Teaser for Prehistoric Planet

BBC / Apple TV teased a sneak peek of Prehistoric Planet, narrated by David Attenborough. It mixes what appears to be live-action footage of hatchling turtles with computer-generated dinosaurs.

The dinosaurs are introduced out of focus as they were captured by a lens with shallow focus. The animators showed the killer instinct of the young T. rex as ice timing and storytelling, too. The animation shows a convincing sense of weight and momentum, not always easy to achieve in CGI.

Thanks, Josh Sheppard 

How to Edit an Art Video

The upcoming issue of International Artist Magazine has my top tips for making art videos.

For example, here's what I suggest in the section on Editing:

❌ Don’t waste the viewer’s time.
✅ Do cut anything that doesn’t advance the story.

❌ Don’t hide your reference.
✅ Do show a short video clip of the scene you’re looking at or the photo you’re working from. To save cutting, put the subject and painting side by side in split-screen mode.

❌ Don’t use gimmicky transitions.
✅ Do use straight cuts, dissolves (to suggest time passing between similar shots), and fade-to-black (for an interruption or shift in story).

❌ Don’t leave out key steps, but at the other extreme, don’t be tedious.
✅ Do capture the key moments when you make noticeable changes. Show the steps along the way, without any large leaps. If there’s a part of the process that’s repetitive or boring, just include a representative segment of it, and then dissolve between clips of it at various stages, or speed up the playback.

❌ Don’t just show off and make it look easy.
✅ Do share your mistakes. Show how to fix them. It goes against the presenter’s instincts to switch on the camera when things screw up, but it makes for better instruction and better storytelling. As YouTube community member Travis Noble said: “Watching an expert make mistakes is the best part of an art tutorial, because you learn truly what makes the difference between an expert and beginner is not in the mistakes but how they recover from them.”

I learned a lot from the 200+ user comments from on my YouTube Community page. Thanks to all who contributed.

The article is in issue #143 (Feb/March 2022) of International Artist Magazine.

How Insects Fly, Shot in Slow Motion

Insect flight involves coordination and effort that can only be appreciated by slowing time. Taking off often requires precise movements of wings and legs to get the wings far enough off the ground.

This video is filmed at 32,000 frames per second, with narration that helps us see what's going on. Insects shown include stone fly, moth, firefly, mayfly and lacewing. Link to video on Youtube 

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Thanks, Steve.

The Science of Color by Captain Disillusion

This new YouTube video by "Captain Disillusion" (Link to YouTube) explains a lot of important points about color: how we perceive it and how we chart it, from the hue circle of Isaac Newton to modern 3D luminance diagrams. 

Every second of the video is packed with information, all beautifully illustrated with motion graphics.  It goes by so fast you almost have to watch it twice to get it all.

For painters, a key quote is "A limited palette works just fine as long as the color relationships remain the same."

In the comments, can someone please share the links to the free software he mentioned that lets you chart 3D color gamuts and luminance charts?

Viennese Sign Painters

A Viennese sign painter explains how he created his handmade signs. Lately he's been working on his small museum, which shares lettering samples with the next generation.
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When Better Letters met Josef Samuel: Vienna's Last Signpainter

Dark Crystal: Behind the Scenes

When Netflix released the fantasy series "Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance," they also shared a behind-the-scenes documentary called "Crystal Calls: The Making of Dark Crystal." 

Image from Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, courtesy Netflix

The feature-length program explores how the new production builds on the vision of Jim Henson's original film from over 30 years ago. 

In some initial tests, producers explored the idea of realizing the main Gelfling characters with CGI, pairing digital characters with real puppets for the reptilian Skeksis. 

But the CGI and physical puppets didn't pair up convincingly onscreen, so they decided to make them all as physical puppets.

Most of the movements and expressions are manipulated by the performer. There's also some radio control and cable control, and a few of the blinks and other expressions are added digitally. 

