Sequential Images: Hokusai Manga

Source: Implied Motion in Hokusai Manga by Mo Costandi

Ukiyo-e, also known as Japanese woodblock painting which articulates the artists' perspective from socio-political subjects to landscapes. Hokusai is one of the famous ukiyo-e artists whose artworks usually implies motion. A neuroscientists, Mo Costandi, explained that the effect of implied motion on Hokusai's works is induced by unstable postures. These postures stimulates the brain to anticipate an sequence of motion that follows the one that he has painted, therefore showing continuity in many of his artwork. This kind of technique is also incorporated in animations, and it is apparent in straight ahead animations when motion is drawn continuously without using keyframes as reference points. 

Performance from Hokusai Manga

The sequence can also be seen in Hokusai's landscape painting based on the same characteristic visual stimulation of  induced movement creates a storyline in the static painting as evidenced by Hokusai's famous work, The Great Wave off Kanagawa.  As I view the painting, my eyes follow the line of action created by the waves. It guides my eyes from the foreground of the paintings towards the taller layer of waves, following the induced movement of the waves towards the Mount Fuji in the background. This painting is also satirical as it unfolds some socio-political opinion of Hokusai, criticising the culture and tradition in the Edo period.

The Great Wave off Kanagawa

Form, Flow and Force: Life Drawing My Friends

These are the pieces that I've done for the life drawing brief that is given today. We were asked to form a group of 4, and within the group, each of us must take turns to pose, while the rest of people in the group will be sketching the person that's posing. We decided to do it in an empty studio and arrange the space until we got the right set up for life drawing. We ended up with an arrangement that looks like those in auditions; the people drew on a table while the model poses in front of them. We did the drawings according to the sequence of the brief.

During the session, I've tried to use 3 different media to decide which are the ones that I'm comfortable with. I ended up liking to use ink with medium-sized round brush the most because it captures the fluidity of my hand movements perfectly and it is a quick drying medium. Charcoal is my second best medium as I really like the fact that putting a little bit more pressure on it will give distinct bolder strokes, but I'm quite annoyed at it since the drawings smudges easily. Meanwhile, 2B graphite stick is my least favourite because I need to press hard to create darker strokes.

Another thing that I've picked up after I examine closely the drawings that I produced is that the movement that my friends produce has their own distinct characteristics which reflects each of their personality. For instance, Natalia is vivacious, while Tom is dramatic, and Rosie is cartoon-ish.

1. Rhythm is a Dancer

Sequential drawings of different kind of movements. The focus of these drawings is on point of contact at different instances as the actions took place. I tried to experiment different drawing styles to represent the figure, but I decided to stick to use stick-men in the end since stick-men can be easily understood and they are easy to draw.

Normal Walk Cycle

Normal Walk Cycle Continued

Time: 10 seconds per pose

Medium: graphite on A3 cartridge paper

Stiff Walk Cycle

Time: 10 seconds per pose

Medium: graphite on A3 cartridge paper

Walking on a Tightrope Walk Cycle

Time: 10 seconds per pose

Medium: graphite on A3 cartridge paper

2. Like a Puppet on a String

The models took into account squash and stretch as they did the poses. The shrinking sequence is my favourite piece because it looks like Photoshop's onion skin effect in which the opacity of the moving subject increases according to the order of the frames.

Shrinking

Time: 10 seconds per pose

Medium: charcoal on A2 cartridge paper

Expanding

Time: 10 seconds per pose

Medium: ink on A2 cartridge paper

Cartoon Walk

Time: 10 seconds per pose

Medium: ink with brush on A2 cartridge paper

Crab Walk

Time: 10 seconds per pose

Medium: ink with brush on A2 cartridge paper

 Charles Darwin Evolution Walk

Time: 10 seconds per pose

Medium: charcoal on A2 cartridge paper

Throwing and Falling

Time: 15 Seconds per pose (with some additional touch ups)
Medium: Graphite on A2 cartridge paper

Squat and jump

Time: 15 Seconds per pose (with some additional touch ups)
Medium: Graphite on A2 cartridge paper

Throwing a Ball

Time: 15 Seconds per pose
Medium: Marker on A2 cartridge paper

Time: 15 Seconds per pose
Medium: Graphite on A2 cartridge paper

3. Ah, Push It!

A study of forces, pressure and line density from longer push and pull poses. For some of these, I drew the rough sketch to get the gist of where the pressure is placed on before I started drawing the final piece.

