The Rule of Thirds

From The Little Mermaid. I was noticing the focal point, the mouth of the cave is exactly at the intersection of thirds. Why is this a timeless rule. Any focal point at the intersection of thirds will NEVER cut the picture in half. There is either more above or below and more to the right or left. Never the same. By using values the background also uses an "O" composition. Dark at the edges getting lighter until the focal point which is the darkest dark next to the lightest light.

Wall Photos

By:Walt Disney Animation Studios

You can bet, though, that when the Little Mermaid is added to the picture she is lighter, has more contrast, more detail and more color than anything in the background. Because she is the real focal point.

Drawing Marilyn Monroe - Jason Baalman

This is another drawing video by Jason Baalman. Time lapse photography reduces the drawing time of one and a half hours to eight minutes. He applies the principles in the earlier videos. When he starts the drawing he focuses on plotting and placement of the large shapes.  Each large shape is created by plotting both vertically and horizontally the points that make up the outline of the shape.  Because he is experienced he does this very quickly. He then fills in the value of the large shapes. He is not thinking about what the shapes are, just the height and width of each shape and its value.  The nose, for instance, is not a nose.  It is the shadow under plane, the halftone side plane and the light front plane.  The planes that face the light remain the white of the paper. He never draws a "nose". As he progresses he breaks the larger shapes into smaller ones, some darker, some lighter by erasing out. He then focuses on edges, blending them out or sharpening them. 

He creates Marilyn Monroe entirely by focusing on the size, placement and value of the shapes with final attention given to the edge between each shape.

Rhythms in Drawing

Animators are trained to draw with rhythms, like we were talking about yesterday with your horse's legs. Look at the rhythm lines of Rafiki ... from arm to arm, leg to leg, torso flowing into the leg. Whatever you are drawing look for a rhythm line and then build onto or cut into it to move it from generic to specific. But start with the rhythm.

Character Profile - Rafiki

By:Walt Disney Animation Studios Look at the circular rhythm created by Rafiki's two arms. If you get that rhythm right you will be able to place the details correctly. Rhythms are everywhere. There are rhythms in the lion's face from one eye across to the other, from one eybrow across to the other ...

Character Profile - Rafiki

By:Walt Disney Animation Studios The rhythm of Rafiki's left arm is a simple "v".  Then the details of the fur are added to it. But, it is a specific "v". Is it a wide or narrow "v" ... you can accurately see what kind of "v" it is if you ask it of yourself. If you look, you can see when it is off. The two questions you ask about shape are ... is it taller or narrower, is it wider or narrower? Ask about a line ... what is the angle? You know the angle of the 60 stops a minute hand makes as it goes around a clock face, so you know the angle of a line, of Rafiki's forearm. You know it!

Character Profile - Rafiki

By:Walt Disney Animation Studio

Value Shapes

To the drawing class, start at about 5 minutes into the video, "Introducing Value Shapes", by Jason Baalman. He is drawing only with shapes of different values and how they relate to each other.  What he is drawing is irrelevant. If the shapes and values are correct, the drawing will be correct. After videos 5A through 5D, he continues breaking the original shapes into smaller and smaller shapes, some darker and some lighter. In video 6P, simply by correctly copying shapes, he ends up with a portrait of a well known public figure whom recognize because the shapes are correct. When you begin to see what you are drawing simply as a pattern of value shapes you will have made the jump to drawing what you see. Any three dimensional subject matter can be converted to two dimensional shapes.

 

Standard Mat Sizes

Outside Opening

9 x 12"   5.5 x 8.5"

11 x 14" 7.5 x 9.5"

12 x 16" 8.5 x 11.5"

16 x 20" 10.5 x 13.5"

16 x 20" 10.5 x 14.5"   1/4 sheet watercolor paper

16 x 20" 10.5 x 15.5"

19 x 26" 14.5 x 21.5"  1/2 sheet watercolor paper

20 x 24" 15.5 x 19.5"

22 x 28" 17.5 x 23.5"

24 x 30" 18.5 x 24.5" Full sheet drawing, pastel paper

Remember that the paper size should be 1/2" longer for each inner dimension to fit under the mat opening.

I love concept art. The artists really control the values in the foreground, mid-ground and background. They stick to the value range for each to create distance and layering ... like the layers on a stage set. These are gouache - opaque watercolor. It has a special glow no other media has.

Concept Art from 'Rapunzel'

By:Walt Disney Animation Studios