The Center for Graphic Facilitation

VectorTuts: 40 Free Tutorials on Advanced Drawing Techniques

The traditional form of drawing and sketching is a highly sought after skill. 

Develop your personal drawing abilities by following this collection of 40 great tutorials on advanced drawing techniques, including general theory, useful tips, comic inspired art and some methods for transforming your creations into digital format.

Learn how to draw, cars, hair, skulls, Manga characters, ninjas, hands, human eyes, figures, dragons, clothing, ears, old people and more, in both sketch and vector formats.

Check it out >>

IFVP 2006: Jan Adkins, Illustrator

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Jan Adkins is an illustrator, museum designer, educator and expert in the profession as an artist.

For nine years he was the associate art director at National Geographic Magazine, explaining the space shuttle, lasers, submarines, Soviet rockets, satellites, nuclear physics, marine archaeology, forest fires, volcanoes and the voyages of Christopher Columbus. Directing a team of researchers and doing original field research himself, he unraveled some of the most interesting topics ever addressed by Geographic during its golden age. Jan's job, according to his editor-in-chief Bill Garrett, "was like getting a doctorate every third month."

He has written scripts and treatments for the Discovery Channel, NOVA, and the BBC, and narrative voiceover for interactive corporate training programs. He taught editorial illustration at the Rhode Island School of Design for several years, and taught illustration and graphic design at Maryland Institute, College of Art, in Baltimore. He’s associated with several exhibit design firms and frequently consults on exhibits for zoos, art museums, science and natural history museums. 

Google's Office Grafitti

From the April 2006 issue of Business 2.0:
Best-Kept Secrets of the World's Best Companies
Secret # 14: Office Graffiti

For a company that has roughly doubled its workforce each year since 2002 (current headcount: 5,800), Google doesn't much act like the big company it has become. One of the ways it has preserved its tech-startup ethos is decidedly low-tech: dozens of whiteboards placed in common areas and corridors throughout its Mountain View, Calif., campus. Some are businesslike, used by product teams to swap ideas. But the two largest ones, about 30 feet long, are devoted to the equivalent of corporate graffiti. One is packed with cartoons and jokes that workers have scrawled under the slogan "Google's Plan for World Domination." "It's collaborative art," says David Krane, Google's director of communications and one of its earliest whiteboard posters. "We're in a growth period, and when new hires see the boards they get a quick, comprehensive snapshot of our personality." -- P.K.

So, next time a potential client asks what the value of doodling on the walls could possibly add to their bottom line... tell'em to Google it!

[thanks to Bo Maupin]

Graphic Coaching

This comes to us from coach, mapmaker, master hypnotist, and graphic facilitator, Christina Merkley, based in British Columbia, Canada. See www.makemark.com for information, articles and the informative SHIFT-IT E-zine about Graphic Coaching.

Did you know that researchers estimate that upwards of 72% of the North American population are visual learners and thinkers?  This means that the vast majority of our coaching clients think and learn better when visuals are used.  However the standard mode of coaching - over the phone - is an auditory medium that naturally benefits only 12-18% of the population!

For the last six years, I’ve been experimenting with using visuals or graphics with my coaching clients.  I work both face-to-face (using large sheets of poster paper to graphically ‘record’ my client’s thoughts, ideas and experiences) and also over the phone (using pre-prepared visual templates either assigned as homework between calls or filled out live while on the call). 

Doc Serls says "It's the Story, Stupid!"

The crowd shuffles to their seats, the lights dim, a brief echo of feedback, and the speaker begins. The death ray projector beams, fluffy motes drift in the shaft of light, a cascade of bullets tumble, a throat clears, another PowerPoint presentation has begun.

These moments are when humans gather together in dark sancutuaries to listen to a story in hopes of transformation. Hope is the last thing to die!

OK. We trash them, we suffer through them, but how do we begin to create a good presentation?

Thanks to Visual Being, I've learned of a whole community of people who are wrestling with the physical gear and psychological prowess involved in making presentations engaging and relevant.

Thanks to a recent post by Lee Potts, I learned of sage advice from "back in the day" before the Tech Bubble went bust. Part software history lesson, part self-help manual for the presentationally-challenged, it's from Doc Serls and it's great:

IT'S THE STORY, STUPID: DON'T LET PRESENTATION SOFTWARE KEEP YOU FROM GETTING YOUR STORY ACROSS

 

Post-It Pixel Art

And you thought Post-Its were just tools for facilitating brainstorming sessions, losing phone messages and displaying curt reprimands for annoying roommates or spouses!

This article titled Elvis Spotted in the Conference Room by Charles Mangin of CapStrat, a strategic communications firm in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Anamorphic Pavement Art

Julian Beever is an English artist who’s famous for his art on the pavement of England, France, Germany, US, Australia and Belgium.

Beever's drawings are anamorphic and contain a distorted aspect ratio. To accomplish this, he creates compositions completly in diforms that give a 3D image when viewed from the right angle. It is a very nifty trick of perspective.

See for yourself it’s amazing !!!

Image viewed from the "wrong" vantage point.	The same drawing from the "right" point of view!"

See more photos of Beecher's work: HTML gallery or Flash slideshow

[Forwarded by Jay Smethurst of Sente Co.]

The art of anamorphism really evolved as optical devices were developed: mirrors, metal orbs,  prisms, lenses, etc. These enabled artists and scientists to explore the boundaries of what is seen (in terms of optical data) and what is perceived (in terms of cognitive powers) and what is understood (in terms of synthesis and meaning).

Benefits of Improv for Business Innovation

Many trainers, facilitators and coaches use such techniques with corporation and organizations as part of facilitated events or one-on-one coaching session.

Increasingly, professional theaters such as Chicago's Second City have developed specialized corporate improv teams to meet the demand. And, a growing crop of multi-disciplined facilitator-artist-improv types are blending management consulting, design methods and performance in truly innovative ways.

MindMaps and MindManager

Many visual learners have discovered the benefits of MindMaps, the technique developed by Tony Buzan in the late 1960s.

MindMaps use radiant thinking and simple drawing skills to synthesize complex sets of information. His classic work The Mind Map Book, is essential reading for anyone who wishes to understand the intricacies of how the mind, cognition, memory, emotion and learning work together.

The Buzan Centre describes the tool as follows:

A Mind Map is a powerful graphic technique which provides a universal key to unlock the potential of the brain. It harnesses the full range of cortical skills – word, image, number, logic, rhythm, colour and spatial awareness – in a single, uniquely powerful manner. In so doing, it gives you the freedom to roam the infinite expanses of your brain. The Mind Map can be applied to every aspect of life where improved learning and clearer thinking will enhance human performance. (More at  http://imindmap.com)

However, MindMaps may be difficult to consistently use. It helps if you can write and draw, while listening deeply to a discussion or presentation.

Several companies have developed software tools based on the concept. Tony Goodson shares his experience using MindManager and a tablet PC.

Pixelplosion

ABOVE: Poster by eBoy, a digital artist collective (buy poster).

Ever wonder how the creators of SimCity and other on-line games create their wonderfully complex worlds of simple pixelpeople?