More Illustrations
Feb. 21st, 2021 03:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lydamorehouse Today, Shawn and I watched the next couple of video lessons from Mattias in our Domestika "Doodles to Illustrations" course.
We were instructed to start to figure out how to draw a character of ourselves. I did a full page of attempts, but ended up with a couple that I thought captured my image of myself pretty well. Interestingly, both are side shots--but I think that's because I tend to think of myself in terms of my nose.
I have a little notation next to some of my first attempts in which I came to the conclusion that having dots for eyes somehow made me look more "lesbian." Perhaps the smaller eyes imply "no make-up" somehow? I have NO IDEA.
Image: cartoon image of me with pandemic hair, from the side, being grumpy about reading.
Shawn is now talking about "auditing" the class--in that she's planning to continue watching the videos with me, but she no longer feels up to the assignments.
I can't blame her. There is a thing that Mattias assumes that a LOT of art instructors seem to, which is a certain level of competence. He will say things like (and this is a direct quote,) "In order to make these characters seem like they're part of scene, have the light come from one source," and then he proceeds to just perfectly shade things... without ever having taught us about how to notice light and shadows.
Mason and I, who both had formal art lessons, remember spending an entire unit--often week or, even a whole MONTH--setting up shadow boxes and learning about single and multiple light sources.
So, I mean, yeah.
It's not required of this class, but the assumption of competence--or at least a certain kind of confidence--is there.
I do think this is one of the reasons a lot of people drop out of art. The thing that I was able to tell Shawn that seem to make her less frustrated is that the world is made of shapes. in doodling, cartooning, and informal illustrations, all you really have to do is imply them to the best of your ability.
Image: Full page of doodles for class--there are images of me, cats, and Shawn
Next lesson is bodies, a thing I am legitimately BAD at, so we'll see if I actually learn anything from Mattais about how to do them. I did learn a bit about different eye types, so there's hope.
I really did enjoy drawing Willow, however.
Image: cartoon of black cat that is nothing but ears and eyes
We were instructed to start to figure out how to draw a character of ourselves. I did a full page of attempts, but ended up with a couple that I thought captured my image of myself pretty well. Interestingly, both are side shots--but I think that's because I tend to think of myself in terms of my nose.
I have a little notation next to some of my first attempts in which I came to the conclusion that having dots for eyes somehow made me look more "lesbian." Perhaps the smaller eyes imply "no make-up" somehow? I have NO IDEA.
Image: cartoon image of me with pandemic hair, from the side, being grumpy about reading.
Shawn is now talking about "auditing" the class--in that she's planning to continue watching the videos with me, but she no longer feels up to the assignments.
I can't blame her. There is a thing that Mattias assumes that a LOT of art instructors seem to, which is a certain level of competence. He will say things like (and this is a direct quote,) "In order to make these characters seem like they're part of scene, have the light come from one source," and then he proceeds to just perfectly shade things... without ever having taught us about how to notice light and shadows.
Mason and I, who both had formal art lessons, remember spending an entire unit--often week or, even a whole MONTH--setting up shadow boxes and learning about single and multiple light sources.
So, I mean, yeah.
It's not required of this class, but the assumption of competence--or at least a certain kind of confidence--is there.
I do think this is one of the reasons a lot of people drop out of art. The thing that I was able to tell Shawn that seem to make her less frustrated is that the world is made of shapes. in doodling, cartooning, and informal illustrations, all you really have to do is imply them to the best of your ability.
Image: Full page of doodles for class--there are images of me, cats, and Shawn
Next lesson is bodies, a thing I am legitimately BAD at, so we'll see if I actually learn anything from Mattais about how to do them. I did learn a bit about different eye types, so there's hope.
I really did enjoy drawing Willow, however.
Image: cartoon of black cat that is nothing but ears and eyes