drawing

Oil paint can intimidate me. Balancing color and temperature and paint thickness can distract the overall vision I have for a piece. Graphite pencil is less intimidating and more friendly. The barrier to entry feels minimal and allows me to only think about rendering form, placing line weight, and designing negative space. A drawing cannot rely on a color scheme to achieve attention and must work on its own. I appreciate how drawing is the most foundational, honest part of fine art. Oil painting feels like serious, studious work. Drawing feels like a fun work.

‘Art style’ only develops as art skills strengthen, and art skills only strengthen when there’s more artwork being produced.

I need to do create drawings to be able to understand how to paint. Because drawing is less confusing for me, I currently produce more drawings. When I draw, I am more brave with my ideas and tend to break away from my reference. This has helped with my ‘art style.’ I am putting that in quotes because I am do not believe in a conscious art style; I think art style appears when an artist has produced a significant amount of artwork.

Drawing has pressured my technical skills and time management to keep up with my imagination. Because I have been focusing on drawing, the story I am attempting to tell in my artwork is becoming more clear. The next step is to be able to communicate it to my viewers to the best of my abilities.