(Untitled)

[hughferriss]

i don't know if any of you other artists go through this, but whenever i resume drawing after a long delay, i worry that i may have forgotten how to draw. when i put pencil to paper, there's always a fear that the well will have run dry and the bucket will come up empty

Comments

why don't you just look at some pictures of sexy women

[tormentedartist]

Dude I think that was a dumb comment. Everyone has their own idea of sexy. Personally I think most of the girls that are "sexy" aren't IMO. I mean most sexy women are photoshopped to death. But on the other hand you are being paid to draw so if they want you to draw Maxim girls what can you do ? Just pretend that you are michael turner I guess.

When I have a drawing layoff I don't really worry that much about being rusty, because I know the rust will come off it is just a matter of shit taking forever to do. But when it comes to inking ...that is scary. But then again that is what whiteout is for.

I don't feel like I can dominate every style or medium either. I just try to express my own needs. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. But I know that I've gotten better with time. I just wish I'd improve faster, when I see some of these young bucks out there I feel like giving up.

Re: why don't you just look at some pictures of sexy women

[vetch]

Yeah, I'd have to go with that "draw more sexy" is dumb sentiment. Most boys I know aren't all that fond of gravity defying boobs and man hips on a lady.

I wouldn't describe myself as an artist by any means, but I do experience a certain amount more anxiety over my crudulence than usual after a hiatus.

It also takes me a while to get comfortable (as comfortable with crud as one can be) with my style again- possibly as a result of the worry - and often I find it's changed a little. My sister & grandmother who *are* actually artists and sell paintings n'shit have reported a similar thing.

William stout was invented by Edison, along with everything else.

Hey, me too!

[saaramyrene]

Absolutely precisely, that's what I was thinking about me. But substitute "trochaic hexameter" for "sexy women." Seriously.

[danmazur]

Good post. I guess it's true that all creative endeavors contain a certain amount of torment. I always long for more "control" over what I'm doing. On the other hand, there's a kind of delight in that "found object" feeling, that something unexpected and even alien has come through your hands. I guess the best you can hope for is a fruitful dialogue between what you intend your work to be and what actually happens when you put pen to paper (literally or metaphorically). Probably "control" is just learning to anticipate, in general terms, that "dialogue." Of course I say this as one who could never in a million years be hired to do art for video games, so the idea of not being able to produce women they thought were sexy enough hardly bothers me. Can I draw women I think are sexy enough? That's another question... All artists have limitations. The question is, how much of your energy to put into attacking your weaknesses, and how much into developing your strengths? Anyway, from what I've seen of your work, I'd kill to have

[blchandler]

The most William Stout can do anything story I know of is the one where he had to re-paint some image of Elliot Gould or someone one a movie poster because the original artist didn't nail it. Stout, of course, was spot on. But then, he's William Stout. At least we update our blogs more often than he does

i'm gonna start all my replies to your entries with "don't be stupid."

[jut]

don't be stupid:

1. i think very few people can invent characters completely in their head. It's like that philosophical argument, you are just marrying details that already exist, never inventing. I used to do the editorial cartoons for the college newspaper and someone eventually confronted me about all the boys I drew looking like they were in Blur.

2. draw your own sexy! Despite my job, i'm very opposed to the idea of mass-ideal beauty. the more genuine you are, the better you'll be. I'm trying to fight the 'standards' of beauty in my own little ways and most of it is edited too. I was recently asked to take out someone's nose bump. Having one myself, i was pretty pissed that i couldn't enhance it!

3. dominate in ANY style? what's the point? sorry, that's such a dude thing to want to do-- like play guitar really fast but not having anything sound good... or be a SONG. or like lifting a lot of weight, for NO REASON AT ALL. I even hate the word "style."