Working towards consistency

[Navaali]

Oof, it's been a while. I won't go into detail over the reasons but it was a rather empty year, art-wise. 
I'm now focusing on art as my main goal and I'm pretty optimistic it's going to be a huge change. Let's see this as a gift I want for myself, no matter the cost :) 
Just to give perspective on my situation, I no longer have a job for the moment so I have time to practice, in my own way and priority order. I'm really happy to get to decide what I do.

Recently I have :
- sorted out all of my art that's on paper (traditional art?) - all of it since kindergarden! Therapeutic to get to decide what I like or not, and to decrease the amount to what I can be proud of or feel is relevant now. Helps to remind myself of the practice I got and my progress over time
- got all of my art furniture in my new accomodation and I'm trying to tidy it up in a practical way - I need effortless access 
- got physio treatment for pain in the wrist; it's probably a cause for my bad motor skills (unless it's the opposite way around) and an obvious obstacle for my art ambitions. I hope, by doing regular training and just getting myself into shape, I might be able to maintain a physical condition good enough for supporting art practice. We forget it's really a bodily experience more than a use of knowledge and time. 

Currently I'm doing :
- some work on my mindset, trying to face my old demons and put them behind me (stuff like unfinished projects that I never forgot myself for not nurturing)
- work on my writing skills in order to correct my hand posture and gesture (I'm reworking Japanese Kanji and also using a kid's method for writing French :'D) 
- with no rush, contemplating again the first part of lesson one of Drawabox because it's about those motor skills that are a problem for me
- taking time to read a lot, watch stuff, appreciate the productions that inspire me

What I plan on doing soon :
- trying some old techniques I haven't used in a while, just experiment
- going over the material for my most recent projects and decide on a priority
- finishing a few drawing that are in hold since a while and finishing my old sketchbook with random stuff in order to move to a new one

I hope you guys are doing well, thanks for keeping this place alive! <3

[Navaali]

I've started this week to work with the goal of drawing comics daily. I'll keep a deadline on Fridays to deliver one or two pages a week. I had done only 5 pages in a two years period, and yet i'm saying that what I want the most is to be a comic author... So I'll start by addressing the issues of productivity and method before anything else.

I started on Wednesday and had to leave today at 10am so I had to rush it but that's part of the thing I want to learn. I'm glad I was able to make it in time, it was hard to focus and get things done but with short period of time drawing and then a good effort at the end, I managed to finish it last minute!

The thing that went worst was the inking, I didn't find the right pens for the first panel. A few things went wrong while inking too! But the main goal is achieved so I'm glad.

Panel 1: He came every year for the Saint Sylvain.
Panel 3-4: isn't this... The 2 of diamonds?
Panel 7: and now for the main act!
Panel 11: We never saw him again.

[darktiste]

[Navaali]

@darktiste héhé

Critique for last week page:
Inking is inconsistant and messy. Lack of rendering/middle values to give a sense of atmosphere. 
Two issues with the frame/the way the page is structured (not sure how to express this in English) that causes problems for understanding and reading.
- sequence panels 6-7 the 180° rule seems broken. I wanted to show the magician /not taking the card/ which explains it still is there at the end. I should have chosen a larger frame to show his body movement looking away from the girl but still facing the crowd.
- sequence panels 8-9 the panel is hard to read. I thought I'd draw the anticipation and result but because this is something extraordinary, 2 more pictures were necessary. One throwing the coat, and one with the coat covering the view. At least the first one (else we might think there is a trick which wasn't the meaning I went for)
- the magician looks shady, because of how his face and eyes are always hidden. While I chose to do this, the effect and "mood" it gives as a result isn't what I wanted.
Overall, too many panels and it's still not enough for what I wanted to tell. Trying to do a one page story is difficult.

On the positive side: 
- A finished page in three busy days, great effort to get back to work with something rather personal
- Pretty nice to get to give life to an idea from start to finish, even if the delivery isn't good yet
- Variety of panels sizes and framings/scales 


 

This week:
I've formalized my planning with a fixed daily time (3h30) for a set number of activities. It includes 1h35 for the current comic page project, 50 minutes for study and 50 minutes for play/exploration.

I did the Drawabox L1 Lines from the shoulder 2 pages, I'm taking my time rewiewing lesson materials. The physiotherapy helps with "drawing with confidence" and I'm also keeping at it most days. My wrist still feels stiff and painful but I generally can draw without pain for those relatively short periods I do, and I'm regaining some finer control of motor skills with my hand. I don't know if I'll eventually heal but at least my arm is stronger than ever (which isn't difficult) and I have ways to keep it under control. 
So yup, I'm going back to Drawabox again. Spatial reasonning and the mind/eye/hand/page process are what isn't instinctive at all for me, so the course was a life-saver when I found it after art school left me with a disappointing level of drawing despite the thousands of hours spent learning back then. I like the slow pace approach and focusing on one thing at a time. I feel it's precisely the set of skills that I lack so I'm eager to go through it. It feels reassuring to find those good old exercices of lesson 1. 

I have been consistent, drawing everyday and following my planning. It's really helpful now that everything I must do is clear and constant. All I have to do is make it my priority. It gets easier to focus and be productive right away too with short period of time assigned. It's nice to separate productivity mode (comics) and then have time set to study and draw in a more relaxed manner. 
I can feel my mind switching back to becoming more creative again and the art blocks giving way.

[Navaali]

Oof, one year has pasted since my last post! I can see that my sketchbook has been very rarely updated and does not really reflect my practice. I was pretty happy with the comic pages though, they represented my attempt at getting back into comic making, which was and still is my ultimate goal.
The good news is that me not posting here doesn't mean I have been inactive. It's far less that what I hoped to achieve, but I produced 5 isolated comic pages including the 2 I showed here last August and September. Then I did a small 8 page doujinshi trying new things (inking with japanese drawing pen, and learning how to use traditional screentones) with an action scene and one more intimate...
Since then I've restarded an old comics project, quite ambitious, and I'm looking for an editor. This was a big art block of mine and actually doing the thing, getting that far is an achievement for me, but at the same time, I'm not satisfied with how much I draw. I want to become more productive and as my topic name says, more consistent. I need more practice, plain and simple. I'm trying to be a professional and I must play the part but I also know I have a lot of weaknesses. I'd rather be realistic about them and work hard to adress them than continue trying to do only difficult things without taking time to train myself.
Elsewhere you're supposed to show stuff that is good. I feel it would help me to have this place to share the things I'm struggling with or that I just have to repeat even when they're not exciting or impressive.
I've shown my pages to a few great French comic artists with various reactions, most summarized by the fact that I need to work on my drawing skills. The better the artist the more my work is clumsy in their eyes! But I had an excellent artist compliment my painting style, and acknowledge that I already had a good foundation but still lacked skill especially with characters. He advised me to work intensively for 6 months, saying that if I could do that, I could make it in the pro world. This really motivated me a lot so here I am!

[Navaali]

Here are two recent drawings. I've noticed some inconsistencies with the angles, for example the woman has contradictory angles of view for the shoulders and for the rest of the body :/