Box Peek January Update (Patreon)

Amid all the excitement around the new studio, you may have forgotten that it's almost time for another monthly Box Peek update!

Production Update: Art for Episode 6 is done! Normally this wouldn't be something to be too proud about, but from a set/prop design standpoint this became a more complex episode than I imagined, probably the most yet by volume. Bright side: With Episode 5 I did create that robot arm without any real idea of how it was going to move and work. Fortunately there's nothing like that going on with Episode 6, but there's just so much to make. Up next is a couple of days of cutting and construction, probably 3 of filming, and then probably 3 or 4 of editing.

Behind-the-Scenes Thoughts: I've casually liked to draw for most of my life. I say casually because, you know, you see godlike artists on Twitter every day making incredible drawings they're embarrassed of. However, I guess by the nature of this project, I've been thrust into becoming a professional artist now. For my twenty-something years of drawing things, I'd say 96% of my subjects have been cool guys who want to fight and weird gross sad monsters. In making Box Peek, I'm having to draw all sorts of normal and unusual things I've never thought to draw. (In college I did take an Intro to Drawing class and made some legitimately good stuff.  
Story I Just Thought Of: We had some nude figure models doing poses we had to broadly capture with charcoals. We had this skinny man with a beard and folded up stomach, and he had a long cane I guess to help him make interesting poses. Our teacher condescendingly giggled and was like "Most people just breeze over the penis, so they'll just put a little line or lump there" and you know I felt challenged, so I drew all the strange details of that man's real live genitals. I actually think that's the last penis I ever drew. Nonetheless I'm ready when necessary.)
Anyway ANYWAY, back to Box Peek. I've got a semi-consistent style that I try to stick to, and that helps with simplifying complicated things I can't possibly make look right. You'll see in episode 1 there are some Jordy puppets who just have balls for hands, but I've realized through this process that since these characters have simple eyes and simple mouths, I'm able to actually communicate a lot with hands. This is one of my favorite Jordy drawings:

They're not hands my college professor would be proud of, but I like how much they show Jordy's experiencing that kind of stinging, annoying pain. In my episode 6 stuff I've definitely been (unconsciously but not anymore since I've written this post) trying more interesting hand poses.
Another thing that's become clearer to me throughout this process is how much time to dedicate to background detail. An example of heavy detail that works would be Victor's kitchen:

The purpose of the scene is to expose Victor as a real human with a real family, so things like photos on the fridge and a dirty mug next to the sink actually enhance the scene. An example of low detail that works is Cheddar Mall:

(That's my least favorite Jordy face, please ignore that part)
So here the perspective is effed, there's no name on the stores' banners, and there are no people walking around, and you know what, I don't really care. Earlier in the episode we see Jordy walk up to a clear, 3-dimensional storefront, and we all have a frame of reference for what an outdoor mall looks like, so I think these simple lines and blocks work. They're not the important part of this scene.
I've been trying to apply this with Episode 6--details with purpose and blandness with purpose. It's also worth saying that blandness takes less time, something I should be more conscious of in all aspects of this project.

I think I had a greater point about drawing outside of one's expertise but this is a long post already. But really it's like how are you supposed to make a convincing sunrise with a bunch of crayons. Please look forward to February's post, which will probably come March 1st. As long as I'm ahead of where I was one year ago I feel like I'm doing okay.

Thank you again for your support and patience,
Kyle