Film Still Design Study

Environment Design:
Take an existing movie still, these were pre-picked by Rodney for us, analyze and simplify to general shapes or values. Then make your own scene. These are the ones I originally turned in. Rodney pointed out some stuff I didn't pay attention to when doing them, and also showed me how to fix them and make my avalanche not look like fluff lol.

Film Studies: Immortal Beloved + Quick and the Dead

(1st assignments in my Environment classes at Concept Design Academy)

Film Studies from "Immortal Beloved" for Rodney Fuentebella's Environment Design Course
Do two thumbnails for each scene
1) Value Study to see where contrast leads the eye, see lighting effects, notice use of darks + lights and why
2) Dissect, simplify, and see what the key components are in the scene, pay attention to composition and why things work or don't work in it


Film Studies from the "Quick and the Dead" for Ed Li's Sketching the Environment Course
Create simple thumbnails to dissect composition. Look for the 4 types of spaces in each frame. 1) Deep 2) Flat 3) Limited 4) Abstract
To learn more about these types of space I suggest reading:

"The Visual Story" by Bruce Block

(there is a new edition but I haven't seen it so I can't recommend it)

I went further in detail then the assignment required, the point was to stay simple and see the key elements in the scene. For learning purposes I would suggest doing LOTS of simple ones instead of my over the top ones.

Secretary Bird + Peregrine Falcon

Top: Secretary Bird
Left: Peregrine Falcon

I apparently like predatory birds and raptors, especially the Secretary bird!

* Blue ball point
w/ a little watercolor

Inglorious Basterds in Gouache

Almost forgot about these, they were done about a week or so ago. I wanted to do some more film studies and experiment with a new sharpie pen and play with gouache.

here are some details so you can see how loose the line and paints were applied.
(now you can actually kind of see the cows)

Experimenting with Caran d'Ache

Started with a quick crayon sketch in Caran d'Ache. Didn't like it so I washed it out with water. Then Went on top of the faint marks left with ink using a nib pen. Used some ink washes with a brush and then added some watercolor to have warms and cools present for balance.




These first two were done simultaneously compensating for drying time. Started with a quick Caran d'Ache sketch. Used water to soften the overall feel. Went back into it with more Caran d'Ache, a different color blue, red, and black to pull the drawing back out. Then used a little water to smooth any areas I felt needed it. Finished with white Caran d'Ache to bring out the eye highlights.

This was my warm up before I got to the previous sketches. Started with Caran d'Ache. Softened it with water. Added warms with watercolor. Quick defining with ink nib pen and brush. More watercolor to build up more form in the face. Got out white gouache and fixed any incorrect areas that needed to be brought out of shadow to reinforce it's form. Once I scanned the image into the computer I brought it into Photoshop and fixed some proportion problems that came into play because of the angle I was working.

Hope this has been informative. I know I LOVE seeing peoples processes :]

Brother Bear Studies

60 min Brother Bear sketch in Corel Painter


60+ min

Brushes used:
Scratchboard, Artists Impressionist

Studies: The Sword in the Stone

"The Sword in the Stone" 30 min sketch in Corel Painter.

60 min


40 min


60 min


60 min

Brushes used:
Scratchboard, Grainy Water Blender, Shatter FX