Transcripts
1. Introduction: [music]. But if I have to describe my style, I would say is that I use colorful patterns inspired by the African prints called the wax. I'm also inspired by those Scandinavian design because I'm living here in Copenhagen. Hi guys, my name is, [inaudible]. I am a French graphic artist living in Copenhagen. It is my second Skillshare class. In my previous video I was teaching you how to animate your illustration for Instagram. For today, I'm going to teach you how to make a series of illustrated [inaudible]. To create a series of [inaudible] , it is important to create something unique. So for that we are going to focus on the expression of the body and the face. We are going to develop our own palette of color. We will make a a lot of sketches on paper and then we will go through a computer and work with Adobe Illustrator. I hope you're ready because I am. I'm looking forward to see what you will do after watching this video. So, hi.
2. Sketching : Here we go. I'm going to sketch where I have in mind. I was thinking about drawing men and women who sit down and stand up. I want them to look cool and chill, I have been inspired by the hip hop from the '90s to give you an idea of the music I like, it's like the Notorious B. I. G, Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, outcasts, 2pac, and many more. I like to watch their music videos on YouTube. Because I like to see how they illustrate their song into a film. What I like about the hip hop from the '90s is attitude and outfield of people. I am nostalgic of my childhood, and that's why I'm taking references from the '90s. Some years ago I went to see a movie called Boyhood. It's about a boy who grew up in the '90s in the US. The movie was shot during 12 years, so we can see the actors at different stages of their lives. I highly recommend it. To get back to the sketches, I am drawing roughly what I have in my mind. I'm thinking about what kind of pauses could be interesting. First step of this class is all about drawing what you have in mind. Sketching on paper is essential and gives you a unique style to your drawings. I learned how to draw by doing it as often as I could. I think my drawing skills will always be in progress. My skills will evaluate through time and I have learned how to be patient with it, because it requires lot of experiences. Drawing is all about who you are. My advice is, draw what you have in mind because it's how you get to be unique. Right here, I am doodling and refining by drawing sharp lines to emphasize the features of the characters.
3. Story board: After sketching ideas I gather all the sketches and I have a closer look at it. From what I have drawn, I am going to analyze and select which pose and elements I would like to include in my series. There you go. Because there are many possibilities and you have to make decisions. But you can still make changes during the process while you are trying and see what works and what doesn't. I have decided to draw a three kinds of poses. Kneeling, standing, closer look at the face. I will draw both man and woman. In total, I will make six pictures. So make your choices and have fun, it's the most important.
4. Define your lines: I defines the lines of my six portraits. I draw very clear lines of each characters. To be able to draw with fine lines I try to empty my mind. For me, it requires a lot of attention. It's an exercise I have done many times. Drawing is about your mental, it's like a gymnastic, you have to train it every day. When I was studying, I had to draw every day surfing in tiny sketchbook which I had in my pocket to be able to draw at any times. I was training myself to observe the world. By doing it at divert my visual memory. I say all of this to tell you that drawing is like a sport. It requires discipline. I was once told that if I knew how to draw a human body, I could be able to draw everything. I think it's true. I think you should just go outside and take your sketchbook and draw what you see. Draw fast, draw what you see. If you draw fast, then you are going to draw what is important what matters in the expression of a body, a face. That's how you get to have these fine lines. You're going to train your brain to see what is important in a body. If someone is walking, what is important to show and how you want to represent a walk. That's how you get unique. Draw as fast and take what is most important. Just train every day. Your lines are going to be unique, is going to be you and you're going to tell a story through your lines.
5. Refine your lines: Refining a sketch can be easy and fast desk, except if you want to develop forever in your sketch, then you need to spend some time on it. I am going to refine the sketches of my six potheads, but for now, I'm going to show you how I refined one of the characters on illustrator. I draw with a pencil tool in white so I can see what I do, and it's really a good tool to refine and go back. I recommend this tool, I started by the face and the hands. For me is part which require more attention than the other part of the body because they have lots of details. I don't follow the lines because it doesn't always work with the overall of the composition. I tried to also follow my instinct. After I'm done with the face, I am going to draw the cloths, and in this face everything can be moved around and change the whole composition of the drawing. You have to let some space for spontaneous ideas. You need to follow your instinct, and if you go too far from what you were thinking, you can still go back to the scanned sketches to remind you, what was the original idea, if you get lost or confused. Drawing is about moods, so don't be afraid that it didn't work out. Maybe tomorrow it will change and you will have a new idea. I sometimes live drawing for couple of weeks before I get to decide whether I change the color or I change some part of the drawing. I don't follow my bad ideas because they are always valuable. Maybe one day I'm going to use it. We never know. So keep your bad ideas, they're really good in fact.
