Day One: Starting Over, Learning How to Breathe
So this summer, I wanted to do Art Slam, but I feel as though I can't fully commit to it. I just have this odd feeling that something is going to keep me from being consistent with my work. So I opted for something else: JACKSLAM. Drawing/sketching whenever possible, posting whenever convenient, writing about the experiences I've had past and present with my art... ALL SUMMER LONG BABY. It's one part art, one part retrospective, one part introspective, and one part EXPLOSION. My only rule is I'm not doing anything Pony or Robot related for this. It's gotta be related to the COTG gang. Ponies and Robots, you can stay off my LJ for now.
Summer vacation hasn't started for me, but I'm getting a head start because I've got something "worth" sharing:
Left to right: Gabriella, Tsuki, Dia, Raiko. Revisiting these characters is honestly like learning how to breathe all over again. I've forgotten everything about they way that they work. I'm still a little lost in parts of them. I think Tsuki might actually be Rory and I just didn't see it before. And there's still a lot about Raiko I'm learning every time I draw her. In addition, I'm being crippled by the fact that my everything is rusty in terms of technical ability, and I'm still not strong when it comes to anatomy and such.
Part of the issue I have always had with getting better with my art is that I just do not take criticism well. It's not that I don't want to get better, I just don't like people pointing out flaws, even if they mean well (unless I ask them to of course). I know exactly why this is, too: I'm an introspective person. Generally by the time I'm ready to share my art with people I already know what's wrong with it. I've already had a good long think about it, and assessed what worked and didn't work with what I did. I don't have the technical skill to always figure out how to fix what I did, but I can at least see it. When people point it out without offering any additional input or advice, it's like rubbing salt in it. I already know what's wrong don't point it out aaaah.
I think the thing I've always struggled with the most in terms of characters is making each character distinct. I learned to draw as a means to express thoughts and feelings, not to create things that were meant to stand in for humans. My art reflects that: I've got a "strong" (I use this term loosely) grasp of color use and placement, but not of structure and movement. I know where stuff goes, but not how it goes together. And honestly, there's not much to be done about that. People tell me to draw from life, do figure studies, all that, but that sort of tool is geared for people who have the time and commitment to dedicate to the craft in terms of progression over time. I'm just a hobbiest looking to express thoughts. I'm not saying that people shouldn't do life studies and draw from real life. I'm saying it doesn't work for me at this point in my life. I don't have the ability to commit to learning that way. I honestly wish I did. And really, all the figure studies in the world can't help you if you still don't have the basics down... which I do not.
I'm learning to do this the same way I learned how to read - fast, furious, piece by piece. It's probably not the right way to do it, but it's the way I want to do it. That's the way that I learn.
Anyway, this is my first real attempt to give these characters distinct facial shapes. Gabriella and Raiko are still pretty similar, and Dia is not correctly proportioned, but I'm trying. I have to learn who these characters are all over again as I'm also trying to teach myself to draw all over again, There's a lot I have to undo about myself and about the histories I gave these characters in the past. A lot of emotional and physical baggage has been placed on the old way I approached these faces. I want to be different. I want them to be different.
If anyone has any advice or critique (with advice hopefully) as to "ways to make faces look different from each other," I'd love to hear it.
Hope to be posting more sketches, and hopefully finished pieces in the coming weeks!
Summer vacation hasn't started for me, but I'm getting a head start because I've got something "worth" sharing:
Left to right: Gabriella, Tsuki, Dia, Raiko. Revisiting these characters is honestly like learning how to breathe all over again. I've forgotten everything about they way that they work. I'm still a little lost in parts of them. I think Tsuki might actually be Rory and I just didn't see it before. And there's still a lot about Raiko I'm learning every time I draw her. In addition, I'm being crippled by the fact that my everything is rusty in terms of technical ability, and I'm still not strong when it comes to anatomy and such.
Part of the issue I have always had with getting better with my art is that I just do not take criticism well. It's not that I don't want to get better, I just don't like people pointing out flaws, even if they mean well (unless I ask them to of course). I know exactly why this is, too: I'm an introspective person. Generally by the time I'm ready to share my art with people I already know what's wrong with it. I've already had a good long think about it, and assessed what worked and didn't work with what I did. I don't have the technical skill to always figure out how to fix what I did, but I can at least see it. When people point it out without offering any additional input or advice, it's like rubbing salt in it. I already know what's wrong don't point it out aaaah.
I think the thing I've always struggled with the most in terms of characters is making each character distinct. I learned to draw as a means to express thoughts and feelings, not to create things that were meant to stand in for humans. My art reflects that: I've got a "strong" (I use this term loosely) grasp of color use and placement, but not of structure and movement. I know where stuff goes, but not how it goes together. And honestly, there's not much to be done about that. People tell me to draw from life, do figure studies, all that, but that sort of tool is geared for people who have the time and commitment to dedicate to the craft in terms of progression over time. I'm just a hobbiest looking to express thoughts. I'm not saying that people shouldn't do life studies and draw from real life. I'm saying it doesn't work for me at this point in my life. I don't have the ability to commit to learning that way. I honestly wish I did. And really, all the figure studies in the world can't help you if you still don't have the basics down... which I do not.
I'm learning to do this the same way I learned how to read - fast, furious, piece by piece. It's probably not the right way to do it, but it's the way I want to do it. That's the way that I learn.
Anyway, this is my first real attempt to give these characters distinct facial shapes. Gabriella and Raiko are still pretty similar, and Dia is not correctly proportioned, but I'm trying. I have to learn who these characters are all over again as I'm also trying to teach myself to draw all over again, There's a lot I have to undo about myself and about the histories I gave these characters in the past. A lot of emotional and physical baggage has been placed on the old way I approached these faces. I want to be different. I want them to be different.
If anyone has any advice or critique (with advice hopefully) as to "ways to make faces look different from each other," I'd love to hear it.
Hope to be posting more sketches, and hopefully finished pieces in the coming weeks!