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How To Draw... by Colors! Poster from a classic drawing book

Created by Gio Lasar Design

Have fun with more than 150 one minute artworks by E.G.Lutz (who inspired Walt Disney) turned into Color Posters and print-at-home PDFs

Latest Updates from Our Project:

Almost there!
about 5 years ago – Wed, Mar 27, 2019 at 11:39:16 PM

Thanks for completing the BackerKit survey! 

The posters arrived and your rewards are being shipped.

The original traced drawings have been cut and applied to a red background with removable glue
The original traced drawings have been cut and applied to a red background with removable glue
The printed posters have been numbered, signed, and packaged in cardboard tubes
The printed posters have been numbered, signed, and packaged in cardboard tubes

Don't forget to post a comment when you get them! :)

Dibs!
about 5 years ago – Mon, Mar 11, 2019 at 11:21:02 PM

Surveys are being sent out (look for an email from BackerKit)! All backers getting at least PDF will also receive a bonus traced drawing, selected among those used to build an improved version of the book and poster. Through the survey you can express one preference regarding which kind of drawing you would like to get, and which bonus dice (if you backed the printed poster) between three fudge d6 and a couple of brand new Full Moon Constellation dice, that you have a chance to pick before anybody else.

The add-ons section will enable you to get additional PDFs or printed posters (only about 20 are left) and a few more dice. Digital rewards included in your rewards will be accessible right away: it's time to let the ink flow... enjoy!

One Hundred Years Later...
about 5 years ago – Wed, Mar 06, 2019 at 03:19:58 PM

It took time, much more than expected, for the work of E.G. Lutz to breathe with new life.

 
After much fighting against the insufficient resolution and degradation of the source material (scanned from a century old original) whose quality was good enough for you to print and play with the drawings at home, but unsatisfactory for an artwork to be hung on your wall, the chosen solution was to completely and carefully retrace all 150 drawings, improving on their crispness while mantaining the original look and feel.

 
All the drawings from the book have been upscaled and printed in light gray, then respectfully hand-traced to clean them up. Sometimes this took a few tries and corrections, but the final result could not be achieved without this steps. Anyway, a PDF version of the B&W poster - featuring only the original E.G. Lutz artworks - will be included too.

Another reason to remake all the drawings was the lack of details in the originals that prevented the color coding of the steps for each drawing: 

The updated drawings are slightly larger to accomodate the use of colored strokes.
The updated drawings are slightly larger to accomodate the use of colored strokes.

 
In addition it was impossible to align and superimpose all the hand-drawn steps for each drawing from the book in order to create the "improved" version of the print-at-home PDFs, that as you can see below is very much dependant on the quality of the base material:

 
          . 

The steps on the improved PDF of the book are based on the same updated figures.
The steps on the improved PDF of the book are based on the same updated figures.

 
The missing steps for many drawings have been recreated, and included in both the improved PDF version and the color poster. They both feature the same drawings and steps, at the same size, when looking at the compositions at the bottom of each page:

An example of compositions to be completed on the "improved" version of the book.
An example of compositions to be completed on the "improved" version of the book.

Once color had been applied to each drawing, it was apparent on test prints of the poster how sometimes the strokes were thin to too distinguish the colors easily, so the figures were again enlarged (and the poster completely remade to make everything fit, whilst grouping the drawings by subject and complexity).

The two versions look much different now, according to their purpose: plain display (black & white) or use as a "book on a poster":

The drawings in the B&W version have the same proportions found in the original book.
The drawings in the B&W version have the same proportions found in the original book.

 
The pictures in this new version were arranged in thematic groups, and sorted from easier to harder. Difficulty is calibrated to be harder when going from top to bottom, and from left to right. Moreover the drawings depict sometimes little scenes (the pond, the running horses, the parade) and their lines form pleasant waves:

A lot of work went into turning this collection of unrelated drawings to a pleasant artwork.
A lot of work went into turning this collection of unrelated drawings to a pleasant artwork.

 
The only drawings left out from the color version for lack of space (as the subjects are bigger) are a few round faces, that can still be found in the B&W version and PDFs:

The book didn't show the steps to draw these, anyway.
The book didn't show the steps to draw these, anyway.

 
   And that's all! Or not?

This unique project has been a labour of love from the beginning, and it was worth being done properly. While a string of life circumstances made it impossible to stick to the original plan, and even less to set and respect a new deadline (since no part of it could be outsourced), work has been going on all through the year whenever possible. There have been times when I could not be online for a while though, while a bunch of messages from social networks, mail accounts, and online platforms kept stacking up. Of course I am sorry about this, this is not the way I am used to work. So I thought of a little thank-you gift that I hope you will appreciate.

All backers (for the printed poster, as well as for the digital rewards) will be sent one original drawing from those I have traced for the poster. 

Moreover, the backers for the printed poster will receive, instead of a B&W and a color version, two double-faced prints. It's up to you deciding how to display them!

Two in one... twice!
Two in one... twice!

Those who were also expecting a few dice, will also be allowed some choice.

In order to safely distribute the digital rewards, and to collect your preferences and shipping address, you will soon receive an invitation from BackerKit (a pledge manager) that will be later open to non backers who want to obtain the few remaining prints (about 20 of 100). 

The posters are being printed right now and the mailing tubes are here, but the pledge manager is still being setup. This will take some more time, but we're getting there.

In due time this project might evolve further, so a website was registered ( ICanDraw.it ) although it's still of course only an empty shell. Thanks again for your support!

The fun begins!
about 6 years ago – Thu, Feb 15, 2018 at 09:45:26 PM

Thank you all for an amazing end of campaign!

The work on this project will begin at the end of the month, after shipping the rewards for the other Kickstarter to almost 500 backers :) you know, this one felt even more impressive, because I was quite sure it wasn't going to be successful... but it's not over until is over!

I am so glad I found other people loving this classic work :)


Service message: 

Please be sure your card is working, or your pledge will be dropped ten days from now!

Back to life!
about 6 years ago – Wed, Feb 14, 2018 at 01:53:37 PM

 

We are now 50% funded, breathing new life into a 100 year old classic!
We are now 50% funded, breathing new life into a 100 year old classic!