I like it!

I made a few drawings last week that I liked. This is quite nice to be able to say, and it’s not something that I’ve ever found particularly easy. Self-criticism is important, and necessary for improvement, but if it goes unchecked, it can be awfully debilitating and destructive.

It seems that I am approaching a balance in this regard. I still see defects and deficiencies in my work, but I’m finding them easier to accept. When I look at these drawings for example, I know that there are things that could be better about them, but that is a problem with the drawings, and not a problem of mine. Given the array of circumstances, I did what I could, and part of what I did was quite nice. I’m glad that I’m getting to a point where I can take pleasure in the results of my efforts and don’t need to disparage them. How did that happen?

I don’t really have an answer.  I can show you the pictures though, and tell you what I think about them.

  I like many of the same things in both of these drawings. The figures fit nicely on the page; there are different types of marks on the paper, varying from bold shadings to delicate lines, and there is a certain consistency in their use.

These next two drawings I like for different reasons, but both having to do with the use of color.  On the left, the green swaths indicate flesh in a simple, and for me visually pleasing way.  The green pairs well with the red of the cloth.  I like the way the legs fade out at the bottom, but unfortunately there is not enough room for something similar to happen at the top.  I like it anyway.   The drawing on the right uses color in an almost purely decorative fashion, with the possible exception of the pink.  I also like the shape of the body.

Artists don’t usually comment on their own work at all as that’s someone else’s job,  and it is a bit awkward for me to be praising mine – but it’s good to be able to see beyond the defects and deficiencies.