Let's Talk About Art

When I got home, I went to my little art corner, turned on my desk lamp and put down some wobbly pen lines so I wouldn't forget my format plan.

I'm doing this drawing with black ink, so I changed the filter on my image to be black and white. This helps me find the values faster.

The layout needed to be lengthy. And I loved the idea of needing to unfold the artwork to see the full thing. Hence my choice to use a Japanese Album sketchbook (I'm using Moleskine)

If you're an artist, you might understand the giddy feeling of watching an artwork take form, that's where my head is at this point (pictured below).

I'm convinced there are many emotional stages when making art. I feel excitement first. Then, I make some marks and start feeling confident. Don't be fooled, that confidence can disappear in a second. Next, is the pit of despair where you second guess every reason you became an artist and contemplate donating your supplies (if you know you know). But finally, there's a light at the end of tunnel and you've hushed the self critic. That's when art emerges and it's something you're proud to say you created. 

Somewhere in the middle of my process I noticed my shading techniques were changing as I got further to top of the tree. My first thought was to try and fix this by making all my lines and shading patterns look the same, but why would I do that? I liked the fact the that that these variations were telling a story of how I was getting familiar with the subject and adjusting my technique as I went.

Finally, it's finished. Not in a few hours, but a few weeks. I didn't rush. I just spent a little time each day scribbling away and I enjoyed every minute.

I hope you enjoyed this little art talk. I'm by no means a writer, I just really love talking about art.

 -Adrianna

Fineliners: Copic multiliners (.03 & .05)

Sketchbook: Moleskine Art Japanese Album