yesterday, I went to the zoo.

yesterday, I went to the zoo.
it's been a long time I've been there. But it was definitely worthwhile. I hope to make it a once a week visit. it was a bit crowded, and at the end, animals started going inside for the night.
still, it was a good trip.
first, I went to the elephants. was actually hoping on drawing a bear, but they were all hiding inside. since I'm looking at mass right now, polar bears seemed best, but the elephants throw their weight around too, so they were good models.
some sketches:

after that, it was feeding time, and the elephants went inside for a bit.



so I figured I'd move on to a favourite of mine, the African wild dogs, and whip up some ink & aquarel pieces. they moved, then went inside again as well, so I was left hanging on both poses here. still I was more paying around with the ink and paint mingling by then; you get the prettiest colors and runs (though, the jpg's don't really show then). I did try to keep the masses in, like the fist's hind receding, the square shoulders against the round tummy.
finally, the elephants came back for a little.
I doodled them in pen and ink too, tough they kept moving back inside. so it's more an impression then a life-drawing.

A bloggy start

And so, another ‘artblog’ is shot onto the net, without though nor worry for its consequences.
Is it safe? Probably not. Hell, it’s not meant to be safe. This is where I draw you into the occult. (yes, a pun, sew me)

This is where your live gets ruined; where, hopefully, you will get infected by ‘the bug’. Here I want to show the things I do, and talk about why and how. I will review my drawings and what they’re about; discuss what I am working on to improve. Your imput is, therefor, very much appreciated!

Updates planned a minimum of once a week. I am starting with my drawings since that has my focus right now, but I hope to post some animation stuff here in the future too.

You can find my portfolio and company site at: www.ashess.nl

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So enough of the banter, on with the drawings. I’ve been directed to Mark Kennedy’s blog a while back (http://sevencamels.blogspot.com/). This guy has put out some interesting thoughts, which to me all come from one central though. When he draws, he looks for differences: difference in the left and right side of a contour, differences in shapes, in line weight, in shade, etc.
Following this trail of though really gave me a thrill of excitement. Why? My usual way of drawing has always been calling subjects as I see them. I might overstress something that caught my attention, but I haven’t really actively looked for differences. Looking for differences really opens up new chances to state something about your subject.
Look at it this way: looking at a horse, you can say: it has 4 legs.
But, when you look for differences, you can say: a horse has 4 legs. 2 front, 2 back. The pairs are mirrored from each other. The front pair has a knee, while the back pair has an ‘ankle’.
Drawing to me is a visual way of describing something. The more ways you have to define a subject, the better. Looking for differences really gives you a tool to define matters.
Here is a drawing one of my cats.

so what differences caught my eye?
First, I though his pointy ear contrasted nicely with his shaggy fur. I exaggerated the point just a little.
Then, the flat inside of the ear against the round outside (right of it).
His square shoulder against his round back and, on the other side, his round head.
Also, the concave plain of his side compared to the roundness of his upper leg. (left side picture)
And, finally, the sharp square shape where his tail resides behind his body, compared to the round back and upper leg.

I am pretty happy with this one. though I forgot the background *again*, and I really should use better paper, so I can use more pressure variations.

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another one, this time both cats. I tried contrasing the shaggy left one with the rather neat one right. the left one recedes nicely, using the 3 plains of the shoulder, neck and head one behind the other. But now the right cat seems too small. funny thing, when I was drawing, I felt I was making the right one too big.
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here, my brother playing guiter hero. I put som,e empahsis on his concentrated expression and payed spacial mind to the hands, elbow, and the way his shirt fell over his pants. the last is pretty much the only attempt at depth here.