Art Improvement Diary 2: Stupid Flow State

 There's an idea of getting into the flow state where your mind is locked in to one function and you become far more efficient at a task.

 I got to stop doing that.

 

What I drew.

 This is the original panel. I got so into inking the house that I didn't stop there. I added poles, trees, power lines, houses, etc. I was like Slartibartfast and his fjords. Getting lost in all of those crinkly lines.

 The result was busy and the add-ons kind of ruined the perspective. Also the bits where I really should have used a ruler I didn't because I was letting my hand do the thinking for me. Lines. Lines. Lines. More lines!

The flow state took over and my critical eye went to sleep. It's a hard to look at mess. Especially for the smartphone screen everyone uses.

 Corrections were made in Krita. 

What will be posted.

 More empty space, sure. Those spots will be filled with word balloons anyway, so nothing was lost. The most important part was establishing the setting. An anonymous Eastern Canadian house with a rickety fence. 

 No one needed to know about the neighbour's shed. 

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Lesson: The art in a comic is just a much of a language as the dialog.  Flow state is good for getting you locked in but you should always try to step back and make sure you're saying what you want to say clearly. 

Art Improvement Diary 1

This comic is being made with pen & paper. Real old school like. G-nib, brush, rulers, light table, ink, AMES guide, you know… How nobody makes comics anymore.

You wondering, “Why?” is understandable. I hope my “because” is the same for you:

Paper doesn’t have an undo button.

Yah, I’m still doing corrections and redraws in Krita and the argument can be made that using it is just a massive undo button for the many fuck ups in the original.

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TANGENT

You should never speak poorly of your own work. I’m not doing that. I’m stepping back and looking at my art and seeing where it needs to be improved. Making note that the eyes are misaligned isn’t saying, “I draw like shit,” it’s saying, “I have the ability to draw better and here’s the next thing to work on.”

I sometimes think people don’t want you do recognize your flaws because it robs them of the cruel pleasure of doing it themselves. But I’m a bit of a misanthrope.

END TANGENT
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Maybe it is an undo button with extra steps, but the shift in medium does a great job of forcing me to see where my bad habits are. Breaking them is a different thing, but I’m aware of the need to do so.

The biggest thing I noticed on these panels? Drawing fast like I was working digitally is the main cause of me needing to redo (undo?) so many things. I MUST slow down and treat the medium like it needs to be.

Now that’s all off my head, it’s time to get back to it.

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Yup, it's been a year since I touched this blog. Blame BlueSky for making shitting your brain onto the internet so much easier than trying to remember grammar and the like.

I'm loath to use any Google product give the push for AI horse shit, but I went through all of the usual suspects when finding a place to post this and Blogger was the least shit option. 

I was shocked too.