Journals8
Newest
Skill progression personal note
1 min read
May be expanded upon at later dates.
Lvl. 1 : Can I do this? / How can I do this?
The challenge comes from the process of acquiring the skill to do something. I'm not sure I can draw something for example but I try, fail, and eventually figure out how to draw it. Progress in finding out how to do something learning from mistakes.
Lvl. 2 : Can I make this good? / How can I make this better?
Recognising mistakes/areas one's not satisfied with not to appease other people or to hurt one's self but because the result stopped being satisfactory (because of skill increase/leveling up). How can I do this becomes how can I make this better? Important to have a definition for what is good (cleaner lines, better forms etc.) and a willingness to accept that we in fact do make mistakes and that's ok because it gives us new challenges. The reward for which is a sense of power over our circumstances as in power over mistakes and better results!
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3 Realisations
1 min read
I've had some problems drawing for years I've come to some conclusions which I'm about to share.
# 1
I was drawing like it was an endless exam wanting to please the "judges" or "teachers" existing in my head and wanting praise from people. I wanted to everything exactly as I should according to the techniques and teachings I've learnt. Following every step exactly.
This ended up making my art boring and painful to make.
#2
I can and should use my own technique (which is an amalgamation of the techniques I've learnt and my own ideas) if I'm drawing for fun and not for learning someone's technique.
#3
I can and should learn from real life and my drawings in my own way according to how my brain works. (that usually depends on how much I observe)
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Restore Motivation Potion
18 min read
This is my personal guide to beat my creative problems. I read these whenever I get stuck. If anyone reads this know that I'll probably revise this multiple times or add to it so it might change (it probably will change) and I repeat myself sometimes. Sorry ~
Don't fear your instrument.
It's not about knowing everything from the get-go. It's about figuring out, finding out and learning.
"You're an artist and you express yourself this way and let's see what you make of it!"
I can even if I don't know how yet.
It's my responsibility how my art turns out. It's my responsibility to make my art good.
I can do anything if I want it enough and I put enough effort and time into it.
Drawing is a skill.
It's ok to not know everything. It's ok to learn new things.
I can draw regardless of mood.
I am a student of art therefore there are no expectations on my shoulder I have the freedom to take my time, learn and observe experiment and make mistakes and correct them.
I am responsible for creating my work and I am responsible for the quality of my work. I am NOT responsible for the mainstream success or failure of my work and what people think of it. That's their problem.
I don't worry about the possibility of being good or bad before doing anything. I set a goal and act towards it. Evaluate what I just did/made and act accordingly. If bad I figure out why and I correct it if good I let it be if it's different than what I planned but I like it I may as well let it be. (I don't use this as an excuse to avoid mistakes)
I can make whatever I want. I can do it my own way. I can take a break.
SIMPLIFY!!! SIMPLIFY!!! SIMPLIFY!!!
I'm allowed to focus on one thing at a time I don't have to multitask if I don't want to. I'm allowed to take my time. I'm allowed to enjoy what I'm making. I'm allowed to enjoy watching my drawing get made. I'm allowed to make it look good.
How good can I make this thing, How far can I push it? How accurate, expressive, good-looking, breathtaking, awesome, amazing can I make this? There's a never-ending supply of "better" I can get there's no end to the road of art so looking for an end is futile.
I believe i can achieve my desires. When in doubt I think about this: if it's physically possible I can do it if I put in the work and I can deal with mistakes when they arise. It's not about doing it right on my first try. It's about chipping away at my arising mistakes till I get to my desired outcome.
Talent doesn't do jack by itself. I still need to work at my art and pour all my attention into it. Talent is like starting one step up on a giant staircase but after that I have to move by myself. In the end it's my contribution that decides where I go in life, not my talent. This means when I mess something up I absolutely have the power to correct it and make it better by working on it.
The muse isn't responsible for my technical skill or how much work I put in. The muse is only responsible for inspiration. If I want to be able to heed her call I work on my art diligently.
I never half-ass!
I strive for excellence not perfection!
If it doesn't work I don't want it enough or I don't put in enough work.
I loose myself in the process for the duration of the process. (I'll come back to myself when I stop)
How would I do this?
