11-08-2019, 09:46 AM
I think signals are getting crossed here... It seems like most people's understanding of what makes a good drawing is either how many detail and half-tones you can cram into it or how well you round off every corner and transition. This isn't what makes a good drawing, I was just talking about getting the important stuff correct. You know, get the drawing accurate, make the form and light impression read well, having a good (and accurate) sense of gesture and weight, this kind of stuff.
Sure there's value in refining all the small stuff far because it can help you learn about what makes a drawing or painting click together well in all its qualities. Getting a sense for what small shapes contribute to the sense of form can help when starting the next drawing to know what information is more relevant than others, but just getting the big impression and big sense of form correct is much higher as a priority. If you can't do the big stuff well, I'd really suggest avoiding going too far into the detailing because at that point you're just distracting yourself from more important things that NEED to be fixed before getting there. The most valuable stuff is the big impression, the larger sense of form, gesture and design. The details, small half-tones and all that are always secondary. This is my main criticism of Watts (and many other modern artists), he doesn't don't seem to care about fundamentals of just drawing accurately and instead just focus on fancy bullshit that seem like just ways to distract you from an awkward drawing.
Focus on the big important stuff and work to express that the best way you can. The details solve themselves and come easy to just about everyone.
Sure there's value in refining all the small stuff far because it can help you learn about what makes a drawing or painting click together well in all its qualities. Getting a sense for what small shapes contribute to the sense of form can help when starting the next drawing to know what information is more relevant than others, but just getting the big impression and big sense of form correct is much higher as a priority. If you can't do the big stuff well, I'd really suggest avoiding going too far into the detailing because at that point you're just distracting yourself from more important things that NEED to be fixed before getting there. The most valuable stuff is the big impression, the larger sense of form, gesture and design. The details, small half-tones and all that are always secondary. This is my main criticism of Watts (and many other modern artists), he doesn't don't seem to care about fundamentals of just drawing accurately and instead just focus on fancy bullshit that seem like just ways to distract you from an awkward drawing.
Focus on the big important stuff and work to express that the best way you can. The details solve themselves and come easy to just about everyone.
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