The production enlisted some of the best puppeteers at the top of their game, and even had a guest appearance from Barnaby Dixon, who has invented a new way to puppeteer with his fingertips. 

In addition to making all the puppet characters, the production required elaborate handmade sets and props.

Several of the key creative people from the original Henson production were recruited to the Netflix show, including Brian and Wendy Froud, who sketched and sculpted concepts for the characters and costumes. All images ©copyright their respective owners.

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On Netflix: 
"Crystal Calls: The Making of Dark Crystal"
Books:
• The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance: Inside the Epic Return to Thra
• The World of The Dark Crystal
• The Dark Crystal: The Ultimate Visual History
Exhibit: Creatures from the Land of Thra: Character Design for The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance

Courtesy of Netflix

Make Your Own Curved Track Dolly

Putting a camera on a curved dolly can add production value to a low-budget video. It's easy and inexpensive to build one. (Link to 13 minute YouTube video)

If the curvature is a section of a circle, and the camera is pointed toward an object placed on the center of a circle, that object will stay in the center of frame.

The movement of the camera is controlled with a geared down Lego motor. This one travels about one foot every 15 minutes, or about an inch minute.  

The cart is also made from Lego. I remove the tires from normal wheels and run the cart on the rims. The track is made from flexible Pex pipe, which you can get from the hardware store. 

Casey Childs Interview

Utah-based portrait painter Casey Childs has released his first video tutorial called "Painting the Direct Portrait." 

The video is a little over three hours long, and it covers the process of painting a head study of a young female model. 

The audio consists of the artist describing what he's doing and what he's thinking to a small studio audience, who occasionally ask questions.

He starts right out talking about materials, color choices, and how he lays out his palette. His first step is to tone the canvas with a light grayish brown color, and then block in the simple impression of the light and shadow pattern. He then builds the form by modulating the values and detailing the individual features. 

At a few points throughout the process, he clarifies his points with special graphics, such as as the high contrast image at left. 

For most of the video, you see a split screen, with the model on the left and the developing painting on the right. Whenever he pauses to mix a color, the edit cuts to a down-facing camera showing what's happening on the palette.

After watching the video, I asked him a few questions:

Gurney: Why did you choose that model, that pose, and that lighting? 
Childs: The model is the daughter of our good friend and neighbor. I chose her for her fair skin and red hair and thought it would be a great combination for a portrait. When setting up the pose, I'm simply looking for an interesting design—how the abstraction of light and dark shapes together make a compelling image. Part of the reason of this particular pose was that I knew I wouldn't be able to work as fast while explaining my process, so I made it easier on myself to not have to paint the other eye! Ha!

Would you have used a similar approach with a different model under different circumstances?

The approach would be the same for any other circumstance because this is how I'm always thinking about painting, although color choices and finish may differ depending on the finish and mood I'm trying to create.



Many other portrait painting teachers (such as Nathan Fowkes, Scott Waddell, Cesar Santos, and Jeff Watts) emphasize the importance of doing a careful structural line drawing before embarking in paint. In your approach, you start right out mapping tonal shapes and considering the edges between them, without defining the form or the structure. 

We all know that correct drawing is the most important aspect of any work, so I love how the structural method focuses on that first and foremost to make sure the drawing is sound before anything else is considered. But I feel like my art heroes—Sargent, Sorolla, Zorn, to name a few— considered all aspects (drawing, value, color, edges) that make up a great painting at once. 

What do you have to say about the structural foundation method? Why do you recommend your method? What are the advantages and limitations of it?

I'm constantly thinking about structure and form while painting, but trying to be more efficient in the application. I believe this method helps maintain an energetic freshness as well as being easier to create atmosphere. The danger is, that if not careful, the drawing can lose structure and forms can become too generic.

Casey Childs self portrait

How would you chart your confidence level throughout the process of doing this demo? Are there points in the course of the portrait where your confidence is shaky, or are you sure of yourself throughout? (My confidence level hits a low after the lay-in, and I find it takes a lot of faith to get me through, especially when I'm in front of an audience). 

