Traditional Arts: Stepping Away From Technology.

We live in a digital age. A fast paced age. A make more money kind of age. Somewhere along the lines we lost our patience and appreciation for what it can bring us. As I grow more and more as an artist I am finding myself a bit lost in this shift happening in the world of art. We get lost in the new, and forget the old that brought us here. I myself want to take a step back and remember where I came from, and bring it with me. 

All my life I knew I was going to be an artist. In the beginning I drew anything that popped into my head at the moment, wither it be doodles, or characters and creatures. As I grew up as a child I came across these amazing animated movies from Disney's Classic collection, to Fox Animation's Anastasia. And then came a series of films from Don Bluth. I was in a world where people drew pictures and brought them to life. I wanted to do that. I began drawing my own characters, and learning how to move them dynamically on the paper. I even remember creating character models, and story boards at the age of ten. With every new movie I found a respect for these animators that would draw 720 pictures of motion for a minute of film. I even remember training myself to draw faster and faster because I knew I had to. 

Now as an artist this helped me develop really well. I was able to look at an image and visualize it in motion. So when I would replicate it I did not have to copy it off paper, and I could draw the subject in a different form. For example my large piece, The Flight of the Macaw, I studied about 5-6 different shots of the macaw and learned about how the muscles moved, and wings flapped. Then I drew my version of the beautiful bird coming off the paper. It's because of animation that I can picture things moving, and anticipating how they will flow on the paper. I like to use this technique in my artwork so when the audience views my work they find themselves animating the image in their own minds, and feel it come alive. 

Now fast forward a bit further. Now that I am older I found myself at the right level, and age to begin looking for my dream career in the animation field. Can you imagine my disappointment when I find out that Disney Studios is abandoning their traditional animation, and going CG. They claim that the audience did not want to see it anymore. What is even worse is they based this on the strait to DVD Winnie the Pooh films. They laid off 100's of legendary artists and hired computer animators. A growing trend soon followed as studios began popping up all over bringing new CG films across the board. The biggest issue I had with this entire transition is the release of these "special edition" DVDs and Bluerays that feature our classically drawn films "remastered." They digitally painted over all the sketch lines, and backgrounds. How can that be right in any shape or form? Would we digitally clean up the Mona Lisa? Is any art medium safe the the digital world. Disney then goes on to make Princess and the Frog and claim traditional animation is back. They brought in Animators and they were able to hand draw the film. That that is as far as it went. They still used Tablets, and Photoshop for the clean up, effects, and to even digitally paint the backgrounds. 

To me traditional art will always trump CG art. While studios are constantly trying to learn techniques to make emotions more believable in the Computer Generated world, we have already found this emotion in hand drawing this art. I want you to do something for me. Pick up a VCR, and watch a classic film of your choice. A hand drawn, hand painted film. And really watch it. You will notice that no movement is wasted, and no frames are skipped. Traditional animation may take more time, but the result is worth it. Take away the money aspect of it, and really think. Your favorite animated film of all time, and why this movie was so influential to you. The story, the characters, the believably. Moments that stick with you to this day. Moments like Cinderella dropping her shoe, Little Foot chasing his mother's shadow only to find out it was his own, Anastasia dancing with her lost memories in the abandoned ball room. These are the ones that stay with me the most. 

When it comes to art we need to shift our focus from making the most money, and spending less to taking our time, and building a legacy. I hope one day people will respect our traditions of the past more and step away from technology even for a bit. At least just a bit. And if we are truly abandoning Traditional Animation then I hope they leave the legacy intact, and leave the digital out of it. Leave the films how they were created. They were already so beautiful. Every sketch line that wasn't erased from the film showed me how much heart went into making the film. If you have ever watched an animator draw key frames you will know that every frame is important. You will begin to understand that Disney's Sleeping Beauty would not have been a complete masterpiece had 1 page of it's 54,720 images wasn't drawn. 

Thank you for reading, 

Derrick Rathgeber
http://DerricktheArtist.com

How to Draw Glass with Colored Pencils: Erasing to Add Detail

How to Draw Glass with Colored Pencils: Erasing to Add Detail  

by Derrick Rathgeber

Thank you for visiting. In this lesson I will teach you how to draw a believable glass texture. Our subject will be a light bulb so we will be using grey colors for this lesson. You’ll even have a small bonus lesson for the metal texture at the base of the bulb. What you will be learning today is how to use your pencils to color smoothly, and how to take away from your drawing to add more depth and detail. Are you ready to get started?

