Drawesome Prompt #52

[eye_of_toad]

Lea DeLaria as "Carrie 'Big Boo' Black" from Orange is the New Black, mixed media

I really, really, really need to practice figure drawing more. I'm at that "it's okay, but there's still something wrong that I can't put my finger on" stage. I do think this is a huge improvement over the first sketch last week and I'm fairly pleased with it, knowing my skill level. But ... there's still something stiff and "off" about my figure drawings. And I know the solution is more practice and yet no matter how many times I say I'm going to practice, I let myself get distracted by easier doodles instead.

Comments

[mific]

Love it! Great energy in Carrie's stance, emphasised by the bright background.

Thanks!

[eye_of_toad]

I love these cheap markers. I channel my inner child whenever I use them. (They're scented! The colors used in this background were "orange", "nacho cheese", "buttered popcorn", and "banana".)

Re: Thanks!

[mific]

Art with all the important food groups - even better! :D

[ilyena_sylph]

I think it's gorgeous work!

Thanks!

[eye_of_toad]

❤️

[mekare]

That is a difficult pose, especially with the foreshortened arm! I like the shading you did in this, especially on the shirt. And secondingt the bright background, it suits the mood very well.

❤️

[eye_of_toad]

Thanks!

[amberdreams]

This has energy and the colour makes it pop!
Maybe the specific thing to practice is that gesture drawing thing - like this Jess Karp video suggests. https://youtu.be/-v6q4AdYQSA
It's really a great way to get a feel for movement in poses.

gesture drawing

[eye_of_toad]

I always end up rage-quitting my attempts at gesture drawing. (My current rule when I'm working in my sketchbook is that I'm not allowed to tear out any pages, but, dear lord, it's tempting and I still end up with a lot of pages with "I HATE THIS!" scrawled across it.)

I know just enough to know that I'm doing everything wrong, but I can't figure out how to improve. (Every time the woman in the video said something like "just enjoy the process" and "fun process" I got even more frustrated. Making ugly drawings is not fun.)

This is how I end up with so many dumb kiddie drawings of teddy bears and whatnot in my sketchbook. It's my art therapy after one of my many failed attempts at "real" art.

Re: gesture drawing

[amberdreams]

I'm glad I'm not the only person to get enraged while drawing LOL. I have ruined many sketchbook pages by rage scribbling on one drawing I've hated only to find I was pressing so hard I've got to turn several more pages to reach an undamaged one. 😂

Re: gesture drawing

[eye_of_toad]

I think that's one more reason that I don't like spiral-bound sketchbooks. It's so much more tempting to rip the pages out. Prior to a few years ago, I had never filled up a single sketchbook. I used spiral-bound books and tore out the pages I hated and would end up with a "book" with like five pages left in it and I'd get super mad and just throw it away. (I would save a handful of my "best" drawings in a folder, so I wasn't throwing away ALL of my art, but I still wasn't saving much.)

But that way I'd never see my progress and it just encouraged giving up rather than going "Fuck, that's not right. How do I un-ruin this page?"

It helped a lot to just tell myself that my sketchbooks are art therapy. Some days are fluffy kittens because that's all my inner child can handle and some days it's rage scribbles because I thought I could handle something more challenging but could not.

I sometimes mini-journal as well. So yesterday's rage scribbles include the note "I filed my taxes today and only cried like five times." (TurboTax can bite me. Literally spent an hour on that website, filling out everything TWICE and still had to give up and switch to a different company because TurboTax's "free" file would just lock up on the last screen and only give me the option of paying them money that they promised I wouldn't have to pay. So ... yeah ... probably not a good day to be trying artwork that I know frustrates me.)

Days or weeks later, when I'm in a better mood, I usually go back to the rage-scribble pages and color them in with markers or colored pencil or something. The art tantrum is still documented, but it's less ugly that way when I'm flipping through.

Re: gesture drawing

[amberdreams]

using rage scribbles as colouring pages is a great idea!