I got this nice comment from DB Dowd the other day and figured I'd share my response here:
Hey Chris, congratulations on your set of drawings. I'm the source of this obnoxious but wonderful challenge, via Bob.
So what did you ultimately get out of the experience? As a more-or-less fully formed professional with a coherent style, did you learn anything from it? It tends to work pretty well as a diagnostic tool for students (who often devalue or overlook what they naturally do well) but I haven't seen someone like you actually do it. So I'm curious--what did the process yield for you?
Bob Flynn asked me some of the same questions and overall, I think I did learn something (way to be vague, Chris!). It wasn't so much the amount of time I spent at the drawing board in two days, but it was the amount of different illustrations that this exercise forced me to do in such a short amount of time. I learned far more about my thinking and creative habits than my drawing habits (although I still learned a little about those too!).
Often times, because I was only able to spend about 5-15 minutes per drawing, I wouldn't have the luxury of being able to work out a solid idea that I was pleased with. Instead, the exercise is all about gaining confidence and going in guns a blazin', which is great! It forced me to completely throw out any insecurities I had about the 100 drawings. There's simply no time to try and be a "perfectionist" (not that my regular work is anywhere near "perfect!").
The whole experience was very liberating and I urge any artist to try it once, if for nothing else, the excuse to draw a lot of drawings that if they come out terrible, who cares? The important part isn't the end product as much as the experience and getting through the 48 hours learning a thing or two about yourself (which is pretty valuable knowledge!).
Again, many thanks to DB Dowd for creating a really great exercise as well as Bob Flynn for turning me on to it.
That's enough ramblin' for me. I promise the next post will have some drawin's in it!
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8 comments:
It was a great little exercise, Chris. It was really fun to watching the process!
I'm glad DB made it over here and dropped you a note. It's weird to think about this stuff after the fact, but I like you wrote. It does exercise your brain as much as your drawing hand (if not more so!)
Great to hear your thoughts on it, Chris! I think they're very valuable :)
Thanks Scott! I'm glad I had you guys around to watch me lose my mind! ;)
I agree Bob, it's hard to put it into words. Perhaps mainly because your brain's so fried afterwords!
Thanks Rosemary! I don't know if they're valuable but I'm glad you enjoyed 'em! ;)
DUDE! I want to do this! I think I'm going to.
Do it! ;D
I loved the drawings, and thought that you simply ended becoming a faster artist in the end. Lesson learned: don't worry, just do it.
P.S. I love seeing how you basically had no place to sleep because of the large pile on your bed. Ha!
It was extremely interesting for me to read the article. Thanx for it. I like such topics and everything connected to this matter. I would like to read more on that blog soon.
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