The only good drawing right here is the bear.
No, no, no. Sit down. It's time.
Christ, an alpaca. They have got long necks.
It's time to talk about skill. Artistic skill, I mean. And I mean my skill specifically.
"BUT CALLIE! (or whatever superfluous screen name you might know me by)" you wail with horror! "Perhaps there has been some mistake. You are being stupid again. You are a very skilled girl and you know it."
No! You are wrong. Let me tell you why. Reader, I have become lazy. I've become the worst thing. I've become a gesture drawinger.
This is a rather pretty elephant and it's got a PHOTOSHOP TEXTURE for added interest, but it's completely a piece of poo poo.
"Callie I don't even know what this means" you say. Well shut up! Of course you don't.
But this is what it means: It means I don't use the MOST ESSENTIAL ARTIST SKILL WHICH IS CALLED "COMPOSITION". It's called "using shapes and guidelines to draw accurately", and little callie thought she was for real and tried not to do this for a while. Well it doesn't work!
An approach to drawing without any thoughts to shape and composition is faulty as hell, and I'm sorry to say I didn't realize this before I went to go draw pictures at the zoo. I apologize to all of you I've been stringing along and having you think I'm a f'real artist. I am not.
But don't be sad! It's the beginning of a new strategy. I'm going to post my humility right here for you all to see--studies and the hard lessons I'm learning about drawing.
The images I used for copy practice are from the blog Classic Cartoons (but I also draw from many other places, like John K's blog/etc etc)
Off to a rough start.
Here's another.
I realized at about this part how funny old cartoons are. I found myself giggling at the ...gorilla spider with a sharkdog on a leash. That never happens anymore!
A giant monkey from another still, and then I started on cartoon hands (the tutorial's on John K's blag on this page! but it is for general animation/drawing basics)
This is me, and I am going to improve.
7 comments:
Composition? What is this strange magic?
(I very much enjoyed your reader-addressing. It was spot on to what I was about to say.)
And I know a guy - you have heard of him - who calls himself an artist but can't draw nearly as well as you. So perhaps the name of artist is slandered and meaningless so go ahead and use it? Wait no, maybe you don't like that idea if you want to be one.
But really the main reason people call you an artist is they look at your drawings and know for a fact that they are years away from being capable of doing something similar even if they did actually care and practice.
However, I suppose drawinger is sufficient. It has a nice ring to it. But now you are trying to avoid the ignominious name of gesture drawinger?
Oh, my god. You have commented! You ought to do it more often, because I like your thoroughosity.
I have heard of the guy. but there are so many good artists that he and others do not mar the name!
Drawinger is perfect in my opinion. I cannot explain but drawing everything by gesture is just not a good idea. And I must avoid being named as a drawinger who does as such!
It's funny. Is that why people call me an artist? How funny. I think if anyone took care and practice they could be much better than me.
Can't wait to see some more principled drawings! Your studies look great.
Hey, as long as yer putting a substance on a substrate for the sole purpose of arousing visual pleasure, I'll call you an artist.
Thank you Darbeh! I'm trying to do more studies, but I get really, really discouraged. It's probably a personality failing or something. But I have been given courage once more!
I get discouraged, too
:(
Hey, my brain just gave me an idea!
I'll do more studies, and you do more studies, and we'll trade studies forth and back!
We'll be a perpetual courage machine
I like that idea quite a lot! Can you start us off and also kind of give me an idea of how I ought to go about it? (assuming it's cartoon stills or front pages of comicks).
I love those animal / Fleischer studies. Nice observation, and I love your analysis of construction on the Fleischer cartoons.
(Translation: You done draw dem perty pick-chures powerful good, Missy.)
I did a quick little post on Betty Boop cartoons (more will come gradually). Check it out!
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