Quantity over Quality

I didn’t get a chance to upload this set of sketches the other night. These ones in particular were referenced from photos rather than art. Although I think that drawing from the work of artists you admire is important, using photos as a reference during practice helps you to gain the ability to transmit real life onto paper, perceiving it in your own way, similar to the way a caricaturist interoperates their observations into their own exaggerated interpretation. 

 And here is some more work I did yesterday, some studies from Marc Silvestri and Ed Benes. As I re draw the work of these comic artists I notice more and more that I am picking up bits and pieces of their techniques. It looks like I am trying to emulate their style, but it’s more the fact I am learning how to use shadows and render effectively, not to mention practice with the human proportions and anatomy something I really need to know how to use and have a solid knowledge in as a comic artist. I feel I should defend myself on the matter of copying other artist’s art as a method of learning and source of study for fear of judgment, but at the same time feel that there is no need to as all artists have their influences. I will take away the knowledge and practice I have attained through the experience of drawing the work of the talented people I admire, and I will apply it in my own art.  I do feel that seeing and doing is the best way one can learn, so going by that, if I draw enough of the magnificent work these artists have done, my skills will rise to meet theirs at some point given enough experience.

Some of these sketches do have mistakes in them which aren’t too hard to find. I just wanted to mention that the reason I have not corrected these errors is because I draw these sketches in pen from the beginning. The reason I use pen (a regular ball point biro to be exact), is because of my belief that to get the most out of experience and practice what matters most is quantity over quality. So, by doing these sketches in pen, I do not have the luxury of spending hours fixing up a single drawing using a pencil and eraser which in turn forces me to move on from one sketch and get multiple more done. Some will disagree on the quality over quantity remark, but this is simply my own bias, and the reason for it is that a few months or a year from now, regardless of how errorless my work may seem now I am probably going to look back and see that it is nowhere near the standard it will be by then. It makes more sense to smash out as many sketches as I can, because the more I practice, the more of that volume of work standing between me and my eventual goal I will get through.

These drawings are of my own, completely from my head without the aid of any reference what so ever. I don’t have many of these right now for the fact that I am still learning, and if I don’t have the skills there yet, there isn’t too much knowledge I feel I am able to retrieve from myself at this point to further my learning. I do think that drawing my own work without reference is so so important, and possibly the biggest step toward my goal with the most to gain, but right now it is a lot of experimenting and applying what I have learnt from my experiences, practice and memory. I do think I could and should do more of these, I guess I have been avoiding it because of the fear of going out on my own. It’s very hard to create an image entirely from your imagination without any other sources of reference, that’s why I applaud comic artists so much for their abilities to do this every day. Yes, most of them use reference, but in large they rely on their skill to draw a 2D picture of a 3D scene from no place other than their mind.

I sketched out this gun toting gal this evening, using pencil. I am fairly happy with her, although she isn’t perfect, I can see a clear rise in my skill level since cracking down on my drawing practice. It has only been two weeks since I’ve starting getting serious and really committing myself to drawing every day so I am look forward to seeing where I will be at in a few months’ time. I just need to be patient and stick with it.

I accept now that my work will never be perfect, but that will never stop me from thriving to reach that perfection. And this is the beauty of art. A good artist is never satisfied with their work and so they are always trying to improve, and alas, they always do.