I have a problem: when I draw, I take too long. Each line must be perfect, each measurement accurate, each shaded curve smooth. When I can’t match the composition on my paper to what is in my head or in the studio arrangement, it’s frustrating.
I’m learning though that it is not always essential for an illustration to be entirely accurate, and that actually, the drawings with the most charm and personality tend to be the ones with thrown proportions or shaky lines or generalized forms. Drawings that are created to look exactly realistic are amazing, but can sometimes read as cold or clinical, and don’t hold my attention for very long.
To that end, I took the time to doodle something tonight that would be neither accurate nor realistic. I did not edit out any erasures or stray marks. I scribbled it and posted it here, and it feels good to relinquish control and just make.
3 Comments
Really lovely, Melanie. The quirks are nice.
i love this!
it’s always interesting to hear about people’s methods of creating. i’m a bit of a slow worker too, not necessarily because of realism or accuracy, but just because i always want things to be “just so”.
Thanks Tiffany and Denise! I understand too the need to have everything be “just so.” The interesting part of this problem is that sometimes you spend so long perfecting one aspect of the project that something else is underdeveloped. It’s all a balancing act!