It's about not knowing how to do something but figuring it out or applying a method to something in a way that fits said something. Like a scientist experimenting until they achieve the desired effect. I don't expect myself to know everything and do everything perfectly. If I don't know I learn if I don't like the stuff I made (if I'm frustrated take a break and then) work at it until I think it's good.
It's ok if I don't know how to start or something is too difficult. I'm allowed to feel overwhelmed, it's natural the world is a huge place with lots of details even if we're not talking about drawing from life. It's also ok and recommended to break it up into pieces I can manage things I understand like simple shapes (etc.) and build it up from there. One step at a time.
It's ok if I don't know if I can draw something well or not. If it doesn't turn out well I'll just adjust it until it looks good.
It's ok to enjoy the process, making art shouldn't be painful. Learning doesn't have to be painful either.
BEFORE I start an artwork (except of course if the main theme of my piece is spontaneity) I set WELL DEFINED goals for myself. Small goals that I can achieve and if I want I can set big goals to work towards using smaller goals as steps.
Goals can be anything for example "my goal is to mark the placement of an object I want to draw on my paper." or "My goal is to draw this apple as accurately as I can." which I can then break up into smaller goals that are going to be the steps I take to achieve the previous big goal. Or even "My goal is to just let go and enjoy/have fun making this thing." or "My goal is to learn how this thing works."
"Good" is NOT a defined goal unless I have a specific interpretation of good for example "My artwork is good if it expresses my emotions and if I look back at it I can feel the emotion I wanted to express from the artwork itself. Or when I ask people who's opinion I value and trust they tell me they feel the exact emotion I wanted to express when they look at the artwork."
If I have trouble starting something I MAKE STARTING A GOAL! Making starting a goal is a sure-fire way of succeeding at at least one thing with everything I do. If I start I'm one step closer to succeeding with my big goal and staring as a goal was successful. If I have trouble finishing things I make finishing things a goal.
I don't ask myself "Can I draw/make/finish etc. this?" that's a sure-fire way to induce anxiety. I ask "How can I make this? What steps do I need to take to make this?" this helps me define the goals for that specific artwork outlined in the previous point. To be honest the best way I calm down is to not even ask anything just jump into it "Just do it!" style but the previous point still stands I gotta know what and how I wanna make.
I DON'T RUSH IT! I take my time. Fast doesn't always equal good. It does at races but not in meticulous attention heavy things. If I don't have much time to do art I then set a timer for the amount of time I can spend on my art and then forget about it and only focus on my art. The timer will warn me so I won't be late for anything if I concentrate only on what I'm doing.
I give my maximum effort and care to everything I do. If it turns out crap well now giving the thing my maximum effort is to learn how to do it better. I MAKE THIS A GOAL TOO!
If I have trouble with how to even put my maximum effort into something I use 2 main things to help me. Looking at the piece and the willingness to notice mistakes.
- By looking at the thing I'm making I mean I observe what I'm doing on the page. When I'm not paying that much attention my vision gets blurry my rule of thumb here is if I can see the texture of the paper I am paying attention to my piece. As a result I usually make more marks I like than when I don't pay that much attention.
- Without the willingness to notice mistakes my previous statement doesn't do a thing. If I want to make something good (wile knowing what I mean by good) I'll need to learn how to make it good and for that I'll have to notice mistakes first so I can know what to correct. This can be very hard but I try to think of them as things that help me improve faster when I deal with them head on. If I'm having trouble with this I try to look at my drawing like my best friend asked me for a honest critique of their art.
Everyone has their opinion, whether good or bad it's just THEIR OPINION. So whenever someone praises or berates my art I don't make it mean more than it does. It's what they think of my work not what my work is. And definitely NOT what I am.
The only one who can decide if my art is good is me because I'm the only one who knows what I wanted to make and how successful I was at it. However I try not to use this as an excuse for avoiding mistakes. This goes back to the willingness to notice mistakes.
I am allowed to like my own work. How would i tell if I'm doing a good job or not otherwise?
I ask myself "Do I like this?" yes or no. If yes great! If no, then I figure out why and ask myself "What would make it look better?" or "What would I like more?" then try that. Then ask myself again if I like it or not and repeat the process.
There's no such thing as not making mistakes. It's kinda like if I eat something it's likely to produce a stinky pile of poop eventually like it or not. It's like that with mistakes too if I make something there's bound to be things I don't like about it.
