Who is Peter?
When it comes to teaching drawing while bursting with energy there’s few artists who can compare to Peter Han. With his Dynamic Sketching approach – forged while studying under Norman Schureman and others at ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena – Peter has helped countless artists in the entertainment design industry become who they are and get a solid grasp on the fundamentals of sketching.
After graduating from ArtCenter, Peter jumped right into the industry and was off to a great start as a concept artist drawing and designing tanks for video games. In his long career since then he has worked for reputable clients such as Sony, Konami, Cheyenne Mountain, Trion, Vivendi Universal, and many more on titles like Warhawk, Spyro the Dragon, Stargate Worlds, Silent Hill Experience, and Defiance.
What he is best known for among other artists though, is teaching. His lectures are highly sought after, and the Dynamic Sketching techniques he passes on are a rock solid foundation for any artistic endeavour. No erasers, no pencils, no drawing guides or rulers: straight to pen and ink and lots of repetition to build muscle memory. What makes the approach so compelling is its universality: everything is constructed of the five basic shapes cube, sphere, cone, cylinder and pyramid – drawing a jet plane is no different than drawing a tree or a mouse. Made a mistake? No problem – just draw it again and you’ll have double the practice and can put into practice what you learned from the first attempt! With its focus on hand control and accuracy through mileage, the exercises taught by Peter have reached an almost Holy Grail status among artists setting out on their journey – many beginner sections in art forums are filled with Dynamic Sketching exercises practicing straight lines, basic shapes, and of course the dreaded ellipses that are so difficult to draw accurately and evenly.
No wonder then that Peter has been called to teach at many different institutions: from his Alma mater – the ArtCenter college of Design – to the Concept Design Academy (CDA), the Computer Graphics Master Academy (CGMA), and Brainstorm School, as well as lots of live lectures at art events around the globe like IFCC, Promised Land and more.
Now Peter has moved on to opening up his own school, allowing him to create the best conditions for his teaching approach while maintaining small classroom sizes for a more involved experience. With different options available, there’s something there for everybody trying to improve their constructive drawing skills – from the full-blown classic Dynamic Sketching class to one-time single hour coaching meetings to an intense eight week long 1-on-1 training that focuses on the individual student’s specific needs.
When he isn’t teaching, Peter has a number of personal projects he is working on – most notably The Blacksmith. In a comprehensive series of masterful brushpen ink drawings he explores the adventures of a samurai-esque blacksmith who roams the world to collect legendary weapons, fighting many unearthly creatures on his journey with his loyal companion dog. No surprise then, that a Kickstarter project to create a book filled with Blacksmith ink drawings was crowd funded within days a few years back. Now it’s moving to the next level, with yet another successful Kickstarter campaign that was fully funded in late 2019 to create and release a whole graphic novel based on the Blacksmith’s adventure.
After the blockbuster lecture Peter gave at last year’s week-long IFCC festival in Split, Croatia, we are happy to welcome him back to IFCC Online in May 2020, where he will talk about Dynamic Sketching, his approach to drawing, and more. Don’t miss out!
