legomaestro

1000 Hands

So this is it. I am here at last at this humble hill of self imposed drawing madness, and I'm so damn proud that I could reach this.

I'm always trying to improve in art in general, I always am trying to get better at everything and anything, but I've gotten a bit fatalistic about the whole process. I keep on feeling that there is no true way to learn anything new, that there's really only the stuff you pick up over time and there's no way you can consciously advance a step forward in a direction you want to go. Things just sort of sort themselves out and there's no point in stressing yourself over it, or bothering about it. The best thing you can do is keep your eyes open.

I'd be OK with such a hard truth, but I would be much happier with the opposite: That you can push yourself to do something to explore an idea the way you want, that you can pick up a theme and practice it for your own personal satisfaction and go at it as honestly as you can, without the help of anyone or input of anyone, of your own free will.

I've let a lot of things slide because of this project, and to be honest at the beginning when I was nibbling away at the goal 10 hands at a time I thought I'd never truly reach the end. The fatalism was still there. But between some long stints of extra time and boredom I was surpised at how things piled themselves up over time, at how I had enough scrap paper and time than I thought.
One of the best things about all of this was the unexpected boons I got.

A guy who saw me drawing at an airport invited me to a VIP lounge and I got to eat all I wanted and tasted my first Johnny Walker whisky. I mean just how. It still seems like a dream to think about all of that, but even if I didn't learn anything from this whole thing, I know I got tangible monetary value from something that was truly only of aesthetic and personal value. It means that even I can talk down how nonsensical drawing 1,000 hands was, but there was real monetary value attached to it. A practical relationship between what I was putting on paper and what happened in the world.

And that's not counting the many, many interesting conversations with people who just happened to see what I was up to. It may sound sappy but I value those more somehow. And maybe I did have more important things to be doing with my time, but I know it beats scrolling and surfing endlessly on my phone as I tend to do. That's the thing: It felt like it took a lot of time, but I didn't drastically change my bumming around habits. I have a lot more time than I think, and I'll be glad to start up another regimen.

I remember embarking upon this because of a burn out. I don't know if I'm out of that burn out, but I know the solution to it now. God, I even let Inktober slide.
Anyhow that's enough rambling. Let the scrolling begin.

Seriously. There's lotso scrolling.

I drew 10,000 stick figures.

It took me 45 days, but goodness, I finally hit the milestone, and it's quite appropriate that there is no appropriate in how sudden and unexplosive it was to cross the finish line. Almost poetic.

Suffering yet another drought of art, where I had no will to learn or to draw anything really - Especially when it came to my comic projects - and where I felt no drive to even write, I was once again in that endless spiral of despair of having distinct wishes to be able to draw like so and so - to at least have some sort of finished project, to be a master of a certain fundamental. I have the ebooks, I have the youtube links, I know the grind, but I felt nothing for it, and no drive. After all, after two Loomises, what could I possibly expect from yet another art book? More dissapointment in the fact that I hadn't actually levelled up even after going through yet another gruelling process?

That's when I decided to draw a bunch of stick figures.

Absolute basic mode.

I thought to myself: I've already done 1,000 mannequins, why not bump up that number but with stick figures instead?

I thought to myself: This will be annoying, but it's the perfect balance of tedious and relaxing. I have no pressure to make masterpieces, and if I do it right, hey, maybe I can learn a little something, maybe not.


I have so much to say on this whole thing, but the main take away I've gotten from this is some modicum of pride in myself, to finally go for a goal and do it.

Am I a better artist? Have I levelled up? Was it worth it? I have absolutely no idea. All I know is that minutes and hours I usually spend screwing around or procrastinating on the internet or being bored out of my mind in bus rides has ended: My days were filled. Really filled. Even when watching something, I drew stick figures. While having a coffee in the cafe, I drew stick figures. While waiting for a bus, I drew stick figures.

My life and all its ups and downs went on as it always did. This did not suddenly revolutionize my life or change any way in how problems came at me, but I did something on the side that I can feel happy about. I always feel like I never have enough time, I always feel like my days revolve around the next problem to solve, but this was something that I could constantly keep track of.

I had really bad moments where I just stopped, I had bad days, I had good days, but I finally reached the end, and with that learnt an important mantra: Step by step, step by step.

