Ninja December 2nd, 2009

OK GO is responsible for a lot of my procrastination. They made me want to dance along with A Million Ways,  and I can’t even begin to tell you how many times I’ve replayed their synchronized treadmill dancing video for Here It Goes Again.

WTF? is the lead single off the bands forthcoming third album, Of The Blue Colour Of The Sky, slated for release on January 12, 2010.

Masters of the single-take, OK GO does it again. This music video for WTF? is no different, except that there’s no dancing, Tim is not lip syncing to Damian’s vocals, and there’s a lot more green screen and gaffer tape. Take a look at the pretty colors and Muybridge trails:

Directed by Tim Nackashi

Behind-the-scenes with commentary by OK GO’s Damian Kulash and Tim Nordwind

Tutorial on how to make the effect by Topher Welsh

Thank you, Video Hive

Purchasing links
+ WTF? mp3, $0.99
+ PREORDER: Of The Blue Colour Of The Sky, $11.99

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Tags: Echo effect, Making of, Music, Of The Blue Colour Of The Sky, OK GO, Process, Tim Nackashi, Topher Welsh, tutorial, Videos, Viral, WTF

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Ninja November 2nd, 2009

Yesterday, Penguin and I made 2 PVC C-stands. Our 1″ PVC version breaks down and packs easily. And for $5, you really can’t go wrong. You can get the instructions here.

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Ninja August 4th, 2009

Illustrator, Frank Stockton, started a really great drawing tutorial series, titled Teaching Yourself to Draw from Your Imagination. You can read the first installment from his blog here.

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Ninja August 4th, 2009

I <3 Gocco screen prints! They’re small, intimate, and becoming rarer since Riso Kagaku Corporation
stopped manufacturing Print Gocco devices. Then Yudu (silly name, I know) came on the scene. Yudu is a home screen printer (larger than a Gocco, but smaller than your average press).

Some sample Yudu projects:

Handmade Detroit did a wonderful video review/tutorial. Take a look:

I’d love try the Yudu out, but it has a bit of a hefty price tag ($299.99 in stores, and $195.25 online from Amazon).

Purchasing links
+ Yudu 62-5000 Personal Screen-Printing Machine, $195.25 (with free shipping)
+ yudu 62-5009 3-Pack Ink Primary, $22.00

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Ninja April 6th, 2009

Silverpoint was the tool artists used before there was what we know today as a pencil. Learn the Old Master’s techniques of Leanardo Da Vinci as well as the new techniques of contemporary artists to create traditional still lifes, landscapes, portraits or mixed media abstract images.

With whom
SVA instructor, Sherry Camhy

When
Sunday April 26
12:30 PM – 4:30 PM

Where
Studio 819
526 West 26th Street
New York, New York 10001 (map)
(Free street parking in front of building)

Costs
$100, plus $25 materials fee
$100 check must be received by April 20, 2009

Registration
sherrycamhy@aol.com
914-643-0758

Thanks, Chen, for the tip!

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Ninja January 21st, 2009

In one week, I got emails from 3 brides-to-be, 2 bands, and 1 curious student all asking:

Q. How did you create the swirls in your First Kiss Illustration?

First Kiss

A. I drew all the paths using Adobe Illustrator’s pen tool—no fancy shortcuts. This was before I discovered the handy swirl tool. I would endlessly tweak and make many trips to my local Kinkos for large-format prints.

Now, I wouldn’t leave you hanging. Here’s my tutorial on making swirls and curls in Adobe Illustrator. It does require basic knowledge of the pen tool. If you’re not familiar with the pen tool, the University of Massachusetts Amherst has a great pdf guide and practice exercises here.

And for the truly pressed, I’ve included links to free vector swirls and curls at the end of this post. Now, on with the tutorial.

Step 1—Draw a spiral

Click and hold down the mouse on the Line tool to reveal the other tools. Select the Spiral tool.

Click and drag outward. If you’re a bit of a control enthusiast, you can also click on your art board, and a Spiral Options window will appear. Here, you can enter the spiral radius, decay, spiral segments, and spiral direction. I’m using the default 80% of decay, 10 segments option.

Using the Direct Select tool (white arrow), you can choose points and drag them outward to alter the spiral’s decay. Or as mentioned above, you can change the decay in the Spiral Options window.

Set the stroke weight to 10 pts.

Step 2—Covert to outline and modify shape

Object > Path > Outline Stroke

I like to work in outline mode, so I can see stray points more easily and then delete them. To access Illustrator’s outline mode, hit ⌘ + y. If you’re on a PC, substitute the ⌘ symbol for the Ctrl key. To exit outline mode, hit the same key combination again.

Once in outline mode, use the Direct Select tool to choose points and drag them to alter the line weight of your swirl.

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Tags: Adobe Illustrator, Curls, Downloads, First Kiss, Free, Illustration, Pen, Swirls, Tutorials, Vector

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Ninja August 13th, 2008

It’s been a while since I’ve done a personal process post, and what better motivation than my very own Penguin! Penguin was having a crummy day, so I thought I’d make him a cheesy painting to cheer him up.

