Jane Porter 5/9/2023
Drawing of the Day 5/9/2023: Jane Porter
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| May 9th, 2023 |
"For one so small you seem so strong..." Ahh the Disney classic
Tarzan. I remember it fondly from childhood. The sound track has stuck with me and yes I do sing my heart out to Phil Collins. The sound track is a master piece.
I will say the part where Sabor, the leopard kills Tarzan's parents really stressed me out. I could never look at that part. Too much anxiety for my child self.
For my drawing of the day, I wanted to try my hand at Jane. I was cruising on Pinterest for a new character and Ms. Jane Porter popped out at me. The duality of this pose really stuck out to me as she is in full adventurer mode while being fully feminine especially with her accessories: parasol, gloves, and of course a sketchbook.
I want to be her for Halloween!
I have always been inspired my Jane's attitude, compassion, scientific mind, and above all the openness to love. She is a women out side of her time, ahead in many ways. The movie is set in 1911 when women were expected to marry, settle down, and have a family. Jane for the time being is doing none of those...
It turns out Ms. Jane Porter was inspired by the real life gorilla conservationists Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey. Several months ago, I happened up the book Gorillas in the mist written by Dian Fossey and found great appreciation in her devotion, courage, and the trail blazing ( literally!) she recounted. I love looking to history's adventurous women for inspiration. If you ever get the opportunity to read it, I highly recommend it. I found my copy through my local public library. You can also check out the app Libby ( one of my all time favorite apps ) as well. Every time I move, I get a new library card and add it one there. To date, I have access to 4 different libraries to find books for free!
Anyway, back to the drawing at hand, as I have been consistent in my drawing practice, I have noticed several things:
1. I don't struggle as much getting my hand to do what I want ( ie, draw a straight line, circle, square ). when I started in 2020, I was at stick figure level.
2. The drawing itself starts appearing on the paper. It is as if I am co-creating it with the paper and pencil. I am reminded of this quote by Michelangelo"
“The sculpture is already complete within the marble block, before I start my work.It is already there, I just have to chisel away the superfluous material.”
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| May 2022 |
Drawing is one of the many avenues in my life I am allowing myself to be excellent. It has been a practice of being consistent and showing up for myself.
A year on, I am recognizing it's time to begin a longer term drawing for 2023. My goal would be a 25 to 30 hour piece, with the goal to practice and expand my current artistic range. I've been wanting to draw my treasured cat but have never tried to draw him before. I feel my skills are at a place where I could do justice in drawing him. His 1st birthday is coming up on the 28th and would be a lovely surprise for him.
3. Things start out looking sketchy and the more I refine, the better things looks. I cannot judge the process until I am completely done. Out of my drawing practice, I have redefined what the word sketchy means. This extends past drawing and into many other aspects of my life. This realization has helped me not be so judge-y when trying something new and be okay with putting in the work it takes to accomplish my goals
When I looked up the word sketchy, I found two definitions:
- not thorough or defined ( does anyone else have trouble spelling thorough or is it just me?)
- dishonest or disreputable
Before drawing, I always associated the definition with disreputable or to be wary of.
What I've been coming to realize is that most often what I mean is the first definition. The more precise and accurate I am with my words leads to less miscommunication and helps me to be a better communicator.
Clarifying the definitions behind the words helps things to be less sketchy. Who knew :)
Overall, Jane was a practice in proportions and 1910's fashions. It got me excited to draw more period piece clothing. I had a blast drawing the gloves and parasol. I totally want a set for me for my Halloween costume of course . This drawing took about 1.5 hours to complete.
Mentalities I'm bringing into my drawings:
1. Being thorough and drawing until completion
Completing every drawing I undertake. I noticed I would stop when I ran into areas I wasn't sure how to do it or it didn't look as good as the rest of the drawing specifically around hands, feet, and fine details. I was robbing myself of the opportunity to grow and become more skilled. If you find yourself struggling with hands or feet, I highly recommend this resource or this one Both helped me understand hands and feet better. However, I will say that while resources are great, if you don't actually do the work, all the resources in the world won't help you. You gotta show up for yourself.
2. Treating every drawing like it's for a paying customer.
That means I'm erasing extra lines, redoing lines, doing the fine detail work that really makes the drawing pop, and getting the art work as exact as possible. The results will speak for themselves.
3. Using grids and lines, perspective, and guide lines.
For the first two years, I was extremely resistant to using guidelines as I felt they weren't worth my time or effort. I noticed this was a habit that extended to other areas of my life. It came down to not wanting to invest the time to get it right. The habit of only presenting passable work opposed to doing it well is something that I've been reprogramming. It doesn't serve me to only give D- level work when I am fully capable of doing A + work. It is always worth going the extra mile
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