weekday post (sketchy)

'Allo, 'allo, and welcome to an actual, legit weekday post (been meaning to do this for way too long, *cites new years' resolution #40-something*)! ✌

Finally got my ideas and time together for this--which, just as a freshening-up reminder (the validity of that construction bothers me), is a time during the week that I take to pick up, mess with, and throw around an arbitrary topic. Could be anything and everything I want (well, not *everything* I *want* -- that's a 50-item, confidential list hehe), but I get to take it and run with it wherever/however. (does...that little slang bit not make you feel like you're stealing or something? As in taking something and running with it?)

(idk, idk, ok, just a thought that always comes to mind. Little speech-sayings like that are weird, man.)

This week’s topic relates to an artistic aspect of me:

!**SKETCHING**! (ingests firecracker from excitement) O.o

...as in, that which one does with a pencil. The pencil being graphite or charcoal, or whatever, on a paper-like substance--um, ok, nothing too complicated, but I tend to make things so anyhow, amirite

*sigh* #youcouldcallitsketchy #orjust #dAnk 

...This can refer to:

-actual pencil sketches, specifically the types I like and why

-the act of sketching

-my enjoyment of pencil sketching as a medium

...this idea being started on its journey of rattling around inside of my head by hanging out with friend, Malaysia, for coffee a couple of days ago. While chatting, and having fun, and generally being chill, I had a scrap of paper and a pencil in front of me with my other usual junk, and just sort of...started drawing a quick little outline of her. (which, of course, was rough, and soon noticed by her)--and that got me thinking on the topic.

(not mine)

--beginning with, when did I start?

In all honesty, who knows; I was scribbling and scrabbling and drawing stuff

(almost all pertaining to cats, for some reason--I literally have boxes full of drawings, and they're all...cats. Even the humans have cat ears and tails. Don't ask me why.) since a very early age. Usually, however, that was primarily coming out of my (apparently cat-infested) imagination and inner world, or just as a way of processing stuff and life in general.

(still don't understand the cats, though. Child psychology, for the win)

Sketching, however--"a rapidly executed freehand drawing that is not usually intended as a finished work", according to le Wikipedia--differs from that (obviously).

Actually, I really, really like that definition--shout out (*echoes across vast space of internet) to whoever crafted that, it's great).

...I really didn't do much of that until relatively "later" on in my life--my reproductions of things were either fanciful, comedic, or just plain ridiculous or impossible. (I suppose, in some regards, my perspective had to be sufficiently developed to deal with that)

At some point, however--I think perhaps around the age of 13-14--I started sketching. Or trying to, at least. I don't, shall we say, retain a lot of my works from that period--there were a lot of failures and bits that sped their way to the garbage bin (which wasn't a good practice, as an artist--you should hold on to most of your work, even if you feel it's bad. Or it actually is. It's good for you, and ya never know.)

...but I did start finding it more interesting and fun. Sometimes I saw a character or art-bit that I wished to copy or reproduce or emulate, so I would (waxed paper being one of my best friends #tracing). Other times, it was by being in class and getting distracted and doodling (haven't we all); in a rare moment of honesty, I'll admit that a decent contingent of my sketches are from the margins of class notes and distracted time in lectures. Back of fellow students' heads, faces, random objects or articles of clothing...*sigh* you get the idea.

*PAY ATTENTION TO LARNIN THO KIDS OKEY*

#edjimmication 

Without too much formal art training--I've generally been a "self-teachin'" person, though have had excellent input at periods by exceptional artists and mentors--I sort of bounced around with the different things I tried. Eventually, I came to some realization that I (a) sort of enjoyed pencil sketching as my primary artistic medium/expression in drawing, and (b) that sometimes, I could produce mildly adequate content--or just capture a little something, a part of things that I liked or saw especially.

(ok, yeah, artists in general will not admit to anything above mild adequacy in their work--sort of like dancers won't say nice things about their feet on just about any occasion--and even if we do, it's usually giving more ode to the piece for...I don't know, "doing itself"?...instead of you actually producing something consistently good/being skilled. We vary, but for the most part, yeah.)

