Dave Carr interview for imaginism: December 2013

Personal Work and Goofing Around

Between client work and practicing/ building my skill set, I have trouble getting around to doing finished pieces of personal work that are as intense as my client jobs.

Here are some doodles and goofing around. They're not polished as the pieces in my portfolio, but maybe they'll give you an idea of my style and sense of humor.

ThoughtWell's 1st Birthday card part 1

ThoughtWell's 1st Birthday card part 2

Concept Art for the graphic novel "Wood Stalk Alarm Clock

Mech Penguin

The product of a little too much stress and maybe a few too many drinks

Drawing From Life and Gesture Drawing

Here are some samples of life drawing at work and the Cafe. I'm also taking the gesture drawing course which I'm documenting on a separate blog ( http://schoolismcoursereview.blogspot.com/ ) Here are some Gestures for that course too.

Human Anatomy

I'm currently working through Bridgeman's guide to Constructive Anatomy, Dynamic Hands, and Anatomy for Artists. My first priority are the hands.

Female Facial Studies

My latest commission involved drawing a female. I realized that drawing women is much less forgiving that drawing old men. I was able to hide mistake with wrinkles and beard. So, I've shifted my facial studies from old men to young women.....It's still a work in progress.

Kris Pearn and Working Faster

Lately I've realized that I work at a glacial pace. This didn't bother me in the past, but I can't afford to spend as much time as I do when do client work (the last 3 projects were 100+ hrs a piece!).

I decided to take Kris Pearn's advice on working faster. (Draw faster at 70%, and eventually you'll adjust so that you can work at 100% at the new speed.) My own take is to draw the portrait on one breath. This way, I can be sure that I'm not taking too long.

My goal with these sketches isn't to learn to draw at 100% using only a breath a piece. Instead I want my decisions on light/ dark mass, proportion, and defining characteristics to be more instinctual.

Facial Studies

I've been working of illustrating faces lately. I need this skill for my client and my personal work. To further this goal, I've been studying the basic geometry using Andrew Loomis's figure drawing for all it's worth, and drawing sketches from oil paintings and photography. While capturing the likeness is important to me, my main goal is making the structure believable.

Side note: These aren't in chronological order.