If I make something I consider a mistake I recognise the fact that I made that mistake. It didn't just appear out from a mysterious dimension conjured by some monster I can't fight who wants to ruin my work. I MADE that mistake not intentionally but I made it regardless. And if I can make it I can also reshape it until I deem it correct. I am the creator of mistakes and the stuff I call correct alike. I am their master so I decide what to do with them.
I am NOT my art. If I mess up it means that thing I did didn't turn out as I intended. It DOESN'T mean that I'm bad or fatally flawed or a failure. What do I do when I mess up then? I reevaluate what I wanted it to look like how much is it off from that and what I'll have to do to bring it closer to the desired outcome.
Here's a quote from a ted talk I'm gonna expand upon:
The artist is free not enslaved by their art (and my expansion) , or other's expectations, or what others tell them.
Except of course if I want to learn someone's technique or I'm doing someone's exercises designed to help me then I should probably listen to them when I'm doing the exercises and stuff.
Learning doesn't inhibit my creative abilities. Following what I've learnt as dogmatic set of rules (do it this way or don't do it at all) inhibits my creativity. Learning a new technique is great it gives me more tools but I don't limit myself to using just that because someone told me their technique is the only way to do it right. It may be the only way for them (or they may use it as a marketing tool) but I can do as I'd like when I'm not learning from them.
I learn from a lot of different places, I try to understand the reason behind different techniques. I collect the things I deem useful for me specifically (this can be parts of a technique too) but then do my own thing. I don't have to get stuck with one way to draw something.
Every technique is a way to understand and depict the world around us. And everyone has a little different view of the world I am allowed to develop my own techniques from scratch or from parts of other techniques if I deem it necessary.
I try to understand what I draw before I start drawing them. I often find that if I decide to draw something but I take the time to understand it first I get better results. I try to think about what I want to put down on the paper, where it's gonna go and how I'll put it down BEFORE I even touch the paper. I try to visualise. This helps me lessen the amount of scratchy lines I might make.
I break it up. I can break anything up into their simplest most manageable pieces and then I put one foot after the other.
I observe/make a plan of what I want to draw >>> I break it up into steps >>> I take a step and don't forget to ghost lines >>> I observe while performing the step to the best of my abilities >>> I'm proud of finishing the step >>> I repeat
I'm grateful for what I CAN do and what I CAN make. It's important to know what I can improve on but it's also vital to take the good things into consideration. If I only focus on what I can't do all the time I'll end up feeling like I can't do anything right. So I'm grateful for something in every piece I make if nothing else I'm grateful for finishing it. Or even just starting it. It can go a long way.
I take pride in and work on my competence. If I get something right I'm proud of it. Being proud of something doesn't mean boasting or thinking I'm better than anyone it means I recognise my accomplishment compared to my previous work and the effort I've put in. If I feel like I lack in some regard for example I'm not very good at perspective I learn it. That's the only way to get better and when I improve I'm proud of my improvement.
I'm not afraid to express myself in my art. It's my art I do whatever the heck I want to do with it.
I put great care into my craft and I value the care I put into my craft. I'm proud of the attention I give to what I do.
I strive to make excellent and quality work. I do my best but I know what kind of excellence and quality I want to make eventually. If I can't make it yet I make sure you do everything to be able to but I don't stress out over it. It is a big goal to strive for but I don't have to make it all at once it's a process. It's important to put in the time and effort.
I'm proud of all I accomplish big or small even if it's just starting a piece when I couldn't do it before. Again this doesn't mean boasting about it (if I want to tell someone I make sure to only tell people who I know will be happy for my success no matter how small that success is) or thinking I am better than anyone. Valuing my own effort care and accomplishments doesn't make me bad or wrong or evil. It just means that I recognise the amount of work I've put in and the progress I've made.
I think I'm starting to grasp some small shard of what it means to learn from every drawing. Essentially I get to know properties of the stuff I draw and I figure out how to draw it. Shapes forms color, how light behaves on it texture etc. the learning never ends because there are a lot of things to draw from life or imagination and I always find a new property of a thing I've drawn before or I gain deeper insight.
I'll probably expand on this whenever I remember something useful. And if you're reading this don't forget this is just my opinion nothing more nothing less.
Don't fear your instrument.
You don't need to think anything just focus on the damn task.
