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