Like I said in a previous post I've been drawing a lot, trying to detach myself from reality a bit (since all the drawings are pretty much related to "real" stuff). When I started to draw the best advice i got was this one: never copy. Do your own stuff.
This has nothing to do with "style". This has to do with the fact that artists reproduce reality in every drawing(it doesn't matter if its the way they see the world. it's a point of view anyway) .
When you keep on drawing for several years you learn how to draw.. let's say: owls, chairs, tables, cathedrals etc. Your brain becomes an image library of some sorts. Or at least that's they way it's supposed to be.
When you start training there is a lot of stuff to consider, because while you have to portrait reality on a piece of paper, you must do it as reality is, not the way you consider it is. This forces the artist to draw thousands of things he or she doesn't like. I myself find quite difficult to draw cars. Nonetheless I draw cars. Maybe the cars in my imagination have six wheels and are a mixture of a thunderbird and an Audi, but the truth is that cars are not a mixtures. Audis are Audis and Thunderbirds are Thunderbirds, each with their own unique style.
It's very hard to struggle with this education, because you have to draw everything.
Ariel (my bf) is one of the few people that can draw you anything from memory. He knows his stuff and it's incredible how you can compare the drawing to the real object and notice that there are very few differences between the two.
So yes, the early years you have to tackle anatomy, perspective etc. Even when you don't like it. It's like learning how to use tools for building furniture and hence, you have to draw everything, from people walking past you, to your naked self.
When this phase is over (well, it's never over, but let's just say that you reach a point when you know your stuff) , you start wondering what else is there.
I know most people do it backwards, they start drawing whatever they want first,-which is good- but not so good at the end, if you want to grasp the basis of drawings (like I know this girl who draws incredible, amazing magical beasts, and incredible detailed animals. She is natural at that, but her humans, all look funny. So yes, she is good with beasts, but no so good at humans).
And here it comes, the second best advice I got from a friend was: learn the basics, *then* you will be able to alter reality.
I'm in this phase now. that's why I've been so frustrated because I feel that technically in the media that I'm interested I have reached a level. Yes, there is a long way ahead and a lot of experiments to be made, for example in watercolor (which is my favorite media), but still I believe the drawings I do look real. They are well proportioned etc. blah, blah.
But I'm trying to find out, if there is anything more outside. Something that is more like "me", and less alike reality, because believe me, I'm not really your average person here.
So maybe I'm in search of style. I really feel I've got so much left in me and I get a little bit frustrated because every time I draw I keep doing the same "real" stuff and it angers me a bit. I'm not saying is wrong, I'm just saying that I'm in a point where I'm like "yes, I can draw! what's the big deal about it?". There are a lot of good drawings that are stuck under my drawing table that I once liked and that now I look at them and I'm like "Horrible!" "the usual" "boring".Remember my Alice pic? I know my way around with Prismacolors. I drew the pic that way, because they asked me how I did it. I could have drawn it differently, but I didn't. And now that I look at it, I'm not sure I like it.
But I'm in this phase that nothing is ever good for me. I need something more, that it's inside of me. A twist in the drawings, but of course that's only gotten by drawing *raises eyebrow*. Behold the irony.
So I will be drawing several illustrations to get what I want. Nonetheless I reckon I can stay for too long away from achieving a real approach on things.
Right now I'm pretty much into animals. I will be doing regular trips to the zoo to draw :D. I love drawing from live reference, it gives you speed and somehow helps you to grasp quickly what you need to get the drawing right, with few lines.
So I will be going to the zoo, yes. I'm looking forward to it.
In the meantime I drew a couple of cats (I have 4 cats, just so you know) to practice their structure and feline behavior.
I used as reference my own cats and the Aristocats movie. Disney animators have always been great in getting animal's movement.I'm a bit sad that with anime (japanese cartoons) most people forgot about the good animators and about Disney's great and unforgettable contribution to animation. Animation it's not about a bunch of drawings moving mouths and blinking. Animation like Walt Disney said once is a "Ballet of movements".
It's not about drawings moving mouths or walking. it's about attitude in their movements, about corporal expression, and this old movies have it all.
I've seen Disney movies thousands of times and it helped me a bit to grasp how felines move. It's hard to keep my cats still, when all they want to do is jump on the shelves.
I'll be updating the Z-Word once a week. It's easier that way, and I won't be neglecting the journal :Dsorry for the large image last time, I'm still learning how to upload the images without messing your f-list. Forgive me *hangs head in shame*
Now with all this time, I will seat down to prepare my G.N thing and upload the tests for you guys to see.
thanks again :D
Oh yes, the girl is Marie Antoinette. I watched this documentary yesterday and I had the urge to draw people with big hairdos and fluffy dresses. If this appears again in the feed. I'm so sorry. I had to edited because I screwed up the layout. *hangs head again in shame*
