Now I’m not saying this is the right way, or the only way to sketch the Hulk. This is just my way. The Man vs. Art way.  I am using a Wacom Graphire 3 Tablet and Autodesk Sketchbook Pro.

Again just like the last Demo, this is by no means  a finished piece.  Just a quick sketch with only the pencil tool and eraser tool. No fancy tools or filters or whatever. Just plain good old fashioned drawing and my thought process behind it. Enjoy!

Quick Wacom tablet Sketch of  Hulk.

1938 WALT DISNEY STUDIOS EMPLOYEE HANDBOOK!

I came a cross this old 18 PAGE Disney Studios Employee Handbook from 1938! It’s a brief outline of the Studio’s principal departments and an explanation to artists of its employment policies! The drawings are all  production drawings!

CLICK THE PIC FOR A PDF OF THE BOOKLET!

Get a load of the beautiful pencil sketches!  Look at the appeal and solid draftsmanship! The characters look alive and fun to draw don’t they!

I love this Mickey model! Right before they changed the proportions and eyes to look more “human”. To me this was the pinnacle of Mickey’s awesomeness!

Awesome with Awesome sauce!

This Goofy blows me away!  Everything in each drawing says dork! Look at how the hat follows the line of action!

The ultimate Goofy!

This is some very nice cartooning kids!  Inside the PDF of the booklet you’ll find mostly Snow White stuff and few pieces from their shorts and Silly Symphonies!  This is a great little collection of animation drawings from the Golden Age of Disney Animation!  I suggest you guys practice drawing these pics, and learn from them!

The last page is a flowchart that shows the pecking order at the studio and just how important Walt was to everyday operations! This is unreal!

If you’re hungry for more cartoon knowledge…..

Check out the right hand column under the blue Che’s Recommended  Books button for the official Man vs. Art must have book list! If you don’t have these books, you NEED to get them.

Ciao!

Raul

Hola Minions! Welcome to a hopefully new feature of  Man vs. Art.  I am resurrecting the drawing demonstrations and hope to post one every other week in between podcasts! IF you guys like this sort of stuff, I’ll do more. If you would like to suggest something you want me to draw send me an email to manvsart@manvsart.com!

First up is a pin up girl demo featuring Vampirella. Now I’m not saying this is the right way, or the only way to sketch a pretty girl. This is just my way. The Man vs. Art way.  I am using a Wacom Graphire 3 Tablet and Autodesk Sketchbook Pro.

This is by no means  a finished piece.  Just a quick sketch with only the pencil tool and eraser tool. No fancy tools or filters or whatever. Just plain good old fashioned drawing and my thought process behind it. Enjoy!

quick wacom tablet sketch of a pin up girl

Lily Feliciano at The Gnomon School of Visual Effects in Hollywood runs a website called Sketch Theater.

They celebrate the process of sketching! Can you believe that?!  So awesome! They invite professional artists and film them from above as they draw. Then they speed up the footage and add some cool music making a performance video out of sketching!

Lily just posted my Postal Elf sketch and I thought I’d share it with the Man vs. Art minions for Christmas!  Because you guys rock and deserve nothing but kick ass stuff!

Great Christmas tune by The Ramones perfectly complements the sketch I made of an elf going completely postal.

Also here is a little animation test I did of a girl dancing.  I used ToonBoom and a Wacom Tablet.  Which turned out to be easier than I thought.  It is myfirst rough pass, but I think it works pretty well.  Now I just need to clean it up and color it!

So sit back with your tequila and bourbon eggnog and enjoy!

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But first Geo Brawn IV

In today’s podcast I present you guys with part two of my chat with my friend and esteemed colleague Los Angeles Indy Comic Creator Geo Brawn IV.  We get down to brass tacks about Geo’s technique and approach!I learned for example he uses  Tuxedo Black Acme Bic markers.  A pretty common pen you can pick up at any office supply store for your drawing needs.

Keep it simple with BIC!

BIC Mark-It Permanent Markers, Ultra-Fine Point, Tuxedo Black.
Ideal for small spaces and detailed crafts. Textured rubber grip is engineered for comfort and control. Marks on glass, metal, CD’s, coated paper, photos, plastics. Long cap-off life. Vivid, quick-drying ink resists water.

Holy Crap what a wonderful pen! Too bad it’s gone!

I was a Victim of Circumstance!

It’s a good idea to use a common type of drawing implement. I unfortunately got hooked big time on these wonderful disposable fountain pens from Pentel way back when I was at Film Roman in 2003. These are AWESOME! They give you a consistent Crisp thin line that you can make thicker by applying the slightest pressure.

