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January 29, 2006
Thinking and caring
In amongst the pen and ink and coloured crayons.
I'm doing a series of illustrations for an actors' agency newsletter. This sort of work brings up a ubiquitous artistic dilemma:
Think and care too little and the results are flat and crap.
Think and care too much and the results are flat and crap.
You have to find the middle ground of effortless accuracy. You have to achieve a situation similar to this fellow,
though you don’t have to wear the same costume [unless, of course, that’s what does it for you].
The balance required is some sort of relaxed informed casual confidence. Though, watch out, it’s only a gnat's whisker from sloppiness. You relax, you lay back, chill out, make marks then:
“Whooah! Careful”
You’re heading for: don’t-care-can’t-be-arsed. So you pull back and things go okay until:
“Whooah! Careful”
Before you know it you’re all tentative, fearful and rigid.
Time to wander round and hit the drum for a bit before carrying on trying not to care about thinking or think about caring.
Posted by john at January 29, 2006 04:46 PM