This month I’ve been participating in both Inktober and Drawlloween simultaneously. (I’ve also been crossing off my monster person challenge as extra credit. Everything for those has been posted on Instagram, which you can get to in the links to the right.) Drawing everyday (or almost everyday) has really helped me practice more. I had gotten a point where I was just sketching doodles every now and then but not really working on anything. Having a challenge like this has really helped me realize that. As a result, I’ve spent a lot of my extra time working on drawing the basics. Things like muscle and skeletal structures are really important for understanding the way things should look on people and really any living creature. I’ve been really lazy in my drawings and haven’t worked very hard to get good references or even good definition in much of anything. My practice has gotten really weak.
When I was in high school I drew a lot to keep myself entertained in class and to keep me focused on whatever the teacher was saying. Now that I’m not stuck in (seemingly pointless) classes for 8+ hours a day, I don’t really have an excuse. I don’t really have any time that’s can be just dedicated to drawing and art projects. That’s also something that’s a little shocking. All through high school I was taking art classes and those were the classes I focused on more than almost any other’s. My art homework were the assignments I’d work on in other classes more than anything. But now I don’t have any required number of pieces to finish or grades to get from art. Especially after switching out of any Art majors. (In fact, that’s one of the reasons I cite when people ask about the majors thing. I just haven’t been drawing enough on my own, which is really a disappointment, because I’m pretty good and I know I can get a lot better.)
Anyways, art is cool and I want to get better at the basics so my overall skills are better too. I’m kind of thinking of forfeiting Nanowrimo this year (although I came up with a really cool idea that I’d like to explore more) and doing a new drawing challenge, but I’m still not sure. A drawing challenge would potentially take less time then the writing challenge. (I figured out one year that if I write for 3 hours everyday I’d hit the target. That was handwritten too, so it may even be less time now that I have a laptop.)
blindunderground 