illustration Archives - Page 33 of 74

How to draw like an artist

Moving my hand across the sheet of paper never really seemed like a big deal to me. I love the feel of paper, and how a brush feels in my hand. People come up to me all the time and tell me how great it is to be able to draw. And of course they turn their heads from side to side and pooh-poohed the notion that I put out – that everyone can draw. Someone asked “how does it feel like when you draw?”

I love swimming. I love pools, specifically. Not the ocean, because I freak out when I saw dead corals one time and I get anxious at the idea of not having my feet touch ground. I imagine that there are things in the water waiting to grab my legs and pull me down when my friends are busy playing. Yes, I’ve tried getting over it, but this was the only thing that I couldn’t get past. Heights? Repelling and roller coaster rides blunted the fear. Staircases? I hardly remember that I once was scared of it. Anyway, back to the water.

I didn’t know how to swim until I was a teenager. Back then I swam only on the shallow end. The end that when you stood up the water reaches your waist. The sissy end – my friends would call it. At first I didn’t want to join them, but it got lonely. I asked myself – what was the worst thing that could happen? Drowning? Just hang on to the side and you’ll be fine. What if your leg cramps up and you can’t move them? Just hang on to the side and you’ll be fine. Fine.

So I made my way over to the deep end.

And slowly over the next few weeks, I found that I could float quite well. And I drifted away from the edges, letting go of the reassuring feel of the mosaic under my fingers and the sound of the lapping water against the hidden water overflow outlets. Swimming wasn’t hard at all, I thought. I could tread water in a way that made my father proud (he’s a water baby!) with just my legs keeping me afloat. And I wouldn’t drown even if I just used my hands.

Bobbing against the water and I found myself relaxing – I was using my body to stay afloat, but it was rhythmic and automatic, and not struggling spasms, like before. It felt good. I felt great.

And I moved further away from the edge. I did underwater somersaults. Backward flips, front-freewheeling balls. I was weightless, and I never felt freer in my life.

Drawing, to me, reminds me of being in the water. Where not only is my mind free to wander and to do backflips, but my hand as well. I draw from my shoulder, and not just my wrist – I move my arm and my shoulder, just like I would as I float in a pool.

I don’t fight the water, I embrace it – and I can feel myself melt into the invisible pores of the water, as if we are one.

It’s exactly how I feel with a brush in my hand.

I allow it to take over; hand, body, mind, and heart. And it feels like I’m swimming.

SHARE WITH ME:

How does it feel like for you? Whether you’re drawing, painting, or creating – what goes through your mind when you’re in the flow?

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[Illustration by Alessandro Gottardo]

Hannah Waldron

I’m a little smitten by the works of Hannah Waldron, an illustrator from the UK who is currently experimenting with weaving, where she often explores the textures, patterns, forms and structures of her surroundings, and has an interest in the development of landscape over time.

I find that she has a personal pattern that peeks through in all her work – namely her love of lines and how she uses them to create visuals; and how natural it was for her to take her strengths and turn it into an art form through weaving as well.

I discovered her work through the latest issue of Wrap (one of my favorite magazines out there on illustration and creative culture), and I’d like to share a quote with you from her feature in the magazine:

[quote] People aren’t making their own objects so much these days, but creating is an inherent part of being human, so I think that in time where the dominant mode of making things is mass production, there will be a collective search for pieces that expresses different values. ~ Hannah Waldron [/quote]

You can pick up a copy of Wrap 8 over here, and find out more on Hannah Waldron’s work by heading over to her online portfolio.

What does being an artist mean to you?

For the longest time I had trouble identifying with the label of an artist.

It was difficult for me. When I had a brush in my hand, I was one. But when I put on my other various caps – writer, project manager, teacher – was I still considered an artist? I felt like I was juggling too many things at once to be able to catch a ball long enough that truly defined me as one. But as I struggled internally with the question, I finally realized something: being an artist isn’t a label. It’s what you do that truly counts.

Being an artist means putting your best feet forward everyday and to create things that makes a difference; whether that difference is for you, or for others. That’s what being an artist means to me. Being able to bare your soul for others to pick at, not knowing what brickbats will befall you as you put your work out there. That’s what being an artist means to me. Being unsure if what you do will resonate with others, but you need to say something all the same. That’s what being an artist means to me. People who have a fear of the unknown, but who are willing to take a chance – to jump in to do the work anyway. That’s what being an artist means to me.

So while I may not fit in the conventional role of being a visual artist, I think of this website, this blog – as my own personal space where I am able to create; just like artists who need a studio, a long worktable and glorious paint – all I need is my laptop, a space and undivided time to call my own, and my trusty computer (an empty notepad will suffice too).

I’m still not sure if I can be called an artist. All I know is that I want my work to matter. My goal is to raise questions, and create an awareness about artists and illustrators and their amazing potential to create, and not just illustrate.

Art is not what you see, but what you make others see. ~ Edgar Degas

I have a long way to go (and I’m enjoying the ride so far), but here’s hoping I can make you see what I can see.

SHARE WITH US:

I’d love to know – what does being an artist means to you? Do you believe what you do is art? What’s your definition of it all?

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