Sometimes I start drawing something like what you see above and stop. Stop and erase! This kind of thing in my sketchbook doesn't really work, because the scope is a bit too big, and it takes too long to draw, and I feel I need to spend more time getting the perspective right - for a few reasons I avoid doing it in the sketchbook.
But actually, this is just the sort of thing I should be "exploring" in a sketchbook - those crazy nutbar, super ambitious drawings that may never get anywhere - put 'em in the sketchbook, mess around with them, play with them, go wild, if it doesn't work, well... how many people are going to look at your sketchbook and say "Hmm.... perspective's off and that one guy looks too big. SUBSTANDARD, not interested, moving on." Nobody. Well, very few people.
What I like about this one is the scope, the view, the sheer size of the vision. I can see for (at least) a mile. I might go back and add more heavy black lines to define the depth a bit more, but I think it works as is. I also like how the light sources are just indistinct balls of circles. I love the bridges (would really like to walk across them, find some bodega or some place, sit, have a drink... getting off track) and as my lovely Christine said, the mix of old (perhaps primitive) and new is really neat. I also like how even though very little of it is shaded, you still get an idea of the light.
Not bad, Mr. Wood. Let's see more of that.
Not bad, Mr. Wood. Let's see more of that.
Hmm... perspective's off and that one guy looks too big. SUBSTANDARD, not interested, moving on.
ReplyDeleteOkay, seriously...
ReplyDeleteWith most of your entries, I look at the drawing then quickly read your text. I barely take it in before I get your official explanation. And I always think that maybe I made a mistake, doing that.
This time, I didn't make that mistake. This time, I looked at your drawing and shut down my computer for the night. In the morning, I woke up, turned my computer back on and looked at it again, taking everything in. THEN I read the text.
And it was a much better experience.
This allowed me to draw my own conclusions and take meaning from your art. My interpretation? A person makes a pilgrimage to a high lookout spot and surveys a city but focuses not on the actual city but on a memory of what had been there. Maybe not even a physical thing, maybe the memory of something that had happened there. Cool!
Then your text said nothing about what it all means - drats! What DOES it all mean to you? (Just asking academically because I already know what it means to me.)
(Pretty sweet drawing, by the way.)
Thanks for your comment (the second one), Mr. I. Ghost!
ReplyDeleteI think what you bring to the image - what you think it is about, in this case, is entirely valid because, in this case, I didn't really think about what it was about as I did it.
Honestly, I guess I just enjoyed being in the location. I felt the long winding path up from the valley, I could feel what the night was like, warm, but windy and refreshing up on top, and the amazing view below. When I do a drawing like that, I draw what I want to explore and walk around.
One thing though, when I drew it, I felt everybody was going in the same direction, up the path to the lookout, and then what? Do they jump? Are they pushed? Is there a big slide that takes them all the way back down to the valley floor? ... maybe not!! But that question is interesting and is a possible "jumping off spot" for a story.
They're all different people, walking up the winding path? Oh, I thought they were showing the journey that our main person had taken. Funny how things can be interpreted in so many different ways.
ReplyDeleteInteresting, also, that you like to "wander around" in your drawings. Just inventing nice places for yourself to explore is a very good, fairly unique talent. I hope you enjoy it as much as we all do!
Ja, is fun!
ReplyDeleteHey! Hey YOU!!!
ReplyDeleteWhen are we getting something new in this here place?
Your art is amazing. We need more!!!!
Thank you
Dang, you are tough! Can't a guy do nothing for a while?!
ReplyDeleteAhh, you're right. I'll see what I can do.