The imagery that I find most inspiring, most compelling are images of people. Expressive, realistic depictions of faces and bodies can keep my attention like no other art can. When I begin any art where people will be part of the composition, I will almost always begin drawing the faces first. It’s really important to me to get that right from the very beginning. I can forgive myself for mistakes in the scenery, or some part of the background not looking just right. But if there is a flaw in the focal point of the drawing, then I have to call it a failure. At which point I normally start over. My perfectionism about my art allows me to do nothing else.
The drawing I am currently working on (though embarrassingly slowly) is a medieval fantasy illustration. I try to make these drawings look like a brief moment in a larger narrative, almost like a single frame of a film.
I used a snapshot of a couple of friends as reference for body position and facial expressions. At this point I usually haven’t fully planned out the details of how they will eventually look. Rather I’m still worrying about making them look like they are in the scene and not just on the page.
A few more details begin to fall in place. Balance is very important in my characters. I want them to look like they are standing naturally, that whatever they are carrying hangs naturally upon them. I had a bit of trouble with the hefty axe. The first time I drew it, the angle was off, making it look more like he was clenching it in his fist rather than holding it loosely in his grip. It took me two or three more attempts before it looked believable. It’s really important to notice these details when I’m stilling dealing with lines, rather than when I have begun to fill in the darker values.
At this stage I’m usually filling in more shades and details, polishing up ideas and constantly considering whether what I’ve done is good or not. In that respect I am not really a very intuitive artist, rather I think at length (perhaps overthink) about whether certain details are in fact right for the drawing. I sometimes begin a small idea and after spending a little time on it, realize I don’t like it and decide to abandon it. This can slow down the process considerably, causing me to get bogged down in minutia, something I try to avoid.
As the figures near completion, I have to begin thinking about putting my ideas for the background onto the page. Often I’m still mulling over a couple of different notions, trying to decide which is best. With this one I had always imagined them emerging from a forest, looking into the distance.
Sometimes getting a detail wrong, can be a lethal mistake. As my figures come closer to the ground I begin to think about how their feet should look obscured by grass and underbrush. Since it’s in the foreground it’ll be more noticeable, which makes it not a minor detail. I would notice that in a drawing so I must assume my viewers would too. So worrying about something like that, often makes me put off finishing it. Which is what I’ve done here.
It is really important to me to create the illusion of depth. So I can easily spend too much time trying to find the perfect reference images to fill in my background. Sometimes I must force myself to draw more freely, to let the central figures really be the central figures, to let the background be a little hazy and unclear. In the end, that is a more realistic view anyway.
This drawing is done on a 14 x 16 page but for some reason is taking me longer that some bigger drawings I’ve done. In fact I’ve started and finished another drawing while still slaving away at this one. But I’ve often felt like each artwork kind of has a plan of its own. Some works seem to flow out onto the page while others arrive as slow as erosion. Sometimes, despite being the artist, it really doesn’t seem to be up to me.
After an era of blood and tears the drawing has finally reached completion. The background proved frustrating because I continually asked myself if it was enough. Should I draw more rocks or logs or bushes…ad nauseum. In the end it turned out pretty well.