John's sketchbook

[jtq3]

Hi Everyone,
My sketchbook is a 3-ring binder filled with punched copy paper. I carry it with me wherever I go. I draw from life constantly. These are various images i pulled off of my blog. Let me know what you think. Thanks!
http://www.donbluthanimation.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=42&pictureid=185
http://www.donbluthanimation.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=42&pictureid=186
http://www.donbluthanimation.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=42&pictureid=187

[jtq3]

http://www.donbluthanimation.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=42&pictureid=191
http://www.donbluthanimation.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=42&pictureid=190
http://www.donbluthanimation.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=42&pictureid=189
http://www.donbluthanimation.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=42&pictureid=188

[lavallelee]

all im seeing are little red x's

[jtq3]

crap! i guess i haven't got this figured out after all.

[johncbeggs]

someone on the forum told me about http://www.photobucket.com maybe that will help!, holy crap we have I think like 5 johns on this site :)

for a minute their I thought this was my sketchbook page :)

[WillW]

photobucket or imageshack would definatly work, photobuckets the one I use mainly.

[jeremyhopkins]

Your blog works great and your drawings & paintings are stunning! Thanks so much for sharing(or trying to share)! I'm looking forward to seeing more!

[lavallelee]

in your profile you can make an album then upload in there

so you dont have to use photobucket or anything

[cartuneman]

wow never knew that lavalle
I'll have to try that. and as for all the Johns in here hahahahahaah well at least the names will be easy to remember hahahahahaha

But now I'm off to check out your blog!:D




wow what a fun blog man!!!! I also became a follower! love all the art great stuff my friend!

hey there jtq3 just create an album on your profile page and once you do that just copie and paste the image code into your gallery I just tested it and it works great!

[jtq3]

Thanks everyone. I'll give it another try.

[jtq3]

http://www.donbluthanimation.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=43&pictureid=194
http://www.donbluthanimation.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=43&pictureid=193
http://www.donbluthanimation.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=43&pictureid=192

[jeremyhopkins]

Brilliant! I'm glad to see the gallery works for you!

[Mithmeoi]

Oooh great art! I really like your style. I really like that one of the girl sitting on the croc. :)

[cartuneman]

wow really great work there! I'm glad to see what ever you did works!

Thanks for stopping by my blog as well and becoming a follower too. Hope to see more soon!!!:D

[IzzyS]

oh wow, your work is awesome! your lines and pencils strokes look great and I adore those little girls

[Hana]

These are amazing. I really love the moement in them. Beautiful pencil work.

[jtq3]

http://www.donbluthanimation.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=45&pictureid=205
http://www.donbluthanimation.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=45&pictureid=206
http://www.donbluthanimation.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=45&pictureid=207
http://www.donbluthanimation.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=45&pictureid=208

[jtq3]

http://www.donbluthanimation.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=45&pictureid=209
http://www.donbluthanimation.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=45&pictureid=210
http://www.donbluthanimation.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=45&pictureid=211
http://www.donbluthanimation.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=45&pictureid=212

[Penumbra]

Wow, these are great! I really like the way you handle volume. All your drwaings feel so solid and alive. I'm happy you'll be posting here.

[jeremyhopkins]

Umm.. whoa.. a-m-a-z-ing! What can I say but holy freaking smokes...

[lavallelee]

Umm.. whoa.. a-m-a-z-ing! What can I say but holy freaking smokes...

i second that! the bears are so cool!

[jtq3]

Thanks so much everybody! I really appreciate it.

[jtq3]

http://mcmullansovercoat.blogspot.com/

Hi,
I've been attending a figure drawing workshop on Sunday afternoons and started a blog to post my results. I love drawing from a model but, I haven't done it in a while. It's great to get back to it. I think it's essential practice. It's like going to the gym!

Please stop by and check out the drawings.

Thanks,

[arif]

Those life drawings are amazing!!!...why not post here also?:)

[andrew sharp]

Really great life drawings nice clean and weighted lines :)

[jtq3]

Thanks Arif! I will post here but, I set up the blog to have a place specifically dedicated to figure drawing.

