As a nod to Star Wars day earlier in May, the All In Gesture theme was Leia. I enjoyed the costume for this one – much simpler, and more iconic!



Storyboard Artist
As a nod to Star Wars day earlier in May, the All In Gesture theme was Leia. I enjoyed the costume for this one – much simpler, and more iconic!
For this session I chose to draw digitally, just to shake things up. I like getting away from the screen every once in a while, but sometimes it’s hard to adjust to real media given I spend almost all my time drawing onto my Cintiq.
Ralph was a fantastic model! I loved the variety of poses.
I struggled a lot in this class and was only beginning to warm up by the end. The variety of emotions and poses was good fun! In my head I was imagining Legolas at various ages – young and slightly pensive to older and battle-experienced.
At times I think I was drawing the costume more than the character! Drawing more subtle poses was a great challenge.
This session is from way back in the All In Gesture archives. I’m still working my way through all the sessions – some of which result in no good drawings, so I don’t post them! These ones brought back a lot of memories of a character I wrote stories about while I was in primary school. He was an explorer who dragged his children into all sorts of trouble.
Some gesture sketches from back in February with the theme of Madam Mim. I have in no way fully captured Milt Kahl’s fantastic work from The Sword in the Stone, but it was fun to try!
Here’s a glimpse from my office window. Sometimes the view is so beautiful I take pictures instead of working …
I’m gradually working my way through the archives of All In Gesture and this workshop is definitely a favourite. Lots of dynamic poses with the added challenge of two figures!
I’ve been drawing, but not posting – here are some recent sketches from Todd Bright’s All In Gesture workshop! The theme was John Smith from Pocahontas. My sketches veer between attempting the character and following the model, and have ended up not much like either …
I first shared some sketches of Morna here, and I’m finally diving back in to developing her design.
There are lots of things still to nail down but I’m pleased with how she’s coming to life!
I’ve added a new Sketchbook pdf to my Gumroad page. It’s got 54 pages of life drawing, gestures, and animal sketches in a large square format – higher quality than on this blog! For ÂŁ1 you can own your own copy. Buy it here.
Digging through my drawings from last year, I uncovered some from a year ago that I never posted. So here they are!
And here are some more recent drawings! Makenzie was the model of these ‘A League of Their Own’-inspired poses.
I drew these back in May? June? I can’t remember now. Anyway, here they finally are!
Anna Rose modelled these fantastic Hula poses for Todd Bright’s All In Gesture class.
I doodled this king a few months ago and just now found him hiding in my folder of sketches.
Still strange to think there is now a king, not a queen!
Take a peek inside:
I’ve shared bits and pieces from Kinsey’s Sword over the years, but now I’m releasing the pdf for everyone to purchase! It’s an illustrated short story, told across 20 spreads. The pdf includes a two-page bonus section featuring concept art from the upcoming animated film.
I’ll post more about the project on this blog and across my social media, but you can also follow the Kinsey’s Sword Instagram which has more behind-the-scenes images and updates.
Here’s a look at some of the process I went through drawing the title page for Kinsey’s Sword. As it was the first spread I painted for the book I was still trying to capture the style of the illustrations. Initially I’d thought I’d add a lot more detail and move further away from the rough drawings I’d done, but I was unhappy with how it looked. In the end I returned to the looser style.
I also decided to remove the foreground branches. Though I really liked my sketches I wasn’t able to paint them in a way I was pleased with!
Looking back, the simpler image works much better as an introduction to the story. There was too much going on before.
Find out more through the Kinsey’s Sword Instagram. Keep an eye out tomorrow for a big announcement!
Over the last year I’ve been storyboarding on Toad & Friends, a new CG children’s series based on Kenneth Grahame’s classic novel The Wind in the Willows.
It’s just been announced (you can find out more about it here) so it’s very exciting to finally be able to share it with you all!
Sadly the project I’m a Storyboard Artist on at Wild Child is coming to an end in September, so I’m looking for work from mid-October!
If you’d like to work with me, or know of a project coming up, please email me at ajaiken90@gmail.com
Also, take a look at my updated portfolio here!
Today I dusted the cobwebs off my pencil and newsprint pad and sat down to do some gesture drawing! Todd Bright’s weekly All In Gesture class gets recorded, so I was able to take part at a time that suited me. It was so much fun to do, despite being very rusty.