It's not about knowing everything from the get-go. It's about figuring out, finding out and learning.
Art block might just be either being tired/hungry/thirsty or being out of "creative fuel" or a combination of both. Your art might suck because your ability to plan and pay attention may be impaired because you're tired/hungry/thirsty in which case you'll need to resolve that. You may not feel like drawing/painting because you've worked on one thing too much switch it up. You may not have ideas because you're out of creative fuel which comes from experiences you have if you draw/paint so much you have no life outside of it it will cost you your fuel. Schedule in some time for other experiences take walks see movies reed books have some fun and me time aside from art.
If something doesn't go as you planned if you mess it up, if you don't enjoy art anymore and you feel like you might never do there is nothing wrong with you. Art has it's bad moments too artists have bad days or down periods there could be lots of reasons why you don't feel like it. Someone teared you down or you over-excerted yourself or you forgot to eat/drink/sleep and you can't concentrate. Sometimes it doesn't come easy sometimes you gotta struggle for it. And that's normal. It's part of the process. It's the stuff of Life.
Simplyfy pick ONE thing to do one line or one simple area to fill, decide on how you want it done and how you'll go about it and do that ONE thing. Then go to the next.
Go from big simple things to smaller simple things to even smaller simple things.
"You're an artist and you express yourself this way and let's see what you make of it!"
- Adam Duff
I can try again.
Whether or not a piece succeeds (comes out how I want it to) is fully dependent on ME. My effort attention or skill. If it doesn't come out good it must be analysed and corrected accordingly.
Ask if it looks good. If it doesn't MAKE IT SO!
I concentrate on my art not myself.
I shut up and just do it.
It's about making a good picture not worrying about whether my method is wrong or I'm doing it wrong. AND THAT TAKES OBSERVING THE ART I'M MAKING AND PLANNING IT OUT!!!
I ask myself what would I do if no-one was here/watching/evaluating and then I do it.
I'll be ok.
I'm more patient. I practice patience.
I'm more thoughtful.
I decide to draw more for fun than anything else.
My art process (and life) is a series of endless do I like this or not questions to which the answers determine where I go and what I do.
I can even if I don't know how yet.
I can figure out how.
I can figure out and use my own technique.
I can try again as many times as I want to.
It's my responsibility how my art turns out. It's my responsibility to make my art good.
I use my own method I use my own solutions to problems I come across.
Figyelj! Figyelek.
Art isn't easy. It requires my effort and full attention. Mistakes are expected but I can do it eventually.
I do whatever I want with/in my art. It's MY art after all.
Whatever I do I always remember it may take multiple tries and that's ok.
I put my maximum attention care and effort into my art (my work as an artist).
I can do anything if I want it enough and I put enough effort and time into it.
Drawing is a skill.
It's ok to not know everything. It's ok to learn new things.
I can draw regardless of mood.
I am a student of art therefore there are no expectations on my shoulder I have the freedom to take my time, learn and observe experiment and make mistakes and correct them.
I am responsible for creating my work and I am responsible for the quality of my work. I am NOT responsible for the mainstream success or failure of my work and what people think of it. That's their problem.
I don't worry about the possibility of being good or bad before doing anything. I set a goal and act towards it. Evaluate what I just did/made and act accordingly. If bad I figure out why and I correct it if good I let it be if it's different than what I planned but I like it I may as well let it be. (I don't use this as an excuse to avoid mistakes)
I can make whatever I want. I can do it my own way. I can take a break.
SIMPLIFY!!! SIMPLIFY!!! SIMPLIFY!!!
I'm allowed to focus on one thing at a time I don't have to multitask if I don't want to. I'm allowed to take my time. I'm allowed to enjoy what I'm making. I'm allowed to enjoy watching my drawing get made. I'm allowed to make it look good.
How good can I make this thing, How far can I push it? How accurate, expressive, good-looking, breathtaking, awesome, amazing can I make this? There's a never-ending supply of "better" I can get there's no end to the road of art so looking for an end is futile.
I believe i can achieve my desires. When in doubt I think about this: if it's physically possible I can do it if I put in the work and I can deal with mistakes when they arise. It's not about doing it right on my first try. It's about chipping away at my arising mistakes till I get to my desired outcome.
