Practice

            I don’t know why, but for the past few days I’ve been in a decent enough mood long enough to do stuff. This is the third day in a row I’m putting up a new blog. It seems the more I do, the happier I am. Getting into a story I’m writing or drawing something and really taking the time to do it right, or be patient with it, and letting myself go feels good.

            Getting to that point is not easy.

It can be made much more difficult by very small things.

            For example, today a good friend invited me out. I had to sadly decline because I have no vehicle of my own. It got me down pretty hard. It’s  certainly no one’s fault but my own I’m like this, but again, it can be the simplest little thing that makes it next to impossible to get to work anything I wanted to do. So I sat, I ate a bit of breakfast and woke up. My wife went to work and I decided it was finally time to clean the kitchen. I put Bones on the TV for background noise and entertainment, and I got to work. Things went very well and I started feeling better as the kitchen started looking better and better. Some things needed to dry, so I sat down to draw. I drew for almost three hours.

            This makes me very happy.

            Now, I’m not super satisfied with what I drew, but I’m also not upset about it either. Some of it I quite like (for the moment) and I know that this is practice.

            Oh, that’s right. I’ve decided to do a practice every day if I am able.

            See, I used to love to draw. I drew all the time. I wanted to make my own comic books. I’m really glad that I didn’t, cause I started doing it in the 90’s and I’ve since learned a lot about things like character development, plot, and that Rob Liefeld can’t draw and isn’t someone I should emulate. My comics back then did have SOME good ideas (thanks to James and Joel. I still miss Gelatinous Cube Comics), but they would have been 90’s comics. The really good ones that you can still pick up and enjoy and read are few and far between. It wasn’t exactly the golden age.

            Anyway, I still like to draw, when I actually get to it. I put on music, sit down, figure out what I’m gonna doodle and I just sort of lose myself in the whole process. Tonight, I didn’t even realize I’d been drawing for 3 hours. It felt like ten minutes. So it was very very good. I also think my new process is going to work out well. My practice is to find a picture I like (I’m going to start with friends) and I draw the same picture three different times. The first is supposed to be realistic, like a portrait. Keep in mind, this is all in pencil. I don’t do color. So I get my paper stomp and a couple of drawing pencils and I go to work. Here’s how the first one turned out.

Look! It's a face!

            Now, this isn’t the best picture in the world. There are people who could do better in less time. That’s fine. I’m still finding my style, still getting back into it. For what it is, I’m quite pleased with it. I think it looks like the person it is. I chose this guy because, honestly, he’s the guy that inspired me to draw in the first place. If it wasn’t for him, I might be an accountant or something.

            Okay, probably never that, but this guy really did spark my imagination. So I thought he’d be a great first practice subject.

            Anyway, the second pic is practice for my cartoon style, like what you’d see if I were drawing a webcomic. These are quick and clean and I like them. I use blue pencil and then ink with a regular pen and a sharpie. It’s not much, but it’s a style I’ve come to enjoy. I borrow from different sources, but it is something I like. Now this one didn’t turn out quite as good as I’d have liked, but I still think it’s okay. I mean, come on, it’s a freaking cartoon.

I SUPER SUCK at drawing crossed arms. Hence the practicing.

I love his smile in the actual picture, but it was hard to duplicate properly in my comic style. If I took some time to doodle things out, he might  change and look better, but as it is, this was meant to be draw what I see, not plan and change and experiment. I just wanted a good clean cartoon sketch. Again, it’s not the best, but I kind of like out it turned out.

            So, lastly, since I always wanted to be a comic book artist, I decided my third practice would be to draw it like a super hero/actual comic book. I haven’t done this in a LONG time. My biggest influence is Jim Lee. I remember spending hours recreating his Rogue drawing, or Cyclops, or Professor Xavier. Eventually, I’d like to say I got pretty good. I’d like to say, but I don’t think I was ever great. Passable at best, bland and forgettable at worst. Still, I hadn’t found my OWN style. I just tried to copy someone else’s. So here, we have my attempt at getting back into that style with my own flair. Here is the result.

Super Dave! Wait...

            So, for the first night, I’m not that disappointed. I know I’m WAY out of practice, and sadly, drawing isn’t like riding a bike. I’ve got other styles I want to explore, Disney-esque being on that list. I’ve some friends who have a distinct style I enjoy, and I may try my hand at that as well. Still, I am working on stuff. I have NO idea how long I can keep this up. I have no idea how long the mood might last. It comes and goes in waves. I could break down and cry later tonight for no good reason, or get mad that Winamp’s shuffle isn’t playing the song I want to hear and I’m too lazy to find it with search.

My mood is, shall we say, flighty at best.

Still, I’ve kept a promise I made to myself, and I hope to keep that promise going.

It’s a start.

A good start.

Later days.