In 2011 I will do 2,011 pages of drawing, and I'll be keeping myself honest on my blog!
'HOLY SHIT, THAT'S A LOT," you may say. That's what I said, that's what my girlfriend said. It's really not though. If I do 6 pages each day, I'll be more than fine. The one "catch" is that half of the 2,011 pages must be studies. The idea is that not only will I force myself to draw more often, but I'll force myself to study and learn from the masters.
Anyway, here are the rules I've set forth:
1. I must do at least 1,005 pages of drawings from my head or from real life.
2. I must do at least 1,006 pages of studies.
3. Since I do a lot of storyboards for my portfolio, those count. They will be added to the 2,011 once the board is finished.
1 page of 3 panels = 1 page of the 2,011
So follow along on my blog, and I encourage you all to take on a 2,011 in 2011 challenge!
Oh, one last note. Since the studies are not my own work, I wont be posting each individual page of them. I dont want ANY confusion as to what's my work and what's not, and I dont want anybody thinking that I'm taking credit for the master's work. Instead I'll probably post a photo of all the pages and list who I was looking at that particular day.
Anyway, here are my first 6 pages. I went people watching in Santa Monica today.
So this fellow was interesting. He was Middle Eastern, and he had one leg and a three legged dog. He also does not like being drawn. See how the paper is dirty and wrinkled? That's from when he yelled at me and tore the page out of my sketch book!
Rule 4. of 2,011 in 2011: be more sly.
These aren't from Santa Monica. I was watching "Magnum Force" with my dad. Clint Eastwood's a badass. Oh, and those are Tharks at the bottom.
Anyhoo, I'll try to update my blog with this daily, but I might not be able to. I WILL be keeping up on the pages, and I WILL post everything, if not every day.
999/1,005 drawings left
1,006/1,006 studies left
-JJ
PS: Anybody have suggestions on who to do master copies from?
why?
ReplyDeletei mean, is there a creative project or career goal that all this drawing is aimed at accomplishing?
Why? To become a better artist, since my art's not cutting it.
ReplyDeleteI graduated over 2 1/2 years ago and back then I assumed I would be in a more respectable position career-wise after almost 32 months. So far I've been rejected from every studio position I've applied for and I havent really had any work beyond freelance for friends.
I went through a bout of self-pitty this week, but slapped myself and said "quit bitching, do something about it."
This is my plan to change that. Taking classes is not getting me where I want to be fast enough, so I'm cranking up the heat.
I guess it's like a 300lb fatty who says "goddamnit, I'm tired of being fat," and decides to run 6 miles each day. Except I'm tired of being unemployed, and instead of losing weight, I'll improve as an artist.
Last thought:
ReplyDeletePretty much any artist will tell you that you get great through pencil mileage. This is my attempt to build up that pencil mileage. I want to look at a style or artist and say "I'm good enough to do that."
One thought:
ReplyDeleteThis doesn't really leave any time for any finely polished finished works, so you'll finish the year without any works for your portfolio
sounds like a good idea man. id join you, but with work im pretty sure it wouldnt work out. maybe half though. 1000 for 2011? either way, awesome way to power up, if you can stick to it.
ReplyDeleteLet's see if we can do a 1000 Zach, but yeah JJ sounds like a good way to level up.
ReplyDeleteGood point, Scott. I'll find a way to build in some buffer into my schedule so that I can devote some days to finished pieces.
ReplyDeletedrawing a lot can be good, but you're already a damn good storyboard artist. the trick is finding the people that dig your style. you'll get really good at drawing if you're getting paid to do it 10 hours a day!
ReplyDeleteSeems I'm a bit late to the party on this one. If you haven't already, I'd say the best master studies you can learn from are Loomis, Bridgeman and Burne Hogarth. All of them are masters at creating works from the imagination, and are critically acclaimed. Loomis has more "correct" human studies, Hogarth has "dynamic" studies, and Bridgeman's work is just quite distorted, and makes its own kind of sense.
ReplyDeleteMy personal suggestion would be Frank Frazetta. He's has skilled work from pencils to paintings and has very, very cool drawings.