Questions for writing about art

 There are many questions I could ask. I am going to focus on questions that feel relevant to the particular artwork I’m looking at. 

General

• What does this artwork mean to me? Why is it important to me?

• What is the story behind this artwork?

• What was the first thing I noticed about this artwork?

• How does the artwork make me feel?

• Does the artwork remind me of anything?

• Was my initial reaction different from my current reaction?

• What message is the artwork sending?

• Is it effective in sending that message?

• Do I agree or disagree with the message?

• What makes the artwork look so [adjective], and how?

• What makes the artwork so [adjective] outside the immediate context of the piece?

• What was my main takeaway from this piece?

• How would I describe this artwork from memory; what would remain?

• Think of at least 3 to 5 questions specific to the art piece.

What do I like about this?

• What about this originally appealed to me?

• What inspired me?

• What sets this apart from similar artwork?

• What does the artwork do differently that I haven’t seen before?

• What do I want to remember about this artwork?

What could I borrow from this?

• What would I borrow from the artwork?

• How would I borrow it?

• What ideas of mine could incorporate elements borrowed from this artwork?

• What other things demonstrate similar elements to this artwork?

What do I dislike about this?

• What would I have done differently?

• What could have been done better?

• What would I add or remove?

• Are there any artworks that demonstrate it better?

• What do I want to forget about this artwork?

About the artist

• What do I know about the artist?

• How did life circumstances shape the artist’s work?

• What is the artist’s creative lineage - i.e. who/what inspired them?

• How did the artist become famous?

• What is the artist most known for?

• Is this piece similar or different to their overall body of work?

• Was the artist conventional or controversial?

• Interesting stories about the artist’s life

• What does this artwork tell us about the artist?

• What kind of questions would I ask the artist?

• Where could I see this artist’s work in person?

Meta

• What kind of title would I give this artwork?

• How big is the artwork?

• How does the artwork’s size shape the context of the piece?

• How would the context change if the scale was changed? 

• What kind of person would like this artwork and why?

• What kind of person would dislike this artwork and why?

• What other things does this art remind me of?

• What kind of ideas and opinions does this reinforce?

• What was the artwork’s function?

Silly questions

• What if this artwork had sound effects?

• What would this artwork smell like?

• What would the temperature be like?

• What tags would this artwork use on social media?

Art style

• What do I find appealing about the art style?

• What makes the art style distinct?

• What are the artist’s signature techniques?

• How would I describe the art style?

• Is it realistic or stylized?

• How does the art style relate to the work?

• What kind of creative liberties were taken?

• How does the art style reflect ideas of the time?

• What genre does the art style fall under?

• What do I dislike about the art style, and how would I change it?

Subject

• What does the subject’s scale say about its importance?

• Is it a bust, full body, etc. What message does it send by its chosen framing?

• What attitude is displayed towards the subject?

• How would you feel if you were put in the subject’s place?

Medium

• Digital or traditional?

• What medium was used?

• How does the medium affect the style?

• How do you think the artist made the work?

• What medium-specific techniques were employed?

• How does the artwork make use of its chosen medium?

• What does this medium offer that others cannot?

• What would change if the artwork was done in a different medium?

• What techniques could be translated across different mediums?

Composition

• How would I describe the piece to someone who has never seen it before?

• What is the focal point?

• How does the composition direct your attention?

• How does the color choice affect the composition?

• How is the artwork organized?

• Is the composition conventional or clever?

• What message does the artwork send with its composition?

• Do you agree or relate with the message?

• What do you think happened before or after what’s shown in the piece?

• How is perspective used?

• Does it look 2D or 3D?

• Is there a hierarchy, or is it symmetrical?

• What kind of details did it take longer to notice?

• What kind of juxtaposed relationships did you notice? 

Color

• Describe the color palette used

• What is the most dominant color?

• How does the color and lighting impact the mood?

• Muted or vibrant?

• Warm or cool?

• Where is the light source?

• How is the light source used?

• What is the function of shadow?

• Are colors flat or shaded?

Pattern

• Variety, or repetition?

• Is it geometric or organic?

• Ornamentation

• Describe the shape

• Describe the texture

• Describe the form

Line and brushstroke

• Are contours used?

• How are edges handled?

• Describe the weight of the lines.

• Is it painterly and free, or tight and detailed?

• How do the brushstrokes impact the mood/nature of the artwork?

• What techniques emphasize the message of the piece?

Sources

• Visual Analysis Guidelines: “Pictures will answer if you ask the right questions”

• 82 questions to ask about art

Why I want to learn animation

The clearest way to demonstrate my drawing abilities. I must have drawn thousands of figures by now. But that doesn’t demonstrate much. How can I really prove that I understand how anatomy works? I’m afraid. It looks so hard. 

With animation, it’s putting all of my knowledge to the test. I’m already doing memory training for still images and it’s incredibly humbling. But I’m so used to drawing figures that this should be the obvious next step. I have all the tools I need. 

I’m not looking to make movies or  films, but I’d like to have the fluency of an animator. Seeing production sketches from animation reminds me of how much there is to learn still. I want to be on that level. Everything is so clean and confidently placed. There is a clear sense of purpose when looking at their drawings. When you’re at that level you can draw whatever you want. And I would love to possess that incredible power. Not to mention, animation would breathe new life into my drawings. I want to see my characters move! 

I messed around with animation when I was younger, and I think it’s time to revisit that. In 5th grade I did some MS paint animations with a whole story, and then later in HS I did some stuff with my OCs and a Resident Evil 4 version of Caramelldansen... good times. 