Pulling a Chair (Rough)

Pulling a Chair

Time: 7 minutes

Medium: charcoal on A3 cartridge paper (Rough) & ink with brush on A3 cartridge paper
Pressure is put on the right leg.

Pushing a Table (Rough)

Pushing a Table

Time: 7 minutes

Medium: charcoal on A3 cartridge paper (Rough) & ink with brush on A3 cartridge paper
Pressure is put on the hands.

Exaggerated Table Pushing

Time: 7 minutes

Medium: charcoal on A3 cartridge paper
Pressure is put on the right leg.

Pushing against the Window

Time: 5 minutes
Medium: ink with brush on A3 cartridge paper
Pressure is put on the right leg.

Pulling the Curtain

Time: 5 minutes
Medium: ink with brush on A3 cartridge paper
Pressure is widely spread across the body since the action is less arduous as compared to others.

Dramatic Window Pushing

Time: 5 minutes
Medium: charcoal on A3 cartridge paper
Pressure is put on the right leg.

4. Strike a Pose

Time: 20 minutes
Medium: charcoal on A1 cartridge paper

Time: 20 minutes

Medium: charcoal on A2 cartridge paper

Time: 20 minutes

Medium: charcoal on A2 cartridge paper

Time: 20 minutes

Medium: brush pen on A2 cartridge paper

Sketchbook: Places

I challenged myself to do observational drawings of my surroundings when the sketchbook brief was given because I want to improve on my environmental drawing. It has really benefited me as it has changed how I look at things. For instance, I started to pay attention to the change of perspectives when I walk pass through it, and I've understood perspective better. I found that I learn faster when I observe my surroundings instead of just learning things from reading books, although I still refer to books to clarify my doubts or for further research on some interesting findings. 

These are the landscape drawings that I made arranged sequentially from the oldest to the newest. Most of them were initially quick sketches that I've done in less than 5 minutes developed into a more detailed drawings afterwards by adding some cross-hatchings and or colours.

Drawn as Viewed from the Dining Table in My Flat

Kensington Palace at Hyde Park, London

Quick Sketch while Waiting for the Bus

LS6 Cafe. Vibrant colours made it looks like a Chinese Restaurant

Some Famous Landmarks at Lincolnshire

Watercolour Practice: Middleton Woods from a Picture Reference

Sketchbook: People

I found it hard to draw people's faces, so I decided to practice drawing them occasionally to help me understand the facial features better. Before getting into observational drawing from real life, I took out a book titled Portraits by Wolfgang Tilmans who is a German photographer. 

I did a little bit of study during the Christmas Break by drawing portraits of the people from that book. I found this exercise useful as I the more I draw the person, the better I can understand their facial features, and the facial structures starts to look like the original. 

I spent most of my time in London during the Christmas Break, being a tourist, visiting museums and landmarks. When I got tired and decided to sit down, I took out my sketchbook and sketch some statues in my surroundings. The carricatures on the right are mostly referenced from the interesting faces from portraits in the National Portrait Gallery.

Drawings of people at Nation of Shopkeepers. I somehow made some of them look older than they should be, but I can still see improvement from the previous drawings. I also think that the drawings that I produce from real life observation is different to those from portraits; the facial features seems more solid. 

Drawings of some of my friends that I made during a drawing session. It was enjoyable and full of laughter as we did drawings of each other's faces. Also, I tried different media like watercolour and pencils this time, and I am happy with the outcome because I can draw faces more accurately than before.

Sequential images: Religious Relief

Sequential images are used to tell stories even before comic books. Back in the 9th centuries, in Indonesia, temples were built during the reign Buddhist kingdom called Majapahit to establish the marvel of Buddha. The biggest one is Candi Borobudur where a lot of religious reliefs can be found. Now reliefs serves as valuable artefacts which contains information of the culture and tradition of Indonesian ancestors. Many of them are still being recovered and preserved by archaeologists. These  elaborately carved reliefs shows profundity of the artists who are involved because, despite being a collaborative effort, the reliefs still present consistency of flow and art style.

Environmental Storytelling: Middleton Woods Photo References

Environmental Storytelling: Cafe 164 Photo References