Drawn in Black » realistic

Steel City Artist: Drawings and Interview with Charles Ott

Lee — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 20:05:06 +0000

"Cinderella Castle, Magic Mountain" by Charles Ott, Jr.

Lest you think that I have a predisposition for trippy, vulgar, and raunchy drawings (what am I saying, I confess I do!), I want to showcase an artist who’s been making a name for himself in the Pittsburgh area and beyond with his meticulously rendered architectural style scenes – Charles Ott, Jr a.k.a. Steel City Artist. I’ve always thought that there is something peculiarly special about this genre of drawings, illustrated best perhaps when considering such drawings of hundreds of years ago. That is to say, they have a distinctly historical appeal by capturing a scene suspended in a time and place. They almost present a sort of ideal of that place and require, I suspect, a focused type of concentration when in the process of rendering such pictures.

Charles agreed to partake in the Drawn in Black Artist Interview (thank you!), so without further adieu:

What’s your name?

Charles R. Ott, Jr.

Where did you grow up? Where do you live now?

Pittsburgh, PA

How old are you?

What is your educational background? What, if anything, did you study?

Self-taught architectural illustrator.

"Bethany College" by Charles Ott, Jr.

How do you make a living?

Nearly two years ago, I was at a certain crossroad in my life and career due to the fact that design firm I was working for out-resourced. I decided to focus my time and effort into doing what I love. I spent my days working to supplement my evenings through the mornings on creating a solid portfolio of illustrations. This in turn led to the development of my illustration website, Steel City Artist, which I launched in Spring, 2008. The illustrations feature detailed hand-drawn pen and ink illustrations of the prominent landmarks from Pittsburgh and across America and continues to grow. Right now, I make a living selling my work throughout the world and marketing/branding my work to various companies/businesses where I feel my illustrations have relevance.

What does “art” mean to you?

As an illustrator, I am a realist and that is the art form that has meaning to me. My artwork allows me to combine my lifelong passions/interest of architecture, illustration and history and my love for the city I call home, Pittsburgh. My artwork allows people to remember and reminisce the places that have had significant meaning in their lives, whether it is the steel mills, buildings or colleges they attended. Art to me means expressing yourself in a way that moves people and inspires them.

How long have you been making art, and what role does that play in your life?

I began drawing at a very young age and I have been drawing for nearly 25 years. Like anything in life, if you have passion and perseverance anything is possible and you must be willing to devote yourself to your craft/talent. My illustrations are the cornerstone of my life, my identity.

"Heinz Memorial Chapel" by Charles Ott, Jr.

What would you consider your “style” of art to be, if you have one?

My style of work is traditional pen and ink architectural illustrator. With advancements in computer/design technology, it is very rare anymore to find true artists who can create incredible illustrations freehand, I truly consider it a gift.

What’s your weapon of choice? What medium and drawing tool do you prefer to use?

All of my pen/ink illustrations are created by hand. My tools simply include T-square, metal ruler and a series of Pigma micron pens. These pens range in size from .008-.05 mm and create a very fine crisp line which does not bleed like some ink pens while creating the drawing. Each 18×24″ illustration is created first in pencil and then retraced with the pens. Each drawing begins from the center of the paper and blossoms outward after I spend a good deal time evaluating the photo with which I am working from. My work is also featured at Sakura of America whose micron pens I use for my work.

Are there any people that influenced you that stand out? What current artists do you follow?

During the 1980’s my father owned a business at The Shoppes of Station Square in downtown Pittsburgh. Nearly every evening as a young kid I would visit him. There was a well-known Pittsburgh artist who I believe inspired me to become an illustrator, Nevin Robinson. Our work is somewhat similar in that we both work in pen/ink and feature the places of Pittsburgh. My work is more technical in nature and requires a series of techniques such as cross-hatching/stippling for the landscape. Since I launched my website, I have been introduced to artists from all over the world. One artists’ work who I admire is Michael Smith, Buffalo, NY.

"Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church" by Charles Ott, Jr.

How to Draw Hands: 35 Tutorials, How-To’s, Step-by-Steps, Videos, Studies, Poses and Photo References

Lee — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 23:37:45 +0000

I’ve found drawing hands one of the most challenging aspects of drawing the human figure. You can get away with quite a bit when rendering the human figure, but get the hand wrong and it sticks out like a sore thumb. Once you start learning about the hand in greater depth, you’ll find it is truly amazing just how complex the hand is even though we see it everyday. Perhaps the following tutorials can help you and I draw better hands. Enjoy.

Tutorials, How-To’s and Step-by-Step’s

It’s often useful to have a step-by-step guide, tutorial, or “recipe” on how to accomplish a certain task. I’ve found that following steps is good to grasp basic concepts before going on to experiment and expand one’s understanding. Tutorials on drawing hands are no different, and the tutorials and how-to’s listed below should be a good starting point.

J. Peffer created some nice step-by-steps for about a handful of hand poses.

Nice little tutorial by Ron Lemen.

Tom Richmond’s site is a must-go for any aspiring cartoonist and caricaturist and has a wealth of information.

Joumana Medlev has a superb introduction on the anatomy of hands on DeviantArt; also check out her work on cedarseed.com.

Quick hands and feet tutorial on Scribd by unknown author.

This tutorial is a bit different in that it’s more focused on how to draw using a graphic tablet as opposed to a hand per se. Nonetheless, it’s never bad to learn two things at once, so check out Whyball’s “How to Draw a Classic Hand using a Graphics Tablet” over on GoMediaZine.

Short and sweet hand drawing tut by uchuucacahuate on deviantart.

(Very) short but good tutorial by nk-chan on deviantart.com.

Excellent hand tutorial by alexds1 on deviantart.com – I really wish I could executive cartoon hands like that!

Good step-by-step tutorial by vashs-angel on deviantart.com: simple illustrations and descriptive text.
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Videos

Often it’s helpful to see someone else do something, not just in pictures, but in real-time. Here are some videos that show hands being drawn:

For you all you manga heads out there, you wanna go check out Mark Crilley’s channel on YouTube on how to draw manga. Among those the video above on how to draw a hand holding a sword and how to just draw a hand.

Nice demonstration on how to draw a hand by cattusOK on YouTube.

Here we have another tutorial on how to draw female hands, also executed in Photoshop, via WonderHowTo.
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Anatomy

As one of the more complex instruments of the body, a sound understanding of underlying anatomy of hands can help considerably when trying to render realistic and convincing hands in your drawings. Below are resources that should help you begin to understand how hands truly work.

The Wikimedia Commons continues to be a great place to find reference material, such as the hand anatomy plate from Gray’s Anatomy of the Human Body pictured above.

Drawing and Anatomy by Victor Perard has pretty in depth coverage of human anatomy even though the drawings aren’t the best I’ve seen. Nonetheless, very useful for the artist seeking to deepen their understanding of anatomy.

A more comprehensive discussion on drawing hands and feet which (I believe) originated on WetCanvas by JayD and then ended up on document form on Scribd.

Great mini-tutorial on hands by T. Arthur Smith on DeviantArt, looking to go beyond a tutorial on simply the idealized form of the hand.

I’ve mentioned him before in the post on skulls, and I’ll mention him again here: check out Michael Hensley for some great anatomical drawings with a distinctive style.
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Books

Perhaps the ultimate “tutorial” on drawing hands, “Drawing Dynamic Hands” by Burne Hogarth is a must-have reference book in your library. You can buy it here on Amazon.

Mr. Hogarth has more hand material in that most amazing work, Dynamic Anatomy. You can buy it here on Amazon.