If I'm not freaking out at least once during the process, the painting probably isn't any good. I think you need to take some risks to keep the application fresh and interesting. I've gained confidence in my process to the point where I have a pretty good idea what my painting will ultimately become with enough time. But I think doubts come when you stop trusting the process. 

How does filming and narrating your approach affect your confidence? What do you tell students who are blocked by fears or doubts? Is overconfidence a hazard?

There was definitely moments during this demonstration where I wasn't sure if I could bring it together into something resembling a human, but I got there by trusting the process.



Since this is your first major tutorial video download, what made you decide to shoot and edit the video in this way? What advice would you give to other artists who want to produce a tutorial download?
Well, you can't teach what you don't know, and I really feel like I've gained an understanding of foundational skills and a knowledge of seeing in this way (mass vs. line) to be able to explain it. I also feel like watching someone paint can be quite boring, so I knew I didn't want to produce a long video. I've put together a video that I think is informative with many key concepts demonstrated in three short hours that explain the basis of my approach. I felt it important to see the model in split screen to really show how I'm simplifying the complexity of the information I see on the model.

What are you trying to accomplish with your portraits? Are you trying to capture a specific likeness of your individual model, or are you going for more of a type or a character? Do you make any conscious changes or enhancements to express your personal impression of the model, or do you try to paint exactly what you see?
The basis of my approach to painting is capturing what I see. And I feel that is very beneficial in portraiture. It's not like I'm always going after a likeness, but it usually appears as a result of a careful search of the relationship of simple shapes and forms that are the characteristic and impression of the individual I'm painting. The question I'm often asked is how do I get a likeness, there's no secret or formula, it's just more accurate seeing and drawing.

For your studio compositions or portraits, do you use photographs for reference?  
Yes, I use photos. I think photos can be a great resource and tool for the artist, many of the great artists use(d) them. 

How do you feel about using photos?

With a solid knowledge of drawing and form, an artist can use photos with great results. Photos are not as useful when the artist is not using them as a reference and merely copying. 

Do you ever project or trace them? 

I don't have a problem with projecting or tracing. It's way to speed up the process, but its damaging if used to skip the training of learning how to see.

How does your thought process change when you use them?

We all know that photos can't replicate the values and color range our eye can see, so when using them I have to be aware of those differences. And along with that, I try not to copy exactly what I see in the photograph but instead use them as a reference to what I've observed from life. 

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"Painting the Direct Portrait" is 192 minutes long. The digital download is $34.95. A combined package with DVD + digital is $69.99.

Review of new documentary WYETH

WYETH - Extended Trailer
A new documentary on Andrew Wyeth (1917-2009), which airs later today on PBS, gives a rich portrait of the life and work of this essential American artist.

Previous videos, including Michael Palin's Wyeth's World for BBC, David McCullough's The Wyeths: A Father and His Family, and Christina's World, narrated by Julie Harris, capture facets of his story, but this is the most complete and thorough production yet.

Andrew Wyeth's studio, © Phil Bradshaw, FreshFly

This new documentary dives deep into the archives, sharing Wyeth home movies, including a clip of N.C. Wyeth dressed up as a very scary Santa Claus. "I was terrified to the point that I wet the bed," Andrew remembers. 

We see NC's collection of stereoscopic photographs of World War I, the drama of which fascinated Andrew's father. In a remarkable visual effect, the directors fuse the stereo images of a battle trench, and fly into a 3D virtual image, an effect I've never seen before. 

Director Glenn Holsten and cinematographer Phil Bradshaw were inspired by Wyeth's artwork, handling many of the film's moments in emotionally resonant and visually powerful ways. For example, to evoke the terror and tragedy of NC's death from the train accident, we hear the sound of a train, and then we see a low and slow dolly shot over some train tracks, with dry leaves blowing in the wind.

