Shown above is the first ever attempt of drawing a bear that I have ever conducted – and whilst the sketches are not horrible, they do not read as bears. In particular, I feel that they rather look more like koalas rather than brown bears, which is what I had used as the reference.
After presenting my drawings to the team, Katie gave me some advice that helped ease my frustration. It was a step-by-step tutorial, created by the Brother Bear co-director Aaron Blaise. Although I was familiar with Blaise’s work, and have actually purchased some of his tutorials in the past (the anatomy one – it is fantastic), the ‘how to draw a bear’ tutorial had completely escaped my memory.
(‘How to Draw Bears’ Tutorial, created by Brother Bear co-director, Aaron Blaise.)
Shown above are some of the pages included within the ‘How to Draw Bears‘ step-by-step tutorial that I studied and reviewed before having another go at drawing more bears. To my delight, I noticed an immediate improvement in the anatomic structure of the drawings and a clear indication that my knowledge regarding the construction of the creature, from beginning shapes to rendering final details, had increased significantly.
(Shown above, the bear sketches created after the tutorial. Can be seen on page 10 of sketchbook.)
As we proceed to the next stage of development – creating a unique shape for the bear – this new information that I have attained will enable me to create and explore a heavily stylized design, whilst maintaining an accurately constructed form that shall function with an element of anatomically realistic proportions.
Reference:
How to Draw Bears. (n.d.). 1st ed. [ebook] Burlington, Vermont, United States of America: Aaron Blaise, pp.3-6. Available at: http://www.creatureartteacher.com [Accessed 12 Oct. 2016].
The Animation Journal 