I feel like this is my worst one yet. It's a weird feeling to think I'm getting WORSE.
Entry for 10/12/2017, ukulele. About 35 minutes.
Post-mortem, trying to consider without overthinking:
- Unlike most things I've drawn that can sit on my desk, this was sitting on the floor to my right. It was really challenging for me to draw something that was slanted while also looking down and to the right compared to my drawing surface. I realized after I had sketched the whole thing that my sketched version wasn't exactly the same orientation as the real one, but I just tried to make things internally consistent and ink from there. I ran over my 30 minutes goal by a bit (I'm not aiming for speed for artistic reasons, but for scheduling reasons).
- I did mess with pen settings part of the way through, but for whatever reason I feel like my lines were much more jagged and wavery than usual. Maybe I should have done a warmup first. Doing long straight parallel lines was also very tough.
Its not you getting worse, its jist some drawing days are better than others! I tried to draw some stuff all weekend, and I hated every single piece I did. I finally drew my Rey and BB8 picture the other day, and I was back in my groove. Sometimes you just have those days where nothing seems to translate right from your brain to the paper.
The important thing is that you keep at it, but also never stop observing and studying the world around you, or artists you admire. It may not seem like youre being productive when you spend a few days just absorbing information, but rest assured that your mind is cataloging all of that data for later use. Even if I dont have my drawing tools or computer handy, Im always mentally drawing the things I looking at. For example, if Im looking at a tree, or a wall, or the ground, Im thinking in my head what techniques Id try to apply to render it.
People watching is my other favorite thing to do. Different facial shapes and body types, that sort of thing.
I definitely recommend breaking down your piece into shapes and forms, then sculpting them into the thing youre trying to create.
Also, always draw when youre comfortable. Sometimes Ill draw in my bed, with my surface pro propped up on my knees, because its comfy, or Ill sit at my desk and draw that way. Getting into the right mental and physical place to draw is paramount.