Day 56

I took a different approach to drawing today. While looking through a contemporary art history textbook, I noticed some ink drawings that were very loose and gestural.  I took this inspiration and altered the concept, doing these drawings with only the dropper in the top of the ink bottle.

I can't say that this style of drawing is particularly revolutionary, because I'm sure that hundreds of artists have drawn in this same manner, probably the most well-known being Ralph Steadman. The reason I describe it as a "different approach" is mainly as an indicator of my own technique, because it's yet another way that I'm attempting to abandon my comfort zone. As I've stated before, I've always been a bit of a traditionalist and today's style is far from that.

It should go without saying that I had a lot of fun making today's self-portrait. For this reason, I actually made MANY drawings today! I chose my favorites and put them all on here...so you could say that I'm giving a three-for-one deal today!  But all joking aside, there's a lot to be said about how realism is completely unnecessary in today's art world, and that an artist should be true to themself - not what they think is expected of them.  That particular idea applies to anyone, for that matter.

For the following drawing, I expanded on a theme that I first visited with the pencil drawing on Day 31.  I like the idea of picturing multiple images of the same person or thing within the same artwork.  This time I tried to illustrate various moods that I might experience over a period of time.

#56 December 15, 2010,  Ink