Thankfully there’s a copy of “Drawing Head and Hands” over at Scribd, by that other master of drawing, Andrew Loomis. The section on drawing hands isn’t as comprehensive as that on heads, but a great resource nonetheless, especially when trying to draw non-male hands (female, baby, etc.).

George Bridgman is the author of yet another treasure of a book on drawing. Above you can see a plate from his the chapter on hands in the book Constructive Anatomy, available at the Internet Archive (or here via Scribd).
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Poses

Here’s a list of resources that display hands from many different angles. It’s truly remarkable just how many poses the hand can be seen in.

Useful collection of hand poses by Chrissy Fellmeth.

More hand poses by what-i-do-is-secret on deviantart.com.

A nice little collection of female hand poses by artrush73’s hub page.

Mickey Mouse Hand Model Sheet by Les Clark

The ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive has some true gems when it comes to old drawings, such as this hand model sheet of Mickey Mouse by Les Clark from 1932. Lot of other great stuff too, check it out. Found via this post on Animopus.

Another hand model sheet can be found on the Ultimate Iron Giant website, this one in particular being of Hogarth’s hand. There’re literally a ton of other drawings on sketches related to the Iron Giant, you’ll find the hands in about the middle of the page.

Nice little reference on drawing animal hands/paws provided by Kelly on drawfurry.com.

Great study of the hand in its many incarnations – love the minimal style here. By jimmymcwicked on deviantart.com.
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Photo References

Although you’ve got a pair for easy reference, it can help to look at a photo of a real hand, especially for awkward angles. Here are a few sites that should give you ample hand pose pictures for hours of hand-drawing fun.

Nice collection of hand poses taken by Thomas A of Ander’s hands, via elfwood.com.

This site is certainly something out of the ordinary: Hands for Drawing by Pose Maniacs allows you select various hand poses and then turn them in 3D (select one of the numbers in the right-hand menu). Great when you can’t find a proper reference at just the right angle.

Nice collection of both male and female hands in various interesting poses.

Female left hands by WindsweptSummer on deviantart.com.

Hand holding pencil by dragyourstock on deviantart.com.

"Nani" by Yury Kushevsky

Lee — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 16:00:07 +0000

Nani by Yury Kushevsky

Yesterday my girlfriend asked me what “Stradivarius” means; although I’d heard the word, I really didn’t know. In two clicks of a Google search later, I found the following definition on Wikipedia:

A Stradivarius is a stringed instrument built by members of the Stradivari family, particularly Antonio Stradivari. According to their reputation, the quality of their sound has defied attempts to explain or reproduce, though this belief is controversial. The name “Stradivarius” has also become a superlative applied to designate excellence. To be called “the Stradivari” of any field is to be deemed the finest there is.

What does this have to do with Yury Kushevsky? Well, I would venture to say that his work will be “the Stradivari” of drawings, if it isn’t already. Yury is currently a student at the Russian Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture in the Mytischi district of Moscow, and apparently they’re feeding their students the right food.

Nani is a superb example of Yury’s skill. Although just a “simple” portrait, it somehow speaks volumes to me. Is that a tear running down her cheek? Nani looks like a woman who’s had her share of burden in life.

Although Yury unfortunately doesn’t have his own portfolio, you can find quite a bit of his work at ArtNow, a Russian art gallery site, as well as over on NoBullArt. I for one am interested to see what this great Russian artist produces in the future.

"Joan" by Anna Shipstone

Lee — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 16:00:58 +0000

Joan by Anna Shipstone

Anna Shipstone hails from the small seaside town of Cromer, Norfolk, UK, where she lives with her pet dog and family. On her website you can find some of the truly gorgeous sample work of this pencil portraiture artist – in particular I enjoy her children portraits and the one pictured above. Joan seems to be almost three dimensional and pops out of the page. While you’re there, also check out her abstract color work – trippy!