 Originally written in December 2021

Drawing poses from imagination

Notes from a comment by Moldy Slug on Reddit

• Build a visual library of poses

• Get more comfortable improvising

• Visual library is built through close observation. Drawing people from life is good because they move around, which helps train your memory short term. What did they look like before they shifted?

• Do at least 20 minutes of gesture drawings as a warmup to get a feel for the things you want to draw. It helps loosen up.

• Memory training

• Get a reference and observe for 1 minute

• Put it away and take 5-10 minutes to draw it from memory. 

• Do as many iterations as it takes to get familiar with the pose.

• Cloud watching: scribble, then find a drawing within it

• The illustration process:

• Gesture warmups

• Thumbnail sketches and cloud watching

• Test out good poses

• Look up refs with similar poses

Followup

This is extremely humbling. It exposes the reality of how little I really know about anatomy and poses. When I study the pose for 60 seconds, I think I know how it looks, but as I try to draw what I just saw, I quickly realize I didn’t truly understand why the pose looked the way it did. And after several iterations of guess work, it is clear I do not have a visual library of poses in my mind. I can observe, but can I remember?

I think it’ll be helpful to rotate through memory exercises with regular drawing practice. It’s like studying, and then the test is drawing the pose from memory. I think what I learn in one exercise helps me learn about the other, and I can effectively build my skills from there. I am also encouraged by how challenging this is. It feels like I am exerting myself. It’s hard at first but it’s proof that I am growing as an artist. This may be another game changer!

Now, the question: Should I do gesture class first, then the memory exercise second?

• Class, then memory: Warms up my gesture drawing skills

• Memory, then class: I’ll be more observant of the poses

I’m excited that I have something to work on. All this time I’ve just been doing warm ups. It’s about time I’ve actually started exerting myself. “If it doesn’t challenge you, it won’t change you.”

The reason I think memory training will help, is because I’m studying the pose, drawing with and without references, while comparing the two. As I get to know the particular pose better, I have clearer observations and grow to understand why it looks the way it does. And then, I should be able to derive my own poses from the original reference material, slowly building up a visual library in my mind. Well, that’s the plan, anyway.

So far:

1. Copy the pose for 1-2 minutes

2. Draw the pose without reference

3. Draw the pose with reference

4. Compare and identify mistakes

5. Draw the pose from memory again

6. Draw the pose with ref again

7. Repeat more iterations if still necessary

The more I compare the two, the better pose I can draw. I can also modify the pose to my personal liking.

The hope is that when I doodle mindlessly, I’m recalling the poses I drew during memory training. The only things I can doodle are ¾ heads and random anime eyes. If I try to draw a pose, I have no idea what I’m doing! I need references. The goal is to not rely on refs as much as I currently do. I use it as a crutch more than I should, and I need to push myself to do better.

My goal is that more memory training = recalling the reference material better. That 

would demonstrate a true understanding of the pose.

It’s meant to simulate the part of the illustration process when I have to come up with an original pose. It’s very stressful, especially if it’s an obligated piece, and I feel so put on the spot that I freeze up and don’t draw. This should hopefully get me more comfortable with drawing from my mind.

I do think this is very promising. When I draw a pose, it feels like I’m actually exerting myself.  Have to recall the information from my mind without the visual aid. It quickly shows me how much I actually understood the pose, which isn’t a whole lot. It’s incredibly humbling.

 It’s training me to see more information in the pose. I realized that when I go back to regular gesture drawing, I’m just mindlessly copying. Which is really great because it’s become second nature to me., but I’m also not really processing what I’m copying. It’s similar to copying a paragraph while note-taking in class. You don’t really think about what you’re writing- all you’re doing is getting from Point A to Point B.... and as soon as you transfer the information to the paper, it goes POOF! Onto the next thing.

Poses and memory training

 Originally written in February. Posting here as a test.

Poses, art style, and memory training

If I want to see progress, I need to make this a daily habit. It’s fun to practice on a randomly selected image, but I’d also like to manually select and plan what to train myself to draw.

• Be able to describe the pose

• Be able to describe the art style

• How many poses should I do per day? 

• One to three?

• A pose and a face?

• What kind of poses or styles would be the most useful to learn?

• How far ahead should I plan? A week’s worth, maybe?

Constructing a pose with multiple people in it

• Which way are they collectively leaning?

• Draw the lollipops first

• Where is the center of force located?

• See them as a single form

• Imagine the whole scene as a grid that bends to the will of the characters. It shows the movement and direction of their interaction.

• Show movement with 3 or 4 parallel lines. A general direction will emerge. The lollipops go with the flow of the movement.

The future of brainstorming

I’m tired of how much space these brainstorming pictures take up. If I save them as small png with simple text and graphics it should be much more sustainable.... Or should I just save them as a text-based file? How do I want to go about that? What if I want to show it to someone? What if I had a default recipe card template?

Stained glass eye

 

A while back, I was doodling some eyes before bed and the way I sketched the pupil reminded me of a stained glass window. I think this idea would look cool on a travel poster.

Zelda 64 value studies

 

Bells of heaven

 

A few years before the world turned upside down, I visited the Frauenkirche, a beautiful gothic church in Munich. Recently I went through some photos from that trip because I miss traveling. The cathedral photos inspired me to revisit my Bells of Heaven idea yet once again. But this time, I have come to realize what it's all about. I don't want to say too much as I hope this artwork speaks for itself.

This is definitely my favorite version of the idea. I'm still trying to nail down Princess's priestess outfit, though. I like the idea that it changes incrementally throughout her character arc. I really want to write my story before it's too late...