Talent doesn't do jack by itself. I still need to work at my art and pour all my attention into it. Talent is like starting one step up on a giant staircase but after that I have to move by myself. In the end it's my contribution that decides where I go in life, not my talent. This means when I mess something up I absolutely have the power to correct it and make it better by working on it.
The muse isn't responsible for my technical skill or how much work I put in. The muse is only responsible for inspiration. If I want to be able to heed her call I work on my art diligently.
I never half-ass!
I strive for excellence not perfection!
If it doesn't work I don't want it enough or I don't put in enough work.
I loose myself in the process for the duration of the process. (I'll come back to myself when I stop)
How would I do this?
It's about not knowing how to do something but figuring it out or applying a method to something in a way that fits said something. Like a scientist experimenting until they achieve the desired effect. I don't expect myself to know everything and do everything perfectly. If I don't know I learn if I don't like the stuff I made (if I'm frustrated take a break and then) work at it until I think it's good.
It's ok if I don't know how to start or something is too difficult. I'm allowed to feel overwhelmed, it's natural the world is a huge place with lots of details even if we're not talking about drawing from life. It's also ok and recommended to break it up into pieces I can manage things I understand like simple shapes (etc.) and build it up from there. One step at a time.
It's ok if I don't know if I can draw something well or not. If it doesn't turn out well I'll just adjust it until it looks good.
It's ok to enjoy the process, making art shouldn't be painful. Learning doesn't have to be painful either.
BEFORE I start an artwork (except of course if the main theme of my piece is spontaneity) I set WELL DEFINED goals for myself. Small goals that I can achieve and if I want I can set big goals to work towards using smaller goals as steps.
Goals can be anything for example "my goal is to mark the placement of an object I want to draw on my paper." or "My goal is to draw this apple as accurately as I can." which I can then break up into smaller goals that are going to be the steps I take to achieve the previous big goal. Or even "My goal is to just let go and enjoy/have fun making this thing." or "My goal is to learn how this thing works."
"Good" is NOT a defined goal unless I have a specific interpretation of good for example "My artwork is good if it expresses my emotions and if I look back at it I can feel the emotion I wanted to express from the artwork itself. Or when I ask people who's opinion I value and trust they tell me they feel the exact emotion I wanted to express when they look at the artwork."
If I have trouble starting something I MAKE STARTING A GOAL! Making starting a goal is a sure-fire way of succeeding at at least one thing with everything I do. If I start I'm one step closer to succeeding with my big goal and staring as a goal was successful. If I have trouble finishing things I make finishing things a goal.
I don't ask myself "Can I draw/make/finish etc. this?" that's a sure-fire way to induce anxiety. I ask "How can I make this? What steps do I need to take to make this?" this helps me define the goals for that specific artwork outlined in the previous point. To be honest the best way I calm down is to not even ask anything just jump into it "Just do it!" style but the previous point still stands I gotta know what and how I wanna make.
I DON'T RUSH IT! I take my time. Fast doesn't always equal good. It does at races but not in meticulous attention heavy things. If I don't have much time to do art I then set a timer for the amount of time I can spend on my art and then forget about it and only focus on my art. The timer will warn me so I won't be late for anything if I concentrate only on what I'm doing.
I give my maximum effort and care to everything I do. If it turns out crap well now giving the thing my maximum effort is to learn how to do it better. I MAKE THIS A GOAL TOO!
If I have trouble with how to even put my maximum effort into something I use 2 main things to help me. Looking at the piece and the willingness to notice mistakes.
- By looking at the thing I'm making I mean I observe what I'm doing on the page. When I'm not paying that much attention my vision gets blurry my rule of thumb here is if I can see the texture of the paper I am paying attention to my piece. As a result I usually make more marks I like than when I don't pay that much attention.
- Without the willingness to notice mistakes my previous statement doesn't do a thing. If I want to make something good (wile knowing what I mean by good) I'll need to learn how to make it good and for that I'll have to notice mistakes first so I can know what to correct. This can be very hard but I try to think of them as things that help me improve faster when I deal with them head on. If I'm having trouble with this I try to look at my drawing like my best friend asked me for a honest critique of their art.
Everyone has their opinion, whether good or bad it's just THEIR OPINION. So whenever someone praises or berates my art I don't make it mean more than it does. It's what they think of my work not what my work is. And definitely NOT what I am.