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Untitled by Antonia Franck

Lee — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 09:23:22 +0000

Amazingly, I couldn’t find any other site about or by Antonia Franck, who’s drawing above I stumbled upon on the Portrait Society of America site (definitely worth checking out). I love this drawing, you are practically on the couch reading the book right alongside the lovely young lady portrayed (reminiscent somewhat of Kate Winslet) and can sense that it’s a perfect day to be doing just that.

"Decomposition of Memory" and Others by Colin Harbut

Lee — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 15:54:00 +0000

Decomposition of Memory by Colin Harbut

Colin Harbut is definitely one talented artist. In his many portraitures, I feel that the essence of the subject is really conveyed and comes across in his works. The above “Decomposition of Memory” is fascinating and tackles a topic unfortunately taboo in our society: old age. He’s also made a statement with his work “24,000″ in which he literally drew 24,000 circles to visualize the number of people who die each day of hunger-related issues.

You can find much more his work on his website, ColinHarbut.com.

3 more images below the jump.

Decomposition of Memory II by Colin Harbut

Portrait Study (Old Man) by Colin Harbut

Self Portrait: Deadlines by Colin Harbut

"Hare's" and Others by Andrea Joseph

Lee — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 19:14:09 +0000

Hare’s by Andrea Joseph

You can tell by her drawings that Andrea is a keen observer of the world around her. On her many “collages” and moleskin sketches she somehow brings to life the little objects that fill our lives. Once you really take a moment to study these drawings (she provides large versions of her drawings on her website) you realize just how time-consuming these must be. I imagine creating these works must be a sort of meditation, but that’s just speculation on my part. Certainly worth a closer look, especially if you’re a fan of moleskin sketches. You can check her out over at Andrea Joseph’s Sketchblog, which she regulary updates.

3 images more after the jump.

Waitin’ On A Sunny Day by Andrea Joseph

In The Dead Of Night by Andrea Joseph

Shelves by Andrea Joseph (notice how she snuck her signature initials on the book on the top shelf )

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Self Portrait Sketch and More by Shawn Barber

Lee — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 07:09:48 +0000

Los Angeles, Self Portrait Sketch by Shawn Barber

If you like tattoo art, you’ll love Shawn Barber. As his website states: “Shawn Barber’s body of work focuses primarily on painting, portraiture and documenting contemporary tattoo culture.” Barber’s many paintings focus on artists, specifically artists with tattoos. He goes around the world to meet and document them, an experience which he later turns into the painting. If you’re looking to get a tattoo, you might find some inspiration here! Also don’t forget to check out “Studio Visit: Shawn Barber and Henry Lewis” over at Fecal Face.

More below the jump.

Shawn Barber Studio Visit by Art Adventures.

Mister Cartoon’s Hands (Collaboration with Estevan Oriol) by Shawn Barber

Sketch of Henry Lewis as seen in Forever and Ever: New Works by Shawn Barber

Portrait of the Artist, Gregory Mocilnikar by Shawn Barber

“Dizzee Rascal: Commission” and Others by Andy Buck

Lee — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 21:24:22 +0000

If you’re into realistic drawings, you’ll get your share of eye candy from Andy Buck. I like this one in particular because there’s just noone quite like Dizzee Rascal and his whacktastic beats. Check out Andy’s page on deviantART, plus a few more below the fold.

“Doll Parts”

“Baby Hands”

7 Tutorials on How to Draw the Human Anatomy / Body / Figure

Lee — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 09:32:36 +0000

Here are 7 tutorials I’ve found on the net, some better than others. If you know if any other good ones, please share in the comments!

“Figure Drawing for All It’s Worth” by Andrew Loomis (PDF, 24MB)

One of the quintessential books by Hogarth on drawing the human figure: a must have!

Big Guide to Drawing the Body by Cedarseed on deviantArt

Character Drawing by Tracy Butler

The Human Body by J. Peffer

Human Proportions by Don Jusko

Many more Youtube videos by Riven Phoenix

Human Anatomy by Rey Bustos