Limbo & Paralysis

"Stop reciting theory and hit me!"

That's a bit of a paraphrased quote from the film, Ip Man - relatable because I feel like I've been talking more about drawing rather than actually drawing.  There's quite a few reasons why I've been slacking lately, so what better way for me to lay out my thoughts than to drop by the ol blog?

Firstly, I'm still wrapping up my Ringling application because I'm afraid I might have mis-clicked something or filled out the wrong information in the wrong section.  I think it's been eating an obscene amount of my time because I'm a bit paranoid... but I'm on the brink of turning it in.  But after that, it's just a matter of playing the waiting game.  I'm a bit anxious because this could finally be it - getting that full blown animation and art education I've been waiting years for.  It's been a bit tough relying on drawing independent drawing and artistic research because I've been so hungry for that guidance and push.

Which brings me to my next thought - Character Design & exaggeration.  This kind of goes back to my CalArts portfolio critique where they said "You can draw, but what can you do with it?"  I'm more or less struggling taking my knowledge of anatomy and fine arts and translating it into something more exaggerated and subjective.  I've been designing characters for a story lately and it's been feeling incredibly aimless.  Very little of what I make feels right - I only have a very small handful of people that can help me out, but they're all busy with their own stuff.  This is kind of where that guidance I've been craving comes in - especially in a school environment (pushing that comes not just from teachers, but from creative/artistic peers).  Do I try and figure this stuff out now, or do I wait until school comes around?

Right now I'm leaning on just going with more fine arts-related practices, solidifying as much of the ability as I can.  Then when school comes around, I'll have a bit more guidance to crack the creative side as opposed to doing it right now... it just makes me feel paralyzed and I end up not drawing anything because I don't know where to really begin (no matter how much I study procesess in concept art books, character design blog interviews, etc).

There's so much more of this I want to elaborate, but I'm going to cut myself off for now.  I want to do some skeleton studies tonight before bed.  I also think maybe the written portions of this blog are outweighing the visual portions.  Can't have a visu-blog without the drawings, so it's off I go!

Getting back on the horse: figure drawing today at George's