Analysis Paralysis
In the past few days, I've been thinking more and more about drawing again. Not just thinking about it, I've also made a few small, quick sketches in my journal to stay awake during the theoretical parts of our class.
Before I "officially" stepped away from my "artist life", I already had the issue of finding my style. I know, that can be a controversial topic and it often seems to affect beginners and/or people who are roughly half my age. Still, it has always been something on my mind — interestingly, it only became a concern later in life. When I was half my current age, I didn’t really think about it. But over the years, I’ve learned many different techniques, methods, and styles (both theoretically and practically), to the point where I couldn’t see the forest for the trees. And so, I’m still often undecided about how much I want to stylize something, or even how I want to stylize it at all. Do I want it to be super colorful? I like so many things, and I can’t stick with one style for too long.
And then I think: Why do I want to settle on one? Oh right, to create consistency. But what do I need that for again? I’m not sure (at least not if I’m just drawing as a hobby).
Then I wonder what I would like to draw. Something highly stylized! But even there, there’s a "but": If I stylize too much, certain details will definitely be lost. A recurring problem for me is that characters who are heavily stylized often seem to lack a middle age. A character is either old and wrinkled or not. Unless you take a more generally "mature" style, but I don’t feel like doing that because I want to focus on shapes, silhouettes, and colors, and a more mature style doesn’t seem to leave much room for that.
Or maybe I do want a more mature style after all? Maybe I’m just telling myself I don’t because I no longer have the patience for anatomical accuracy. Maybe I should invest more time into a drawing.
But what do I actually want to achieve or express? I don’t know either, I just enjoy drawing.
And why don’t I just stick with what I last practiced? I don’t know that either.
Music: -
Mood: sleepy