I officially started drawing again today - the first time in over 6 years. Oh sure, I sketched a few things here and there in the last 6 years, but nothing serious, nothing that I would be proud to show to others. Granted, the work I did today was not as good as my previous works, but it's not bad considering that I have 6 years of rust to scrape off of myself. If I keep practicing, I should regain my prevous level of skill in no time.
What did I draw, you ask? Do you really care? Okay. I drew the faces of my ridiculous characters, the AB Force - D.Smasher, Master Hammer, B.Blaster, and Long Range. It is good practice, since getting D.Smasher's head just right has been difficult for me. I will scan and post the work in the Art section later.
One of the reasons why I slowed down and stopped drawing over 6 years ago was because of my need to focus more on work that pays the bills. My "brute force" drawing style took a lot out of me, energy wise, and so was difficult to focus on school and my career in IT. There was, unfortunately, no way I could do both. At least, none that I knew of at the time.
What is "brute force" drawing you ask? It is a term I coined to describe the way I used to draw, which is pretty much trying to create the finished drawing as I put the pencil to the paper. This caused huge problems because too many large mistakes would pretty much ruin the drawing before I could even finish it! This style of drawing caused me frustration to no end. The pressure it put on me eventually took the pleasure out of drawing. In addition, the slow pace of drawing in this way discouraged me from pursuing an art based career, because I felt that I would be unable to meet deadlines.
Luckily, my love for creating art stayed with me through the years. I fully intended to go back to drawing someday. I eventually learned that most professional artists usually sketch first, and slowly flesh out the drawing, like a sculpture. This takes the pressure off, and allows creativity to flow. Mistakes are okay, just erase them and continue. I should have learned this from Bryan, one of my artist friends whom I have known since junior high school. Bryan, by the way, is a brilliant artist, whose artistic skill has surpassed mine tremendously since about ninth grade in high school. Maybe sooner, I can't remember.
-Steve
