Today I will feature this airplane. After I got back into drawing, I decided that I would offer pet portraits for sale. I drew a lot of dogs and cats as well as the occasional guinea pig, lizard, rabbit, etc. to flesh out a portfolio. After I felt that I had enough pets to show, I started drawing wild life also.
Of course, the best way to keep artwork is to frame it, so had framed many pieces. I found a guy I like, so I kept bringing in my artwork. He was also an artist, and he gave me some valuable critique from time to time.
One day, he very nicely, very tactfully, very gently told me that all of my work looked the same. He suggested I step out of my comfort zone and challenge myself. He asked me what I least enjoy doing, so I told him foliage. I also told him in very strong terms that I was not going to draw foliage. I knew what he meant. He meant that all of my work was portraiture. Everything I drew was a head on a blurry background. An animal, a bird, a person. All of it was the same. Even before he said it, I had already been thinking that I was bored. I was bored because everything I was drawing was a head on a blurry background! So after some initial resistance, I took his advice.
He suggested that I draw a car. I told him that cars were boring, that I would not draw a car. So he suggested a building. I informed him that buildings are even more boring than cars, and I would not be drawing a building either! Finally I suggested an airplane. He said turn an airplane would be fine.
We decided that I would try drawing upside down. I understand the advantage of drawing upside down. However, it does not work for me. I can tell you that I felt that my work was greatly diminished because I actually missed details. Instead of seeing more, I saw less. In a way, drawing upside down did exactly what it was supposed to, it kept me from understanding the airplane and forced me to see a completely unfamiliar set of shapes. Unfortunately, this made it very difficult for me to pick out the details because I already could not see the main shape. It’s hard to explain, but on the red and white plane, I drew it the way that I am used to drawing. On the yellow plane, I drew upside down. I consider the yellow plane an inferior product.
“Runup”
8 1/2 x 11″
Pastels on PastelMat
Reference photo by Pete Markham
What I found most fascinating about this project was that the airplane was no challenge at all! I found it far easier than drawing animals and birds! It turns out that I am better at smooth textures than I am at furry ones! So I drew the airplanes, and then I found a car I liked, and then a building I like. Then I did a still life because I had been wanting to draw reflective glass or metal. At the end of it, I learned that the car and the building and the airplanes and the still life were no trouble at all! It is the fur which is my biggest challenge other than foliage!
And my work still looked the same, because the planes and car and building and still life were still, at their cores, portraits.
Featured drawing:
Aviat Husky
8 1/2 x 11
Pastels on Pastelmat
Reference by Fernando Marinho Pereira
Art by Tina Hickman 