First off the colors I chose for this lesson are as follows: Grey, Cool Grey, Dark Grey, Black and White.  Also we will be using an eraser. Preferable a white one, or gum eraser.

 Step 1: Using the Dark Grey draw out your light bulb. You can opt out the details in the middle if you like they are not necessary for this lesson. You do however want to get the bulb shape, and screw at the base. This lesson is more about coloring and texture than copying the image.

Hint: Any time you are drawing from a reference a good fun trick to do is draw the image upside down. It sounds funny but it tricks your brain into drawing what you see, and not what your brain knows.

Step 2: Using the Grey colored pencil you will fill in the lower area of the bulb using medium pressure. Once completed take your pencil and hold it at a slant so the point is flat against the paper. Lightly begin to shade in the rounded bulb area using rounded strokes back and forth. This will give you a smoother fill. Continue to crosshatch and fill in the top of the bulb, and the base of the bulb until you get a good smooth cover.

Hint: Practice, and do not rush. Remember you’re not in a race, and you won’t get a prize for finishing first. This is a technique that you are trying to learn. Take scratch paper and use the side of your pencil lead to make strokes of different lengths, and pressures.

Step 3: Here is where it gets fun. Find a good size eraser, preferably a gum eraser, or white art eraser. Now you can look at a light bulb for reference or visualize where you will see the shines. You can also use mine for reference. Start erasing away where you want to have the shines. Be sure to follow the shape of the bulb, and do not be afraid to erase the details of the center, that just gives it more character. This gives the illusion of a rounded shape that you can now view start viewing as glass.

Hint: We used grey in this lesson because our background is white. This is only to make the 2D object appear three dimensional. Now if you have the bulb in front of an object or let’s say a yellow wall, you would color the bulb the same color as the background, or slightly lighter color of the background depending on how thick you want the glass to appear.

Step 4: Now we have to make the glass shine more prominent. You can now use the Dark Grey color and start shading around the shines. We are going to add more pressure at the top of the bulb, the base of the glass, and around the erased shines. Be sure to blend the Dark Grey and Grey together by adding layers of color from dark to light. Also if you added the middle detail you will use the Dark Grey to define the glass on the inside as shown.

Step 5: In this step we are starting on the metal base. Simply use the Dark Grey again and fill in the areas as shown. It’s okay to make these areas dark as we are going to add black to it later. You want to show the light bending around the metal object. And this object is smooth.

Hint: When you draw metal objects be sure to pay attention to your light sources, and remember that light comes from behind too, as seen here.

Step 6: Using the Cool Grey color begin shading the base filling in the left side darker, and leaving the right side lighter. This shows where your light source is and keeps the color flowing across the object. You can even color up and down the screw base to ensure you get the same dark to light scale going from left to right. And remember this metal is also smooth so it’s a great way to practice your small smooth strokes.

Hint:  A good tool to help you blend your pencil drawing is a “Blinding stump.” They are highly affordable, and easy to use. If not you can always use your fingers to smudge the colors together. I did before I know they existed.

Part 7: To add our finishing touches on this piece we are going to just define the light bulb, and highlight the shines. So let’s start off by grabbing the Black pencil. Start by outlining the bulb, and shading in areas of the bulb close to the base and around the top. Take a step back and look at your image and you can see where the shadows are coming from. Those are the areas you want to darken.  Next you will use the Black to also darken the shadows on the metal base to really make the metal shine, and stand out from the glass. You can also add a layer of shading to make it darker from the glass bulb.

Finally we are going to use the White pencil to color over the middle of the glass and shines to really make the center pop. Almost like the light is starting to light up. And to finish the drawing off add white to the right side of the metal base, and around the sides to show where the light is coming from.

I hope you enjoyed this lesson. Please email any comments or suggestions to DerricktheArtist@Live.com. Find my new portfolio page at http://Derricktheartist.com. 

I would like to see your work. In fact if you share your results here on my Art Facebook page - HERE -, I will randomly select someone to give the original signed copy to. FREE of charge. I hope to see some of your work. (Feel free to add to it if you have any "bright ideas." 

Again thank you for allowing me to share these tips and tricks with you, and if you have something you would like to learn feel free to suggest it to me anytime. Have a great day!

How to Color a Delicious Pink Lady Apple With Colored Pencils

How to Color a Delicious Pink Lady Apple With Colored Pencils

by Derrick Rathgeber

RoseArt Colored Pencils we will be using.

