Last week I was feeling pretty depressed. I didn’t want to draw at all. In fact I spent a good amount of time trying to think of things I could do that weren’t drawing. It doesn’t help that I’m going through a phase were I’m thinking a lot about all the other things I could be doing. Like going to the gym and such.
But by Wednesday I was able to at least start drawing again. It was very strange. My emotions would sawy all over the place. Feeling awful and useless one second and feeling on top of the world the next. Then the next moment I’d feel to tired to do anything. All I can say is I there are clearly things I like about making comics. It does give a feeling of accomplishment. And when I did a panel that was meant to be scary or disturbing I have a great deal of fun. I doubt any of it is actually scary or disturbing. i just really enjoy drawing it.
My speed does seem to have picked up a little. But still not enough. Strangely, on Friday I brought in a large number of of snacks with me while I worked. And it increased the amount I worked to a frightening degree. As long as I felt compelled to stay in my chair because I was eating as well as drawing the amount of work I did went through the roof. This tells me two things. Firstly, even though I have trouble with the stop and start nature of comic drawing it is a barrier I can get past. And I can still work for longer periods, I just need to figure out how. I’m fairly sure that while the food helped make this breakthrough it is not indispensable (For the sake of my weight I hope not). It is most likely a magic feather of sorts. Something that helped me tap into something that is already in me. I just need to figure out how to tap into it on it’s own.
For research this week i read the new volume of Beasts of Burden. One of my favourite comic book series and a pretty big influence on the project I’m making now. It’s a horror comic about town dogs fighting supernatural evil. I decided to look at the animals expressions to see how the artists convey human emotion on animals faces. It seems not that much needs to change. Just some tweaks to the eyes and mouths do it (Though I’m having trouble identifying what those tweaks are). Another thing I noticed is even thought most of these animals had no eyebrows the artists would often use little tricks to imply eyebrows even when there weren’t any, because Eyebrows add a lot to how we humans see expression,
I also looked at the backgrounds to get some ideas on how to do nature scenes. To my surprise I found the backgrounds in Beasts of Burden where very simple. Often made of just one or two shades of green with a tiny number extra splashes or lines of other shades of green to indicate texture or change. And maybe some extra gradients of light or dark to draw our attention to the main thing in the panel. Where there was grass and trees the artists would use two totally separate shade of green so there was no mistaking them. Ans Skies would often have as much white as blue. Even if the sky was clear. To keep the sky from being oppressive and taking to much attention I think. I’ll try to put all of this to use when colouring this comic.
Another thing I did that has already helped is I printed out several pictures of rabbit is different poses. Rabbit heads. and even rabbit skeletons and skulls. And now my rabbits are actually starting to look like rabbits. I’m building an idea in my head of what a rabbit should look like. It’s amazing how much visual reference helps.
And I don’t want to jinx it. But I think I’m getting better at drawing expressions.
What used to be the worst part about drawing for me, something I hated so much I made my first animation with faceless characters to save heartache, is kinda starting to come naturally to me. As often as not I find the expression I’ve drawn conveys the right emotion I want it to, and looks good enough that I don’t want to change it. At least in this early stage of the comic.
If I can get good, or at least ok at drawing expressions, something I thought would never happen. What else can I improve?
Another thing I realise I enjoy, much to my suprise, is posing. I find rabbits are really good for dramatic action and fighting. And it feels great getting a across the emotions and ideas of the scene with just how the characters are moving, posed, and positioned. Here also is something I think can be nurtured into something that might make me a better and more engaged artist.
Let’s hope this stuff helps.
John's Learning Journal 