I should be drawing...

This is a blog about my struggle to overcome my many, many shortcomimgs as an artist. I will talk about practice here and take any and all critique in the spirit which it is offered. I may even share a grain or two of wisdom I have picked up along the way.

The impetus for this renewed focus came late last year when I broke my leg. I was trapped inside all winter, and relitively immobile. I worked on my comic (same name as the blog) for the first few months and really figured out a lot of stuff regarding inking. This advance in skill, however, only served to highlight how much I suck at most stuff, especially, especially, especially anatomy. However, I remained resitant to some good advice for a bit longer. Nobody who thinks they are working hard wants to be told they need to work smarter and harder.

That said, I faced the wall of my own mediocrity with increasing desperation. I am incapable of quitting anything that isn't alcohol, cigarettes or opiates; so I knew that giving up was not the solution.

And then, one day it happened. I was gimping up the stairs and a thought crossed my mind...

What if I really, really really made an effort to improve and put all my energy into it? What if I laid aside my ego and assumed that I knew not a fucking thing?

I ceased production of the comic that same day, facing the fact that I am just not ready was really a relief, to be honest.

I still make the odd finshed piece as readers of the other blog know, but for the last two or three months, I mostly I do shit like this:

Before that I did months worth of gesture drawing, which I'll get back to once I have a better understanding of anatomy.

Here is a recent doodle, wherein I tried to put what I have learned over the last few months together:

As you can see: still not ready.

As of today, I am adding hand studies to my rotation, beginning with the plates in the Loomis book.

I'll let you know how that goes and maybe talk about my routine next time...