Inktober: Week 2

Continuing on, feeling a little better about posting art that I’m not very happy with. Motivated by glimpses of improvement. Frustrated that I still have so far to go before getting to where I want to be. C’est la vie…

“Screech” Was happy at how quickly and easily I was able to reconstruct the shapes. Linework looked good before I messed everything up trying to add depth

Depth studies – Using simple details to create a foreground, middle ground, and background

“Run” Practicing depth by creating a hostile crowd at the boiling point. Poses are readable but weak. Clear that a better understanding of the human figure is something to address in future studies. It was too ambitious but knew I could hone the scope later a few ways. 

One of those decisions to keep “Run” manageable was to color everyone in a flat wash to separate figures. However, friends who spoke to me about this drawing ALL perceived this as a statement on race, seeing a black man in front of an angry white crowd. I wanted to keep the situation vague but I never intended that specifically.

Those who know me well know I’m not scared to make such a statement. In essence, I failed at representing the theme since this is all about deliberate practice. Yet it’s fascinating how a seemingly unrelated design decision to manage scope defined the apparent theme of the piece. Good reminder that images are powerful and every choice needs to be weighed thoroughly.

“Teeming” Wanted to do something a little more fun to boost morale. Practiced earlier lessons and tried to point maggots as arrows to lead the eye. Realized later that this piece would never look as gross as I wanted without adding slimy highlights. 

Hand studies – Figure if I get better at hands first, it’ll give me an edge in other anatomy practice. This drove me nuts but I’m determined to suck less at drawing them. 

Decided that I’ll draw the line (heh) concerning anatomy studies at the face. Faces are really damn hard and it seems too far away from my specialty to be worthy in a translated-knowledge-to-effort ratio. Have to stay mindful of what I’m really trying to do here. In the future, of course, but I won’t be working faces this Inktober.