to keep using them.

I like the fact that I can layer them like water color to deepen tone, but I don't like that I can't mix my own colors into one marker like I would load a brush with a color I mixed...I have to layer colors which is something I'm not used to yet. The coats in this sketch, for instance, took me forever to get close to right (they're a little too dark, but its just a suggestion!). There are seriously, like, 5 colors of marker on there.

I'm not all that happy with the streaky look of the trousers, but that's just me...I'm not used to the way markers look when I use them. I can look at other designer's marker renderings and say, "those look wonderful!" and I'm just kinda "blah" about mine...they aren't bad, I'm just not used to them.

Using markers is wonderful though. There isn't that pesky drying time you have to contend with when using paint, and the color is even - you reach for a marker and you know exactly what color is gonna come out. I really want to keep working with them...maybe try to get myself loosened up. I think that this summer (not that I'll have much free time) I'll take some of the Merry Wives and Into the Woods sketches with me and color them...and then post them. And you all can tell me what I'm doing wrong (hopefully I'll do some things right).

Eric 4/30/10

One full week!  One full week!  Gooooooo me!

I'm really happy with this blog, and let me tell you why.  Getting into the habit of thinking about doing one sketch per day has enabled me to pace myself in prepping for a show deadline.  In this case, I may have put off coloring all of my Wonka sketches until tonight, which would have created an unpleasant and sloppy coloring marathon this weekend.  Instead, I've pushed myself to get one done a day, to take my time, and now I only have two sketches left to color this weekend.  Awesome.

These are the lovely Grandparents, whom I pulled very strongly into the world of candy and chocolate.  They may be poor, but I want them to look warm and friendly.  To me, they're like the bowl of hard candy your great-grandmother always had sitting out on the coffee table.  Here is my color inspiration:

Every time I think I'm getting good with markers, I either screw up something really badly (which I did in the case of Grandma Georgina, but fixed) or figure out a new technique that I needed three sketches ago.  I figure though, that this is a lifelong process and I'll look back at these sketches a year from now and laugh at how much I didn't know.

The Return....OF KYLE!!!!! AGGG!!!

Hey friends! Sorry I've been away for so long...its been way busy at work and with gearing up for the Summer...

Anyway, speaking of Summer, that's the subject of my post today. I'm going back to Great River Shakespeare Festival (www.grsf.org if you're interested) where I'll be assistant designing the costumes for Othello, designed by Devon Painter, and the "Design Coordinator" for a musical called The Daly News. Its basically a re-mount of a production done a few years ago, but we are re-imagining a few things. Its a really lovely show with three actors that play lots of characters. Things move really fast so the characters need to be easily identifiable and quick to get on and off. It lots and lots of hats and coats. I'm only rendering things that are different from the original production.

Martin is the patriarch of the Daly family (he's played by the playwright, Jon Daly, who also happens to be his Grandson) whose children have all shipped out to fight in World War II. Every week he compiles all the letters that he gets from them and adds news from the home front into a news letter called "The Daly News" and sends it out to his kids to keep the family in touch.

The base costume for all the actors is a shirt and pants. In the past production he wore a cardigan and spectacles, which he's wearing here, but I'm getting new ones rather than renting them. There were issues with the fit of the cardigan in the past production, so I'm buying two sizes and seeing which fits Jon the best.

Shatzie is Martin's wife. An apron has always been used for this character, but was far too full and frilly in the past production. I found a really lovely apron in my research online and planned on building it. AND THEN I found the pattern in stock at work...I was so happy. We'll have to scale the pattern up to actually fit a man, but its a start!

I have a few more sketches to do...I'll post more as I get them done. I'm using markers for the first time in years so I'm doing lots of playing...its hard to get may hand used to the markers after being so used to a paint brush, but the markers go so much faster and considering that I leave for Winona in exactly one week, I need all the speed I can get!!

Eric 4/29/10

So, I think I redeemed my time a bit today, since this one did not take me six hours.  I attribute that largely to the fact that they're all wearing pants, and those are pretty simple to color.  Plus, these are all clothes that I pulled from the Old Navy website, so there was little to figure out.

