New sketchbook, new stuff

In case you thought I had completely left this blog for dead, I hadn't. Or maybe you thought I died. I'll tell you, if these past few months haven't killed me, nothing will. No, I've been very much alive, in fact, but I simply had to pretend that I didn't exist for awhile, while I was finishing up this last semester of grad school. After I emailed that last research paper, I could feel the weight lift off my shoulders. It was absolutely amazing. I've been floating around, humming Christmas songs, smiling at strangers, making small talk with inanimate objects... The new-found freedom that no homework brings has made me so happy I could burst. And my lovely roomie bought me a new sketchbook.

On the first page, I found myself drawing a hug. I say "found myself" + artistic action + -ing because I never really plan what I'm going to do before I put my pencil, pen, writing implement, or what-have-you to the paper. All I can say about the choice of subject matter is that I really like hugs. Everything about them. Really. (Unless the other person smells.) They pop up in my drawing sometimes. Okay, often. Pretty often. Maybe I'll start up a series. At any rate, I don't know these people. They just happened to wander out of my pencil tip.


On page four of the new sketchbook, I wound up drawing a girl whose face just wouldn't come out the way I wanted. In fact, it was mucking up the whole rest of the otherwise nice image. So I took the sucker out. I didn't worry about it being pretty at first, I just wanted to stop looking at it and get it off the page. I now happen to like the drawing a whole lot. I think it's got much more character without a head.


... which then got my roommate posing the idea that I start drawing pictures of people with funny objects instead of heads. Has this been done? I'm sure it has. Maybe not for the same reasons... But it makes sense, you know? I feel so much more confident drawing when I don't have to worry about a head. It's like women's fashion. We're always covering what we don't want you to see.