Tuesday, July 14, 2015

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...

 

5 comments:

  1. I'm curious what it is you are trying to achieve with your art. Is it realism?

    I've always found art to be fickle and artists are often their worst critics.

    I guess what i'm saying is that it is better to invest your efforts in what makes your work unique and individualistic. It seems some artists often lose themselves in trying to achieve what they think others expect from their work.

    It is a journey though.

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  2. I have enjoyed your style, it has a "Kirby" filling to it, and I am a huge fan of Kirby. I struggle with my art, I see what I want in my head and then struggle for days to capture it. I got respect for you though, alot, cuz you really a productive in your work. Huge fan, keep it up.

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  3. Thanks guys.
    I just want to get to a point where I don't struggle so much and I want to be able to get things right. I'll probably never draw realism, but I want to be able to, if that makes any sense. I want to be able to draw anything.

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  4. "This advance in skill, however, only served to highlight how much I suck at most stuff" it never really stops, no matter what plateu you reach there's always more or a differentt direction, or different craft
    It isn't fruitlesand you'll get better log before you realize you got better

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