Miller's Crossing- Film Studies

Enjoyed the progression and framing in this sequence from the Coen Brothers' Miller's Crossing. The stunning cinematography was directed by Barry Sonnenfeld. It's been awesome going in order of their filmography to catch up with all their work.

Bridge Sketches

Sketching at IN-AND-OUT

Decided to take a bike ride to sketch at In-and-Out yesterday, and boy was it bustling there. Of course I couldn't resist ordering a burger afterwards. Been adventuring around the CalArts/ Valencia area looking for cool places to sketch recently.

Brazil (1985) Directed by Terry Gilliam: Film Composition Studies

I love how the compositions in Terry Gilliam's Brazil make use of bold shadow and light patterns. Watched the film a few times, so it was fun to go shot by shot for  a few sequences. I did a few practice thumbnails before starting this page so I can figure out a process that works for this technique. I find that using pencil to lightly block out the shapes of the shot, then going in with pen for the line and finally filling the black with a thicker pen works best for me.

Manchester by the Sea- Studies

Just saw Manchester by the Sea the other day and I'm now obsessed with it. What a lovely film. 

I really appreciate how it doesn't shy away from the truth and harshness of the devastating situations Lee (the main character) goes through. Despite the tragic situations, the characters always have so much heart and soul to them. 

I felt the cut from the boat memory to the reality of Lee driving was really effective. 

The use of vibrant colors on the boat and bright lighting in contrast to the shot of Lee being in complete shadow to me represents how Lee is hiding from his past and is presently living in the shadows of Manchester.

I thought the shot of Randi on the bed really captured the bliss of the moment. I loved how the light entered through the transparent curtains and the contrast of textures on the bed felt like a Gustav Klimt painting (excuse my spelling of Klimt in the sketch). Her head being pushed all the way to the right allows the eye to take in the whole scene before reaching her face.

I thought the shot with Lee resting on Joe's body was very emotionally evocative and haunting image (drawing on top). I liked the vertical lines on the wall enforcing this kind of downward motion and the darkness of Lee's hair framing his brother's pale face. I also appreciated the doctor's acting in the back and how he seemed so thoughtful while Lee said his goodbye.

A Selection of Life Drawings/ Sketches

Musicians week of life drawing was probably one of my favorites from this year. I've found that if the atmosphere and models are really engaging, it becomes a lot more fun to work with.  Linda, one of the life drawing teachers at CalArts was showing me how to utilize texture with the pastels to lead your eye in the bass player drawing. She actually rubbed his beard a bit because the texture was getting a bit too distracting there.

This is actually an older drawing, but it still stands out to me as one of my more successful ones. I think I was ahead of my time when I drew it, but it's also because I spent a lot of time sitting in the cafe and just watching. I can remember I drew everything but the man in the doorway and waited for the right character to walk in. When this guy entered, I was like, "that's it!" and tried to grab a mental image pretty quickly before drawing. Wanted to post it here as a reminder to do more cafe sketches and really pull from life in my work.

These are from the last life drawing class of the second year at CalArts. I felt a lot more confident in drawing the faces after a year of Linda's help and instruction. One thing I learned from both of these is that I actually sometimes work better when I use an eraser in longer poses.

 I feel it's good to be bold and direct with mark making, but I actually drew the eye on the figure on the left about 3 times.