This month I started a new selection of self-taught classes and things are well. I was enjoying the Studio Ghibli character design studies and also doing sculpting, which was not on the scheduled list of classes from my last blog post. The character studies are done in a new thing I started, which is a fan art sketchbook of the characters from stories that I think are the best. I have been poor at keeping consistent sketchbooks, so I feel that this way I will be only drawing things I really appreciate, and therefore won't get upset at bad drawings and won't give up and rip out my pages to get a blank sketchbook again. There are no bad drawings in a blank sketchbook.
Another interesting thing I started is a scrap book, which I paste personal writings, drawings and art and photographs by other artists into loose papers in a binder. The point of this is something borrowed from J.A.W. Cooper. It's a sketchbook, journal and scrapbook where I let myself freely go scatter-brain with images and words, but also analyze and observe connections that show up on the pages between my art, other picture I paste in, and writings. It's fun and proves to be useful for exploring my own insights and feelings, like a kind of therapy.
I have stopped drawing for the moment and for a week or two at least, as I describe in the last few paragraphs in this post. Please enjoy the insights and ramblings of my artistic path, listed by date.
7.3.17
Today I had a difficult time getting motivated to do art. Or rather I
was DE-motivated, unenthusiastic and felt the imposing forces of all
the knowledge I feel I need to learn still and the skills that are
not developed felt like long roads to walk, and I was impatient. So I
messed around for a while, doing nothing much and feeling frustrated,
but then I went to my brother and said, “I don't know what to do! I
can't decide. I'm feeling stumped,” and so on. I just needed about
thirty seconds or less and then I realized it was alright, not being
able to go any further with my freak out, I started to feel better
inside, and soon enough I was sitting drawing a landscape.
I really want to make the most of my art. And I don't know. It's
cryptic to me to draw and paint intuitively yet academically. I want
to inject more of the question, “what do I want to see? Do I like
what I see? I'll change it to be how I like it,” into my practice.
I know I have a keen visual preference for many things. I just need
to translate that into my drawings, rather than simply having it when
I observe things while not drawing.
I have to take on a big job and illustrate a good chunk of my story.
It's a good amount of pictures/pages, and it's intimidating, yet it's
what I'm going to do eventually, and I have to tackle it now to see
it through to that moment when I will be doing it. It's all now, but
how am I here? I'm thinking about making a gallery show of some kind.
I need to do my own super personal, no-thought kind of work too. I
just doodled a page and it was very interesting, opening, free and
fun. It has no direction. Even my story has a sort of direction.
Sometimes it's best not to when drawing to see how you might
intuitively work out ideas and feelings into something magical and
unexpected, without a plan.
7.8.17
I went hiking and felt that where I need to spend most of my time is
in front of my computer/art desk doing art work. It is good to take
short trips and do different things like hiking, which I don't
normally do, but it just increased my desire and passion for my art
practice. It was also interesting noticing that due to the conditions
of mosquitoes being everywhere, we left early and our hike wasn't
that relaxing or that exciting. It was more exciting getting ready
for the hike, when I had to look up and find all the equipment I
would need, buy it, and schedule and organize how we were going to do
this hike. The steps to the goal are the exciting part. It is the
same for art and it is easy to forget that the joy is in the process
or journey to get to the next plateau, rather than the goals we might
reach that we aim for.
When your arm hurts while drawing, but you don't want to break, it
can be just as good to switch things up. I find that any tension from
drawing in tight ways with graphite, ink or digital can be reduced by
switching to charcoal, or sculpting. Or just watch demos etc when you
need to. There are ways to continue.
7.9.17
I decided not to do Vincente Romero studies for the next three
months. I like his work, but I am better off studying figurative
works by the Watts Atelier teachers, because they are drawing in the
same medium and they have more detailed anatomy in their drawings.
Therefore, I can learn to see this anatomy and also learn to render
like them. I thought Vincente would lend me to being able to shade
and tone with charcoal better, because of his smooth, graded pastel
work, but I think that might be a hindrance right now. The subtlety
will come over time, through other works too, like landscapes. I
don't see a lot of information regarding the anatomy in Vincente's
pieces. That is not to say he doesn't know it and might like to leave
it out, which makes sense for smooth female skin, but it is not as
helpful when I would like to see what I'm drawing, and copy less.
7.27.17
There's not as many notes here as previous months, but I'll try to
remember some insights that I didn't jot down when they came. A most
recent and evident one is that my hand has been overworked. As a
combination of drawing, typing, mouse-using, sculpting and every
other thing I do in daily life, my right hand has been tweaking and
needs a good break. Before going away for 10 days to the meditation
center a while back, I noticed this to a lesser degree, and felt it
was a good time to stop for a while. This may be a sign that doing 40
hours a week is too excessive for the body.
Something that I can include now, to continue getting 40 hours a
week, but have it be less of a strain on my hands is visualization.
I heard about this statistic of how two groups of people trained in
basketball, but one group rarely practised with a ball, but instead
would visualize it. They did even better than those who worked with
the ball in the end of this experiment. I will spend art sessions
visualizing practice instead of tangibly using a tool. I know that
this manifestation/visualizing works from previous experiences of
bringing things into fruition in life, but I haven't considered it so
directly with imagining myself drawing a skull, or what have you.
It'll work well too since I can visualize things that I've already
practised from the Watts Atelier program and therefore practice my
memorization skills of these things in a very direct way – straight
in the mind.
I have invested in a better keyboard and mouse/mouse pad so that I am
more ergonomically sound. I also realize that since streaming I
started to draw more with less breaks, and need to take those breaks
and stretch my hands for longevity. The point I made in a previous
journal also applies here, where switching mediums up is essential
for longevity too.
I won't be doing drawing for a week or so though, at least, to heal
my hands. I can only draw for 15-20 minutes right now before they are
feeling damaged. Not good. So it's time for break, recalibration and
visualization.
I think I got a lot out of the visualization I've tried already. Also
from breaking. When not being able to draw, I was stumped on what to
do with my energy/time. It's also difficult when most things are
hand-used, not just drawing related. So it's time for some reading,
light-typing/writing, meditating and reviewing old drawings etc.
This month's practice has been halted to a degree, but I'm still
feeling good about it all and know it's important to rest now to come
back stronger later.
Links
to social media are all at the top of the page, under the header
photo.
Thanks for reading,
Anthony
Anthony
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