Do the Draw Squad book on my computer

It’s just that my Draw Squad book is in storage, and I’ve been distracted by the more mundane aspects of life.

I tried this one in Illustrator and Photoshop. Really ended up getting burnt out after a while and just giving up, though. Maybe I’ll get the hang of it, but I kept on thinking about what sort of art program I would make. I’ll be honest, it’d probably be something more geek-friendly than artist-friendly, but I’m a mishmash of the two anyhow.

Keyword: Foreshortening (still)

I hate this pic. I don’t know why – it’s just a dang box. Yet for some reason this simple box is always one of the hardest things for me to draw. Apparently it’s the same problem on the computer.

Anyways, here it is. Now I can move on.

Keyword: Foreshortening

Just a very simple black and white image. Nearly 2D, actually.

Keyword: Foreshortening

A little more specific about what I’m doing, and a little less specific about what I’m doing it with.

Keyword: Foreshortening

Started messing with a little shape manipulation. See the little circle cutout in the flame? Yeah, I’m pretty proud of that.

Setting your sights low is the key to happiness.

Book: Draw Squad
Lesson: 1
Keyword: Foreshortening

I decided to give Corel Draw a try this time, and it was a lot easier to draw Kistler-style pics with Draw than with Illustrator. The Perspective tool makes it real easy.

Book: Draw Squad
Lesson: 1
Drawing Keyword: Foreshortening

Nothing fancy, just the basics of making shapes.

Anyhow. I’ve had an educational version of Illustrator 10 and Photoshop 7 for a while, but never really used it for more than the occasional scanned doodle. I’ve always wanted to work my way through the Mark Kistler kids’ drawing books using Illustrator – not sure why, it was just something I wanted to do. It’s a way to learn how to use new tools by applying them towards familiar images.

Let’s start with the book Draw Squad. 180 “art attack” lessons, along with 30 larger “contest” projects, makes for 210 images. Hopefully I’ll know how to use Illustrator (and Photoshop, but mostly Illustrator).