Here’s a couple of sketch pages I worked on the last couple of days. I worked on the page with multiple figures on Monday night and the larger portraits* were done yesterday on my lunch break.

I’m enjoying it a lot. I mean, its pretty different from what I normally do and at this stage, it’s sketching. And we all know how good I am at sketching. I won’t lie, it has been a challenge to curb my baser instincts to finish a COMPLETE DRAWING when I am doodling in my sketchbook.

I’ve also found it interesting to use references in a completely different way. I’ve collected a bunch of Geisha photographs from the internets and I’m using them as references – especially for the elaborate hair pieces and hopefully for the kimonos. Normally, I replicate exactly what I see. But in this little exercise, I am just choosing pieces from different photos and incorporating them into a sketch. It’s an interesting challenge, especially coming from my background. I think I like it.

The next step is to figure out what I am going to do for a couple of finished pieces. Ideally, I’d like to do three. We have A LOT of wall space in the bedroom. Three 11 x 14″ pieces would cover up some of that blank space quite nicely.

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While I await the delivery of my fabulous new art books, I have been doing a bit of introspection.  Ok, that’s not true. I’m always doing some sort of introspection. Anyone who has read this blog in any type of way could tell you that.  I’m an self-flagellating introspective girl, always have been.  Anyway, in recent days, I have been trying to put my finger on what my problem is lately. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that I have been producing jackshit.  I could sugarcoat it with postulations about how I am trying to get my current series just right, but the fact is…

Jack meet shit.

Part of me wants to blame my Dad’s death on the whole thing. But that would be the easy route.  A cop out almost.  And really, I think it started before that.  Since before I even finished the Colin piece, my productivity has been tanking.  I mean, it took almost four months to finish that drawing.  That’s slow even for me.  Another clue about my meager productivity is this blog. If you look back through the archives (don’t, its boring), there is more text than update images lately.   That’s pretty telling because frankly, I don’t think people give a rat’s ass about anything I might say. I just don’t.  And looking at an image is easy and faster, especially in this instant gratification era.

I’d like to be able to blame the messiness of my studio. But I haven’t really used my studio (as a studio) since we moved in November.  So that would be yet another cop out.

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After all of the introspection about possibly starting The Artist’s Way, I dug it out and did a quick once over and decided, again, that I don’t think its for me. The book is geared (in my opinion) towards writers and to be honest, I have a really, really hard time swallowing the spirituality/divinity angle that the writer uses. Just not my bag.

So I did a bunch of research (mostly lurking on some artist forums) to see if anyone had any alternative suggestions. And, boy, did they! I made a hearty list and was very pleased. Then as luck would have it, today, I stumbled on a great deal through North Light Book Club. Now the Book Club itself is closing, but they are still offering the new member special. Basically, you get four books for $14.99 USD plus shipping & handling. And you don’t have to worry about some book club sending you monthly shit that you have no interest in (ya know, like Columbia House and that type of thing).

So I picked myself up four books for about $28.00 CAD (with shipping). I’m pleased because I managed to get two of the books that were on my mighty list. Now, I don’t know if any of them will be better that TAW. But, at the price? I couldn’t not do it, ya know?

With any luck, even one of these books will help me get out of my wee funk. If nothing else, it might be nice to actually read a book. I haven’t done that in far, far too long. It’s almost embarassing.

The books are under the cut if you are interested.

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Title: 001
Size: 11 x 14″
Medium: Graphite on Bristol Smooth
Time: 6.5 hours
Status: WIP

I had an update yesterday with a photo and everything. Only when I went to grab the photo off my SD card, I discovered that my internal card reader on my computer seemed to be borked.  The SD card still worked in my camera. And thankfully, my nanosecond of card reading panic didn’t last very long as I managed to pick up a new external card reader at Best Buy. So voila, photo update!

I think I have made a decision about the skin texture. I’m not going to mirror the reference image.  And while maybe that sounds like I am being lazy (and let’s face it, that probably is partly true), my primary reason for not replicating it as realistically as I probably could is because I am so anal and so tight with my drawing as it is and I just don’t wanna add yet another layer of that shit.

In the last few years, I have become so tight when I draw that it is very, very difficult to step outside the box. I struggle with it a lot.  I think this is probably why I also struggle with sketching for the sake of sketching.  There was a time when I used to be able to veer off the road a bit and explore my creativity in a less restrictive way, but now I am firmly planted on the road. From a creativity and artistic standpoint, it can be limiting and frustrating.  I think I need to remember what it was like to be more creativity. I just really don’t know how to do that.

I’ve considered working my way through The Artist’s Way.  I have it. I have had it for about two years. I just never found the time to work through it.  Mostly because I was awful at the daily commitment aspect (and I need to wrap my head around the author’s use of the word, God – but that is really neither here nor there).  But, I dunno. Maybe the book/program is something I need?! I like to think I have a daily commitment, but let’s face facts, my daily commitment is sketchy at best.  Since I am not currently in school, it would probably be helpful to have some sort of structure. Even at this level.

Anyone work through The Artist’s Way? If so, what have your experiences been like? Would you recommend it?

Title: 001
Size: 11 x 14″
Medium: Graphite on Bristol Smooth
Time: 4.45 hours
Status: WIP

I’ve done a few more hours on this baby. It’s been particularly challenging. The reference image is deliberately tight and close in on my face and as such, I can see every little pore and imperfection of my skin. While kind of distracting on a personal, self-conscious level, I am considering capturing the texture as much as I can. I know this will mean that the drawing will take even longer to complete, but I think it might be a rewarding challenge.

I’m also not as unhappy with the size of the eyes as I have been. Now that I am laying down the value, the eyes are starting to look a little less beady, and a little more accurate. So this pleases me.

What does not please me is that my work ethic has not yet improved. I am still only working on my lunch break, which is entirely too lame to talk about. I desperately need to start “scheduling time”. Things would go much faster if I actually worked on the drawing.

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I am also sorts of exhausted today. I have been pulling some ridiculously late nights coupled with ridiculously early mornings. Today, we even missed the alarm and slept in, which let to a mad dash to get W to the train. I hate rushing in the morning. It is completely off-putting and usually ends up ruining my day. It also doesn’t help that its pretty gloomy outside and there is some blasphemy talk of us getting snow on Saturday.

It does nothing for my motivation, I don’t mind admitting.

Still, yesterday was pretty fantastic. It was First Thursday and I dragged W down to Art Central with me for the First Thursday Meetup event. We had a nice, little turn out. But, I’ll be honest, I’m not 100% if I actually enjoyed First Thursday. The galleries and exhibits were, for the most part, alright. There was nothing (save a few select artists) that completely stood out to me. In fact, a lot of the stuff I had already seen before. So in that regard, it was a slight disappointment. A small part of me just feels like Art Central hasn’t been the same since QUAB left.

Still, in spite the disappointing galleries, there was a lot of great discussion and comaraderie. So that makes it a successful evening in my eyes.

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