Director Glenn Holsten sitting at the window in the Kuerner farmhouse

The film explores Wyeth's familiar haunts in Chadd's Ford and Maine at various seasons of the year, allowing us to see the viewpoints that inspired many of Andrew's paintings. There's archival filmed footage of Christina Olson, the subject of Christina's World. Helga, the model for Wyeth's secretive series of nudes in his later career, goes before the camera to speak about her recollections of Wyeth and their unusual relationship. There's a beautiful shot of her on a sunlit porch that almost looks like Andrew could have painted it. The film also takes a look at his friendships with the African-American community around Chadd's Ford. 

This production reveals how much Andrew Wyeth's work is cherished in Japan, where there have been several extremely popular books and exhibitions. Wyeth's paintings are in tune with traditional Japanese artistic sensibilities, which value change, transience, abstraction and negative space. This connection is enhanced by gorgeous shots of cherry blossoms and gardens shot in Japan.

Although she never appears in filmed interviews, Andrew's wife Betsy receives due recognition as the organizational and financial genius behind Andrew's success. She was the one who helped arrange his life to keep him painting, regardless of the demands that money and fame would otherwise have placed on him. She titled and catalogued his paintings and held him to high standards: "Betsy encouraged him to work on [a painting] until it couldn't be better." Her role as author and editor of the extraordinary books Christina's World and Wyeth at Kuerner's is also acknowledged. 

Arriving nearly a decade after his death, this video is an ambitious and comprehensive production which benefits from access to archives and to people close to Andrew Wyeth, evoking the strange magic behind his life and work.

(Link to trailer on Vimeo)
Andrew Wyeth the Movie on Instagram has more clips from the film.
Wyeth documentary website

The Art of Movie Trailers

An insider's look at the art of modern movie trailers. (Link to YouTube)

Practical effects showreel

Visual effects in films and commercials these days aren't all digital these days. As this behind-the-scenes showreel by Scandinavia FX demonstrates, some firms are using miniatures, fluid tanks, explosions,  and even live animals, with cameras tracking on robotic arms.



Most of their shots are not entirely in-camera, though, relying on digital compositing to stitch together elements. (Link to YouTube)
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Related topic: Read an oral history of the "Dinosaur Input Device," an enhanced stop-motion technique developed by Phil Tippett and his colleagues while working on Jurassic Park.

Video on Jeremy Mann now on YouTube

The film about painter Jeremy Mann by Loïc Zimmermann, called "A Solitary Mann" is now available for free on YouTube.

 (Link to YouTube) 

It's a moody dive into the angry love he feels for the art and act of painting. 

Editing an Art Video

What's the strategy behind editing an art video? Here are some practical tips that I keep in mind:

Time lapse vs. real time 

Time lapse can compress a slow, repetitive series of steps into a short segment of time. A typical time lapse interval is one frame per second, which compresses an hour into a minute two minutes. You can create a time lapse with a GoPro or a mirrorless camera, both of which have built in shutter release timers. Time lapse can aid the viewer's understanding of the overall painting process or show the broad-scale strategy of a time-consuming step. You can also speed up footage that was shot in real time, but that puts demands on your external hard drive.

But time lapse can have an unreal, detached quality that can be frustrating for viewers who want to understand how long each step really takes.

My most-watched YouTube video is called "Street Painting in Indiana"
It's about 10 minutes long, and it has a variety
of coverage and a little bit of drama.

The advantage of shooting in real time is that you can show what happens with each brushstroke. Painting can take many hours of repetitive action, and it usually needs to be edited down to make it watchable.

A good solution is to select representative excerpts of each stage and cut or dissolve between them. As long as you don't jump-cut across a big change, the viewer will hardly notice that they're missing anything.

