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Tag: chalk art

  • Animated Chalk Art

    Animated Chalk Art

    Creating chalk drawings on dark paper is my current favorite drawing activity. For me, drawing the light instead of the shadows is a both a drawing technique and a formula for contentment. Converting these drawings into an animated video involved lots of watching and re-watching online animation tutorials. Here’s the basic process along with links to the videos I found most helpful:

    Preparation

    1. Create thumbnail sketches of actions to be animated.
    2. Work out the sequence of events.
    3. Write-out notes to the side of sketches to describe camera angles, zooming in or out, sound effects, etc…
    4. Photograph models or collect reference images for each major action. (I took photos of my son with a strong light coming from the bottom for this video)
    5. Modify the reference images in Photoshop as needed to unify lighting or amplify dramatic moments. Convert to black and white images.

      Drawing

      1. Print images at medium quality on copy paper (20#) to fit the size of your dark paper and scanner bed. (I use 8″x10″ black card stock which fits on my scanner bed)
      2. Transfer image to black paper, tracing only the very basic outlines and shapes.
      3. Draw the light values onto the dark paper using a white pastel pencil. Re-establish darkest values and lines with a kneaded eraser and/or pencil eraser.
      4. Scan each drawing and save as a jpeg. Improve contrast as needed in Photoshop.

      Animating

      1. Place jpeg images in a Photoshop document as layers.
      2. Select VIEW > Timeline to begin animating. Here are two video tutorials that I found very helpful:
      3. Save Timeline animations as mp4 clips.
      4. Create graphics in Powerpoint or Keynote.
      5. Combine animated clips, sound effects and music in iMovie.
      Final Chalk Art Animation by Marisa Mott
    6. Black and White Chalkboard Therapy

      Black and White Chalkboard Therapy

      “I just want to make beautiful things even if nobody cares.”

      SAUL BASS

      An artist’s dream – living in a place where you can draw on the walls. As a renter in a home with blackboard paint on the kitchen door, I kinda lived that dream. Using school chalk, I would draw for hours creating images to celebrate holidays (a few of my favorites below). Although there were no paychecks attached to these illustrations, there were gobs of benefits. The stress of my day job melted, my artistic confidence bloomed, and my wandering mind stayed focused in the moment. Not having to make color decisions was one of the many reasons I found it relaxing. Admittedly, I dug the subtractive drawing vibe; erasing areas for darker values and adding chalk for the lighter values.

      Cupid for Valentine’s Day
      Hipster Santa for Christmas
      Cowgirl for Fourth of July
      A Few of My Favorite Chalkboard Door Drawings

      I no longer reside in the house with the dreamy chalkboard door and was craving some black and white chalkboard therapy. The work-around solution? Taking a rediscovered pad of black paper, a brand spanking new white pastel pencil, and drawing! I drew each subject on a separate piece of paper then scanned. (Separate images in gallery below) Once I had digital images, I placed them into a single composition using Photoshop.

      Street Artist
      Harmony Player
      Spreading Harmony
      Separate Chalk Drawings

      This time my concept wasn’t based on a holiday. Instead, it was a play on words – harmony and harmonica. The next step was to Frankenstein words together and craft a message that flowed through the composition. “Harmony – Spread That Stuff Everywhere,” won out. Lots of tries later, I surrendered to design defeat; the message and the composition weren’t jiving. This is when not having a chalkboard door went from being a hurdle to being a springboard. This is when I realized I had all the components for an animated video. I created animated clips in Photoshop, combined and refined them (a bit) in iMovie, gathered copyright free music from YouTube creator’s studio, and built an artsy video (below). Beautiful to me (and maybe to you). “…even if nobody cares.”