To make myself better at my job, I have decided to go back to art classes. Ok, it’s also a good excuse for me to do one of the things I’ve always wanted to, but never had the motivation before. Only for art class will I wake up early on a Sunday morning with a smile on my face, and only for the Alliance will I do it for seven hours a day, every week. The class I am taking is Comics and Sequential Art at The Art Students League with Jamal Igle and Steve Walker, professional comic book artists.
Walking into a studio was a bit disconcerting for me. For years, I held a pipette in one hand and beaker in the other. To replace those with a graphite pen and a sketchbook was quite unsettling. On the first day, Jamal actually came up to me and said, “You have to relax. You’re a bit tight.” They taught me how to sharpen my pencil.
Years of art classes as a kid all came back to me. Illustration is definitely one of the earliest skills a person acquires. For three hours each class, we do figure drawing with different time limits. I’ve since taken it to the next level and started drawing friends and subway riders during the rest of the week. It’s quite fun; it’s one of those things where time just flows for me.
In addition to reclaiming my drawing skills, I also wanted to have my WYA cartoons critiqued. I’m glad I have the perfect excuse (human dignity! Whee!) to doing one of the things I’ve always wanted to do in life: make my own comic strips.
One major apprehension I’m getting is that I still have to learn all the software that artists of this century have to know. I didn’t even know that Illustrator existed until I came to WYA. Now, when people ask me how I learned it, I would respond honestly: “I pressed a button and saw what it would do.” My friends in their late twenties have told me repeatedly that I have “a long way to go” in life. I guess that is true in the Adobe context.
After showing my designs to my class, the first reaction I got was one of collective disbelief. “You did this on POWERPOINT? Are you crazy?”
“Give me a break,” I retorted. “I was decapitating rats before I met you!” I need one of those fancy graphic design gadgets. I don’t even remember what it’s called. A graph pad? Or at least learn to master the Pen tool. On the bright side, my stuff will only look better if I learn how to do it the easy way.
Artists are definitely so much nicer than scientists. I figure it’s the nature of the job. We’re all drawing the same thing, but we bring so much of ourselves into it that competition doesn’t predominate. There is always room for another person’s way of seeing the world. There’s less gossip, too; we’re just so busy talking about ourselves and our projects. I’ll take artistic narcissism over spiteful cattiness any day.
Maybe I am meant to do something artsy with my life. God knows I already dress like an artist; I’m always in black. (It’s a slimming color.) The era of lab coats and yoga pants is so over.
So after a few weeks of art class, a number of naked people, several episodes of carpal tunnel syndrome and me wrestling with my computer mouse, meet my latest character design:
Walking into a studio was a bit disconcerting for me. For years, I held a pipette in one hand and beaker in the other. To replace those with a graphite pen and a sketchbook was quite unsettling. On the first day, Jamal actually came up to me and said, “You have to relax. You’re a bit tight.” They taught me how to sharpen my pencil.
Years of art classes as a kid all came back to me. Illustration is definitely one of the earliest skills a person acquires. For three hours each class, we do figure drawing with different time limits. I’ve since taken it to the next level and started drawing friends and subway riders during the rest of the week. It’s quite fun; it’s one of those things where time just flows for me.
In addition to reclaiming my drawing skills, I also wanted to have my WYA cartoons critiqued. I’m glad I have the perfect excuse (human dignity! Whee!) to doing one of the things I’ve always wanted to do in life: make my own comic strips.
One major apprehension I’m getting is that I still have to learn all the software that artists of this century have to know. I didn’t even know that Illustrator existed until I came to WYA. Now, when people ask me how I learned it, I would respond honestly: “I pressed a button and saw what it would do.” My friends in their late twenties have told me repeatedly that I have “a long way to go” in life. I guess that is true in the Adobe context.
After showing my designs to my class, the first reaction I got was one of collective disbelief. “You did this on POWERPOINT? Are you crazy?”
“Give me a break,” I retorted. “I was decapitating rats before I met you!” I need one of those fancy graphic design gadgets. I don’t even remember what it’s called. A graph pad? Or at least learn to master the Pen tool. On the bright side, my stuff will only look better if I learn how to do it the easy way.
Artists are definitely so much nicer than scientists. I figure it’s the nature of the job. We’re all drawing the same thing, but we bring so much of ourselves into it that competition doesn’t predominate. There is always room for another person’s way of seeing the world. There’s less gossip, too; we’re just so busy talking about ourselves and our projects. I’ll take artistic narcissism over spiteful cattiness any day.
Maybe I am meant to do something artsy with my life. God knows I already dress like an artist; I’m always in black. (It’s a slimming color.) The era of lab coats and yoga pants is so over.
So after a few weeks of art class, a number of naked people, several episodes of carpal tunnel syndrome and me wrestling with my computer mouse, meet my latest character design:
Emily. b 2008
I named her Emily in honor of (what else) taekwondo. My first master, Lee, has this weird problem with names and called me Emily for months. It’s become a joke with us now; I still sign my e-mails as Emily. With her, I am immortalizing his amnesia.
One hilarious thing I did find out while working in an organization with a lot of women is that I will always get Fat Comments on my designs. I design a T-shirt: “Wait, that makes me look fat!” I propose a certain fabric: “No, that will add pounds!” This body image thing apparently extends to my illustrations.
To my blog readers,
Do you think Emily is fat? And should this matter at all?
Discuss.
I named her Emily in honor of (what else) taekwondo. My first master, Lee, has this weird problem with names and called me Emily for months. It’s become a joke with us now; I still sign my e-mails as Emily. With her, I am immortalizing his amnesia.
One hilarious thing I did find out while working in an organization with a lot of women is that I will always get Fat Comments on my designs. I design a T-shirt: “Wait, that makes me look fat!” I propose a certain fabric: “No, that will add pounds!” This body image thing apparently extends to my illustrations.
To my blog readers,
Do you think Emily is fat? And should this matter at all?
Discuss.
1 comment:
i think emily is cute - and i don't think it matters if she's fat or thin. (it matters if i'm fat or thin though)
i'm glad you're keeping her slightly heavy. our NA cartoon is not to be a barbie doll.
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