VIGNALI STUDIO

Great artists throughout the ages have left their art lessons encoded in their works. In this series I deconstruct the artwork to find the compositional, story, and structural devices... as well as reverse engineer the thinking involved in creating their magnificent art.

 You don't know what you don't know, so it's hard to imagine what you're not aware of, so I've posted a free video lesson on Youtube to show you what you've been missing. It's a short 10 mins excerpt from one of the upcoming lessons, Into the Design Lab: featuring the work of Frank Frazetta. 

I want folks to know what they're getting in this series -- it will blow your mind. Into the Design Lab -- a Gumroad PREVIEW  It's an academic dissection of history's most indelible artwork. And it's free!

With so much digital work in animation today, it’s important to keep in mind that “design" should be the driving and motivating factor of design. While it’s a lot easier to create digital artwork that allows us to use multiple layers, textures and even 3D models to paint over, don’t underestimate the power of the pencil. The pencil is a direct line of communication. 

Glenn Keene has said, "the pencil is the seismograph to the soul."

The strength of pencil design work is that every mark on the paper is a deliberate stroke. Each value, each mark is a decision made by the designer. How you feel, what you want to say, is directly translated onto the paper.

This is one of the designs I proposed for the girl Smurf village.

Here are a series of visual development paintings I did for Hotel Transylvania 2. Although I'm not listed in the credits, I did do some work for HT2 in the early development stages. In this assignment, we were exploring the world of Johnny's parents, still trying to figure out how to keep the look for this new location consistent in the same HT style.

I thought I would play up the contrast between the Romanesque castle architecture with no windows, to the modern glass wall architecture. What would be worse for a vampire than a glass house?

Poor Dracula, just when he thought he was going to get a little shut eye. What could be more horrifying to a vampire than the morning light?
In this image we can see the hearse driving through the Napa valley. A subliminal cross peaks out over the treetops to torment Dracula.

I just posted an article on my Art Page to answer the question, "Why use stylization in animation?" This is a follow up to the Tumblr article I posted a few days earlier.

In this five-minute sketch, I'm showing the simplified building-block structure that I use to balance my figure.

Using this building-block structure, it's easy to balance the figure. You simply stack boxes in a way that looks balanced.

If the boxes aren't balanced, understand you're suggesting movement. This isn't a bad thing, if you're drawing a dynamic pose. But, in a standing pose, you'll want to suggest a steady balance.

Come check out my latest How-To video on Overcoming Obstacles, and dealing with adversity.

What to do when things go wrong...

Have you ever felt like you're tied to someone else's drama?

It's a shame, I tried to record this drawing, but somehow the file was corrupted and I lost the recording.

Have you ever noticed that the bees aren't the only ones looking forward to all the flowers in Spring?

Here's a seven minute figure drawing sketch from last night, drawn while using my Fractal Method.

Athletes to the gym and train, they build muscles they need and use when performing their activity. Artists are very much the same way, we need to train for our activity -- and going to figure drawing is our gym.

So, if you're an artist, get into our gym and start working out!

Yes, we're at that phase in kittenhood when our little Misty Lou needs to sharpen her claws, literally at our expense.

I snapped this picture of our kitty when I caught her in the act.

BAD KITTY!

It's Windy

I've put together another video of my Mobile Studio. In it you'll get a sneak peak into my Mobile Studio sketchbook.

Mini-flyweights, 105 pounders...they make the ring card girls look big!

I'm a huge boxing fan, having laced the gloves in my younger years.

The lighter weight fighters are the most entertaining to watch, because they move so fast. It's like watching squirrels fighting over a bucket of espresso beans, in fast-forward.

Continuing with my Ordinary Hero series, this guy was my ordinary hero today! When his little mini-me started to act up at a local yogurt shop, this hero promptly "took-him-out." Hah! Now, that's what I call a real, "PUNISHER." We need more parents like this!

Oh gosh, I saw this grandpa enjoying an ice-cream, and I couldn't help seeing the resemblance.

You know how people look like their dogs, well they also resemble their diet.

I tried to record a video of my using the gel pen, but the video stopped recording halfway through. When I finished the drawing, I realized the error.

