I was originally set to do a segment called "How to draw a Warrior Girl" but with the recent drama unfolding within the old dance squad, I decided to postpone it and hold off the drawing  until a later time when everything cools off. (peep Warrior Girl Procedural Protest by DJ Fuzzy Logic) So this week, I've decided go a different route... Thursday morning I woke up with an idea... Draw "AL HARRINGTON." No one told me to do it, it wasn't on my schedule of things to draw, but I really felt like I owed it to him. Al rounded out dead last when I asked GSoMers who they would like to see drawn next. I thought it would only be right to show Al Harrington some props on Golden State of Mind. Come to think of it, I've never drawn Al in any of my drawings. Out of all the people on the roster, Al is someone I've neglected. Well, all that's gonna change... My new drawing of Al Harrington brings the same intensity in an artistic standpoint, the same way he brings it every night on the court. There's also a little bonus surprise after the "read more button! Let's get it started!

Drawing Al Harrington with Style! I can't stress enough how important "practice makes perfect" is. Creativity doesn't grow on trees. It takes hard work and patience, especially with a program like Adobe Illustrator. If your illustration isn't looking right, draw it again, or revisit past mistakes and see what other shapes and colors work for you and your drawing. The more you take a stab at drawing, the more you learn from your mistakes and you also gain a number of tricks and techniques under your belt. When the practice sets in and you're ready to draw, STYLE comes next. Developing your own style is what sets your work apart...

Take a look at Al... for me, the style I have adapted to when drawing figures is as accurate as I can get it. There's always room for improvements, but for now - this is how I illustrate... this is my "style."  I use transparent shadows for the folds and creases in his jersey and shorts. I try to get the folds and wrinkles of the outfit as close to the original photo as possible. There isn't much outline work here. I tried to hit up the detail throughout the various blends of browns to give its shadowing some depth. As mentioned before... when using Adobe Illustrator, I always look at different shapes and colors in bringing an image to life. When you compare a photograph and mimic its shadowing in an Illustrator's world, its colors are what imitate a photo's shadow detail. I really dig this pose. It's Al Harrington at his best, driving down the lane past a defender. You know he's gonna make that shot.

Try developing your own style. As much as I love using different darker tones to imitate shadowing, you might want to do more solid coloring and less detail... Why copy something exactly like the original when you can get a little more blocky in the outline strokes... or why not try different stroke weights and go back and forth from thick to thin? You develop these styles when you practice. On the creative tip - no one's saying you can't try new things! Get Creative! No one's expecting you to draw like me... develop your own style!

"What if Al Harrington really was a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle?"

In no way am I poking fun or teasing Al Harrington! Since Al stepped on the scene with Golden State, peeps have showed love by saying we have our very own "Ninja Turtle" on the team! He's also been referenced here at GSoM as "Teenage Mutant Ninja Harrington and the community digs it! This is also another example of getting creative. There are so many things in pop culture that people imitate and make parodies of. I figure, if we're gonna refer to Al as a "Ninja Turtle", let's have some fun and make it happen visually!  Hopefully, everyone can tell that's Al Harrington!

Until next week Ya'll!