A Painting Will Only be as Strong as it's Under Drawing.

Under Drawing for Imps by Lamp Light by Jonathan Myers.

Drawing is one of the most important skills an artist can acquire and maintain. In an age of growing technology nearly every artistic medium, skill and facet can be achieved or mimicked with state of the art software. The renaissance of this digital frontier has made it easier and possible for artists to explore all the aspects of the visual arts. However, it still has its limitations. The ability to create imagery from nothing is still dependent on a basis of personal skill, obtained resources and individual talent. Without access to these things the tools of the digital realm will fulfill little to no purpose other than iconoclasm, imitation and mere manipulation. The need for creativity, imagination and an ability to draw from life and one's mind are still very relevant to the artistic process.
I have many friends who excel in the arena of digital art and they all agree that one must learn how to draw if they are going to be able to use any of the software tools made available to them. It is still very important that an artist learn the fundamentals of rendering anatomy, shading, form, color, value, line weight and composition. A traditional basis for hand skills is still the foundation on which the rest must be built if an artist wishes to grow and succeed in their artistic journey.

Imps by Lamp Light by Jonathan Myers. All Rights Reserved

I have presented a comparison of both an under drawing and a completed painting I created. It features a piece I entitled, Imps by Lamp Light. The initial goal of the piece was to explore light, so I scoured my idea  file (a filed bin full of photographic reference) for the perfect subject to serve as my basis for this creative endeavor. I used both the grid and sight measuring techniques to draw the lamp that was featured in my reference. This skill set required a competent understanding of  the mathematical and visual principles of time honored traditions that have served artists well since time in memorial. I sketched down my base shapes with an HB pencil, and then went over these rough lines with more confident ones with a 2B pencil. Next I added shading with a 4B pencil to further define the aspects of light, value, weight and form of the lamp. Again this was something that I learned through artistic study and the keen observation of my initial reference. So far this drawing required merely a careful replication of eye to hand work with a descent knowledge of basic art fundamentals. For my key goal of exploring light I could have moved on to my painting, but I decided to bring individual creativity into the piece.
I have been drawing since I was five years old and over these many decades of observation, artistic study and discipline in maintaining the skills of my craft I have developed a strong ability to retain visual information. I have become able to pull this recalled imagery from my imagination to create whimsical creatures. In this case I drew the imps that prance about the lamp in my initial under drawing. It isn't enough to just sketch down these small beings from my mind, I must also be able to position them in a sense to evoke mood and personality. An understanding of musculature, form and how light effects things is also required to render these critters with a lively sense of realism, or else the imps will appear cartoonish and even out of place. The goal has expanded to creating a believable illusion where the fantastic can coexist with the real in an utterly seamless concept.
Now that I have a strong and believable under drawing I have a foundation on which a painting can be built upon. I can now make a clean line drawing of this concept and transfer it to my illustration board via tracing paper, then I am ready to embark upon the painting phase of this illustration. The painting will be a Herculean task in and of itself, but the compositional work and visual cues in the initial drawing will make my job a great deal easier as I embark on completing this effort in full, brilliant color. The study of artistic fundamentals, the investment of other artist's training, a commitment of discipline to craft and a growing skill set have all culminated in the ability to create a strong basis for a greater creative effort. Never abandon traditional hand skills and always maintain the ability to draw, be it on paper or on a digital pad. This cornerstone is the basis on which all other visual skills and tool sets are built upon. -Jonathan Myers, Illustrator

The Magic of Doodling: An Artistic Shorthand for Expression

Middle Earth Doodle by Jonathan Myers. All Rights Reserved

Doodling is one of my favorite past times. I was the kid who got in trouble for scribbling characters in the margins of my notebook in class, instead of paying attention. I have a kind of addiction to doodling and I honestly don't think it can be treated; nor do I want any help overcoming this need to scratch pictures on paper placemats in restaurants, on scrap paper at the doctor's office or in the corners of my bill stubs. For me doodling is like breathing and it has always allowed me to express my thoughts, feelings, dreams and ideas. I love doodling and I hope you'll learn to love it to.
Doodling is an art unto itself, where there is no such thing as criticism or rules. The purpose is always about noodling shapes into thoughts, until they form a coherent picture. They are a sort of linguistic shorthand for me, through which I can communicate with all kinds of human beings universally; despite language barriers, culture, politics, race, creed, faith and in many cases handicaps or illness. Doodles bring me joy and infect those who view them with child-like smiles. I started doodling as a child as a sort of therapy. I spent my early childhood bouncing through foster care and had a particularly gentle and insightful foster father named Michael Mutter who realized I was struggling emotionally with expressing what I was feeling inside. He gave me a stack of paper and introduced me to doodling. It was such a relief to get my inner fears and monsters out on paper and work out my personal troubles through scribbled lines, devoid of consequences or being judged. Later I was blessed to be adopted by two of the most loving parents a kid could ask for. They acknowledged that I had a real knack for doodling things and they actively encouraged it and guided me to pursue it as a life path. Of course the doodles got better and they evolved into sketches, then drawings and even paintings. However, doodling in its purist form is still my favorite art form and my preferred method of communicating what I think and how I feel. When I doodle I start with loose shapes and through those shapes I begin to see characters coming to life through the soft geometric lines. Those lines gain weight and clarity as I choose what form these characters will take and determine what features they will have. Animals, creatures, heroes, villains, objects and landscapes begin to appear as the world in my mind emerges in the two dimensional space of paper. The experience is still therapeutic to me all these years later and continues to hold me in its magic. Have you ever doodled? I encourage you to give it a chance and see how it can help you grow and learn as a human being. -Jonathan Myers, Illustrator