How can you get the best of both worlds? One solution is to show an analog pocket watch in the frame of your time lapse so you can actually watch the minute hand go around. Another thing you can do is to alternate time lapse with real-time footage, using time lapse when you want to show the long-term result of an extended repetitive action, and real time when you want to bring the viewer into the moment. When you change the speed, tell the viewer why you're doing it in the voiceover.

Since time lapse comes without audio, I would recommend using voiceover to explain what’s going on. You can include real-time recorded audio of painting sounds under the time lapse footage, even if that sound doesn't correspond exactly to the action. Either way, you want the audio to connect the viewer with the real-time experience of painting.

Screenshots from my video “Snyder Swamp.” Even though the video
is only 1.5 minutes, I made sure to get the following shots
(reading across from upper left): 1. Establishing shot; 2. Easel setup;
3. View of scene; 4. Detail of palette; 5. Detail of painting; 6. Detail of foliage

Music
People often use low-level music throughout the whole production to cover bad or missing field audio. Not everyone agrees on musical taste. Personally, I can't tune out low-level music in a video, especially if it endlessly repeats. I tend to fixate on it, which distracts me. The actual sounds of the painting environment are usually more immersive and compelling.

However, there are times when a piece of music is really central to the concept of the piece. Music usually works best if you restrict it to the first and last minute of the video, or when you use it for transitions. In the first minute it sets the emotional tone, and in the last minute it signals the impending close. You can also use music to flavor an interlude of short montage cuts, which can show important details or set a certain mood. Make sure you capture a long take of field audio or voiceover for the body of the video, because you don't want to jump-cut the resident audio from clip to clip.

Music must be cleared for copyright before using it in a video. You may be able to use copyrighted music if you ask permission or give credit. Copyright-free music is available for free from Kevin MacLeod in exchange for credit and links. Another source is Freeplay Music, which lets you use music for free as long as you don't generate income from your video (thanks, NextMoran). Freesound is a website with a lot of user-uploaded sound effects that have a variety of usage licenses. The iMovie software has a range of free music, and you can also get free music and sound effects from YouTube’s Creator Academy.

How long should an art video be?

School Bus, 2014, gouache on watercolor paper,
A video for a painting like this needs to
compress the action of two or three hours
into about 10 minutes, and to demonstrate
the important choices made at each step.

Answer: As long as it needs to be—but not one minute longer. How many of us own a multi-hour video tutorial sitting on the shelf unwatched, or one that we have watched just once?

Why should a painting tutorial need to take two, three or four hours? Who wants to watch someone paint every blade of grass? That would be like watching a cooking video showing onions slowly caramelizing in the pan. These long art videos result from the assumption that the video is equivalent to a real-time workshop. It’s not the same thing! In an actual workshop, you're freely in control of your attention, but in a video, your attention is locked down and passive.

To have genuine instructional value, a video should show each step clearly, but it should skip over or compress repetitive actions. Unless you really need to demonstrate a complex series of different steps (such as researching, building maquettes, thumbnailing, posing models, grinding pigments, stretching canvases, etc), the story of a single painting probably doesn’t need to take more than 45 minutes.

I know that I have probably made a few videos that seemed too short, but that's usually because I just just didn't capture any more coverage.

Suggested running times for art videos

• 1 hour: a case study of a multifaceted project like a mural or a researched illustration, with many separate actions in addition to the painting sequence itself, where each step receives thorough but concise coverage. 
• 15 - 30 minutes: a single painting presented as a case study, with each step of the painting demonstrated in detail from start to finish.
• 5 - 15 minutes: a location-based painting or studio life study that is relatively straightforward 
• 3 minutes: a painting sequence boiled down to its essentials, and focusing on just two or three principles, ideal for YouTube. 
• 2 minutes: a promo piece, highlight reel or trailer.
• 1 minute: a video that makes a single point, ideal for Instagram, ebooks, apps, or online presentation.

(Link to video) Here's an outtake from the next video feature, which I'm editing now.

