Just Draw

I could be remembering wrong, but I think it was Renato dos Anjos, the animation supervisor for Wreck It Ralph, who said in an interview that one thing that’s key for an artist to grow in their craft is for them to find time to just draw. To draw without expectations or any kind of pressure to make something good. To just observe the world around them and be free to draw it and enjoy the process.

I am very aware of my weaknesses as an artist. I am especially weak in drawing human anatomy, especially female anatomy, so I’ve known that I need a lot of practice to get myself where I want to be in my skills.

So I was excited to find out about how an art gallery in Burbank (Center Stage Gallery) has a cheap drawing session every Wednesday night, where a model comes in costume and does poses for a three hour period. I decided to hit two birds with one stone, and just take a bunch of big newsprint paper and my trusty 5B pencil and just draw.

I went last night, and it was so amazing. I felt such a deep sense of contentment as I sat on the extremely uncomfortable sketching desk thingy, just drawing gestures and line and shading. I kept thinking about how, yes, I’m doing this to reach a goal, but if you boil down that goal, it’s still just to make art. So there was double satisfaction in what I was doing. I was making art, so that I can make art.

I think I’ll be going back again soon.