Oh well, next time!

I just uploaded a new video on my Youtube channel. Designer Training/Drawing with Markers. 

I do my usual ramblings as I discuss the importance of training, my unique Fractal Method of designer-training, setting goals, and some tips on marker drawings in your sketchbook. 

If you have any questions, post them here. I'll get back to you.

My young daughter just finished her latest video, and she asked me to upload it onto Youtube.

Don't forget to "like" the video, and subscribe to her channel. The Random Tales of Snorky13

Entertaining a thought here, what if superheroes were just like regular people. I mean, what if they were still super, but they didn’t wear costumes – rather, just regular clothes. What would they look like?

Along with the usual suspects of antiquated art equipment. I've got a mechanical pencil whose metal grip has nearly been worn off, an extinct Tria marker, and my favorite eraser. 

Here's a memory sketch of a big guy that we spotted last week during our sketch club. I paired him up in my sketchbook with this odd looking young woman. She was a young hipster that dyed her hair blue, and dressed like an old lady.

I usually reserve my dry marker sketching for figure drawing. But, this time I drew a character design using the tool, a dry brush pen. I was attempting to refill the pen because it had dried out too much and I was testing it out. I liked the doodle, so I added an orange color to fill it in.

The tool isn't as important as the idea or the design, but a different tool may cause you to think differently. If you feel like you're in a rut with your drawings, switch up on your tools and see how that affects your thinking.

Sketching on-the-go #3: Using a watercolor technique called wet on wet when using markers. This is a how-to video on using markers.

I saw this young woman walk by with a pretty head band that looked like little flowers, but the hair in the back end sagged in a bundle that bounced when she walked. I thought it was funny.

Drawing on the Go Tips: Drawing with a Pattern Template

Here's a video I made on using a pattern template when drawing cafe sketches.

We saw this tough-looking young woman stroll by.

I've been watching B-Boy dancing, wow it's so incredibly extreme. I just love what they're doing with dance. I was thinking to myself, it's gotta be harder to impress the ladies nowadays.

This is a marker drawing on toned sketchbook paper.

I gotta reach into the archives for this one.

The storyline is this, the villain attempts to get away, while the Milo gives chase. They use some of the planes that was brought by the explorers onboard the sub. Of course, you know this attempt fails, and the heroes have to attempt to activate the older technology in order to stop the villains.

I drew this one for Disney's Atlantis, 17 years ago. It was drawn with graphite pencil on a ledger bond paper.

Remember that first kiss? Yeah, it was that magical.

I managed to squeeze out another drawing in my sketchbook to cap off 2014. Happy New Year everyone!

Maybe it's because the new Star Wars movie is coming out, but I think I just saw a Chewbacca mirage!  I called out to my friends, "Doesn't that girl's hair look just like Chewbacca?

I thought this girl looked like a cross between a Christmas tree and a Gryffindor alum. Merry Christmas!

I just posted a video on Youtube regarding my materials, and a peak into my sketchbook.

Meet me there!

 I was looking for some images from Open Season, in order to add them to a presentation I'm going to be giving in Turin Italy at The View Conference on Tuesday, October 14th between 10:00 -- 11:00am.

On the 13th, I'll be teaching a workshop between 9:30--11:30am. The workshop will be on Storytelling with a Visual Vocabulary.

Graphite

In 2003, at Sony Pictures Animation, we were still trying to figure out how to create digital animated movies. In these designs I was building assets that were later used in a test using Maya. I did a series of drawings that we used as digital cards, in order to plan a camera move and track our camera.The cards were later replaced by digital assets as they were created.

In the beginning at Sony Pictures Animation, we were in the process of having to invent techniques that would later become a staple at the studio. Much of what we did was a mix of analog and digital. I provided drawings, and Michael Humphries painted them. Much of the paintings Michael did were also analog. He painted his work in acrylic paint, and had a whole series of painting techniques to accommodate the textures.

Graphite

Once completed, our digital painters emulated what Michael Humphries was able to do with paint, and likewise with the digital models. The result was spectacular as is evidenced by the movie.

Graphite

That's a doodle of my youngest daughter there among the foliage.