Hey guys! The artist here 😛
So I wanted to let everyone know about my new site where I’ll be posting and sharing drawing/art related stuff often. I made it to celebrate a milestone as the Pen & Blade! YouTube channel that I started in 2013 just surpassed 1000 subscribers!
Also… www.penandblade.com
I don’t update this site too much anymore (I’m typing this in June, 2018) so drop me a comment on my latest YouTube video to get in touch :]
~Shams
The second installment in my “How to Draw Like..” series.
Derek Laufman is an awesome illustrator, and I especially like his chibi characters, which is what this tutorial covers. I show you how you can draw your own chibi characters in a Derek Laufman style:
Next up in the series is Dragonball’s Akira Toriyama 😀
~Shams
P.S. You can check out my channel Fantastic Anatomy, which has drawing and digital painting tutorial videos of all sorts here: https://www.youtube.com/c/FantasticAnatomy
If you guys aren’t familiar with Brett “2D” Bean, he’s an awesome character designer.
You can check out some of his art in the below, but to find more you can visit one of his 2 websites. I prefer the Tumblr site (http://2dbean.tumblr.com/) as it has more info catered towards artists like tutorials and sketches (also his instagram is pretty cool for stuff like that). Then there is also his 2D Bean’s professional portfolio site here: http://www.drawntoitstudios.com/
I chose Brett Bean as my first artist (next up is Derek Laufman) in a new set of videos I’m doing called the “How to Draw Like..” video series, where I choose artists I really like and break down their styles and then share with ya’ll what I learned.
Check it out:
Stay fantastic everyone!
~Shams
P.S. Just started a new comic book project by the way. It shall be a long and epic quest but you can check out the progress and contribute feedback and ideas here:
http://shamsnelson.com/chibifantasycomic/
I really want this to be a collaborative project so I really hope you’ll chime in with comments, questions, and the like 🙂
Hey ya’ll!
Just thought I’d share my most recent video sharing the best tips I learned for how to draw the hands:
Lots more videos on my YouTube channel called Fantastic Anatomy! and many more to come, so make sure to subscribe if you’re into that kind of thing 🙂
Do any of you guys have a YouTube channel? If so, I’d love to check it out. Hit me up with a link in the comments.
Peace, God bless, and stay fantastic everyone!
~Shams (part time artist, part time Jedi Knight extraordinaire)
Check out my latest video on the Powerpuff Girls character design. If you’re a concept artist, visual developer, character designer, artist of any sort, or just love the Powerpuff Girls this vid has something for ya 🙂
The Powerpuff Girls production art featured in the video:
Hey guys,
Just finished uploading a video reflecting on my experiences at CTNx 2015 (Creative Talent Network Expo), especially what I learned when I brought my very strange portfolio there to show people.
CTNx for those who don’t know is an annual expo in Burbank, CA, where artists working primarily in the entertainment industry (movies, games, comics, etc.) but all kinds of artist are welcome. (Not so much traditional painting though, there was a lot more digital paintings, animation etc.) It’s marketed as a “animation” expo, but really is for artists of all kinds.
Here I share some of my experiences:
This videos has tips on what to expect at this expo (and, I imagine, other similar ones) drawn from my experience. I talk about both pros and cons of that experience, as well as my tips on how to create an effective portfolio and especially how to avoid the mistakes that I made!
Stay fantastic.
~Shams
Hey there fantastic people of the world,
I’ve been working along with my self-regulated Neslon Academy of Imagination & Design curriculum! (Oh yea, I’ve got my own school.) And been posting videos sharing what I’ve been learning. I’m taking 3 courses currently:
Each of these courses (hmmm… I think I’ll call them “books”? Or is that too weird?) is broken down into chapters, and I make a video at the completion of each chapter.
I’ve been putting out a bunch of videos and thought I’d share one from each category here. Would love to hear any feedback about what you liked and what you would change.
I haven’t been super happy with the 2 vids I did on this so far (though the second is better). The truth is, studying each part of the body requires a more advanced knowledge than my introductory course will give me (so I’m going to do an advanced anatomy course after studying figure drawing) — for now though I have been forced to come up with ways to simplify the form and the lessen the learning curve that I think will be of benefit to other learners.
Here’s my basic way to draw the back video (including my simple 5-step method for drawing the back):
Most of my studies of the head and neck were from watching videos by Steve Huston at the New Masters Academy online website (definitely recommend it btw).
Here’s my first video in the series that covers a bunch of different techniques to lay in the gesture and get the basic shape of your head down:
I’m having the most fun with this class and especially making the videos so I’ve saved the best for last!
The idea behind this class is to study character design, especially by looking at what makes great iconic characters so memorable and just… cool!
Since I can’t assume I know which character I’ve done so far will interest you the most, I’ll share all three that I’ve posted so far:
Learn what makes Pikachu so cute and lovable, which will also help you to draw your own Pikachu!
What makes this guy instantly recognizable as a dangerous badass? And how can you make sure your characters look really tough and strong? Answers aboud in….
Is Piccolo from Dragonball Z supposed to be the Indian Yogi of the DBZ world?
Hope you found at least one of these videos helpful!
Let me know which one was the most interesting to you in the comments below.
Peace, God bless, and stay fantastic everyone!
~Shams
Hey guys! Just wanted to let you know about my YouTube channel I’ve been posting on, Fantastic Anatomy!, chronicling my artistic journey by sharing what I’m learning. Here’s a video you should definitely check out if you’re studying art or practicing drawing:
My other videos have been about character design and anatomy lately and will be for the next month or two.
As I like to say…
Stay fantastic everyone!
~Shams
Here they are. All my best tips compiled after my studies on shape and gesture of the head and neck.
This video features me sketching the head and neck in a variety of different ways that I learned from a few really good sources. (New Masters Academy and Sycra’s YouTube videos definitely come to mind)
It should give you some new ways of thinking about head, as well as methods to jot it down on paper real quick.
May the Force be with You,
~Shams
What went into the design of Pikachu that makes him such a cute and appealing character?
This video is good for you if you want to learn how to draw Pikachu, are studying character design in general, or are studying up to design some Pokemon of your own! This is the first video in my Character Design Study series for the Fantastic Anatomy! YouTube channel — Next up on the list we have Wolverine, from X-Men, and Piccolo from the Dragonball series. Will be posting another one this weekend.
This video is part of the “Character Design 101” course that I have designed for myself. It requires I publish 10 of these character design study videos to complete the course, so there will be at least that many.
Let me know if I missed any info or if you have any suggestions on how I can improve these videos to be more informative and… maybe even entertaining 🙂
Oh and suggestions for characters for future character design study videos are welcome.
All the best,
~Shams
The Artist's Quest 