Salutations, traveler of The Internets! Welcome to William's Bloody Hell, so named after our founder, Sir Bloody William.
He is seen in the likeness above in a rare, 19th century woodcut. This
image was rumoured to have been
commissioned after a bout of unpleasantness
in the White Chapel district of London. Do enjoy your stay and peruse our many, varied offerings, much of which cannot be found elsewhere!
::Today's soundtrack: Buffy Summers "Alive (Going Through the Motions)" ::
I haven't drawn anything for several weeks now, and I'm fearing that I may have forgotten how.
There was so much to sort out before my vacation that I just didn't have the time. My trip was chock full of events, that I didn't bring any drawing stuffs along with me. Then I got back and OF COURSE there's a whole metric ass-load of crap to sort out at work because I was away for so long. Within the entire four week period, the only thing I managed to draw was a doodle on a napkin, and even THAT was difficult and confusing to me. It was as though I suddenly forgot how human parts went together or something. Do you think it was unusual for me to try a figure in foreshortening? YES. That only happened because I couldn't get a straight on figure to look correct in my mind's eye. Here I was all worried that a doodle on a napkin would turn out even MORE awkward that the final product.
Now I'm currently making an attempt at an actual, for real finished piece and I'm having the same problems. The typical really large eyes and oversized head just didn't factor in for some reason. I don't even KNOW why it's shaping up like it is. It's like I'm drawing in an old style of mine that I don't use any more. Good gravy, have I actually REGRESSED? Is that even possible? Figures that I would be the one to manage it!
Never mind when I got down to inking the darn picture. I felt as though I had no idea how a marker even worked, let alone using it properly. When my favourite marker decided to up and die on a small way into it and I was forced to use markers of other nib sizes, goo lord I was co confused. There are so many lines on this pic that are thick globs of line-age, where it should have been a neat and steady taper. Damn Damn Damn.
They say certain skills and talents never leave you, and that even if you've fallen out of practice, it will come right back. You know, the whole "riding a bicycle" metaphor. I surely hope so. Drawing is one of the few hobbies I have in which I take great pride and enjoy putting work into it to create a good looking final product. Also, the fun. But if I keep drawing things where I feel it is going nowhere or coming out all wrong and come to the conclusion that it must me scrapped and restarted from scratch, well, it starts to me LESS fun. Then it's more like WORK, only no one is paying me. Seriously, it is no fun to draw and redraw the same image and fail multiple times.
It just sucks to stop doing something you love for a while, try to get back into it and discover that you are now terrible. Hm. Maybe I was terrible all along and didn't realize? No... that can't be right... can it? Just have to keep trying and find out.
William the Bloody (no talent hack)
