Inspiration

I have continued to draw and experiment with techniques and styles. Most recently I have been inspired by the work of Mc Bess. He is a French illustrator I have been peripherally aware of since at least 2010. Since I first saw his work I was completely enamored with how he gets such thick graphic lines and even fills with traditional media. Mc Bess is a master of composition and the vintage cartoon aesthetic.

Abstraction

I’ve also been mulling over something that one of my drawing teachers said. He said when many of his students are first learning to draw “they tend to draw something that they will call abstract but they have no idea what abstraction is.” I think the point he was trying to convey was that it was important to focus on the fundamental practice of open air life drawing. At the time abstract things were my favorites to draw, mandalas, geometric designs, and the like. Our first assignment in class was to draw something that would exemplify the concept of line. I drew a paisley which he hated and encouraged me to do something else. This rejection led me to really consider what abstraction is, why I like it so much, when its appropriate, and where it comes from.

Ultimately, I came to the conclusion that abstraction is the deviation that happens when an imperfect being tries to express a perfect concept. I like it because it seems to capture the primordial essence of creation. When the ancient of days divided the heaven and earth everything sculpted beyond that geometric horizon was abstraction due to its primacy. Now that things exist anything built upon them is abstraction. Abstraction is appropriate when you are trying to express a concept that isn’t captured by the immediate nature of an object.

To this day I try very hard to draw literal objects because I know I’m not excellent at it. It seems the more I draw from abstraction the more tricks I learn to make literal objects more interesting when I do draw them.

Some things from the sketchbook

Each of these drawings has a story but for brevity’s sake I will let them speak for themselves. Some of the black fills were done with a brush, the fine lines were done with a pilot metropolitan and the thick lines were done with a JinHao 159. All of it was inked in Noodler’s Black eel. In the future I am going to invest in some India ink for when I try to get a really even black surface.