When I was wrapping my short Hero Heights at Nickelodeon in the summer of 2006 I discovered the pen had been discontinued! The Horror! I couldn’t find them anywhere anymore.

One day I walked into a local Mom ‘n’ Pop Art Supply store near my home in Downey California and asked the guy if he had any of those pens. He opened a drawer and there were like about FIFTY of them! I was happier than a poet on pay day! I bought them all and have been using them since. I’m down to my last dozen or so and need to ween myself off of them like real soon!

So let that be a lesson. Be careful of what tool you choose for drawing. You don’t want to wake up one day and find out they stopped making them.

Anyway……

How about taking a gander at a couple of Olivia’s  beauties!

Sweeeet!

Hellooooo nurse!

The famous Pin Up artist Olivia, who’s wonderful illustrations of beautiful women have been gracing the pages of Playboy and Heavy Metal for years!  Well, as it turns out, she is a big influence on Geo.  I can see why! I mean wow!  Just look at how stunning her pieces are! Wonderfully executed works of art that really capture the beauty of women that we all love so much!

Ahooogah!

Big Guys of the world UNITE!

Geo and I share many things in common. Besides the whole artist writer thing we are both also big intimidating looking dudes with deep voices. We look like fugitives from a Wookie convention. We get crap from people all the time. The cool thing is when we get tired of it we just squash the little runts. Most guys like us are bouncers, cops and hired muscle not artists! So we throw people off everywhere we go. I like that.

Geo by Raul

Remember in the last podcast, we found out people mistake Geo for being Samoan! That’s a group of folks famous for their size and ferocity!

So the next time you a see a huge goon. Be careful. He might draw your picture.

Sheila called.

If you check out the podcast you’ll hear me taking some calls from the audience.  We had a great call from Sheila from West Hollywood.  She runs a “petite” girl’s boutique on Melrose called “The Girly Cue.”

Man what a crazy broad!

What’s on Raul’s desk?

I thought I would share with you guys what I’m currently working on.

First up is a character design for a show I created called Cuddles King of Congo Island.

Meet Dr. Gideon G. Granola.

The Old New Age Guy

Dr. Gideon G. Granola

He’s  the eccentric , some say senile, gazillionaire philanthropist, extreme environmentalist, militant vegan, pacifist, wildlife expert, Dr. G. Gideon Granola.

A relic of the sixties now pushing seventy. His family owns the famous Granola Discount Freight Company and with the profits from said company Dr. Granola funds his crazy expeditions.

And why not? He is after all the world’s top authority in Eco- Biology and officially holds the title ” World’s Oldest Tree Hugger.” If you want proof there is a picture of him at the Smithsonian hugging General Sherman, the world’s oldest and most gigantic Sequoia Redwood, when it was only a sapling! He is into all things hippie and new age and has a strange but very Zen way of looking at stuff.   Meditation is a big part of his life, and he does it often,  both on purpose and otherwise. He goes in and out of “Zen” like trances and after a long,  sometimes uncomfortable pause says…….. “What?”

He is mellow for the most part but gets really really excited about nature! I mean really excited.  He loves nature and everything about it! Even the stuff that could kill you. All the bugs, plants, birds, fish, reptiles, amphibians, and mammals are all equal in his mind. On the other hand if sees someone harming nature  it becomes personal.

His eagerness and spirit have not diminished in his old age. Dr. Granola likes being in the field where he can make things happen, and where his flatulence is less noticeable.

He is forgetful and a little flaky. Did I mention his gold medal in “funny old man Tai Chi?” Its true!

World's oldest tree hugger.

When he announced he would be leading an expedition to find the fabled “Congo Island” everyone laughed and called it folly. But he knew better! Now that he’s found it,  he plans to study and catalog as much of the island’s wonders as he can.  Secretly Dr. Granola is searching for “The Fountain of Youth” Yes that one! He has reason to believe the fountain is on Congo Island and he’s going to find it.

From Fartsy to Artsy. A fine art commission.

This is the charcoal value study for a portrait I have been commissioned to paint. I just finished the drawing last night and am priming my canvas right now.

value study for a portrait commission

Sketching as a performance?! No really I swear!

And here you will find something really really cool that I got involved with  Lily Feliciano at The Gnomon School of Visual Effects in Hollywood runs a  Sketch Theater.com. A celebration of the process of sketching! Sketch Theater invites professional artists and films them from above as they draw. Then they speed up the footage and add some cool music making a performance video out of sketching!

Recently I went in to be filmed and Lily just put up my first video!
Check it out!

And now a moment of reflection for the Holidays.

Las posadas by Raul Aguirre Jr.

