Diversifying Your Study

Recently I've been studying how to draw cartoon eyes and heads– specifically trying to figure out how to draw the eyes and facial features from any angle. To help me get a better grasp on the dimensions and foreshortening of a cartoon head, I decided to sculpt a couple maquettes out of cheap polymer clay I got from Walmart. Check it out! These faces are vaguely based on characters from Studio Ghibli's "Ponyo."

So far I've made two, and they're not the prettiest things ever but I would say the experiment was a success. Sculpting the faces forced me to consider aspects of the head that were invisible to me when drawing with just pencil and paper. I would definitely encourage you drawers out there to try out sculpting if you're hitting a road block.

ANNOUNCEMENT!

After a good amount of thought I've decided to finish up my series of essays on sustainable creativity and self-publish them all in a book entitled "Brick by Brick." I still have about 60 or 70 more pages worth of essays to draw, but once that is finished my hope is to micro-fund the first print-run through Kickstarter– maybe some time in September? Stay tuned!

Thanks for all your support since this project began– I really appreciate your kind notes and words of encouragement.