I don't know about other people but for me the possibility of anyone else looking through a book containing my rough sketches and random notes from when I was very young up until now is the stuff of nightmares. The joy of that little book was that I could carry it anywhere and express anything I was thinking or feeling in it without worrying about anyone else seeing any page I didn't specifically show them. Plus it had some really cool stuff in it toward the end.
So now I've got one of those later sketches all prettied up on bigger paper. 8 1/2 x 11" graphite and charcoal.
I still haven't thought of a good title for it. Neither is it really finished. It might be just as true for me to say that I simply didn't feel like taking it any further at this point in time, but I'll borrow a catchy quote instead."A painting is never finished. It simply stops in interesting places." -- Paul Gardner
A couple notes on actually drawing it, I was surprised how much of a difference a few inches makes. So much of the artwork I've done over the last four years has been 9 x 12"; my sketchbook was 9 x 12, my drawing paper was 9 x 12, and my canvases happened to be 9 x 12 as well.
Just recently I got this new 8 1/2 x 11" sketchbook and everything seems so much smaller and cramped. I think that's part of the reason I quit working on this drawing for so long, and why I quit again last night. It seems a lot harder to build up the textures and details without smearing other parts of the drawing at the same time.
The other new thing about this drawing was my use of charcoal pencils. Until now I had always avoided charcoals, absolutely hated them because of how I was forced to use them for drawing people in elementary school. That was such a frustrating experience, trying to draw people in a limited time period without being allowed to erase. But using them in this drawing ended up being quite fun and interesting, probably because I already knew where I wanted my lines and got to take my time and have a pretty good eraser.
Finally, as if people, water, and rocks, etc. weren't challenging enough for me, willows are my new art enemies.
2 comments:
Howdy, Neil of Erk here.
I find that, if something arises as a problem, the best thing to do is to attack it directly. I do not paint or sketch, but it seems to me that the best solution would be to draw willows, over and over again, until you have them down, or they kill you. Again, I'm not an artist, but the approach can be applied to any of the arts, I believe.
~Neil, of Erk
Hi Neil!
You know, the first time I ever fell off a horse was partly on account of a willow tree. My foot got caught in the stirrup and I remember getting dragged around a bit before the old horse decided to stop. Willows are dangerous things. Maybe I'll find where my old willow charcoal sticks disappeared to and stage a war on paper.
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