• White

• Golden Yellow

• True Orange

• Bronze Yellow

• Celery

• Cardinal Red

• Cherry Red

• Raspberry

• Brown

• Black

Welcome to the great drawing lessons here on my webpage. Today I will be teaching you how to color your very own delicious pink lady apple. In this exercise I will give you tips on how to over lay colors, blend them to create lights and shadows, as well as textures. So let’s get started shall we.

Step 1: If you are comfortable with your drawing skills start off your picture by drawing the apple shape below with the brown colored pencil. Remember your apple does not have to be a perfect shape because no apple is a perfect sphere.

Tips: A PDF version is available if you would like to skip this step and go right into the coloring.Follow this link to download the image  here:

http://www.4shared.com/office/H4G4z-BY/How_to_Draw_an_Apple_001.html

Step 2: Using the Golden Yellow make dark to light strokes outlining the shine. Start at the base of the stem and define the shape of the apple. This color will act as the base and guide for the rest of the colors to come. Next use the Bronze Yellow and darken the yellow areas on the stem and the area around the stem. This will help blend into the green Celery color in the next step.

Tips: Use more pressure on the pencil at the edges and around the shine areas, then slowly raise the pencil up decreasing the pressure of the pencil.

Step 3: Using the Celery color you will go over the Golden Yellow color on the top of the apple. Start from the base of the stem and create lines in arc shapes to the rim of the apple, then fill them in with the Celery green covering a good area of the top of the apple, but leave some areas not covered with the green for the red to show through. Also add some Celery color to the stem as well.

Step 4: Now it’s time to set the base for rest of the apple. Using the True Orange color we will start from the stem base and color the apple almost like a pumpkin. Fill in the top half of the apple leaving small empty spaces along the edge, and along the base of the bottom. Keep a white strip-like area empty along the right side of the apple, as this will act as a reflective shine making the apple look more realistic.

Tips: References are great. If you have an apple at home shine a light on it to see how light shines and reflects on it so you can replicate this effect in your drawing.

Step 5: It’s time to watch your apple come to life. Use the Cardinal Red and cover the apple in nice even strokes with the apple from top to bottom and at a curve. Remember to leave the large shine in the center, and on the right of the apple clear. I like to rotate the paper so I can keep my hand still and move only the pencil across the paper. Once the apple is covered evenly, begin adding pressure (making darker pencil strokes), and coloring in areas darker near the edges and the top of the apple. Leave the area near the large shine spot lightened as shown in the picture.

Tips: Try to keep your pencil stokes in one direction. In this case arc them downward creating the illusion of a round object. After you have covered the area you can crosshatch to darken areas of the drawing.

Step 6: The candy apple red that makes you drool, that’s what we are going for. So let’s add the next layer of red. This time we are using Cherry Red to help fill in gaps, smoothen out our fruit, and generate a one of a kind look. Starting at the borders of the apple we are going to go over the Cardinal Red with Cherry Red and start coloring towards the shine, lightening our strokes as you reach the shine spot. Also get the top of the apple, and overlay using the Cherry Red partially over the yellows and greens to pull it all together. When you are satisfied with the look of your apple, move on to the next layer of red in the next step. Yep that’s right Three layers of red.

Step 7: This is the last layer of red I promise. Grab the Raspberry Red colored pencil and use heavy pressure along the areas you want to add shadows to. You can use the image as reference or use your gut. Get the areas close to the edges, and highlight the shine on the top near the stem. At this point your apple will have a realistic shine and reflect the paper it is drawn on. As an option also use this color to create a shadow underneath the apple. Remember where your light is coming from and color your shadow based on that. In this case I have light coming from the rear and the front so the shadow is outlined as shown.

Tips: If your drawing doesn’t look like the image shown do not worry. If I were to draw this again mine would look different too. Remember to enjoy yourself and take your time.

Step 8: Time to give your apple an earthy look, and finally give that stem some color. Reach for the Brown and fill in the stem from base to top leaving some green color. Remember to color with the stem shape, and for an extra measure of realism sketch some harder lines. Next add a layer of Brown across the entire apple, and the shadow. Remember to leave the shines white. Adjust your pressure of your coloring pencil to the light or hard coloring pressure that you want. This gives the apple some more texture, and colors to capture the eye.

