Keep going

Keep trying to push yourself to the full extent you can do and then take it further. Not quite to the point where frustration takes control of everything but right before, right when you have to be creative to solve the problems at hand. An idea is the start of something not the completed work. The times when I feel the most frustrated is when I thinking about the final polish more than dealing with the problems at hand.

The more I draw the more I realize that texture is a very important thing but what makes up a texture? Is texture even the right word to use? hmmm... I want to know patterns and how materials react in the light. To me this feels like it's something important to start learning. Also I think now would be a good time to revisit some anatomy dvds to see if anything was over looked or if anything else can be absorbed.

Texture

So I have been having issues with understanding what it means to bring a piece of work into polish and final. What if, instead of obsessing about the meaning you just move onto the next phase of learning how to draw? Okay, how about just giving the characters something to do? Like an action pose? Ya, that would be cool... hmmm this still looks kind of bland, I mean they are still naked. I know lets' try giving stuff some texture. You know, try to make things look like they feel and react differently.



This seems to add polish or at least take the drawing to the next level.

Varied style

Using the circles allows me to give more thought to what the character looks like. It is kind of freeing to have the height and a break down of the section already done but is best used as a loose guideline rather than a law.

The circles

For some reason, before starting a character, if I map out their height in circles (or heads) next to where it is going to be drawn I can finish the piece faster and just looks better. So far it is working really well on cartoony characters but soon I will try it on more realistic characters.

Dimension

Does it have to exactly match (the criteria of drawing, painting, animation, etc.) for you to be able to learn something from it?

The fear

I call it the fear of finishing, if I finish the drawing and it isn't good then I can't say it's not finished. Fearing a blank page and not feeling like you know where do go, I could only hope or wonder, that it is something that everyone feels. I don't know if anyone else gets this feeling but as I am up walking around the house imagery and ideas fill my mind to the point where i rush back to my sketch book only to sit down and not know where to start or how to even get past this block to get to the beginning. Maybe there is just a step missing, maybe the concept isn't developed well enough in my mind to be able to bring it out on the paper. Hmmm, i should try that and see if it makes a difference.

Learning

Notes are just scribbles if you don't actually believe or understand what your writing. A couple months ago I turned in a couple sketches for some feed back and I didn't just get notes back on how to fix or improve my drawings but I also got a couple notes on, well, my notes. The reply being "Upon reading your notes I don't feel that you actually believe them, they are just there." This struck me pretty hard, I realized I was going through the motions and doing what I thought would be acceptable but there was no fun being had nor pushing the drawing for all that it's worth. No time was really being put in to understanding what they meant or really for how they could be incorporated into the process. Just a feeling of understand, only to realize there was and is a much bigger world out there to explore.

You know as boring as reading a book can be the benefits that later come from its kindling is well worth the time you put into it.