Saturday 9 December 2017

Look Ma, No Hands!

Ok, it's been a while, like a LOOOONG time.  Sorry, Mr Ghost.  But I hope this one makes up for the wait. Maybe a little bit.

Speaking of taking a long time, this little drawing (aproximate 7" x 6") took about two weeks. I just kept chipping away at it, adding a bit of shading here, a building there. I did a rough pencil perspective grid but didn't really follow it too rigorously, so it is a bit off here and there.

It all started with the explosion hitting the building on the left and the people running away.  Then I drew the two vehicles to the entry's right, then the lower buildings behind the vehicles and on and on. The plane was a fairly late addition, and the guy in the bombed out building looking on was quite late in the game. It was fun to do, just shade bit now and then throughout the days. 

I did a drawing in high school that had almost the same perspective and theme but I got bored and tired shading bricks and it wasn't as interesting a scene as this. Worst of all I put a sign on one building that read "Joe's Bar" (inspired eh?). Rightly so, the teacher pointed out that with that bit of writing, it was hard to see or interpret the drawing beyond that sign. It made the viewer think that "Joe's Bar" was the point to the drawing, and it wasn't. So now I make sure that unless the text is totally necessary, I leave legible, readable words out. Sometimes there are things that look like letters or writing, but they are vague and unreadable.

I like how it feels like you're in this one.  I like the rough pen strokes, I like the heavier lines which help suggest depth or layering. I like the dynamic composition with the diagonal lines and of course, I really like the scene and the destruction. It's cool. It'd be terrible to be there, but it looks amazing.

And then we could talk about the why of the drawing. Why of all things did I draw this?! Where the heck did it come from? I dunno. I can't say I have desires to blow up buildings with my own personal figher jet or that I feel I'm living in a war zone or that I'm fighting something, though that last one might be true, who really knows.

The one thing I do know is I kept doing it and leaving it on my desk because I wanted someone, many people to see it and say glowing things like "WOW! That's amazing! Nice drawing! You're really good! Come with me, I need you to do this great thing over here," or something like that.

Is that why I draw? To show off? To be impressive? It's embarrassing, but I think there is something to that. I want appreciation. Selfish? Check. Needy? Check. Like many other "artists"?