Open Studio: Plan of Attack

Charcoal
Photographed by Artist

When I’m preoccupied by something, the drawing suffers.  I can’t do anything right.  It’s as if I completely lost any skills that I acquired.  It takes strength to keep pushing through these tough spots and not doubt myself.

Conversely, over time it became apparent that drawing while happy produces better results.  On a few rare and magical occasions, lines flow from the charcoal in my hand while I just watch in amazement.  Drawing is effortless when happy and mentally in the zone.  So the first goal is to relax and have fun.

Now that my mood is relaxed, I choose a subject of focus for the current session; a plan of attack if you will.  This can be any of a number of items.  It might be contour lines, shading, composition, making the figure fill the page, or placing lines accurately.  It might be working in vine charcoal, compressed charcoal, conte, ink or any number of others.  This helps me get over the persistent need to produce a finished drawing (although this in itself might be my subject of focus).

Ah….those pesky finished drawings.  Don’t they just drain all the momentum and energy from your soul?  They cry out, “Slow down and start tightening up!"  But we don’t listen because we are focused on the plan of attack.  So now the pressure is off.   Instead of juggling ten different skills, we have only one to address. 

Improvement, or lack of it in just a single facet of one’s drawing, becomes more apparent.  Narrowing one’s focus is such a basic truth that it doesn’t need stating.  But then again, it seems that it’s the basics which are the most elusive and which must continually be revisited. 

Focusing on one item at a time lets the process of drawing take the front stage.  It lessens the need for a finished work and it improves confidence.  When one single skill improves, everything else is influenced. 

And then when it happens that you find yourself in the mood to tackle that finished drawing, proceed with an attitude.

Harley Brown, a pastel artist whom I admire, reminds us in his book  Harley Brown’s Eternal Truths for Every Artist that we merely need to "Go for it!  Show the paper who's boss!"