I didn't feel like i'd lost when I just stopped drawing for one week, I just feltl like I was riding a bike again after leaving it in the garage for a while: Sure, it's a shame that I hadn't been working at it daily, but it's not something that I forgot completely.

Isn't that always the best sort of way to talk to old friends and long forgotten contacts? The ideal best friend is someone you haven't talked to in 20 years and you can just have a coffee with spontaneously. The fanfare, the stress, the pressure of OH WOW I AM DOING THIS THING AFTER A WHILE cheapens the moment, it puts pressure on you, and it makes you focus on the wrong thing.



So finishing this little challenge of mine, I am damn happy and proud, and ecstatic, but I know the shitty days shall come back, the sun and earth shall do their dance, I'll still be a noob artist, and give me 200 years a life span and I'll never be as good as Da Vinci - Objectively, not self-deprecating-  But I'll keep on drawing so long as I can, I'll keep on writing.


It's unfortunate that I haven't found a fellow artist willing to do such silly challenges yet, so I've also learned the bitter lesson that one can only drive themselves to draw in the end, but I'd love to be able to find people like me who just want to walk the road and enjoy the moments. In a way, I have given up: I don't and can't be number one, but I love the process and the road.



My two cents


Oh gawd I'm so stoked about this right now.

Greetings, Journal, it has been a while.

Guh, so much to talk about, so little time and space.

Let me just say: Epiphanies are great! While they come, in their rare moments.
 
I have a sudden craving for Sushi.

Let's get to the arting thing, eh?

The day keeps on turning, the seasons keep on turning, and it has been too long since I just felt great about the whole art process in general, and I doubt I'll feel it again, but I'll sure as hell keep at it.

I miss making art for the smallest reasons, I miss making it for the biggest reasons. I miss being inspired by the drawings and paintings I see from all across the board, no matter how many people like them or not. I miss that optimistic fool.

I'll never be that person again, but I sure as hell will try to reach out more, to draw more, to train more. To get back into the process.

Long story short, the process continues.

So this took me a very long time, but I finally, finally, finally finished going through Figure Drawing For All It's Worth by Andrew Loomis.

I was going to go at it a page a day, so that I should be finished in December, but it was starting to take up too much time so I made a mad rush throughout the weekend. Phew

Loomis is pretty verbiose, so reading his chats was not really a priority of mine. His excercises explain well enough what he aims to teach, so I went at them.

I can't say I've made any particular leaps or bounds in terms of skill, because there is the missing fundamental skill to draw good circles, straight lines and visualize 3d space. However, I have learnt some pretty helpful tips and what I hope is a reliable worth ethic I guess?

This, however, definitely marks one of the last times I'm consuming a whole book for art.

The 'Gospel of The Anatomy Arists' Always recommends Loomis along with Hogarth and a bunch of others as the 'go-to' books to improve your art skill. Loomis is great and I respect the man, but these old books of tutorials are just not enough. I was drowning more often than not in my lack of more basic drawing knowledge and skill. Though that may be my fault, I feel that people should study what they aim to improve, and focus on actually having mileage in drawing on their own terms.

After going through 197 pages, I have no actual project to show for this - Just a super long journal post and yeah, a small sense of achievement, but otherwise nothing I can say belongs to me.

If you want to learn something, go look for what you want to learn on your own. And when the jungle of endless information and tutorials and recommendations becomes too much, draw from around you. Draw your hand, your feet. Draw your favourite character and look up a reference here or there. The most important thing is that you draw, and you draw with your own motivations and drive.

Always ask and look out for lessons, but know that the most important factor to improvement is your own hands and drive, and no magic pill of a book will help - so far as I can say now. And try as much as you can to have fun along the way. There's enough stress along the way without adding to the mix.

I guess I became as chatty as Loomis. The man really rubs off on you.

In any case. Wall of images alert. Here is the result of my journeys.


And so it started. Wonky lines and all.
In order to definitely be able to finish the book later down the line, I had to accept that I wouldn't become a pro at the end of it all. I couldn't shade everything as Loomis did, and I stuck with using a pen where he recommended different materials.
All I can say is that... I made it





























































































































































Cheers