I usually prefer the look of art that I created by doing life-drawing from scenes in my mind’s eye, rather than those drawings where I painstakingly construct the characters out of lines, simple shapes, etc., building them up. To me, my mental life-drawing stuff just looks more organic and comfortable to my eyes. That having been said, I have switched back and forth between these two approaches many times over the years. Issue 6, and the current issue 12, is examples of life drawing from my mind’s eye.
When my visualization abilities are at full charge, I tend to go right to the art board and draw the pictures there directly, skipping thumbnails altogether. At all other times, I draw the picture on a separate piece of paper, make changes in the computer, and trace it onto the art board. I wish my visualization abilities were always at full charge, but stress or illness or fatigue can sideline them.
When I mention life drawing from reference pictures in my mind’s eye, I mean that I am using the same skills that I would use to draw a live models, props, or settings. Visualization and concentration are among the artist’s most powerful tools.
I have changed paper, inking supplies, pencils, and other tools often over the years. Sometimes I’ll hand draw backgrounds, sometimes I’ll use Sketchup to build the background. At one point, I cut and formatted all my own art boards, but now I use Blueline Pro paper exclusively. When it comes to inking, the mix of brush, crow quill, fountain pen, and technical markers in my art has changed regularly. These changes are based on my mood, but no one has ever noticed or pointed out the change, because my art looks like my art no matter how I did it. (It’s the artist, not the tools!) For years I drew with 4H pencils in lead holders, and now I’m partial to 3B in lead holders and draftsman’s mechanical pencils. I should be more consistent, but it’s the mood I’m in, and the availability of tools, and the tooth of the paper that makes up my mind more often than not.
I used to collect toys for reference. I have a drawer full of realistic looking squirt guns, for example, that have shown up as real guns in the comic again and again. If I am having trouble drawing a character from a sharp angle, I will often use my Art S. Buck plastic models posed correctly, or perhaps my old GI Joes. The older, large GI Joes are fantastic models, because they are well jointed and capable of almost any pose. I also have tons of vinyl animals, and lots of vinyl dinosaurs, but the latter rarely get used as art models, primarily because no dinosaurs have shown up in the comic. I love drawing and painting dinosaurs, so maybe it’s time for a Jurassic invasion of Spire City.
When drawing or inking, I am often in “the Zone” for hours on end, a higher state of consciousness when the pencil seems to guide itself, everything I do is gold, and I feel and overwhelming sense of joy. This is really a wonderful state, and the brain releases endorphins like crazy when I’m there. Like my visualization abilities, illness, emotional turmoil, and fatigue all have the ability to keep me out of the zone. I wish I could bottle this state, and take a swig whenever I needed it, but I cannot.
Despite have drawn tons of stuff over the last fifteen years, I feel confident in stating that life drawing at the Indianapolis Art Center’s open studios has increased my ability, and my visualization powers, by ten-fold.
When I revisit this subject, I will go into some detail on how to develop and make use of visualization in art.
Scott.
Scott and Benita Story (creators and publishers of Johnny Saturn) have been honored by being invited to participate in Graphic Engagement, an academic conference sponsored by the Department of Comparative Literature to be held at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. Scott and Benita will be part of session 9C, an open creators’ rountable with Onsmith (widely published cartoonist and illustrator) and Troy Hickman (Common Grounds, Witchblade, City of Heroes) on Friday, September 3, 2010, at 3:00 PM.
