Sunday 15 March 2009

Sharp

This idea was my ‘logo’ for a long time, in the days when I did a lot of work for Women’s magazines. It went through umpteen redraws.
Sometimes an idea comes with a drawing attached; other times you have to struggle to find a drawing that does the idea justice. I have a file of ideas that I’ve never been able to draw up, some of them too interesting to 'waste' on a bad drawing. They’ll have to wait until I’m competent enough to draw them.
I'd rather have an idea without a drawing than a drawing without an idea.
This one is done in compacted charcoal and coloured pencils, my media of choice before I went digital. I still like the idea, but don't like the eyes. I've always had trouble with eyes (including my own).

3 comments:

Lee said...

I LOVE your drawings, Michael. I can't imagine there's something you wouldn't be competent at drawing.

Michael Villegas said...

I agree with Nicole. You have a great talent, and it's fantastic that you share it with us.

I too would rather have an idea without a drawing than a drawing without an idea. I have plenty 'o ideas that I wasn't able, at least at this point, to successfully pull off.

The eyes look good to me. Even without my glasses!

nonstickplans said...

Thanks very much for the comments.
I'm not really a sketchbooky person and don't draw constantly like some illustrators do (although, until recently, I did do a life drawing or painting class once a week). Consequently drawing isn't a 'facility' for me and it tends to be a bit hit and miss. I'd like to think that was on purpose, as I hate 'slick' drawings, but really it's just laziness. This drawing shows that charcoal pencil on actual paper gives a much more sensitive line than a Wacom tablet and pen.
I'm thinking of posting some drawings from a book I did at college, just to show how bad I was when I first decided that cartooning was going to be a career option.