Drawing Coco Bandicoot After 20+ Years

A couple of months ago someone in the comments of one of my posts I was asked if I'd draw Coco Bandicoot. Recently I had a chance to try. It's been more than 20 years since I drew the character. In fact I haven't dawn anything with Coco since the time I designed the character.

Once I started drawing I found that she had changed. I was drawing her as an older more mature character it seemed. When I realized this I tried to get back to what she was like originally and I ended up the session with a look that was more on model.

I really enjoyed this and I hope you like the sketches. Black line ball point pen on blue pencil.

Analog Painting Demo Lesson - Finished from before

Greetings !!

You may recall this past April 10 when I posted a drawing that I intended to paint. Here's the link to the topic. This turned into a class demonstration on the basics of color and in painting the old fashioned way which helps in better understating of digital processes. On June 23 after several weeks of short work sessions I finished it. 

The backstory...

Late last year at our old location I sketched a composition on punched illustration board used for painting backgrounds for animation production. I wasn't happy with what I did so I set it aside to work on it at another time. After the move I attempted to revive the work and see if I could salvage it. My intention was to render a pencil drawing of a character inspired somewhat by the silent movie star Clara Bow. 

Here's what I came up with...

I was facing a problem as I embarked upon the first step of coloring this. The image was drawn in soft graphite pencil. If I were to lay down my underpainting in the manner I usually do which is to use sweeps from a broad brush I'd lose the image. The watered down pigment would wash it away. I solved the problem by making a pad of tissues and then lightly dabbing the board with color. Here's the result...

Once acrylic paints dry they create a plastic seal over the image. So no matter how many layers I applied on the board's surface the drawing would not be affected by the subsequent brushwork. Now I could get busy bringing the painting along to completion by first laying in some darks by using transparent washes.

Once that step was done I began to lay a foundation for her flesh tone with a suggestion of a light source. By mixing white into the pigment the color becomes opaque and we start to get some coverage to block out the background texture. 

Next I spent a little time blocking in the whites of her eyes.

With that done we get a feel for the balance between the light tones and the dark. Also we get a sense of the character coming to life. This was followed by more modeling of her flesh tones. This step involved adding some blush to her face and slightly accentuating shadows. 

I went on to add the subtle red tints in her face to her upper torso.

Now it's time to go back into the darks and really bring them out. Contrast between tonal values is a very important aspect of working in color. Healthy contrast between tonal values really brings a composition to life and is necessary in giving the work a sense of completion. 

Adding highlights to the hair and a finishing touch to the eyes and lips finally brings the painting home. So after nearly 12 weeks of short work sessions the last 2 of which were with a small group of painting enthusiasts meeting at the Academy on Sundays here's the result...

Now I can share the painting online and at local art shows here in Burbank once it's framed. Also since I kept a record of the progress of the work I can use it for educational purposes and in publishing as is the case here.

The painting measures 10 1/2 x 7 7/8 inches (about 26.7 x 19.7 centimeters). My original intent was to give the image a feel of a silent movie film with slight tints of color. Hopefully I've achieved that goal through the impression it gives you.

Thank you for checking in and following along. I'll be back soon with more creative fun!

Crash and Spyro sketches from school event

I was invited by a local school just down the block from my own school to participate in an event where several different organizations would set up a booth and interact with their students. Brighton Hall in Burbank is famous for nurturing up and coming acting talent. Janet Jackson attended the school at one time along with many other celebrities when they were kids.

I participated for a while on May 18 2019 and had the chance to draw a few pictures of a couple of the video game characters I'm known for. Primarily Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon.

This is the first sketch I came up with. Crash is kind of asking himself what he's doing here. The line next to his ear is from the wind blowing the paper while I was drawing.

This next image I'm not too keen about as I've done better drawings of Spyro. It was my way of greeting visitors as they came by the booth.

As I was getting more comfortable I started having a little more fun with Crash.

I drew a few quick sketches of Crash for some of the kids there. This was done on May 21 to give my own students an idea as to what I was doing at the Brighton Hall event.

I started this sketch of Spyro at the May 18 event but didn't finish. I took the momentum back to class and completed the drawing as a demo for my own students.