I’ve been drawing since 5th grade. I’m still in the habit of sitting with my pencil and paper and drawing. It’s a way to connect with my surroundings and have an excuse to do it. My work is inspired by nature and time. I draw on a wide variety of paper mediums and different surfaces. One of my favorite is paper, charcoal, and watercolor.
The more I draw, the more I realize the connection between what I do and the people who see my work. With each new piece of art, I think about what I like to draw and how it may be perceived by others. I don’t need to draw what other people like, I just need to draw what I like to draw.
Artist and art teacher, Rick Linder, has many of these artistic sentiments. One of his best known quotes is “draw what you like to draw, because you’ll draw what you like to draw.
In Art School, Linder used to always say that he didn’t need art to sell his work, he just needed to attract buyers to his work. This statement has stuck with me ever since.
I think this statement has a lot to do with why I draw. I think I draw just because I like to draw. I think I am attracted to the subject matter and the color. I think I draw just because I like to draw and I dont need to be told what to draw or when to draw it. I think I draw because I like to draw. I think that draws are the perfect art form for the artist.
Here’s a thought experiment for you. Imagine you’re a professional cartoonist. Do you draw your whole life or just before you go to work? Some years you may draw a lot. Some years you may not draw as much. Some years you may draw a bunch of your friends drawing. Some years you may not draw at all.
Now imagine you are a professional cartoonist and youre drawing and drawing and drawing. You have no idea if youll ever have time for drawing again. I mean youre still a cartoonist.
It is important that we know our own creativity. So before we begin drawing rick we first need to understand what we are drawing. We are drawing rick. A cartoon character that is a cat-dog or an ape. A cartoon character that is a cow. A cartoon character that is a fish. A cartoon character that is a chicken. A cartoon character that is a cat. A cartoon character that is a dog. A cartoon character that is a bunny.
Thats a lot of names for a little character. In fact, its hard to get a name for a cat. Its hard to think of a name for a cow. Its hard to think of a name for a monkey. Those names are all pretty boring. A name for a chicken would be much more interesting though. A name for a dog would be much more interesting.
The reason I asked about this was that I don’t think we should have to worry about how many people are really paying attention to our characters. For me, I’d like to think that I’m not at all a very good person. I would rather be with a person that thinks he’s very good, so I would give up on thinking of a name for a chicken.