Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Griff the cat

I'm not sure if many of you (who draw) work in this way but I, more often than not, will sketch stuff in a sketchbook before I go onto re-draw it. I then, if I feel happy with the original sketches, will commit it them to 'proper' paper. One of the things I find over again, though, is that the characters or objects that I draw often lose something when they make that move from sketchbook to paper. Obviously the spontaneity is lost in the process but for some reason the character can go missing too. It's really frustrating. He just does not want to leave my sketchbook! Does anyone else have the same problem?


By the way, if you'd like to see the original photo* that inspired this drawing CLICK HERE. *Warning, this photo contains serious levels of cuteness.

9 comments:

Brenda Yarborough said...

Absolutely adorable!! What a wonderful job you've done, especially the face - just precious!!

Teri said...

Andrea, it is so neat to see your pre-sketches. I thought you sat right down, put the pen to paper and came up with your beatiful work. These are absolutely adorable!!!!!

William Fehr Creative said...

Great job Andrea.
Yes, I do have that problem. I have heard this from someone else but basically "with the first drawing, I have said all I needed to say". Once I finish a preliminary drawing, I've captured or "said" everything I needed to say so there is no motivation to go on to a more "finished" piece. Frustrating at times for sure. I guess that is why I do not have any pieces that are derived from preliminaries, they're straight out of the tube. :-)

Anonymous said...

First of all, let me say these are the cutest things.
Secondly, i never sketch in a sketchbook first and transfer it to "proper" paper later. I find that might paralyze me in the final stage, because i would feel pressured to do something worthy of that paper. I just dive directly on paper -- or if my drawings happen to take place in a sketchbook, then so be it -- that's where they'll end up. It's funny, i never "re-draw" stuff.

andrea joseph's sketchblog said...

Thanks guys.

I've never thought too much about it before, but very interesting responses. It's funny but a lot of the EDM challenges and stuff I've drawn for this blog are just drawn onto 'proper' paper. But I always keep a sketchbook for throwing down ideas into. I can usually tell whether or not the drawing/composition will work and whether I'll enjoy drawing it. I kind of thought everybody did the same thing! Obviously not!

Bill, I'd never thought about it in that way - but that's very interesting. Saying it all in the original drawing. Hmmmm, food for thought...

Cheers!

Anonymous said...

I love this one, Andrea! Cuteness levels are waaay up! But, it's so adorable, I want to see cat/boy curled up on someone's lap. Such a fun subject.

laserone_ said...

Oh what a fantastic sketch! I love the shading. :)

mrana said...

Seriously cute!
I find that I draw directly into my sketchbook but that once in a blue moon, if I'm doing a sketch that has a certain composition in my mind and I want to play around with placement, I'll do little scribbly thumbnails to see what works best before I start the actual sketch.

andrea joseph's sketchblog said...

Thanks guys - it's been fascinating hearing how people work. Getting a litle insight into our different artistic processes.

Cheers!