Materials used
+ sheet of letter-sized laser printer paper
+ 9 x 12 inch pine panel
+ HB mechanical pencil, 2B, 6B pencils
+ white gesso
+ Payne’s Grey acrylic paint
+ Raphaël Kolinsky Red Sable Extra Pointed Round, Series 8408, no. 3
+ 150 grit sandpaper

I start off with a very rough sketch on some scrap paper to get the basic form down.

I then flip the sheet of scrap paper over, and rub a 6B pencil on the back.

I place the paper onto my pine panel, sketch side up, and trace the form with my mechanical pencil. This will transfer the sketch onto my wood panel.

It’s pretty faint, but good enough to get started.

With my 2B pencil, I add detail to my little squirrel.

Then I add some gesso to brighten the highlights and give the surface area some tooth.

Another layer of gesso and a little more 2B pencil work.

Repeat. Add more gesso and more 2B pencil.

I got so into it, that I forgot to step back and take a look at it. Bleh, there’s too much grey and the tail looks all muddied and overworked. The texture gets lost. Time to simplify.

Besides adding a great one-off pattern, another nice thing about working with wood is the ability to sand off your mistakes.

I felt that I needed to distance myself from using the pencil for mark-making. It was a little too easy and fast. I didn’t want to overdo it again, so I switched to my brush and did the fur with acrylic paint (Payne’s Grey blends very well with the pencil line work). I also added some fur highlights with the gesso.

I went back with my 6B pencil to add specs of shadow in the fur and write the cheestastic line at the bottom. I know the position of the type is a bit off, but I like the weight and flow of the script as it is. I’m afraid that if I sand it off, I would not be able to duplicate my efforts.

Happy drawing and happy hump day,
Ninja ~__^

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Tags: Acrylic, Graphite, Pencils, Penguin, Process, Squirrel

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Ninja July 28th, 2008

Wow, it’s been a while since I’ve done one of these.

Q: Hi… I can’t think of a background at all. I’m pretty good at drawing people, but I suck so hard at backgrounds, and it turns out that backgrounds are what my teacher wants to see. So I guess I’m asking you how to actually go about and do a background for a self portrait.

A: Hi Stormie! Ah, backgrounds. Backgrounds can be quite challenging, but they are very important as they set the stage for your narrative and give your image a sense of place. Backgrounds can be either architecture, natural environment, or abstract. In the interest of not having this post run too long, I will provide tutorial links.

A few things to keep in mind as you form your background:

How does your subject interact with this space? What objects does your subject come in contact with that makes this space believable?

Do your research! Make sure location, fashion, vegetation, and architecture are accurate for the time and place of your image.

I was originally going to upload work from working illustrators, but instead, I’ve dug through my collection of student art work to give you some inspiration.

Interiors

I’ve provided three examples from different artists who have all chosen bedrooms for their settings. Even though they all have the bedroom setting in common, the lighting, tones, textures, and perspective set a different mood in each image.

Erin McGuire, Ringling College of Art and Design

Megan Inghram, Ringling College of Art and Design

Michelle Lamoreaux, Southern Utah University

Tutorial link
+ Basic linear perspective tutorial

Buildings and the great outdoors

Andrea Rhodes, San Jose University

Mike Burdick, College for Creative Studies

Owen Freeman, Art Center College of Design

Tyler Garrison, Savannah College of Art and Design

Tutorial links
+ Drawing outdoor environments tutorial—video
+ Drawing outdoor environments tutorial—from thumbnail sketch to final

Tones and gradients

Colors and gradients can be used to make your subject stand out in contrast to the background or make your subject recede into the background space.

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Tags: Andrea Rhodes, Ask Ninja, Christine Kornacki, Erin McGuire, Megan Inghram, Michelle Lamoreaux, Mike Burdick, Owen Freeman, Tutorials, Tyler Garrison

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Ninja July 24th, 2008

While I was in Taiwan, it was hard explaing what I do for a living. So my translators made up their own definitions for graphic designer.

Oh, um, she paints on the computer.

Advertising.

This viddy made me crack a smile just now, so I thought I would share it with you.

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Ninja June 24th, 2008

Go Team Venture! One of my favorite shows on the Adult Swim lineup is The Venture Brothers. Each Sunday nite, I can be found cracking up on the couch while watching Doctor Venture and his family battle arch-villains.

On his blog, Jersey-based storyboard and design supervisor Stephen DeStefano gives a great tutorial series on how to draw the main characters. Learn how to draw the nerdy, teen heroes Hank and Dean, scragly Dr. Venture, and macho Brock. Thanks, Stephen!

+ Learn how to draw Hank and Dean

+ Learn how to draw Doctor Venture

+ Learn how to draw Brock Samson

Ah, if only he added a Dr. Killinger or Monarch tutorial, too!

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Tags: Animation, Stephen DeStefano, The Venture Brothers, tutorial

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