Monday, June 04, 2007

Yay, Vacation!

Got back to Canada from LA this Saturday, I volunteered at the ASIFA-Hollywood archive. It was so much fun to help Steve out, listen to his great stories, see amazing rare artwork, and to hang out with genuinely great people. I learned a lot and also drew a lot:

practice drawings

Sketches from a story about a gal's first gig as a babysitter,
What could possibly go wrong?


Two of my favorite actors caricatured
Mike Fontanelli said this looked like Robert Mitchum merged with the bizzaro superman

Hanging out with John and Kali was fun, I havn't seen John since I was 15. John's got a great sense of humor, Folks at Sheridan are mighty proud of him, but I won't talk for too long, this picture speaks for itself:

6 comments:

Unknown said...

COOOL drawings!

Mitchel Kennedy said...

Fantastic drawings, as usual! But you said that you wanted my opinion on your drawings... so here it is!:

I have that screencap of Daffy right here in front of me. The size relations are off (his beak is a little too small). The neck isn't long enough, and if you look at the original you'll see that the neck isn't perfectly curved. It's kind of bent like a human neck. The original reminds me of Sarah's neck. I think what this drawing is lacking the most compared to the original is that there is no lean forward. Look at the original again and you'll see that Daffy is most definitely leaning to screen left. It gives the eyes more of a pull too. But what can I say? It's a great drawing otherwise!

The wolf is fantastic. I don't have any reference for him right now, though. Did you copy that from somewhere? I CAN say, though, from what I learned from reading about John's Nick Cross story is that you have to be aware of making the pupils the same size and shape. The wolf is probably actually drawn like you drew him... a lot of classic cartoons were drawn like that... but otherwise, I guess it doesn't hurt to put contrasts in the eyes (which I DO see you doing later on down the page!!) Very well drawn. I can't draw that well.

Your babysitter drawings kill me, they're so good! Wow, so well constructed and so fun! And so very much in your style! As much as you hate our 'lifedrawing' classes, I think they've helped you a lot.

One thing I've learned from the Seven Golden Camels AND from you, though, is that things look and read better if you have one side as the gesture, and the other side as the pose. Maybe you could have done that in her legs with some sort of uninterrupted line... but I'm not that great of a drawer, so I can't tell you if it would work or not in this case... =\

The baby is hilarious, and so is the size of that chick's head! Where's her right arm, though?

I love the tag sticking out on the next drawing of her -- hilarious! I just want to go and tuck that thing in. I like what you did with her very rubbery right arm! Rubber yea!!! It helps the silhouette too! Nice. The lips are funny too. haha I love your brand of comedy.

John Goodman is GREAT! He's almost spot on! I'm impressed. Your caricatures are awesome. I love them. You have a fantastic visual memory. You can always make people look so pleasing with those curves and contrasts!

Mitchum is awesome, even if his name is only almost cool. Excellent drawings. That bottom one is amazing. I think I might have learned a little something about drawing faces from it. The way you find form so clearly and simply is beyond me.

Well, that's it! Sorry if I sounded harsh. You need to be tougher on me, you know. Don't be afraid to -- I won't break.

GREAT stuff! You're too impressive. I can't believe I have the honor of living with such an artist next year. haha All hail Amir! Cartoonist extraordinaire!

Amir Avni said...

That's quite the critique, Mitch, thank you.
John K. noted those things on daffy and the wolf, the pupils should wrap around the form and not be totally symmetrical, looking for contrast. I'm comparing my drawings with the ones I copy a lot closer now, its very good training!

You're praising me way too much tho...shhh!! other people are readin'! It's my pleasure to be your roommate as well, the inspiration works both ways.

Clinton said...

Cool Drawings! What kinds of stuff did you get out of ASIFA?

Amir Avni said...

Thanks Clinton,
It's more about what you put into it, archivng all kinds of beautiful artwork, knowing it'll be available for future generations to be inspired by is highly rewarding.

Anonymous said...

What the 'L ?

Where the 'L is the L in CLASSICAL ?