~~accurate~~

There were, of course, more specific instances when I got boosts in my confidence, or was surprised by something I made--a sketch of a seated friend at a sleepover, a bit of a little portrait for a friends' birthday, a sunlit jar of wilted flowers--and so I started to get more and more into sketching.

I found that I especially enjoyed capturing outlines and shapes and flows--whether of hair, someone's body language, silhouettes, random objects (or ones I chose), animals, nature, and so forth. Less natural were things like, well, faces and bodies; emotional outlets, proportioned stuff. This kind of makes sense for several reasons:

a) It reads into how I tend to view people, living things, and humanity in general. Especially if it's a person I know, there's a certain part to them--their psyche, personality, unique spark--that's either impossible to express with drawn physical features, or is **very** specific. Messing that up means I'm inevitably annoyed or disappointed with the work, even if it's not bad, because it feels like I'm messing with who they are (or who I know them to be).

b) It's related to my perspective during art making -- because it can vary. Of course, there's the typical "sitting-up-straight-looking-straight-down-at-paper" way; then there's times where you're slumped over on a table, leaning over (or back), sitting haphazardly in a chair, tilted to one side or another, criss-cross-applesauce, upside down (yeah, it happens), or any other way you could try. With objects/inanimate things, doing stuff like that will at best make your work seem whimsical and slightly unusual; at worst, Alice-In-Wonderland-ish. With human or living stuff, it means you create monsters. :(

c) Living things have this anNOYING habit of mOVING. (HOW DARE THEY) ...Yes, this is also sort of my fault for choosing improbable art-ing situations (or living organisms in general, especially people); but still. The unfinished works of mine (and, I'm willing to bet, a fair amount of other artists) are often from something (or someone) moving, and your attempting to not let out a wail of frustration.

(however, one can use this to one's advantage, and use it as an excuse for an artistically partially-done piece of art--especially if (a) the drawing started out well, and (b) you doubted your ability to finish it or get through difficult parts of it). B-)

d) Without skill, practice, and wisdom about well-placed strokes and lines, the sketching of faces or people or "emotional outlet"/living things (I need a better word for it, don't I) tends to become intense, overly committed, and somewhat pressuring to me. Each line, emphasis, and even smudge affects (and can drastically change) what it looks and feels like. In addition, as someone who tends to get overwhelmed or swallowed up by details, the intentional, almost heavy work that goes into such expression can become a bit much.

...Still, I try to push myself in this area, and it *is* getting better. And sometimes you have to acknowledge that your work isn't EXACTLY what you want it to be, or a perfect representation--but hey, that's art and perspective and all that jazz. 

So, at the end of my (relatively brief) considerations, the field of sketching still holds a lot of meaning and intrigue and importance to me. It helps me get out my ideas, principles, or views of a thing; yet, at the same time, gives me joy in the general yet quick overview feeling it gives you--almost feeling like first impressions, or those little moments you encounter at any moment and time and wish to remember.

(or try to; I do, and do my best to stash them away somewhere, ere I promptly forget)

And, like those little moments, sketches are something you might wish to store away for later, or use to stop time in *that* bit of a moment, as something to see. They can be weird, meaningful, or fun--

And they're rarely perfect--but they don't have to be.

...they're a wonderful way to combine quick and lasting, develop yet leave as a question, and seem somehow "real" to me in a way that a masterpiece couldn't quite.

...And, overall, there's something deeply exciting about sketching to me. Who knows the full implications or reasoning behind it--but there's an outline (to play with my words) of that art.

Till then, you'll see me with my favorite (and likely broken) pencil, a lopsided frown atop puckered lips, and smudged left hand (*sigh*) -- trying to smooth out this skill, demonstrating my viewpoint of things, or just enjoying the ability to play with, record, and see what I see. Maybe I'll fill in more of the works later--but perhaps I prefer them, just as they are. :)

(and that one above actually *is* mine)

...and, that's that! Hasta luego! :-D

(that was really fun)

~moi