Art in Progress

Two small rough sketches in pen, no going back. Fairly fast, simple enough. Pretty happy with the results.

Then, scaling up on good paper. Pen or pencil? Pencil then brush stroke? Or pencil then fine tip Sharpie? Or pencil then brushed ink or calligraphy pen ink? Or...?

Since I'd use a different pen for the final, if I go that route, than the ones I had for my sketches, I figured I'd need to do some tests first. So I opted to proceed in pencil and sort those details later.

I set my drawing pad on my bed and pulled up my chair (not enough space for it on my desk) and put my first sketch next to it. Mechanical pencil in hand, I drew my first shape.

Nope. Half of that went wonky. Erased half, tried again. Drew next two shapes. Not real happy with either and all three aren't quite spaced correctly. Looking at it, I realize I should probably move the works further up the composition.

Erase, try again. Draw a few sections, erase pieces, clean those up but never really like anything but a perfect fluid line.

You realize this is supposed to look hand-drawn, right?

I draw again, and erase again. I'm back to a blank page except for the square border I measured and drew out a week or two ago.

What is wrong with the flow of my arm?

Fortunately I realized the more relevant question: why is what was simple before not working now?

Two things, well, three really:

a) I was trying to make a significantly larger drawing. The first two sketches could be made with a simple sweep of the wrist. The scaled up version requires more of my arm.

b) Instead of drawing on my desk, I was leaning over my bed which is kind of awkward because I can't put my legs under it. I considered going down to the dining room but there were more distractions there than I cared to deal with. I slid my chair back and stretched my legs out onto my bed resting the pad in my lap. Not great but better.

c) The first two drawings were sketches never intended to be final pieces. No fancy paper, no meaningful stakes beyond plunging ahead in pen. I could always draw it over on another piece of paper. Which I can also do here if things go awry with pen, brush, or ink.

I began again.

And completed a first draft in pencil. The next stages can wait for now.


10 years ago on TTaT: Hallelujah! (Ah, the old days before I had access to a DVR and on-demand programming), The day I snap...