Handsies
Today I tried something new. I found photos of purdy ladies and instead of trying to copy the bodies as well as I can, I tried to stylise them. Downplay parts I don't like, and exagerrate the parts I find appealing.
For a long time I felt there is something wrong in the way I study. Some sort of fundamental flaw that I couldn't put my finger on. Most of you will think I am just overly sensitive and I should stop "being too hard on myself", but I really felt there is something off. Today I think I realised what it is.
Style I want to draw in is "stylised realism". It's basically realistic style with intentional distortions to make it look more appealing. I always designed my studies to learn how human body works, to be able to recreate it as realistically from memory. Unfortunately it's impossible to do (at least for me). Human body is too complex to just draw from memory in a realistic way. What I get in the end isn't stylised realism, but flawed realism.
What does it mean? I need to practice stylising the bodies I draw. I did that with faces. Many times I thought to myself "Ok you are never gonna draw realistic faces. How do you make them look appealing despite that?". Somehow I never really did that with any other body part. I just did photo studies and figured that it's gonna look good when I draw it from imagination later.
Starting today, I am gonna try to address this problem.
Crazy art rant over.
Have you ever tried the thing where you put your reference picture upside down, then try to draw it and see how it turns out?
ReplyDeleteReally like the stylization sketches... simple lines and curves can create complex some pretty figures.
ReplyDeleteInteresting breakdown of your flaws. Have you ever thought about enrolling in an art course -- in-person or online -- that are specifically geared toward those flaws? I know you're big on being self-taught, which is awesome, but it might just take the critical eye of other struggling artists cloistered in the same room to figure out how to make the right adjustments.
I am sorta thinking about doing a semester in some internet art school. There are some really great courses taught by industry professionals out there. BUT first I would have to to get my skills to a certain level. Right now I feel that I would waste a lot of time struggling with basics, when I should be learning advanced stuff.
DeleteAlso I am not sure if it's the right thing for me. I am the type that learns best on my own.
That's a good way to think about it and probably one of the reasons why art/anatomy is so endlessly difficult and interesting- being a product of memory and practice, life and imagination. Considering your artistic direction, stylized practice does seems like the best fit. Hiring models could be a solution though that probably depends whether you or your clients want to go in that direction.
ReplyDeleteI'm just moving through really basic stuff myself but have had these sort of thoughts, learning on my own as well but starting more seriously much later. If you don't mind my asking, but how did you know you wanted to specialize in porn? Looking at your art and info, I can see all the different influences and passions. I'm at that point where I know I have to nail down fundamentals first but where I could see myself being driven to anything.
Anyway, my own rambling aside, your blog has inspired me to really push with my own studies. Thanks for being so awesome.