Editing
There are a variety of professional and entry-level editing programs, including Adobe Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro , Sony Movie Studio and iMovie (which comes with your Mac). All of them let you juggle the order of clips around, change their lengths, color-correct, zoom in, crop, and add multiple tracks of audio.

I would suggest restricting the use of transitions to simple cuts. Use dissolves for transitions that bridge a gap of time. Start with your strongest visual, or express immediately what you want to accomplish, and if you want to title the video, put that a few seconds in, but not at the very beginning. Use subtitles to identify anyone who is talking on camera, to explain where you are, or to name pigments you're using.

Painting iceboats on the Hudson, March 2014. The simplest setup
is a down-facing camcorder on a tripod while you hold the
sketchbook in your lap. By extending the legs of the tripod unevenly,
the camera can lean out over your work.

Distribution
There are many ways an instructional video can serve your goals. As a promotional tool, a video brings your methods to life, connects your paintings with your personality, and reveals the circumstances of your painting’s creation. It can give your students a lasting record of your teaching methods, and can connect you with your collectors by sharing behind-the-scenes insights about your inspiration.

You can share promotional videos on YouTube, or sell downloads via digital content distribution services like Sellfy or Gumroad, which take only a tiny percentage of the sale. Kunaki is a disc producer that will produce shrink-wrapped DVDs on demand with Amazon-ready bar codes.

Media devices like smartphones and tablets offer opportunities for presenting your art together with text, audio and video in formats. We've developed an app called the Living Sketchbook that lets you page through a complete sketchbook with high res scalable files and experience audio and video taken at the time of the painting.

There’s no reason that videos about the making of art shouldn’t be artistic as well as educational. As the great director Jean Cocteau once said, “Film will only become an art when its materials are as inexpensive as pencil and paper.”
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Read more in these previous posts:

How to Video Your Art: Camera Guide

How to Video Your Art: Microphones / Recorders

Shot List for Art Videos

I have 11 painting tutorials so far

My painting tutorials on Sellfy

My painting tutorials on Gumroad

"Living Sketchbook" app for Android
"Living Sketchbook" app for Apple iPhones and iPads

My DVDs from the manufacturer Kunaki

Great gear for making videos
The GoPro is compact, so you can see past it when you're painting
Canon M6 mirrorless camera is excellent for time lapse, video, and stills.
Shutter release timers (or intervalometer)
An external hard drive helps because video files are so big

How to make your own promo video

Joe Sutphin is an Ohio-based illustrator who produced his own behind-the-scenes video.


(Link to Video on YouTube) I think he did a beautiful job with it, so I asked him: Can you tell me how the video came to be and how you produced it? Did you do it by yourself? How did you learn video? I believe his story might inspire GurneyJourney readers who are thinking of creating their own behind-the scenes videos, book trailers, or how-to tutorials.

Joe says: "This past year has been tough at times, financially speaking. In 2017, I didn’t land a single new book illustration job. I finished writing a kids novel, did sample art for it, and my agent submitted it to at least 15 editors who each passed on it. I finished 2 illustrated kids novels that were landed in 2016, and turned in sketches for a picture book, but that has been slow due to several editors coming and going on the project. I actually just got the final manuscript last week, and that's a book I landed 2 summers ago, just to show you how slow-paced the picture book world can move at times. This drought has caused me to really consider what things I can be doing on my own to help work come my way."

"All that said, I started getting requests for speaking engagements, which I realized I really enjoy doing. It's very fulfilling to speak with kids and adults and encourage them in what they do. So I spent a good month putting together a nice visual Keynote presentation all about my childhood as a kid who was really only good at drawing pictures, and how that led to a career as an illustrator. I treated it with the same care I would any project, knowing that I was building a product. My good friend Brannon McAllister recommended that I make a short introduction video on my website to help promote me speaking at schools and libraries and whatnot. Really just a way to get educators and librarians to understand the gist of what my visit would entail. I was just thinking, a shot of my head talking to the camera: 'Hi, I'm Joe Sutphin, blah blah blah, let me come speak at your school or library.' With clips of my studio life spliced in here and there. Nothing too fancy."