The only one who can decide if my art is good is me because I'm the only one who knows what I wanted to make and how successful I was at it. However I try not to use this as an excuse for avoiding mistakes. This goes back to the willingness to notice mistakes.
I am allowed to like my own work. How would i tell if I'm doing a good job or not otherwise?
I ask myself "Do I like this?" yes or no. If yes great! If no, then I figure out why and ask myself "What would make it look better?" or "What would I like more?" then try that. Then ask myself again if I like it or not and repeat the process.
There's no such thing as not making mistakes. It's kinda like if I eat something it's likely to produce a stinky pile of poop eventually like it or not. It's like that with mistakes too if I make something there's bound to be things I don't like about it.
If I make something I consider a mistake I recognise the fact that I made that mistake. It didn't just appear out from a mysterious dimension conjured by some monster I can't fight who wants to ruin my work. I MADE that mistake not intentionally but I made it regardless. And if I can make it I can also reshape it until I deem it correct. I am the creator of mistakes and the stuff I call correct alike. I am their master so I decide what to do with them.
I am NOT my art. If I mess up it means that thing I did didn't turn out as I intended. It DOESN'T mean that I'm bad or fatally flawed or a failure. What do I do when I mess up then? I reevaluate what I wanted it to look like how much is it off from that and what I'll have to do to bring it closer to the desired outcome.
Here's a quote from a ted talk I'm gonna expand upon:
The artist is free not enslaved by their art (and my expansion) , or other's expectations, or what others tell them.
Except of course if I want to learn someone's technique or I'm doing someone's exercises designed to help me then I should probably listen to them when I'm doing the exercises and stuff.
Learning doesn't inhibit my creative abilities. Following what I've learnt as dogmatic set of rules (do it this way or don't do it at all) inhibits my creativity. Learning a new technique is great it gives me more tools but I don't limit myself to using just that because someone told me their technique is the only way to do it right. It may be the only way for them (or they may use it as a marketing tool) but I can do as I'd like when I'm not learning from them.
I learn from a lot of different places, I try to understand the reason behind different techniques. I collect the things I deem useful for me specifically (this can be parts of a technique too) but then do my own thing. I don't have to get stuck with one way to draw something.
Every technique is a way to understand and depict the world around us. And everyone has a little different view of the world I am allowed to develop my own techniques from scratch or from parts of other techniques if I deem it necessary.
I try to understand what I draw before I start drawing them. I often find that if I decide to draw something but I take the time to understand it first I get better results. I try to think about what I want to put down on the paper, where it's gonna go and how I'll put it down BEFORE I even touch the paper. I try to visualise. This helps me lessen the amount of scratchy lines I might make.
I break it up. I can break anything up into their simplest most manageable pieces and then I put one foot after the other.
I observe/make a plan of what I want to draw >>> I break it up into steps >>> I take a step and don't forget to ghost lines >>> I observe while performing the step to the best of my abilities >>> I'm proud of finishing the step >>> I repeat
I'm grateful for what I CAN do and what I CAN make. It's important to know what I can improve on but it's also vital to take the good things into consideration. If I only focus on what I can't do all the time I'll end up feeling like I can't do anything right. So I'm grateful for something in every piece I make if nothing else I'm grateful for finishing it. Or even just starting it. It can go a long way.
I take pride in and work on my competence. If I get something right I'm proud of it. Being proud of something doesn't mean boasting or thinking I'm better than anyone it means I recognise my accomplishment compared to my previous work and the effort I've put in. If I feel like I lack in some regard for example I'm not very good at perspective I learn it. That's the only way to get better and when I improve I'm proud of my improvement.
I'm not afraid to express myself in my art. It's my art I do whatever the heck I want to do with it.
I put great care into my craft and I value the care I put into my craft. I'm proud of the attention I give to what I do.
I strive to make excellent and quality work. I do my best but I know what kind of excellence and quality I want to make eventually. If I can't make it yet I make sure you do everything to be able to but I don't stress out over it. It is a big goal to strive for but I don't have to make it all at once it's a process. It's important to put in the time and effort.
