Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Refelecting on Interest Drawings

In this last semester, I’ve ventured a bit more into using watercolors in more casual paintings, but what struck me most was how many people I’ve been drawing. This quarter I've experimented with online drawing tools
Vin and Elend as bricks.png


experimented with a (slightly) more realistic style,
Brightness Random (midsize).jpg


tried sharpie and watercolor chibi portraits,
Chibi Madeline.jpg


attempted some larger sidewalk pieces,
Chalk Ballerina.jpg


tried my hand at a watercolor portrait,
Bro. Jensen.jpg


and, last but not least, looked into steampunk.
Steampunk Esmeralda.jpg


...I didn’t realize this pattern I was falling into until this past week. Apparently I really like people. Or, rather, I like drawing people; I’d rather plan out a portrait than go to a party most any day. Nice, happy, dynamic people do make such nice subjects for paintings. No, no landscapes or still lifes, please. Let’s keep to humans.


Of course, there are outliers. In this case, it was a qilin, a chinese unicorn.
unfinished Qilin.jpg


As I’ve said before, the “exploring your interests” has been wonderful. Something as simple as getting to pick what I’m drawing gives me a great feeling. Of course, that feeling disappears for the twenty minutes I spend banging my head into the wall while trying to figure out what I should draw, but during the research and drawing processes, I’m quite satisfied with the system.


I have to say, I feel like I learn a lot about clothes doing these drawings. Not just things  like “pinstripes and bowler hats fit with steampunk” either. When you have to visualize a piece of clothing and get it down on paper, you start raising whole new questions. “Why are there two different styles of skirts for ballerinas?”, “How does a cloak’s hood fall and what on earth does a cloak clasp look like?”, “How does a boot look when you twist your foot at this odd angle?”, “What’s the best way to show a leatherwork?”


Seriously, you never really think about the eccentricities of clothes until you have to draw them.


I have to confess though, my chronic condition of spending way too much time on my weekly drawings has only gotten worse this last quarter. Where last quarter I could expect about an hour of work per drawing, this quarter I’ve found myself spending about half an hour just on the research portion of the assignment, and a minimum of an hour and a half on the drawings. I think it’s because I know I probably won’t come back to finish any old pieces, so I don’t want to be done working until I feel I’ve reached a decent stopping point.


My busy schedule and end of term assignments in other classes love it, I promise. :P

6 comments:

  1. I love your art! People just don't realize how crazy clothes are do they?

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  2. These are cool paintings. I love how you made them so detailed and creative nice job.

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  3. All i got to say is amazing. These works are so detailed no wonder why you choose them. I love the colors you choose to put into your surrealism one it looks really cool. I love how you did the people it looks great. I would say that these look amazing and your interests are going out there and you are able to do what you want which is good.

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  4. I love the variety of skill you show! You have a range of beautiful artwork and talent and it's really beautiful and inspiring! You're such a great artist, I think you'll end up with some breathtaking work as you keep working and I'm so impressed with this already!

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  5. You’ve done a lot of experimenting this term! Impressive! It’s super cool seeing you explore your interests so widely. You’ve tried out so many different mediums. It’s awesome that you’ve realized your love for drawing people as well! I honestly have to admit that your Qilin is my favorite out of all of these since I love chinese mythology. You did a killer job on the style; it’s just generally really aesthetically pleasing.
    But really, you’ve done an incredible job this term getting to know your interests! It’s been awesome watching your evolution! Great work!

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  6. I love the color! Usually interest research is just a lot of black and white pencil and paper kind of stuff. But you used a lot of color!! You added spunk to your interests! I love how these are all diverse and how you explored them! Awesome work!

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