While a student I spent many hours drawing from the model. After graduation I began teaching and did that for about 4 years so, many more hours drawing from the model. I came out to California 15 years ago and over the years I've gotten away from it. I missed it and am glad to be back to it.

I set up the blog as a place to post drawings but also as a place to discuss drawing from life. Anyway, thanks for checking it out!

Thanks for noticing the line, Andrew! I had a great drawing instructor in college who insisted everyone in the class use the same materials: 18x24 ledger bond paper and a 2B pencil. No one was permitted to go off on fancy explorations with ink, paint, brushes, crayons etc. We all had to learn the discipline of drawing with line. In time I began to make a connection between what I was seeing in the model and the kind of forces I saw operating in the model's body and how to make lines which were sympathetic to what I was responding to and served the drawing.

[zanekohler]

Awesome work! Thanks for posting so much work.

[jtq3]

I keep a blog for my sketchbook and various other things. Here is something I did for a presentation we had here at Disney Consumer Products. Want to see if posting the blog url will show the image here.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-y5P8A_2vB98/TrsDYEcsOKI/AAAAAAAACFk/qVAV_OsAGUM/s1600/Mickey-Frazetta110211-1.jpg

John T Quinn
http://jtq3.blogspot.com

[jtq3]

Awesome work! Thanks for posting so much work.

Thank you Zane!

[Tanya]

Whoa! Vicious-looking Pluto you've got there! I love the idea!

[andrew sharp]

The Mickey and Pluto are jump out of my socks cool:)

[KayMartha12]

Nice figure drawings, if I did not say so earlier. On Mickey, I like how the eyes and cape are going in the same direction; keeps the focus on Mickey. Good graphic!

[jtq3]

Whoa! Vicious-looking Pluto you've got there! I love the idea!

Thank you Tanya. Inspired by Frank Frazetta fantasy/science fiction genre paintings. Do you know Frazetta's work? If not, you have to check him out.

[jtq3]

The Mickey and Pluto are jump out of my socks cool:)

Exactly the response I was shooting for! Thanks again Andrew.

[arif]

wowhh...that pluto and micky!!!!!!!!!!!!...wonderful....thanks for encouraging us by posting some great work...at least i wont be lazy after it..:D

[Rodney]

That is an awesome image.

I want to see that movie! :)

[lavallelee]

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-y5P8A_2vB98/TrsDYEcsOKI/AAAAAAAACFk/qVAV_OsAGUM/s1600/Mickey-Frazetta110211-1.jpg


this is great john! the colors, the hair the depth!

[jtq3]

Nice figure drawings, if I did not say so earlier. On Mickey, I like how the eyes and cape are going in the same direction; keeps the focus on Mickey. Good graphic!
http://www.donbluthanimation.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=386&pictureid=1788
Thanks KayMartha12! Appreciate your checking out the blog.

As far as the composition for the Mickey painting, I try to use everything to bring the focus on Mickey; from the placement of Prehistoric Pluto's feet and how they create a strong support system for Mickey to sit on, to the direction of Pluto's legs and tail and how rhythmically they lead the viewers eye to the focal point of the painting.

[jtq3]

wowhh...that pluto and micky!!!!!!!!!!!!...wonderful....thanks for encouraging us by posting some great work...at least i wont be lazy after it..:D

Thank you Arif! That's why I'm a member of this site, to get encouragement and motivation from everyone here.

[feliceworkshop]

Awesome artwork John, I'm a fan of yours and you know it!...
Thanks for the composition tutorial, I like the way you employed the shapes of the figures to visually guide the eyes of the viewer to the main focal point. I'm kind of a sucker for analyzing the arrangement of visual elements or the underlining composition in paintings and illustrations in general. I really enjoyed your explanation even more so because generally artists don't like to disclose this type of information.

[jtq3]

Thanks Felice! Not me brother. I love to talk about my work. :laughing:

[andrew sharp]

Thank you for sharing John its really cool :)

[Vonzent]

Great sketches, particularly enjoy the girl and the crocodile, love the consistent cross hatch strokes, and overall design :D.

[jtq3]

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hDxGlv9Yi-Y/TuVQD5Mn5hI/AAAAAAAACNE/SS1TovinPSc/s1600/Walt-Disney.jpg

[andrew sharp]

Great water colour of the grandfauther of animation :)

[jtq3]

Thanks Andrew.

