swan_tower: (Default)
swan_tower ([personal profile] swan_tower) wrote2008-02-01 06:16 pm

thing-a-day

I've talked to a couple of people about Thing-a-Day, which is sort of a NaNoWriMo-esque quasi-movement thingy -- by which I mean it's a web-organized thing you decide to participate in for a set period of time, collectively with other people. Er, that isn't very clear, is it? The website explains it better. Anyway, the point is to do something creative every day in February, for about 20-60 minutes. It can be the same creative something every day, or different things; it can be your usual creativity, or something you've never done before.

Me? I'm drawing.

I've said for a long time that I'd like to be better at it (my current level being "not very good at all"). I would especially like to be able to draw people realistically, since I think that might help me a lot with visualizing my characters. So I'm going to be drawing twenty-eight faces at a minimum, one per day. (Today I went on for a while longer, drawing three still lifes of decreasing crappiness, but I expect I won't have the time and inclination for that every day.) I've arranged for weekly tip sessions with the inestimable [livejournal.com profile] tooth_and_claw, so hopefully I'll see improvement along the way.

If any of them turn out decently, I might post them. But ain't nobody except T&C, and maybe not even her, seeing what I did today.

[identity profile] milbrcrsan.livejournal.com 2008-02-02 12:55 am (UTC)(link)
(Don't mind any miss spellings here, injured my wrist and can't type with both hands. lol)

That sounds really interesting! I might have to chech it out.

And drawing people can be fun, but extremely frustrating at times, at leadt for me. lol But it's sure a lot easier with someone else nearby to with a "fresh" eye. (as my art teacher called it) Unfortunately, now that I've graduated and don't have her "fresh" eye around to see if the alignment of say...the nose and the forehead is off, my art hasn't been as good as it once was.

Also, I wish you good luck with drawing characters from scratch. That's never been easy for me to do. :p

[identity profile] sora-blue.livejournal.com 2008-02-02 01:53 am (UTC)(link)
Good luck!

Interesting timing, I was just thinking today about how I wanted to start drawing again. (But I draw cartoon faces with giant eyes and triangle mouths.)

[identity profile] swan-tower.livejournal.com 2008-02-02 07:23 pm (UTC)(link)
I think at some point I'd want to play around with different styles, but I have the most immediate use for realism, so that's what I'll start with.

[identity profile] snickelish.livejournal.com 2008-02-02 02:58 am (UTC)(link)
I've thought that learning to draw faces would allow me to not just visualize but describe my characters better. I usually have trouble even describing real faces - I've never quite learned how to break down a face into characteristics with words attached. :)

Anyway, good luck!

[identity profile] swan-tower.livejournal.com 2008-02-02 07:24 pm (UTC)(link)
I am exactly the same way. My editor despairs over the facelessness of my characters.

And I've been working on it, but I'm hoping this will help.

[identity profile] m-stiefvater.livejournal.com 2008-02-03 02:11 pm (UTC)(link)
This is a cool idea! Unfortunately (or fortunately) my day job means that I'm already doing a Thing-A-Day. ;)