Last year when I first started blogging, I had come across the Diary Project. I had thought to myself if only I could draw, I'd love to join in the fun!
Just like all things, I forgot all about it til I read this post from Linda of Tortagialla. I wasn't going to be forgetful this time, hence I jumped right in and signed up to reserve a date page (12/11/2011).
Here is my page. (Apologize for my very poor photo skill ...)
"The Holeys" copyright 2010 Hybrid J / Jamie Lee. All rights reserved.
I have drawn up this little guy many months ago. Every so often, I'd wonder what I'm going to do with him and thanks to the Diary Project, I can show him off now. And not only that, this small artwork has inspired me to develop an art project with "The Holeys" (that's what he is!) So watch out as there'll be some exciting announcement about these little fellows.
There are still some date pages form the project looking for artworks and the deadline for submission is 01/07, so my dear fellow creatives, hurry up to join in and show off your wonderful work!
Still on the mend ... but managed to start drawing (or more like picking up some desperately needed drawing lessons and exercises from a work book).
Here are 2 of them. It is a combination of observational drawing and imaginative drawing. (NOTE: They are more like practice drawing than proper drawing.)
When I first read about perspective drawing lesson, all the "sighting" and "measuring proportion" seems very complicated and hard to understand. But after a few hours of drawing a simplified version of a small corner of my kitchen, I was amazed of how real (perspective wise) it looked on paper.
Perspective drawing is still a newly acquired skill which I need tonnes of practices. But I found the process of using lines to create 3D objects / landscape on paper immensely interesting. It is almost "magical"!
You might also notice from my 2 drawings that my inclination to all things weird & strange keep cropping up everywhere. When I finished the little box drawing and the office corner drawing, I had this dialogue in my head.
Me: O.K. that's good! You did well in your practice, but ... something's missing?
me: What's missing?
Me: "Stuff" ... "Your Stuff" ...
me: What do you mean by "My Stuff"?
Me: I mean ... yes, this is your drawing but it is NOT your drawing!
I looked at the drawings again and the little spotted creature started to take form and crept into frame.
Me: Ah, there you go, you dumbo! Now that's more like it!
I think I was so caught up in learning the drawing skills (based on observation, hence realistic drawing) that I actually took the term "observation" to the letter. I drew what I saw and forgot to continue to let my imagination fuel my creativity.
Through the little spotted creature, I reclaimed MY drawings!
(BTW, I'm still wondering what kind of creature it is ... any idea?)
My neck pain is getting a lot better but after a few weeks away from drawing, I'm having trouble of getting back to the horse. I'm not quite sure what's happening but here are a list of the usual suspects.
- Disruption of normal weekly drawing schedule
I was just starting to get into a drawing routine then came all these "mishaps." So the habit was not well developed. I think it will require some mental strength to pull this off.
- Perfectionism
I have been working on some drawing exercises from a workbook before the neck pain and all the "mishaps". I got thorough the first two with no problems. (I mean I was able to "reproduce" exactly as the exercises required.) Come the 3rd one, I could only work out 1/3 of it and the rest is rubbish.
Since then, whenever I open the workbook, I have this voice in my head saying: see, you can't draw! No matter how hard you try, you'll never get it.
I knew it was the perfectionist inside of me trying to dissuade my effort. But what surprised me was I believe in her! Why do I expect myself to get the drawing exercises and the actual painting all right in one go? This is ridiculous!
As much as I hate to admit it, the ongoing war between me and the perfectionist seems never ends. :(
- "Mishaps" update
Yeap, the mishaps continue. The latest one is about my oven. I'm still waiting for a spare part to fix the oven door.
Really, really hope this is the last one ...
So in the mist of all of these, what do I do? I'm sure a lot of you are familiar with this quote: When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping!
I bought myself a set of paint brush and a pencil case. I'm not a big fan of synthetic paint brushes. But how could you walk away from these beauties? The last time I owned a pencil case I was about 16 years old. But since I started to draw, instead of scouting the usual handbag, I spent a lot of time browsing cute stationery stores.
With all of these happenings, it's really messing me up. So I think I'm going to stay in my "cruise mode" a little bit longer. Also I'm contemplating to do some basic drawing classes. There is only so much I could learn by myself through books and practices. It will be good to have a real person I could seek immediate advice.
