Working hard, drawing and painting Katrina Germein’s picture book Thunderstorm Dancing. I might post some random weather fragments occasionally but can’t show you much until it’s finished…. and I’ll come out from under that cloud ;-) hopefully very soon.
Wish me luck!
Alice gets in on the action – sneak peek at one corner of spread 22-23
Funny how when you draw something upside down, your eye can lose its usual sense of proportion. This is the last in a series of head-stand sketches for Thunderstorm Dancing. In some of the earlier sketches, when I turned the picture the other way up after drawing, (so that the child was seen with with head upwards) I was amused to find that her head was enooooormously too large, and sometimes her body was extremely shortened.
However, I didn’t try drawing this picture the other way up. I felt the only way to get the right balance, weight and feeling was to draw her as she is to be seen on the page.
I must keep going with the indian ink and not look down… or sideways, or upwards. Especially upwards.
I have been struggling with my roughs for Thunderstorm Dancing. The text is wonderful. The possibilities are endless. This is part of the problem. Endless possibilities are hard to deal with.
I’ve been working with pencils. Love those pencils, but when I have to draw eight characters (including Lucy the dog) interacting on the one spread, the pencil is not my friend. It is not broad enough. I tend to get all fiddly and fussy. I need to use loose lines to get those bodies expressing dance and play.
Lucy and Alice climbing on to the porch. Pencil looking great here. Only two characters and simple composition.
Then, today, when I was feeling a little lost and in need of help, I also made the mistake of looking at Alexis Deacon‘s blog. Aaaargh!! Begone Alexis, Thou Obscenely Talented Man!
Alexis is herewith banned from my studio until I am happy with my roughs. Then I’ll feast my eyes again on his fabulousness.
So what to do? I needed to strike out in a different direction; re-boot the old drawing engine.
I selected a large piece of my most rubbishy paper (ignoring the sticky note at the top of my drawing board), picked up a brush and dipped it into the Noodler’s Ink.
One of the notes at the top of my drawing board. Cecily Osborn was my lovely school art teacher.
Big sigh! I could see some life returning to my drawings. Maybe Noodling is the way forward. Maybe it’s the medium to use. Maybe I need to Noodle my way into some happy compositions and then revert back to pencil when the shapes are right. At any rate it’s a lifeline for now (perhaps like one of those pool noodles you can use for flotation).
DESPERATE DRAWERS – DO NOT DIVE
Here are some of the quick, inky sketches. They’re only rough, but they have a bit of life. So…
A way forward for tomorrow.
Judy Watson 