Something interesting that has come up, and I'm hesitant to talk about it so it's not taken out of context, is the issue of race.  Yesterday, I was asked why all of the bad kids and parents where white; and not just white, but the exact same hue of Caucasian.  In real life, some are pale, some are tan and some are in between.  Well that is because I learned ONE way to color white skin, and I used it over and over as a time save more than anything.  That, and costume sketches are illustrations, not photo-realism.

But it got me thinking: why do I default to drawing a white person with Brick Beige skin and a perfect body?  Well, I don't think there's an easy answer.  In truth, I tend to like to draw men over women as well.  I'll default to drawing a white male than anything else.  Mostly, I think I do it because I just don't think: I draw.  Today I thought about it, so I tried to represent some diversity.

I'm going to keep this more in mind from now on.  I admitted earlier in the blog that I wanted to explore more diversity in my drawing, since I've always just defaulted to what I see in the mirror.

Eric 4/28/10

This sketch took foreeeeeeeeeeeeeeever to color!  But, it was eight figures in all, so I'm pretty sure I'm allowed for it to take some time.  Either way, I'm really pleased with it.

One of things I like best about the sketch is Violet's Girl Scout Uniform.  I referenced an actual uniform for the color and it took five markers to get it with all of its highlights and shadows.

The director asked me specifically not to "color block" the families, so that they can be more individual.  Although I did connect them through hair color and style, I allowed them to find their own color identity.  Their palate is to be more demure, so that the chocolate factory can be more contextually vibrant.

Just a few more to go!

Eric 4/27/10

And from work, no less!  This sketch is the immediate Bucket family, Charlie (for most of the play and his transformation at the end), Mother and Father.  I took a picture with my camera, so the contrast is a little bit off.

I was really uninspired on what to do for Mother.  So being at work, I just went down to stock to see what we have and what I could re-purpose.  And voila!  I found all of those pieces in stock, which would give me a general path to follow for the mother.  Charlie and Dad will have their sweaters done custom.  I have intentionally drawn Dad's sweater to be a little bit too big and yet too small.  It's a well-made sweater that he's needed to keep in use for a long time.

The other great thing is that Charlie's apron for the end is the actual fabric that LAYNE found during a trip to Hancock's.  Yes, it is a white cotton with a border print of those amazing dots.  For the hat, we are going to cut smaller dots from the larger ones to create the border on his little Candyman hat.

I'm glad I'm able to slowly get these colored instead of a mad dash to the end.  I'm enjoying taking my time with the marker, doing lots of tests and trying to get as much detail in as I would do with something like acrylic or colored pencil.  It took me a little bit to remember Bill Black's method for coloring faded jeans.  I still don't think I have the finesse with it he does.  I know he uses Periwinkle in there somewhere, but for the life of me I couldn't make THAT work.

Eric 4/26/10

My focus this week will be on coloring my Wonka sketches, since they're due Sunday.  So I'm sorry to say that I won't be posting new drawings until next week.

Coloring is one of those things that I stress about until I start.  Then, I LOVE it!  I think it hearkens back to my love of coloring books when I *was* a kid.

For this show I'm using marker, for several reasons.  One, I think maker provides a fun, intense color with little to no fuss.  Two, it's quick to get to the color I see in my head.  Three, there is no dry time, which always gets me into trouble with watercolor.  I've used markers enough that I'm pretty familiar with color quality and hue, but it's still a game of experimentation.

In my grad program, I had two colleagues that were amazing with marker: my professor, Bill Black and my classmate Emily Strickland.  Those two can make marker look gorgeous and effortless.  I used to always beg Bill to teach me marker, however, he always said he couldn't.  Bill just picked up markers one day and started playing, and he encouraged me to do the same.

So, I still consider myself "playing" with marker.  With every sketch, I invent new tricks and techniques and keep finding new ways to articulate the figure.  And my cats LOVE it when I spread around 300 markers on the floor.  It's like kitty porn.