6. Colors : For me, finding colors is a challenge when I have to make a drawing for myself and there is no guidelines. I can do all kinds of things. The possibilities are endless, so to not feel confused, I developed my own pellet of colors. I use red, orange, purple, and blue mainly. I try to decline those colors so I can have enough tones. My pellet of colors is not fixed. It will change through my experiences and time. It is a starting point in my artistic journey. I like also to make bold choices with colors, vibrant colors. As I mentioned, I like the '90s and I have been inspired by the colors of these period, plus I am also inspired by African wax prints which combine vibrant colors very well. For me, colors is life and life is vibrant and fun. Artists who use vibrant colors and who inspire me, Andy Warhol who is a pop artist, Ettore Sottsass who is an Italian designer, [inaudible] , French contemporary artist doing sculptures with colors, Jeff Koons, an American artist using pop culture and doing sculptures. Also, [inaudible]. I draw young Afro adult proud, wearing colorful clothes, because for me, it refers to the cultural diversity. As a woman of color, I want to create a world full of color and multicultural. I am a mixed person. My mom is from Ivory Coast and my father is French. I have been born and raised in France. I always miss to see diversity in the French media so I am trying to do it with my visuals and colors. Colors has different meanings. You can interpret your own story through colors. This is what I have been doing so far.
7. Patterns: I am going to draw a visitor button, for the series of illustrations. I am trying to get a perfect shape. I will test the pattern on the character to see if it fits to the composition in terms of colors and shapes. To make a pattern, go to Objects, and then make a pattern. I have not developed a science with patterns yet, I just follow my instinct. I play around with the elements. My drawings are graphic and I don't do any shades. I just work with lines and plant forms and I try to create harmony. I actually studied product design and not graphic design or illustration. You will ask yourself why and how did I end up doing illustration and graphic design. Well, my answer would be, because I studied product design, I became a graphic artist. The process of making products requires a knowledge of drawings. Because in order to communicate an idea of how your product is going to look like in real life. You start by making researches, making storyboards, illustrations to show how the users are going to do with the poet, and you're making visuals and enough technical drawings. To make a product you need to be good at drawing your idea and to convince people that your product is the right one. I was really good at doing this, and I just end up to not do any products. I think I really liked to make visuals. I developed rosettes, and developed my techniques. Even today when I draw, I am designing a product, because the illustration can be used for a t-shirt, a poster. It can be used for any strip outs. But every artist has their own way of making art. You just need to find what inspires you and what makes you feel happy so you can develop further your style.
8. Consitancy : Voila, I am done with all the portraits. I used the same technique as for the previous portraits. Now I have to create a consistency through the series in term of style, colors, and shape. I am going to work with the colors a lot for this phase, and I want to create a following. I do lots of back and forth with the portraits and look at the overall of the series in the same time. It's not easy to decide where this is based on. I am going to place some geometrical elements in the background of each portraits, so I can see the overall in how to create a harmony in the colors. I am trying to find an equilibrium. I tried to make portraits look minimal and simple. I am trying to be minimal and simple. It takes time to make something simple because I need to evaluate what matters and what should go because it disturbs the message. In term of colors, I try to judge which colors work together. I'm going to change the color of the background of each portraits. I do that to calibrate the colors and try to match it together and try to test and see what I like. Try to do the same and don't be afraid to match opposite colors.
9. Final touch : Last step, I'm going to work more on the background. First, I am going to scale the Art Box of 16 by nine. Then I will insert some new geometrical elements with darts and transparent boxes. I am not tell you the name of the series yet. I'm thinking about The New Age. Yes, the title of the series is The New Age. I like to tell stories for my illustrations and I am doing it a lot on my Instagram. I think it brings to my illustration a context and a reality so people can relate and feel included. The New Age is a series of people who embrace their heritage. It represents young adults of women and men who want to live in a world of diverse colors and cultures. They spread their good vibes and they are not stressed by life and they feel relaxed and cool. That's my story. You can interpret it as you want. What is your series and what is the story of your series? Tell me.
Aurélia Durand, GRAPHIC ARTIST
