I’m not sure what this style of drawing is called, but I know that I like it. I’m not an artist, but I have good friends that are amazing artists. Let’s ask them to explain some of their drawing style. Maybe by the time I’m done writing this you and I can both grab our markers and have a go.
Interview with an artist:
Inspiration. This is where it begins, not with a pen but with a book. Find the style of paintings that you like and study them. Why do you like it, is it the colors? The lines? The shadows? The details? Follow those thoughts as you keep exploring. What draws you to this painting, or what don’t you like about it? Here are a few I have chosen that I really like. Can you see how they are similar? I like the green hues and the way the light cascades from the background to the foreground.
Now it’s time to create my own drawing. I need some more inspiration so I want to combine elements of different items and mash them together. This can be edgy and dark if done correctly. I don’t want to make a cartoon character so I want to choose aspects of different things that you would not typically put together. An Octopus and a snail seem more likely inspirations than a teddy bear and a lollipop. Have I drawn dark teddy bears before? Yes, that can be done too. Here are the images I want to use for my muse this time.
These pictures are not our models. It’s just elements of what I want to draw. I’m imagining a gently deformed little girl – like a mutant. First, I roughly outline the shape on the paper. The nice thing about this process is that scale is not an issue. Is the head too big or too small? It does not matter because I am drawing a girl who is a monster, and deformed monsters don’t have “proper” scale.
That’s my rough shape. You can see clearly where the head is and that is has horns (the goat). I’m picturing the caterpillar’s body curled up; that will come into focus as we progress. For now, I want to start at the top, and give some detail to the face. This is where your imagination comes to life on the paper. Add detail to the hair and horns, the face and the shape of the eyes.
Can you see how adding some detail has changed the shape already? Don’t worry about your initial sketch, that was just an outline for you to follow loosely. These detail lines we are drawing now are what will really bring this character to life. For instance, when I did the first sketch of this one, I was imagining an ugly old woman; but as I added detail, I subconsciously detailed a pretty face. Obviously, my inner self wanted to draw a beautiful girl, that’s okay with me because I allow myself to be at the mercy of my pens and brushes. The creation process is not rigid, it is fluid and you have to allow yourself to go with it. If you fight it, you won’t be happy with the results. So here we have a young, pretty face instead of an old hag. Let’s continue.
We can take that pretty face and “fix” it with some added lines, marks, and scars. A few lines around the eyes as we add details and this young girl is fitting rather nicely into what I had hoped to accomplish. I added some more details to the hair here as well, and shaded it to match what I am trying to accomplish. Perhaps you are wondering about the body and the triangles on her back. Surely you know these are going to be wings, but I don’t think they will be functioning wings. Maybe tattered and worn. This seems like a good place to add some darkness for this one. I’m going to make the wings black so the body can stay white. Hmm, maybe the hair will be black also. It’s an artists prerogative to change their mind, not all dark drawing has to be actually dark. The white and dark balance is what I am trying to capture here, so If I make her hair black, it will look something like this.
As I draw the portrait’s finished product comes to my mind and all I have to do is get the ink on the paper. Adding elements of the caterpillar body, finishing the details. A skull would be a nice touch, in my mind she is holding it – that seems like it will allow the viewer to think and give added details to enrich the meaning. It also adds some dark balance to the left side, since I can shade the skull quite dark. It’s a complete work now – even if there are some more fine details to add, this is what I had imagined and now this creation exists. It’s an amazing process for me; to become a creator.
I love to draw and I draw every day. The more I draw, the more powerful I feel. Positive energy flows from my head to my pencil. Follow the flow, be a creator of something great. I believe in you; you can do it too!
