Sketchbook Fury - EP 1 - Mojo Your Dojo

Sketchbook Fury - Mojo Your Dojo (episode 1) from Graham Smith on Vimeo.

Art & film Graham Smith

Strathmore Sketchbooks 300 Series Sketch

400 Series Toned Tan

400 Series Mixed Media

& many more

camera & edit Graham Smith

camera 2 Andrei Booriakin

Music

         Logjam - Podington Bear

         Interlude - Tickle

         Big Mojo - Kevin Macleod

         Part VI -  Jazzer

         Pink Fish Signs - GeeNerve

         Early Riser - Kevin Macleod

 Music: Creative Commons CCx4 2016   

Video: Copyright © Graham Smith 2016 

Making Monsters (day 2) trailer

Making Monsters day 2 from Graham Smith on Vimeo.

2 super talented sculptors from San Diego are making a full body, special fx, horror creature suit in their garage studio, and asked me to film the process. I cut this 34 second trailer from one of the episodes, so you can see what artists do when they're let out their cages.

These guys started with 150 pounds of clay, in 12 boxes, and worked very, very quickly. The sculptors, Jason Hite and Jonathan Fuller are about 9 hours into their work in this trailer, and are already beginning to define details.

Day 1 was the "rough in" phase. Day 2 began the refinement, and next time, I think they're going to sculpt the head! Looking forwards to showing you all the steps in this epic project. Better go charge my camera battery.  :)

Summer Greeting from Earth

Summer Greetings from Earth from Graham Smith on Vimeo.

It was such a gorgeous day, that I had to go outside and play with my camera between illustration assignments.

Shooting video with my low end, Canon DSLR is my new hobby, and I wanted to learn how to better use it. So, I walked up and down the street in front of my studio, trying to get things in focus, along with a decent exposure. My goals are usually that simple when I go out to shoot.

I needed a peg to hang all this wide open, hand held, flowers and trees footage on; that's when I thought all this might be from the POV of a spaceman, with all the curious close ups, shallow depth of field, and the tranquil pace. With that minor concept in place, here is 4:41 seconds of pure veg-out.  :)

Canon 650d (t4i). 50mm f1.8.

Undersea Chalk Mural

Release the Kraken - Chalk Drawings from Graham Smith on Vimeo.

Watch artist, Peter Han transform a black wall into an undersea world of sharks, jellyfish and octopus, by drawing with chalk, and paint markers, for BLVD63 Apartments.

The mural is on 5193 College Ave, on SDSU campus. If you are in San Diego, California, have a look!

Peter completed this mural in 5 hours, without referring to a sketch. He simply penciled the black tip sharks, yellowfin tuna, Humboldt squid, oar fish, angler fish and octopus with a quick outline, using a white colored pencil, then he went straight in with chalk. A friend from Cottonwood Arts, dropped off a brand new box of acrylic paint markers, so Peter used them, too, having never picked one up.

Understanding your subject is the key to drawing them well. Peter spends many days at the Birch Aquarium, and the San Diego Zoo, drawing these sea creatures from life, creating study after study, to learn exactly what they look like. All that extensive study informs his drawing, making it look "so easy".

When asked by an onlooker how he draws so well, Peter answered, "Practice, man. Practice." You can see him mouth those words at 1:03 in the video.

The chalk was spray fixed with matte fixative, in light layers, once the drawing was completed. Little flakes of chalk fell off from the force of the spray fix, so the drawing was secured, little by little. After a few good coats, the entire mural was sprayed with a clear coat of varnish, to preserve it as long as possible.

Film Process: I filmed the mural's creation process using my low end, Canon DSLR (T4i), the Canon 18-135mm STM, and the 55-200mm zoom lenses, the least expensive lenses Canon makes. iMovie was used to edit the footage together. I like to use the simplest set ups possible, carrying the 2 lenses, and tripod only, then filming by the seat of my pants.

Make Day of the Dead masks

the recycle of life from Graham Smith on Vimeo.

Learn how to make Day of the Dead tributes, by recycling cardboard with a bit of paint, a touch of ink, and a bunch of imagination in this short video, the recycle of life.

You'll need: cardboard, white paint, india ink, a wide brush, a smaller round brush, and something to cut cardboard with.

Discarded cardboard is reborn and given a new life through your imagination. The decorative tributes are enjoyed for a day, then burned, because life is short and precious, and sometimes we need to be reminded to appreciate things, then let them go. The recycle of life.


the recycle of life (teaser) from Graham Smith on Vimeo.

