Looking Back at Lightbox Expo
I just got back from another fantastic Lightbox Expo, and I'm still feeling energized by the experience!
One of the best things about Lightbox is getting to reconnect with old friends and colleagues, meeting new people, and catching up with familiar faces. This year was no exception.
Something I particularly enjoyed was meeting former students who came by to tell me how much they had learned from my courses and how helpful those lessons had been in their own artistic journey. It's incredibly rewarding to hear that something I've shared has helped someone move forward in their career or creative development. Knowing that I can contribute, in some small way, to a new generation of artists is one of the things I value most about teaching.
Of course, there was plenty more happening throughout the event, and if you weren't able to make it to Lightbox this year, here's a great way to get a feel for the atmosphere.
A Little Taste of Lightbox Expo
Lightbox Expo has such a wonderful atmosphere, bringing together artists from all corners of the industry. It's always inspiring to see so much creativity in one place.
The official Lightbox Expo recap video captures some of that energy beautifully:
Drawing the Essence of a Pose
Another highlight was hosting two live drawing sessions.
For the first session, we had a model dressed in an elven outfit, and for the second, a male model dressed as Indiana Jones. Both sessions focused on movement and gesture, using poses that slowly changed rather than staying still for an extended period.
When you have ten minutes or more to draw a pose, there's plenty of time to look back and forth, make adjustments, and gradually refine your drawing. Working with moving poses is a very different experience. You have to learn to capture the essence of a complex pose in a very short amount of time, reducing it to simple shapes and expressive lines.
The exercise teaches you to recognize and capture the dynamics and proportions of a pose quickly. It's a particularly useful skill for character designers, who often need to work efficiently while keeping their drawings full of life and movement.
When you're used to having plenty of time for every drawing, it's easy to fall into the habit of constantly adjusting and correcting things. But learning to capture a pose in one go helps you understand what actually makes that pose work: where the movement comes from, what gives it its energy, and which elements are essential to its character.
And when a drawing starts to feel stiff, being able to return to that underlying gesture can help bring the movement and energy back into it.
It was great to share this exercise with everyone who joined the sessions, and I hope they enjoyed it as much as I did.
Of course, there was also plenty of time to catch up with friends, meet familiar faces, and make new connections. Those encounters are a big part of what makes Lightbox so special to me.
Thanks to everyone who stopped by, joined one of the drawing sessions, or simply came over for a chat. It was great seeing you all!
I'm already looking forward to the next one!
A little something for those who missed Lightbox.
It was wonderful meeting so many of you, but I also wanted to share a little something with those who couldn't make it this year. For the next 7 days, you can get 10% off all my Tulptorials e-books in my webshop. Simply use the discount code LIGHTBOX26 at checkout to receive your discount. (Valid until Nov 13, 2026) Whether you're looking to improve your drawing skills, explore character design, or learn new techniques, you might find something useful in my Tulptorials collection.
Comments