"My wife Gina was hard at work, making Christmas gifts on her lathe down in her shop, so I just started filming little clips of the scenery in my studio upstairs by myself, using my Samsung Galaxy 7 phone’s Pro Settings, which allowed me to give it that yellowy, overcast haze."

"After I had shot about 30 or 40 little clips of studio space, I dumped them into Dropbox and pulled them into iMovie on my MacBook, which I've actually never used before. I spent many hours as a teenager making movies with my buddies, and always editing them in creative ways, so I had some general sense of what to try. I started editing clips together, and quickly realized that I didn’t want to talk to the camera and try to sell my school visits anymore. The images I was seeing felt more intimate and special than that, and I’m honestly not very natural at trying to sell things. I’m far better at telling a story than selling an idea."

"So I started writing a little monologue, and when I write articles for RabbitRoom.com I tend to start with an idea in mind and just try to tell my story with an arc. A start, which usually involves some form of tension. A turn, where there is either light at the end of the tunnel, or sometimes its where things might seem to get heavier. Then a conclusion, which can be a thoughtful statement or even a question to cause the reader to think beyond what they read, and might lead them to comment on the article. So my monologue just flowed with the basic themes of my presentation, from a kid not fitting in, to finding his place due to his talents. Then I used a little stand I found and strapped my phone to it and started shooting little action shots with me in them to fit with some of the things in my dialogue. And each time I added more shots, I would read the dialogue back and see what might need to change with the pacing of it, and what other shots I might like to insert. It was really organic. The videos were all shot over a 2 day span, but no outdoor light was present, so the time of day didn’t matter."

"After I had edited all the video together, I sat down and paced my final dialog to what was on film, practiced it a few times, and then recorded the audio track on my old digital Korg recorder downstairs and a condenser mic I have. The hardest part was just trying to read the dialogue without sounding like I was reading, while keeping my eye on the video to be sure my pacing was just right. I was able to cut and move audio once I inserted it in iMovie though."

"Then I asked my friend Michael, who leads the band at our church, if he would have time to record a little guitar thing I've heard him play before. It's a song he wrote about a guy in the 1930’s, falling in love and going off to war. The lyrics weren’t important, but the music was stuck in my head and I was certain it was the right thing for the film. I was floored, moved to tears, when Michael sent the audio track to me a few days later, and how perfectly it fit the structure of the film. Getting more music like that would be the hardest part of repeating such a film. It really all fell together so amazingly for not knowing what I was getting into."

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Visit Joe Sutphin's website

Subscribe to his YouTube Channel 
Previously: How to Video Your Art, Part 1: Camera Guide
How to Video Your Art, Part 2: Microphones / Recorders

Flagg Draws a Model

In this 1934 video, James Montgomery Flagg (1877-1960) draws a female model while talking about the importance of perceiving the skull underneath. (Link to YouTube).

In the video he lays down a few preliminary structural lines, and then at 2:04, the video makes a jump to a nearly finished drawing. Flagg dramatically signs the drawing, turns to the camera, and as he puffs on a cigarette, he says: "If you're searching for a beauty, and you want her to last, pick yourself a good skull."

Flagg was a star illustrator from 1900 through World War I (for which he designed the famous 'I Want You' poster) and on beyond WWII. He was known for his lightning portrait sketches, but he also had a reputation for being cantankerous.

His model is Ilse Hoffmann, whom he describes as the 'wood-nymph or elfin' type, but not the 'classic' type. More about Ms. Hoffman in the comments of this post (thanks, everybody). The source that I used for the initial draft of this post was in error about her.

Flagg, Portrait of Ilse Hoffman

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Read More
More about the love life of Flagg
Book: James Montgomery Flagg
Video by British Pathé
Thanks, Sascha Karschner