I'm proud of all I accomplish big or small even if it's just starting a piece when I couldn't do it before. Again this doesn't mean boasting about it (if I want to tell someone I make sure to only tell people who I know will be happy for my success no matter how small that success is) or thinking I am better than anyone. Valuing my own effort care and accomplishments doesn't make me bad or wrong or evil. It just means that I recognise the amount of work I've put in and the progress I've made.
I think I'm starting to grasp some small shard of what it means to learn from every drawing. Essentially I get to know properties of the stuff I draw and I figure out how to draw it. Shapes forms color, how light behaves on it texture etc. the learning never ends because there are a lot of things to draw from life or imagination and I always find a new property of a thing I've drawn before or I gain deeper insight.
I'll probably expand on this whenever I remember something useful. And if you're reading this don't forget this is just my opinion nothing more nothing less.
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Thoughts of an insecure artist
2 min read
Soo I decided to write out my thoughts about some stuff I've been going through. Some of you (if anyone reads this) may have noticed that I don't post a lot. That's mostly because I'm terrified of ruining a drawing (even if nobody has to see it and I don't have to post it). If I post I try to post the best that I managed to squeeze out of myself but that's usually not as good as it could be if I put a little less effort into worrying and a little more into the drawing. I'm also terrified of people thinking I'm not good enough to be an artist (even if that's bullcrap I can draw whatever I want to draw regardless of what others have to say about it but this doesn't work because I do care).
What I realised from these thoughts is that I'm way too result oriented. So much so in fact that I forget to pay attention to the drawing process. (which is obviously detrimental to the result) But I've got a game plan. I try to think of every drawing as an experiment and sometimes experiment is a way too big category so I break it up into little pieces. For example I want to draw a candle.
I define the broadest category of the experiment I want to work with. How can I draw a candle/can I draw a candle? (I try to make the question short and simple) Then my mind picks it apart into the simplest tasks possible and boom I have an easy solution to drawing that poses a fun but winnable challenge. Essentially the steps I take to draw something fused with the idea that it's an experiment (therefore I don't have to worry about the end product). Now time for testing.
What I realised from these thoughts is that I'm way too result oriented. So much so in fact that I forget to pay attention to the drawing process. (which is obviously detrimental to the result) But I've got a game plan. I try to think of every drawing as an experiment and sometimes experiment is a way too big category so I break it up into little pieces. For example I want to draw a candle.
I define the broadest category of the experiment I want to work with. How can I draw a candle/can I draw a candle? (I try to make the question short and simple) Then my mind picks it apart into the simplest tasks possible and boom I have an easy solution to drawing that poses a fun but winnable challenge. Essentially the steps I take to draw something fused with the idea that it's an experiment (therefore I don't have to worry about the end product). Now time for testing.
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Devious Journal Entry
3 min read
So I've been going over my old drawings and I noticed that they're kinda flat. So I decided to use construction in my drawings. I don't know how that didn't occur to me before. And another thing I decided to try a method I found in this video. I never thought this would help so much. I also thought about what makes a pen and a pencil different. Essentially you can make lighter strokes with a pen too so basically you can sketch using a pen too. I also noticed while using a fountain pen (I'm not very good at making fountain pens work properly) that if try to make quick strokes very small (if any) amounts of ink gets onto the paper so essentially I can sketch with that too. So the big difference here is the fact that you can erase pencil and this is why I was afraid to draw with any kind of pen when I focused on getting things right. But when I did it for fun I could draw acceptable quality pieces (in my opinion anyway). So I asked myself 'If I can draw with a pen in a way that the drawing covers up it's sketch and I can usually cover up the most glaring mistakes when and if I find them why am I obsessively erasing my pencil drawings?' I can just think of my pencil like I'm working with something permanent like ink. So I decided to hide my erasers (for now) so I can get more confidence. I tried this method once so far and I found that while it's stressful if I desperately want the drawing to be good but once I accept the fact that I'm going to make mistakes and I'll have to correct them it becomes much easier and lighter. And it actually turns out good!! (well compared to the stuff I make when I'm stressful but that's on my skill level or lack thereof) I becomes kind of a fun game where mistakes come up and I have to correct them but I'm not sure if it's going to work or not. Surprisingly it mostly works and if it doesn't I can either transform the part I messed up into something else or I can start it again. Maybe it's the permanent nature of not using an eraser (or working with permanent material) that gives me the courage to mess up. It's like a leap of faith.
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