Tip: If you would like to color the apple with other colors you can use these techniques with most fruit and objects. Simple adjust your color palette, and have fun.

Step 9: We are now heading to the final touch ups. Get a hold of the Black pencil and we will finalize the shadows. Start off by coloring over the shadow on the floor underneath the apple. Once you are finished start darkening the left side using the shines as a guide to where to stop. On the right side of the apple you will start from the white strip and go from heavy pressure to light pressure as you meet in the middle. Then add some dark areas in the stem to show that the apple dips in. Once you are satisfied with your look we will move on to the final step.

Tips: Black is your friend. With colored pencils you can cover other colors without making over shadowing them completely. If you need to go darker simply add another layer.

Step 10: And we are at the finish line! This step is probably one that most people don’t see coming. Go ahead and take the white pencil, and start coloring over the entire apple. You will notice that as you color, the colors will not only lighten up but they will blend together and smoothen out. This is probably one of the greatest kept secrets, and now you know. The white colored pencil is probably the most important pencil in your collection.

Check back here on Http://derrickr.artist.cm for more drawing tips and lessons by Derrick Rathgeber. These lessons are also available on Http://RoseArt.com/Blog. 

If you have any questions or comments I would love to answer them for you. Contact me at derrickr333@gmail.com. 

Thank you for visiting. 

DerrickRathgeber 

Selling Tragedy for Likes

The advertising game has changed in the last 10 years. I have moved merchandise for several companies in my life, and worked on advertising campaigns that were very successful in a multitude of business’. It used to be so much different. You would create a creative slogan, or do mass mailings, possibly a banner on the highway to improve the number of people who see your product. Now it’s all about social media. and public relations.
When I was younger there was a thing called business ethics. The way you would promote yourself and your company would represent your character as an organization or company. In this day and age that concept seems to go right out of the window. One of those examples is the way Blogs, and some business’ promote themselves on Facebook. I have seen several Facebook pages use a tactic that is completely un-ethical, and deceitful  I feel this practice needs to be regulated more, and seen as spam and illegal.

When I am scrolling along my feed I too often come across very disturbing images of a child with a serious illness, or being seriously abused, and the worst I have seen was an open casket of a deceased infant. Sure you see these images everywhere in the news and on the web, but what makes these images more disturbing is the pages that post them are soliciting likes from these disturbing images. For example the image below is stating that if you like this picture it equals 1 prayer for the child.

It sounds like a very enduring act. But in reality it’s the most deceitful ugly way to promote your Facebook Page, blog, and or business. Facebook uses a feature called “Edge Rank” which is used to increase the likelihood that your products or services will appear. Edge Rank is increased by adding “Weight” to your page. Weight is a word for anything you post that enables an interaction such as a like, or comments. So lets say someone has a website that sells goods/ services, and they want to promote something new. Before they would start promoting the new item/service They would need to add weight to my page. So will they do this is the ethical question. In this case a blog posted a child in pain, still at the hospital in the attempt to recieve more likes on their Facebook page. I have seen others use abused children, and worse. These companies are profiting on the suffering of others.

A good majority of the companies and bloggers that use this practice don’t even own the picture. In one instance the child in the photograph(Seen Below), who was attacked by another child at her pre-school nursery. The photograph of the child was apparently stolen from the Daily Mail article or elsewhere on the Internet and reused in this utterly pointless protest message without the permission of her family. They went on to spread the image across the net asking for likes to stop abused children. This in no way fights abused children anywhere, all it did was increase this criminals page rank and set them up to increase sales or hits on their blog.

These individuals need to be stopped. They are distributing these children's photos across the internet, and in many cases lying about the situation in the picture. In one case an infant was just born, and the doctor was holding her up for the camera and all you saw was his hands holding him/her up. In the caption it claimed the baby was being choked, and asked for likes to stop abuse. They took a happy moment and turned into a nightmare and gained over 500,000 comments and 50,000 likes on their page. What a joke. It's disgusting, and does not need to continue. To them someones pain is opportunity, and that is the lowest form of advertising. 

So what can we do about it. Well first off do not respond to these posts. That means do not comment or anything. Instead report them to Facebook as abuse. Something else we can do is gather together and ask for Facebook to implement stricter guidelines on images, and create rules banning this practice. I hope to see more action, and less of these images. If you are too, let Facebook and other media outlets know. 

Thank you for reading I hope I have been some help.

Derrick Rathgeber

Visit me at http://derrickr.artist.cm