Hand Drawn Photograph
Anyone that knows me knows that I am a creative type. I always have to have some sort of project or artistic endeavor that I’m working on, or I start to go a little crazy. You know like those meat-head workout guys that can’t do anything until they’ve hit the gym for 2 hours? Kinda like that. Maybe not that crazy. But if you are an artsy kind of person, you know the feeling. No amount of reasoning in the world about what you “should” be doing at the moment will sway you. You have a clear vision in your head. You can feel the movements coming out of your hands or feet, or whatever it is that gets your thought on the medium of choice. You might be an otherwise rational and responsible person not normally given to insane impulses, but when the notion to create something gets into your head, you will stop at nothing to get it out. I am no different; susceptible as the next person to be transported somwhere else as I get my hands busy making whatever it is. In today’s case, I needed to draw. It is insanely therapeutic, and to boot I get something cool to look at when its done. Much better than some of the addictions the human body is capable of these days. Because I love technology, but was trained as a traditional artist as well, I love merging the two. So with my handy Wacom pen and tablet, I created a digital sketch of one of my brides twirling her dress about. Save for having to tweak her arm a bit to suit my liking more, it is pretty much a drawn rendition of the original photograph.
Some might scoff at this method of creating artwork (and I say to each his own opinion – I am rather disinclined to admire Matisse even though he is technically considered an artistic master), either because they are fanatical purists or because they are not artistic themselves and think everything that comes from a computer is “automated.” Not the case. Every line you see here was put down by hand, using a lower-opacity layer of the bride’s image as the background layer for reference. I used a combination of about four different brushes, altering my brush pressure and opacity as I worked. Then I smudged some of the shades together. So you see, no different than if I had swapped my 3H for a stick of wax pencil and then a piece of graphite. The only difference is the tactile sensation the viewer will get when they see it on paper, but technically you shouldn’t go around touching people’s artwork anyway, so that doesn’t bother me so much.
Not saying this first go is perfect (but do keep in mind it is not intended to be representational ; I rather prefer the somewhat abstract lines)….I am accustomed to doing digital paintings by now, but this is my first gander at a digital sketch. Critique welcomed. Once I get the technique down, I may offer this as an extra service to my clients. If anyone is up for being a guinea pig for now, let me know!
