Saturday, March 24, 2012

A Dedicated Movie Sketchbook

I did so many movie spreads at the end of my three-ring sketchbook that I decided to dedicate my next sketchbook entirely to movies. What I hadn't anticipated was the puttering out of my enthusiasm for the subject about halfway through the book! So, it sits there, waiting for me to renew my energy for it. Anyway, this is the first page. I didn't have a two-page spread to work with here, and being unaccustomed to the limited vertical space, I chose a simple scene from the movie and left it at that.



There was some amazing typography in this movie! And some amazing scenes! It was difficult to decide where to pause on this one; I wanted to choose them all. I think I've said it before though, Jackie Chan is not an easy character to freeze--he is always a blur! I don't practice landscapes as often as I should, but I did enjoy doing this one. In fact, I could do page after page of this movie's landscapes/ cityscapes!



Still adjusting to the format of this sketchbook, I started cramming characters in willy-nilly. It got easier as the pages turned, but still, I think I prefer the portrait format. My hand/arm seems to need the freedom in my vertical movements. I lost a lot of the likenesses that were there in the sketches when I added the watercolor, but I was still happy with this page. I've since added some background color to help unite the characters, but sorry, I'm too lazy to rescan, readjust, etc, etc. Laziness in scanning is one of the biggest obstacles to my posting more frequently. There, I said it! I'm lazy! (I'm trying to overcome though!)

 UPDATE: Dec 30, 2013 I haven't been liking my scans lately so I'm trying something different.  The pictures on this post have been replaced with scans that I believe look a little better.

15 comments:

  1. this is a really interesting idea to use your art skills with. awesome artworks! :)

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  2. Truly incredible drawing skills here Raena! Wow.

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  3. I don't think not bothering with tweeking scans is lazy, it's a chore. I've put a disclaimer on my blog and only do the bare minimum now & if the colour is off, I say so.

    Nice sketches from around the world. It's one of my favourite books.

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  4. Some super pages - I love the way you use the format,even if it is not your preferred shape!

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  5. Great idea to use a movie theme for a sketchbook. Your art is lovely and I am so glad to have you back in blogland.

    xoxo

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  6. Im with Vicki, Im glad to see you back posting again : ) These sketches are great fun to look through, and it almost like a preview of movies for me. Great sketches!!!

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  7. I like the theme! My mind went to how much fun you'd have with "Hugo"!
    I'll be checking in to see what you do next :)

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  8. Man you can really do these movie spreads! You are truly picking up interesting images from the flicks. I really like the statue in the first one - you are a master of shading, and I bet it looks excellent in person. (I have my dinosaur to look at for this; you will probably never get it back anyway since my mind is a blank. :)) Great the way you lined up all the folks in "Pirates" and love the way you included the foreign lettering in the Himalayas.

    Don't take Celeste's advise on "Hugo" - there is so much in that movie your mind would explode!

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  9. Simply awesome! :) From the colors alone I could tell from far away what movies they were

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  10. What a fun project! Your pages are awesome and I really like the horizontal format, it's like following a story.

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  11. Sometimes, when I feel burnt out with a project, all I need is to witness someone experience it for the first time. With this said, this is such a cool project!!!!!! I've tried drawing from movies before, but found it quite difficult. You do it so well...and your attention to typography is wonderful!

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  12. Wow, another awesome spread! The statue looks very realistic. Love the whole Pirates spread, and your lettering in all the pages! The Paris drawing with the balloon is wonderful.
    Hope you'll find your enthusiasm (or other ideas) back to finish the sketchbook!

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  13. You may have been very busy with life things lately but you have sure managed to get a lot of sketching done too! I hope you find life settling down now and that you get more time to go places to do sketching. Doing movies is great for showing what you liked now, later and it's great practice but it sounds like you would enjoy a change of pace. I hope you get to get outside during this spring to do some sketching.

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  14. What a fantastic idea and what fantastic paintings!
    The artwork is just flying out isn't it? I have missed a few posts so I think I will have to go back and take a peek.
    Wonderful!
    Stew.
    stewcrowther.wordpress.com
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