I'll be at the Oceanside Museum of Art helping Art After Dark party goers make recycled Day of the Dead masks, this Friday, November 1st. I'll be assisted by The Art Elephant, Miss Chantelle Lamoreaux. Stop by to say hi, have a drink, and let's make art together! See you on Friday!

Make a Day of the Dead Mask

Make a Calaca Costume

Read about the Event.

Mojo Pencil - video

Mojo Pencil from Graham Smith on Vimeo.

All my pencil stubs were saved in a small round box, once they were too small to draw with anymore. I didn't want to throw them away after we had spent so much time creating the drawings for my book together.

The smallest ones were so cute looking, I decided to save them, and honor their colorful lives by making good luck charms, steeped in drawing Mojo.

This 1 minute video is how I made them.

 G.

The Graham Project: Featurette

The Graham Project: Featurette from Graham Smith on Vimeo.

"The guys from Filmtone stopped by the old studio a while back, asking questions about sketchbooks and the artists process, for their video, The Graham Project.

I was working on Sketchbook 30 when this was filmed, having started the sketchbook project a few years earlier.

During the interview, I suddenly realize the importance of the fourth dimension, time, to the sketchbook project. Each sketchbook encapsulates the current events, and the minutia of the day, and over time, a journey.  Below are a few images. 

For the art nerds: The paper I used to make Sketchbook 30 is Neenah Environment Paper. It is recycled, and great to draw or paint on. Click the link. They give free samples!

G.

MARKS: Volume One

MARKS: Volume One

Size: 8.75" x 12.25"
Price: $25
Pages: 48. Full color
Signed.

_______________________________________________

_______________________________________________

I just finished designing "MARKS Volume One"- a 48 page, hard cover art book, containing a collection of life drawings, illustrations, and sketchbook experiments I have created over the last 2 years.

Graham Smith's MARKS Volume One, contains private life drawings, sketchbook experiments, and includes examples of my professional illustration work. The common thread throughout the work are my expressive mark making techniques, regardless of the media. I'm in love with the line! MARKS Vol. One, is my love letter to drawing the figure.

Graham Smith's marks Vol. 1 - book trailer from Graham Smith on Vimeo.



The infamous, Alberto Ruiz noticed my life drawings last Comic Con, and being a sucker for old school figure drawing, offered to publish a small run of them. He gave me 2 months to design a book, and deliver it to Xupuy Edicionés, his publishing company in Quito, Ecuador.

The Process:

I learned a lot about making a book. The biggest technical hurdle was improving the way I photograph artwork. After of years of fiddling around, I asked a professional to trouble shoot my DIY photo studio. Long story short, with some simple photography gear, common sense, and some fancy photographic diffusion plastic, an artist can photograph their artwork in-house.

To design the book, Xupuy Edcionés provides 2 Photoshop templates, 1 for a single page, and another for a 2 page spread. It is the artists job to fill those 48 pages with the best they have. Carte Blanche. Alberto Ruiz, the publisher,  takes care of the rest, supervising the books design, production and printing, in order to be "The Best Publisher of Essential Eye Candy The World Has Ever Known!"

How do you find the time to draw stuff?

A little bit at a time. Once a week, I'd venture out of my studio to brush up on my life drawing for a 3 hour session. Every week I would draw a few more, until I had a little pile going. After a couple years, the pile was pretty big.  I selected a few of my favorite drawings to put in the book. It's amazing what you can accomplish in only 3 hours per week!

I love drawing in my sketchbook, everyday. I even make my own sketchbooks, now. Inside their pages is where I invent color combinations, draw from my imagination, collect notes, and do drawing experiments. No one ever sees those sketchbooks, so I sorted through and a few, and selected some painting and drawing experiments to show you, in the book. Here is a sneak peak!

Want to see more?

Video:   Unboxing:   The night a giant pallet of boxes arrived.

Video:   Book Signing Party:     Friends, models, artists, beer and music.

Review:

Got an autographed copy of "Mark", what a collection of best work done by famous artist Graham Smith! All drawings, either in BW charcoal or colorful mixed medias, are carefully structured and rendered/painted. I saw how Graham drew figures in studio. He always wanted to have a good drawing angle and composition. Sometime he had to change his seat frequently in order to find a better angle. Besides all nice layouts, his line quality is what a professional artist should learn and master. Very dynamic and full of energy.The book contains figure drawings and illustrations in various styles that are inspirational to young artists for thinking outside of the box. The last, but not least, is the anatomy knowledge showed in the book. Graham fully controlled every inch of his figure drawings and demonstrated how anatomy knowledge should be used to depict muscle shapes, body rhythms, and figure poses. This is a five-star book an artist must have! 

Dr. Wei Xu  - Writer, Teacher, Scientist, Mathematician, Artist 

Art Book by Graham Smith - Coming Soon!

