Steven Powers (SMP): 2018

Character Construction and 4 Step Process, "How to Draw Disney's Rabbit"


Awhile back I wrote an article "Sketching: The 4 Step Process."  In the article I covered the 4 basic step of creating a drawing using classic Disney characters as examples.

One thing that I would add to that process today is breaking down character's structure…reverse engineering the character.  What I am referring to is, simplifying the character's form using primitives, it's dimensions, and skeletal or armature.  Deconstructing the character in this way helps visualize the character's design, aiding in adjusting the pose, or duplicating the character in various scenes.

In the following examples, I will only focus on a single character and pose, and use my version of Rabbit from the original article, adding in the preliminary construction steps…or in this case, Deconstruction.



How To Use a Lightbox, "Transferring a Design Sketch to Watercolor Paper"



This is a quick demonstration in using a lightbox to transfer a design sketch to watercolor paper. The video can be found HERE. https://youtu.be/fBzHaWfRxNE

Please remember to subscribe to my blog for all of my articles and videos.

-Steve

New Video - "The Jungle Book in Watercolor, "Learn How to Paint Using Fan Art."


New Video - "The Jungle Book in Watercolor, "Learn How to Paint Using Fan Art."
https://youtu.be/VrELqPtusA8

This is related to an earlier article [HERE] and expands upon the points covered in the video.

-Steve

How to Paint The Jungle Book in Watercolor




The original Disney animated movies are a great resource to use to practice your watercolor techniques.  This is the opening scene of The Jungle Book taken from a still of the illustrated version of the book.

Character Design: Monster's Favorite Toy



This is one of those design ideas that came from a simple pen and pencil sketch...as simple doodle that was nothing more than that, until I rotated the sheet.  That is when the inspiration hit me to design this little monster.

Composition: Fantasy Landscape "The Toxic Fisherman"



I use The Toxic Fisherman sketch to discuss the aspects of composition and the thought process using one's imagination to expand from a simple design.  The big thing to remember is "Don't Be Afraid To Fail"...put it down and erase what you don't like...experiment with the design and have fun.

LINK -  https://youtu.be/iUL2umnYlZY

Salvation - Published Through Amazon Self-Publishing

Let me introduce the newest author of the family from a long line of writers, which include poets, children's author, a contributing writer for travel publications and a political writer who also wrote speeches for a past Speaker-of-the-House.  The New author is my son Quinlan Powers and his book "Salvation" can be found at http://amzn.to/2G5rHkE.

This was a family adventure.  Quinlan wrote the book and then both his grandmother and I edited the book and his mother designed the cover. Yes I know, "Why didn't I illustrate the cover?" I was tasked with designing the book, setting up accounts, websites, domain names and everything else that is required to self publish through Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP.)

This is not a detailed look on how to self publish, but I did learn a lot myself. Amazon makes it easy for anyone to publish a book.  This book is only has been released as an eBook so far, but in the next week or so, it should be available in paper back.

Please check out the book at http://amzn.to/2G5rHkE. It is priced at $2.99. If you are a fan of science fiction, you will love this fast paced book.

Thanks for your support,

-Steve

How to Paint Tigger...Again


https://youtu.be/2UnDwcPTGtg

This is a leftover from last year. It is a different pose, but same procedure demonstrating one way to colorize a sketch.

LINK: https://youtu.be/2UnDwcPTGtg