Books are coming

I expect the "Book of Drawings" to arrive soon then straight out the door. Tell you what it has been a process to say the least, I learned many things.

If you missed the chance at Kickstarter you can get a book here: Davemalan.com/store

Book of Drawings

A book of my drawings is out an available for purchase on Kickstarter.

Check it out here: DaveMalan.com/store

Book of Drawings coming soon!

Hi blogger friends. Like the neighborhood I grew up in. Still makes me nostalgic to come back to where it all began, a simpler time of posting art and thoughts for others to come by and interact at a slower pace.

Alas, the world has changed and I apologize for not sharing my latest work over here. Let me know if there are still visitors and I'll make an extra effort. Regardless I wanted to share my upcoming project. I'm going to launch a Kickstarter campaign next Tuesday June 27th. The time has finally come to compile my best drawings into a book with good high quality prints for anyone who would like one. Please come on over, I'll post when I launch, but you can get a heads up by signing up for my mail list at DaveMalan.com. There will be some early bird discounts and a few originals you won't want to miss.

A uick drawing video!

30 minutes squeezed into 145 seconds. This is my process, I always work general to specific start with the biggest broadest shapes and just get something down on the page then react to it. From the start I could tell the proportions weren't right so I had to cut back on the left cheek a couple times and slide the edge of the mouth to the right. Getting some hatching in there allows me to get a better feeling by getting more accurate weight. If you just outline the eyeballs you are missing some of the weight the eye has and throwing your drawing off.
I am really happy with the final result after the rocky start.

portrait

I really like this one, just the right style and polish for me. From a picture by the talented and lovely Natalie Malan.

Straight on

From the sketchbook.

Harper

@jeffersonhayman is my favorite photographer on instagram. Stunning portrait work. This is his beautiful daughter @harperthenoodle
I was so glad the drawing turned out as well as I hoped. It's much easier with great reference.

sketch #108

Art Drop Day

Any of my friends in the northern Utah area keep an eye out for this #ArtDropDay piece I plan on leaving somewhere tomorrow afternoon. Sorry you'll probably have to keep an eye on my Instagram or Twitter to get the clue immediately.

2-tone

I really enjoy drawing in my toned paper sketchbook. Just to have the ability to go in 2 value directions with the pencil gives you a lot more interest.

little girl

Came across this beautiful little image at instagram.com/courtneyadamo.

boy

I love my little boy.

sketchbook

Sketch 79

Sketch #78

Collaboration

So you've probably seen the pictures where the artist has kids do a drawing then he renders then out. After I finished this one up my 3 year old decided to do the opposite and finish up one of my drawings. I think it's great.

Finally, a process video

At long last, after many requests I've finally found the initiative to post a process video. Its rough but here it is. 

This shows about 12 minutes of drawing compressed down to 90 seconds. Done in Photoshop but the principle is no different then working in my sketchbook.

The most important rule is to start out as general as possible. I start with a really rough circle just to lay out a starting shape/size. The circle becomes obsolete in no time but it served it's purpose. Then it's the big shapes, in this case the face and the hair. Next a quick center line and a nose, mouth and eye line. From there building it in with short geometric lines always following the general to specific rule. I do all this work with lighter lines and a softer touch so they are easy to remove as more solid lines are placed (particularly when working on paper).

People like my crosshatching finish work but this is the most important step to the drawing, getting the structure correct. Feeling confident with your foundation allows you to be bold with your polish work.
Hope that helps. Feel free to ask any questions and look out for more steps soon.

Sketch #76

Drawing in the sketchbook again. My current mechanical pencil lead is a bit hard so I got out a regular pencil to push the darks.

sketch #75

sketch #74