Each year I make a Christmas card for my wife and I to send out to our friends and family. Here is this year’s card for you Man Vs. Art minions to enjoy. It depicts the Mexican Christmas tradition called Las Posadas or “the inns”

Las Posadas is a yearly neighborhood tradition for Catholic Mexicans that symbolizes the hardship Mary and Joseph endured before finally finding a place to stay where Jesus could be born. From December 16th to the 24th each family in a neighborhood sets up a nativity scene and acting as innkeepers will schedule a night for the Posada to be held at their home. The neighborhood kids portray pilgrims (peregrinos), who seek lodging by going house to house singing a traditional song.

All the pilgrims carry small lit candles in their hands, and two kids carry small statues of Joseph leading a donkey, on which Mary is riding. At each house the resident sings a refusal for lodging until the weary travelers reach the designated site for the party, where Mary and Joseph are finally recognized and allowed to enter.

Once the “innkeepers” let them in, the group of guests come into the home and kneel around the Nativity scene to pray the rosary.Then it’s time for a good old fashioned Christmas hoe down Mexico Style! Children will break open piñatas by striking these colorful paper-maché (traditionally terracotta) objects with sticks while blindfolded to obtain candy hidden inside, and there will be a feast of tamales, buñuelos, and atolé!

Isn’t tradition awesome!

We here at ManVsArt.com would like to wish every single one of you and your loved ones a joyous holiday season and thank you from the bottom of our hears for making Man Vs. Art your choice for art related shenanigans and fun!

Raul and Che.

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This is my telling of the legend of La Llorona the Mexican Legend of the wailing woman. I want to share it with you guys here!

I tell the story of La Llorona Man Vs. Art Style while I paint a picture of  her.

La Llorona,

The wailing woman is an ancient legend of my people. It is a cautionary tale handed down thru the ages mostly by spoken word and meant to scare kids to behave  and discourage young ladies from promiscuity.  It is a story of love, devotion, betrayal and murder.  You ‘ll be hard pressed to find a more sordid tale of tragedy and woe than that of this woman known as La Malinche, and later as La Llorona.

I first heard it from my great grandmother Mariquita Aguayo the summer of my seventh year and yet it  still  chills me to this very day.

La Malinche was the noble first-born child of the lord of Paynalaher on the Mexican Gulf Coast Coatzacoalcos, then a “frontier” region between the Aztec Empire to the north and to the  south  the Maya states of the Yucatán Peninsula.  She spoke both Mayan and Aztec  very well and  knew the  customs and and superstitions of them too.  Tragically as do most kingdoms that lie between  two great nations her people had suffered greatly  under the obsidian blade of both super powers for as long as she could remember.   In her twenties her father died and her mother remarried and bore a son.  Now an inconvenient stepchild, the girl was sold to Maya slave-traders.

In 1519 she was given to the Spanish Conquistador Hernán Cortés who immediately  took a liking to this highly intelligent and victimized young girl.  A girl who later played an active, powerful, and decisive role in the Spanish conquest of Mexico.  She was instrumental to the destruction of The Aztecs and Mayans.  La Malinche  acted as interpreter, adviser,  and intermediary for Hernán Cortés.  She was also a mistress to Cortés and gave birth to his first son, who is considered one of the first Mestizos (people of mixed European and indigenous American ancestry).

Following the native traditions of the nobility she became totally devoted to her man Cortés and basically sold out the Indians to the Spaniards.
She explained Aztec and Mayan superstitions and beliefs to Cortés who used the information to gain the upper hand on the natives. Without her help Cortés and his gold greedy mercenaries would have been crushed. Instead Cortés  the Conquistador was revered as a god!

She  bore him more  children only to be abandoned so that Cortes could marry a Spanish lady. Here we can see in the legend La Llorona’s loss is a metaphor for the Spanish rape of Mexico and the demise of indigenous culture.

Now this where it gets weird. Apparently she went mad and somehow  thought she could win the affections of Cortés if the children were out of the way.  So she did the unthinkable. She drowned the children and then in a total freak out of remorse she  killed herself.

Tut tut! We all know she was not going to get off that easy, was she now? For having betrayed her children as well as the Mexican people, the Gods punished  and damned the hysterical woman to wander, searching for her children along rivers and lakes at night for all eternity.  In some cases, according to the tale, she will kidnap wandering children.

In Mexico today, La Malinche remains iconically potent. She is understood in various and often conflicting aspects, as the embodiment of treachery, the quintessential victim, or simply as symbolic mother of La Raza or aka the new Mexican people. She is often known by the pejorative term “La Chingada” (“the violated one”).