More pencil practice
In July, I made attempts to harness my other drawing style for comic pages again. All I really want to do is a short story this way. But I still can't squeeze out more than a single page before the wheels come off. Above is an experimental page.
Between the first and the second page, an argument begins between the part of my mind that finds drawing like this effortless when it is for no particular purpose, and the part of my mind that is dedicated to spending several hours a day rendering things very neatly, with some complexity, using expensive drawing technology. I can't shut up the neat brain, and soon it demands a difficult piece of perspective, or a tiny, unrenderable figure, and tells me that the fun is over.
I think the problem is that Technical John has a lot more experience than Fun John, and starts to overrule Fun John as soon as fun looks like work rather than fun. I can't wait to donate my brain to science. I think it'll probably explode ten seconds after the sawbones pops it out.
Comments (12)
This is wonderful. Also can sympathize as I bought some lovely pencils and am now terrified of them.
Totally wouldn't mind some "rough" zines - share the fun!
One can have great ideas, but unless they can be conveyed to the masses they are useless. My mantra throughout my employed years is that if it was not for computers, I'd be bagging groceries. My handwriting and drawing skills suck, which is not a good thing for an architect.
BTW, I think the Daisy 'eyes' thing is new, and is perfect.
In another life, this is what Raymond Chandler would have been creating.
Try creating a pseudonym for the other artist. For some of us, that added separation between the art and the artist makes it easier to silence the internal editor. When the work is done, if you like it enough, you can always tell the pseudonym that you're stealing his work and releasing it under your own name.
I would suggest you try to get the clean part drunk. But I'm not sure how it might react... I'm sorry. Maybe the voice will go away with the years.
Hmm. This sounds like the graphic novel equivalent of "Write drunk, edit sober". Bash out stuff quickly without spoiling the flow because no-one's going to see it like this, then go through a second time knowing people are going to look at it. It sounds like the expensive drawing technology is not very sympathetic. I wonder whether AI can help here - there is stuff that can render your images in the style of Van Gogh or Cezanne. I am not suggesting we get Scary Go Round vol 1, and output it as Hergé, Crumb, or Mobeius, but maybe we can train it on your rough drafts and your final versions and keep it yours. It's a big job, though.
A very similar internal conflict exists when making music, the Perfectionist Brain is eager to sacrifice momentum for the satisfaction of a line that is EXACTLY RIGHT. Is it easier or worse than with drawing I do not know but I know it's real.
I'm sure it's the same thing, organised thought vs a more ideas-focused state.
Just have the sawbones scoop half the brain out and put it in a convenient corpse. Both will be happy and they'll get twice the work done.
I relate to that tension between the fun/experimenting side of my brain and the focus/get-it-right side. Neither is ever very happy when they are not the center of attention.