I'm an actor that moved into 3d animation and now I'm starting to take some traditional classes. But I have a quick question about something as simple as holding the pencil. The school at which I am currently taking classes (Watts Atelier) teaches an overhand grip on a charcoal pencil. Their reasoning I believe, is that you have more control of your line weight with such a grip. But is it only for charcoal that this type of grip is used? I just picked up Wayne Gilbert's book on animation planning and he suggested using a 4b or a 6b pencil. So with these pencils, does anyone use the overhand grip in animation?
My second question is also pretty basic. Wayne's book has some warm up exercises that really showed me how poor my control of the pencil really is. One area in particular is my vertical lines. I can draw a fairly straight diagonal, and a fairly straight horizontal, but my verticals are horrible. Is this something that just needs practice, or should i rotate the paper? I ask because I've seen the animation tables that allow you to rotate the paper and it made me wonder if it was something that is just part of how our shoulder socket works (I'm supposed to draw from the shoulder...right?)
I'm new to these forums, but i did search and was unable to find this topic discussed.
Thanks.
My problem is all 20,000 didn't come out up front. Now and then they still sneak out :eek:
Sneek out?! I'm still waiting for a good drawing to sneak IN! :D
Aloha,
the Ape
...we must all face a choice, between what is right... and what is easy."
it's a rarity for me to see the overhand grip. i've seen one do it-- but i guess he was just showing off his fine arts background.
wrist movements have limited range. they're good for details. for broader strokes, use a combination of elbow-shoulder action. the more broader the stroke the more you rely on shoulder (or even body) movement.
start with a peaceful inner self. breathe in... out. steady your hand and use your elbow/shoulder to bring the stroke down. try a fairly quick stroke, then slower until it becomes more deliberate.
you can always spin the animation disc to a more comfortable position for a stroke. that's why it's round.
as usual, if symptoms persist, consult another doctor.:o
Don't worry. All shall be well.
I remember my professors in Fine Arts discussing the same thing, at the very beginning of University.
Although everyone's going to have their own opnions, what I've learned works for me, is "whichever way suits you best". It really depends on what medium you're using (ie..graphite, charcoal, ink, conte....etc...), Some mediums will work great for you, others won't...some ways of holding a pencil will suit you better, others won't...it all comes down to what your drawing looks like in the end right?
One thing that I think I remember a member of this forum mention was something that their grandfather had practiced all of his life as a graphic designer. He practiced vertical lines, horizontal lines and circles. 200 of each if I remember right. In any case, I decided to give it a try...from one edge of the paper to the other, I would draw 400 vertical lines, 400 horizontal lines, then being an animator, decided to do 400 C Curved lines, 400 S Curved lines, and 400 circles. Every time, trying to make them as perfect as possible.
Well, I kept it up for a while, and in all honesty, it worked wonders for my line control. It really conditioned the muscles of my hand, and I could pull off with ease, some fairly clean work without the need of a ruler or elipse plate.
So, on that note, I still do it, whenever I sit down to draw, I pull out a few sheets of cheap paper, and do a little warm up with that exercise.
In essence...yes, you need to practice.
As Chuck Jones's professor once told him..."Everyone has at least 20,000 bad drawings in them, so get them out of the way as quickly as possible".
Adam
Thanks for the great info.
Practicing the vertical, horizontal, and circular lines is something i just started doing as a warm up, so i'm glad to hear that it will pay off. I'm actually keeping my warmups in my sketch book so i can see my improvement...hopefully.
I remember my first drawing course in college, we had this kid named Emir (sp) and he had pages upon pages of studies like that. Some people said it was a waste of time, but without ever having a ruler he made engineer-precise images that would blow most people's minds...
Yeah, those warm ups really help. And Wyane Gilbert's book is really good. What I've learned about holding the pencil is that using the overhand grip is good for very loose drawings. For getting the gesture and blocking in the large masses of the body and general shading at the end. When you use the underhand? grip, like writing a letter, this tends to tighten up the range of motion. Your fore arm gets planted on the on the paper and all your drawing comes from the wrist. This is good for tighter work. I noticed when I start out this way, I start noodling the drawing from the start. But then again, to each his own. What works for some doesn't always work for others.
Keep up with those warm ups though. It's like any other muscular action, the more you do it, the more efficiant your muscles get at it. It's all about training your arm, how and what you see, and all the neurons between your eyes and your hand.
Only 20,000 huh? I think I'm on bad drawing number 120,000. :P
Aloha,
the Ape
...we must all face a choice, between what is right... and what is easy."
I use overhand grip of a pencil/charcoal for Life Drawing. But when I'm animating I use the grip that's most natural to me. In animation we need to think speed and getting the idea on the paper as soon as possible, you can always clean up later. The way that paper is stacked on pegbars and rolled for animation makes drawing with an overhand grip a bit cumbersome, not to mention that animating with charcoal would be unnecissarily messy. The messiest I'll go is a china marker, and that's only if I need to do heavy flowing motion like maybe a dancer with long hair and a heavy dress or something with heavy wings flying. Don't ask why, it's just something that feels natural to me.
for the most part I rough in either china marker, black, blue or red col-erase, depending on the demands of the production. Black or Red col-erase 'feel' the best to me. Heck, i've even animated using sharpie markers roughing in orange, tightening up in red and cleaning up in blue (causeing the final line to turn Dark Violet). that method reproduces nice in a xerox and forces you to use some discipline while giving you the feel of free flowing drawing.