I've been an particularly strange mood recently and have needed somewhere to gush, which as usual happens to be the Roost!
I feel like I've been in the opposite of an art block recently, which is very weird. No one ever talks about this kind of thing, and I don't even know if there is a word for it. But it feels like riding high on a wave or simultaneously eating and cooking something delicious. Art flow maybe? I can't remember ever feeling like this before and so I thought I'd try to capture some of it here in words before it drifts away.
One reason is that I've been making a lot of art recently, and mostly stuff that I enjoy doing while being uncommonly surprised by the number of pleasant outcomes. I'm working under a schedule that feels motivating but still allows time for rest, and I've been doing a lot of personal work. The Ipad has definitely made doing good looking (read: colored and fussed with) personal work easier, but I'm more pleased with the fact that I actually got something of portfolio quality done that wasn't for school. I'm still working on the discipline needed to do high quality work that isn't for a professor - while working on other projects that are assigned by a professor. I'm just not super great at keeping personal deadlines when there's no immediate consequences for breaking them and when there's Smash Bros to be played...
But I did it! I was accepted into the Character Design Challenge group (yay) and contributed to this month's theme, "Alebrije Creatures." The prompt promised the chance to draw animals and also do a creature design, which was good since I've been putting "creature design" on a bunch of resumes despite not having any actual designs to show yet. I immediately hit on the idea of a character that was ethereal, haunting, and dark while still being elegant and not-totally-evil - kind of a mysterious beauty kind of thing. And although I tried other options, nothing seemed to work as well as a fantastical peacock. Along the way I added in some crane, magpie jay, and luna moth elements, keeping a crescent moon motif as a central "beat" of the design.
The pose was directly inspired by a sketch I made at the zoo! It's fun that God allows us to play with his creation on paper - an act of "sub-creation" as Tolkien would put it. Like legos made of animal parts. EW GROSS IMAGE BUT TRUE
less gross image (top left pose)
first drawings where I felt like I hit on something good
figuring out motifs and floof
It didn't win anything, but I'm hoping the challenge will still feature it on their social media! And even if it doesn't, I'll at least have one legitimate creature design for my portfolio.
And that's not all! I've been doing a some various fanarts, caricatures for the upcoming show at Lipscomb, and life drawings. I'm also helping with background art for the Juniors' short film, working in Audrey Wagnon's wonky style adaptation of Frederick Gardner. Most of this stuff will be posted soon here and on Instagram.
Portrait of a Cursed Young Businessman
All this art has been especially fueled by the enormous amount of inspiration I've been digesting over the past month. I'm still on a big Breath of the Wild kick, which continues to be a source of wonder and exploration and fanart. I'm actually thinking about making a BotW art book for sale full of digital "plein airs" of Hyrule and some sketches at the end. I think it would be a fun project and have a chance at selling copies? I really want to table at conventions but currently don't have anything better than stickers to sell. Let me know if this sounds cool! And for those who care or just like to make fun of me about this, Ambrosia is still doing fine and running swiftly, though I was a little peeved that the game designers have made it impossible for her to traverse several major parts of the map. "Open world" does not always mean open to horses.
And as a result of BotW, I've been in a very Ghibli mood too, which conveniently coincided with my History of Animation class studying Miyazaki. I went to watch Howl's Moving Castle for the first time, at the theater by myself. Although it sounds lonely, it was actually a very peaceful and independent experience, and it was nice to have some time to think upon the movie before feeling obligated to talk about it with others. It's a very delightful and gentle movie, made most enjoyable by the characters of Howl and Calcifer. I guess it's odd to call a movie featuring an air raid "gentle," but the overall impression and pacing of the film felt that way, and it was definitely less epic in scale than Spirited Away or Mononoke. I watched the English dub, and Calcifer's comedy and voice acting is so spot on and consistently funny. Which merited a drawing inspired by Miyazaki's watercolor work:
After watching the documentary The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness I've grown even more impressed by Miyazaki and his work. What dedication! And humorous/insightful old man curmudgeonry!
I've rediscovered the artist Ieafy and have been doing a lot of work in her style - I love the colors and how unapologetically bright and digital it is. She has such a unique eye for light and color that I'd like to be able to learn. And her Zelda pieces are very cool and very topical for me right now.
Ieafy's Zelda art
I've used the caricature show as a place to experiment in Ieafy's style which means I can't yet show any of my work here, but they will arrive in about a week! And of course I haven't forgotten Nicholas Kole - his work continues to be a guiding star and the base that I mix all other style inspirations into to create something that feels right. But recently I've been listening more to Kole rather than looking at his art. He had a great podcast with Bobby Chiu which inspired me to go hunting for other interviews with the man which led me to one that he did with a concept development club. It's fun to hear him talk to an audience specifically of people my age! I've been learning more about Kole's early and low points in his career which has been reassuring, since as an ALMOST JUNIOR the future seems very close and scary. I most definitely expect the first years out of school to be rough, but it's nice to hear from a fellow Christian that things will work out for the good! I'm also now an official patron of his Jellybots project, meaning I'm now able to support him in a more helpful way than my previous Major Fanboying (but I will still Majorly Fanboy).
I'm not too worried about my style right now, though I do feel that group of artists that inspire me is becoming more clarified in my mind. Although I always want to be improving, I do worry that I'll lose some of myself if I draw in a studio style for too long. It's been a thought on my mind as I work in another's style for that short film project and hope to be at a studio sometime soon. I guess I'll just return to these artists again and begin the discovery process anew!
All of this has been very bright, very wonder-full stuff which I think has helped contribute to my good art mood recently. I plan to savor it and remember it when art block visits again. I just feel very full, which helps to make the art spill out more easily! It feels like a good balance of making and consuming, which is rare for me. All my internship applications are sent, and while I have not gotten any yeses, I still feel that God has been incredibly faithful. I got to pretend to be animation faculty and go to a recruiting dinner with Tom! I'm on the cusp of getting my first commissions ever! Spring is here! With finals around the corner, I hope I can ride this wave at least until May, and hopefully further.
I hope your heart is warm, if not, watch some Ghibli!
dh
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