Graham Smith's marks Vol. 1 - book trailer from Graham Smith on Vimeo.

Woo hoo! I just finished illustrating, and designing my first art book, AND it was published by the coolest of cats, Alberto Ruiz of Xupuy Edicionés! I was so happy about it, I made this book trailer video containing sneak peaks at the book's artwork being made.

"Graham Smith's mark's Volume One" is expected to debut March 30th, 2013. I will let you know when signed copies are available.

This full color, hardcover book is a beautifully printed 48 pages of personal work, life drawings, sketchbook experiments, and illustrations - all created over the last 2 years.

Signed copies will be for sale on this blog.    Stay Tuned!  
Cover Model: Briana

Dia dos los Muertos handmade masks

I made Dia dos los Muertos masks from cardboard, masking tape, acrylic paint and black India ink. Both of these designs contain tears and sacred hearts - to show that we miss those that have gone before us.

The red roses were made by twisting tissue paper into a rope, then rolling the rope into a cinnamon bun shape. The roses were stitched together with thread to hold them together and onto the black skirt. I taped a thin wire to the back of the roses to keep them suspended inside the eyes.

1/4 inch black elastic was stitched into loops and taped to the back of the bones, so they could be easily slipped over a black, long sleeved shirt and leggings.When I ran out of elastic, I taped jute string to the bones instead.

To make the hair, I cut open a paper bag, folded it to make it kinky looking, and cut it into 1/2 inch strips, leaving a 2 inch margin along one edge to keep the whole thing together. The hair "fringe" was taped around the inside of the mask.

Later, as a final detail, I hung little kneecaps from a wire off the femur bone. Forgot to take a photo.

See more Dia dos los Muretos masks >>>

G.

Art for Dead People

Making Día de los Muertos decorations is a great do-it-yourself art project. They are fun to make, and since they are made by recycling cardboard, super inexpensive too. These skeleton figures are called calacas and are used as decorations during the Day of the Dead. They are art for dead people.

How to make your own calaca:

• Draw a skull (or anything) on a piece of cardboard. It doesn't have to be fancy.
• Cut it out.  I used a snap off blade box cutter on a self healing cutting mat. Make sure and cut away from your fingers. Protect the surface you are cutting on.
• Draw 2 circles for eyes.
  
• and a triangle for the nose.  You know where it goes.
  
• Cut them out.
• Paint it white. I used the least expensive white acrylic paint in the art store. You can use old house paint if you have some. It doesn't have to be perfect. Paint it in quickly, using a dry brush technique. Let the cardboard show through in places - it looks cool like that. I chose to paint the dirtier side of the cardboard, allowing the cleaner side to be towards ones face. It's up to you. I used a 1 inch wide brush.
• Dry.  If you didn't glop the paint on, it should be dry in 15 minutes.
  
• Paint a cool design on it.  I used black India ink and a #3 round brush. Just make sure it's cool looking.
• Attach the decoration to a stick making a mask to hold in front of your face. Use staples or yarn to tie it on with.
• Run out to a party and show your friends. The Day of the Dead is a time of celebration, where partying and eating is common.

Since Día de Los Muertos is a  holiday that focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died, I like to paint the heart symbol on the forehead of my calaca. Sometimes I paint a glow around the heart, or an eternal flame. That way, the dead know they are loved and will always be remembered.

 

Even though Día de Los Muertos is a celebration, sometimes we miss those that have gone. I paint tear drops on my offerings, so the dead know they are missed.

During the three-day celebration, families usually clean and decorate graves. Most visit the cemeteries where their loved ones are buried and decorate their graves with flowers. These flowers are thought to attract souls of the dead to the offerings.

In this tradition, I painted the Flor de Muerto around the eyes of my calaca. The ancient Mexican people decorated skulls, and displayed them during the rituals to symbolize death and rebirth.

In more practical terms, Aztec marigolds, the Flower of Death, contain essential oils used to wash corpses and contain many medicinal properties. They are still commonly planted in cemeteries today.

In most regions of Mexico, November 1st is Día de los Angelitos, which honors children and infants. On The Day of the Little Angels, toys are brought out to attract their souls. Deceased adults are honored on November 2nd, Día de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead.


Sometimes, it's our beloved pets we miss the most. I made some rememberances for them, too.

Día de los Muertos artwork by Graham Smith, made from 100% "recycled" cardboard.

This is a fun project to do together with your friends or kids. Let the kids draw and paint their decorations, but have an adult cut them out first. Don't let the kids be near box cutters and scissors. Safety. Okay?

Day of the Dead facts from Wikipedia. Thanks.