I started sketching in my sketchbook a while back, just off the top of my dome, freestyling. Whatever came to me, I would draw it. Sort of like stream of consciousness, you could say. So, out of this session, I started drawing this girl with a somber gait, and realized that there was a story here. This girl had a history. I drew a couple of other poses of this down-and-out kid, but this one was the first drawn and, thus, the most telling.
What is her story? Who knows? I imagined that this girl was one of those Hollywood Kids -- those runaway boys and girls you see asking for change on the famed boulevard. I hate to think about what they went through at their prospective homes to make them leave, but I don't wanna think too much about it or else I'll get depressed. (Jeez, here I go with another downer post right after Ava Thursday. What's up with that?)
OMG the feeling of aloneness here is so absolute
ReplyDeletevery powerful drawing
something about the movement of the legs that I'm loving. wonderful color and ripe with subtext. loving it.
ReplyDeleteThere really does seem to be a story here. I love the sketch of the girl.
ReplyDeleteHey Ward,
ReplyDeleteI read your blog almost every day and usually find the most pleasure in Ava Thursdays, but I definately felt a connection to "Alone". I was looking for an email address to contact you directly, but since it is too late and I am too tired to search any more, I thought I'd ask in the comment section: Do you mind if I use this image in my blog? I have two, www.thingshated.blogspot.com and www. thingsloved.blogspot.com, where I almost too obviously express my feelings about things I hate and things I love.
One of the things that I have always hated about myself is the constant feeling of being alone. As I tend to use some sort of picture to illustrate the text of my blog, I wonder if I could use your illustration of being alone in one of my future posts. You can let me know at kchynowet@emich.edu or either of the blogs above.
Thanks
KTC
Wow, you really took a very simple sketch and turned it into a whole illustration without losing any of the spontaneity of the drawing. Um, yeah. What I mean to say is "well done". This is really amazing.
ReplyDeleteVery sad she only has herself to hold. Successful lonely image - sad now. Brighter side is those kids find each other and 'family' changes for them.
ReplyDeletesdyoung-- I've done several IF submissions in various ways. This one was a pencil drawing scanned into Photoshop and I deleted the surrounding white areas and tweaked the darkness of the line so we could see it better. I then used the Polygonal Lasso tool to create the shapes for the environment behind and around her. After that, I grabbed my trusty pastel brush in Photoshop and softened some of the edges. Thanks for asking.
ReplyDeleteKTC-- you are welcome to use my image, just give credit. I've already signed my name at the bottom, but it doesn't hurt to mention the artist somewhere in your post. (This goes for eveyone out there, by the way.) PLUS-- I really appreciate you asking me first. Thank you. If you need to ask me any other questions about this piece, please feel free to email me. You can find my email by clicking on my profile on the main page.
Thanks, guys for the nice words! Much appreciated.
Depressed is a common word I've seen looking at other Illustration Friday blogs on the subject alone. You've captured it well.
ReplyDeleteDarn, you done made me have to pull out my Photoshop pastel brushes and experiment when I should be workin.
ReplyDelete