Tag: Draquawn

It’s been awhile since I’ve picked up an ink pen. I’ve been rather carefree with charcoal for months now, drifting farther and farther away from concern with realism or “rendering three dimensional form in two dimensional space.” It’s not been without concentration or “struggle,” but it’s been relaxing way to work that I’m quite comfortable with.

My buddy, Byron, recently went to the great beyond. Thinking of his wonderful, idiosyncratic pen and ink drawings made me want to switch it up—I would exercise an old, underused muscle while quietly celebrating a lost friendship, And maybe, with a little luck, I would be able to channel some of that Smith magic that combined simplicity with certainty and relaxed confidence.

Well, nope.

Yada yada yada … it’s tedious!

1. The concentration required even for a loose sketching technique is fatiguing. 2. An elegant line is hard to come by, especially for someone who is used to bullying charcoal and playing rough with the paper. 3. There are no do-overs. (Erasure and obliteration are my two favorite things in this world.)

I plan to stick with it at least until I’ve used up Bristol pad I recently aquired. It’s good to switch things up every once in a while. After all, going to the life room is like going to the gym. You have to shock the muscles, you have to get some cardio going on—it’s a workout and it should feel like one.