[OwenWelsh]

Wow great caricature of Walt!

[arif]

So Cool John....:D

[jtq3]

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6dJapHuJKhE/TuZcX71y66I/AAAAAAAACNU/lnet_xUlrD0/s1600/20minutes.jpg
http://mcmullansovercoat.blogspot.com

[jtq3]

Wow great caricature of Walt!

Thanks Owen and Arif!

[andrew sharp]

Cool life drawing the shading style reminds me of an underground comicbook artist cant put my finger on it at the moment but very cool.

[andrew sharp]

I remember now your life drawing reminds me of an artist called Craig Thompson he created the graphihic novel Blankets real awesome drawings.
I also wanted to thankyou for mentioning Shamus Culhanes other book Talking animals it was a good read and left me more informed but full of questions :)

[jtq3]

Hi Andrew,
I've read Blankets and enjoyed it. I don't think my drawings look anything like Craig Thompson's but, I'll take the compliment anyway! Thanks.

My approach to drawing includes attention to the surfaces inside the edges of the figure. Outside edges are important of course but, I never want my drawings to be purely outlines. I'm interested in showing the forces and energies in the figure pushing and pulling, strengths against weaknesses etc. The interior information is equally important to get into the drawing to communicate those forces moving through the body.

I don't think of it as "shading" as it has nothing to do with light and dark. I'm not drawing shadows. I don't think you can actually tell where the light source is in relation to the figure.

I love that Culhane book. You know, you have to take everything you read "with a grain of salt" (as the saying goes). I remember reading it while I was a young and enthusiastic art student. I assumed everything was true and was just blown away by the first hand account of all those incredible historic moments in animation. Years later, as I met more and more of Culhane's contemporaries or people who worked with him, some disputed some of the things he said or some of his approaches to animation. I guess what I realized as I got older is, books like Culhane's can be fun and inspirational but maybe not 100% true. I don't know.

Another book i loved was Jack Kinney's book on his career at Disney Studio. He wrote from the position of a disgruntled artist and says some pretty harsh things. Again, probably a lot of truth to it but, certainly his side of the story. It was an eye opener for me as it revealed how human these guys were. John Canemaker's book on the Nine Old Men also reveals some of the tension behind the scenes. As a fan I just assume they're all pals working as one big happy team. But, that is just not how life works.

http://www.amazon.com/Walt-Assorted-Other-Characte-Kinney/dp/0517570572

[andrew sharp]

Hello John thank you for the reply. I dont know its just something about that last life drawing that reminds me of Craig Thompson's work maybe its the interior lines and the thick and thin which reminds me of brush work, and how its not all going in the same direction.Anyways I really like it.It seems like a departure from your regular drawing style.Thank you for the advice and other books to check out. I know I have a lot of growing to do as an artist and life throws in a lot of bumps on the way but drawing makes me happy. For me it is a way to relax in a weird sort of way because some days it is a real struggle. Any ways you have a good day Thankyou John :)

[andrew sharp]

John have you ever looked at the book Drawing Force? Its a great book.

[jtq3]

Mike Mattessi and I were students together and studied drawing under the same instructor, James McMullan at the School of Visual Arts in NYC.

http://www.amazon.com/High-Focus-Drawing-Revolutionary-Approach-Figure/dp/0879515368

Mike's work is an amalgam of influences including McMullan's High Focus Drawing Program as well as other teachers he had, his professional experiences and his own discoveries about drawing. I know he has published a bunch of books and for a while had started a school here in LA. Have you seen his website?

[andrew sharp]

Always great talking with you John I always learn something new. I have been a member of Mike's site for about a year now and have learned a lot about shape flow and force. That is so cool you were students together. He mentioned having Will Eisner as a teacher too.Mike also does a live video feed once a month which is awesome, and great to ask questions. I have sent in a couple of drawings and gotten feedback.I have to say his last book Force Animal Drawing really got me hooked on 4 legged creatures but animating them is still some what of a mystery. But I am stuborn and do not give up easily.Thankyou for the link :)