Life drawing and plein air painting feel different than doing other kinds of work. It can be meditative as it can force a present-mindedness that can be tough to achieve otherwise. There are additional benefits, and Richard Williams said so! Richard Williams, (director of animation on 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit') insists in the Animator's Survival Kit that life drawing and learning how to draw is key before being able to do cartoony things.
I have been drafting and sketching the pages of a children's book with a local author and making cartoony characters and scenes. While these are a lot of fun, it can sometimes be frustrating as these skills pull at different parts of my brain than life drawing. I began attending figure drawing open studios again and working on some of the pieces I've had in progress for years, such as the relevant piece: Anxiety That Feels Like Being Busy.
As I work through my turbulent feelings with what's happening in the country and through the lens of news and social media, this piece still feels very relevant since I began it in 2022. I am not a strong or skilled writer. I do art because I fail to do justice with my words. I've been told that my words are a "flaming sword" and that my words are harmful. Doing this post at all has been hard, my head and heart are hurting for those I care about and even those I will never meet and empathize for. Some folks dearest to me are preparing to flee the country because they are being told that their existence is a threat to America. They are citizens. They people serve their communities. They have committed no crimes. Soon, they will serve another community in a country that does value them, but it won't be easy.
Richard Williams celebrates the importance of life drawing, but his first lesson of the Animator's Survival Kit is about working in quiet, without music or media. "I learnt to face the silence and think before swirling my pencil around. My animation improved right away."
Today I will be doing art in silence and try to enjoy the sunshine peeking between the clouds and put my pencil and brush to work. Not because what I do matters, but because what I do with my feelings matter. Better on a page than in the form of the flaming sword.
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