There and Back Again: Days 1-12

So that project I posted about most of a month ago? I've been steadily trucking away at it, though quietly, as my computer was out of commission for a while, and before that my scanner was in a box as I moved house. Excuses, excuses, I know.

I'm going to dive right into it instead of writing very much. It's only been a month, and I haven't been doing enough thinking to be able to talk much about it yet, other than in a very specific case-by-case way. The one thing I can say with confidence: there are on days, and there are off days, and on the latter the only victory comes from putting in the hour and letting it go. Anyway - onward!

(To read my notes, you can right-click and view the (huge) full-size files; if you can't decipher them, ask - I might be willing to type some of this stuff up. For scale, keep in mind that this is a 5.5"x8.5" sketchbook.)

Day 1: Largely thinky thoughts, and two studies of Sabriel, the first so tight it creaks when you look at it. I also poked a bit at John Jude Palencar compositions, from which I learned, again, about the power of shapes.

Day 2: A continuation of my deep-influence exploration. I had more luck with Rebecca Guay and Kinuko Craft's flowey ladies - well, no, I'm not going to toss off words like 'luck'. What happened is, this is what I like to draw, and I was relaxed enough to let my pencil do the work.

Day 3: Drawing after packing on an un-airconditioned 95+-degree day for about ten hours does not a good page make.

Day 4: The first, but not the last, 'Screw It I Am Going To Draw Some Flowey Goddamn Ladies' day. This was... freeing, after the failed Waterhouse from the day before.

Day 5: More flowey ladies! More specifically, hair.

Day 6: Aaand it's hand time! There will be many hands in this project, most of them hopefully from more elegant models than my own.

Day 7: There was a point I was going for when I started drawing, about an easy source of tension in poses coming from pointing the face in a different direction from the rest of the body, but it really was just an excuse to draw ANOTHER FLOWEY LADY. Are we detecting a theme? This is supposed to be a project about doing what I love, after all.

 Day 8: My roommate's legs are freaking lovely, and so elegant.

Day 9: I sat down to draw this at 1am, because no matter how dead exhausted I was, I was not going to miss a day. (and actually this page is the start of some worthwhile thumbing.)

Day 10: The book from the Savage Beauty Alexander McQueen exhibit is filled with exquisite things.

 Day 11: I had some Feelings about art and emotion in art while working on these. That happens some

Day 12: Mucha hands fill me with joy. They're simply, truly beautiful, and incredibly inspiring.

I think that's all for this post. I don't actually want to slam three weeks' worth of work down on the table all at once! This is more than adequate for first installment. Til next time!