The Woven Girl or A Theory on Planning Art

I strongly believe that the most creative works come from no thought at all. Yes, a planned work may still be good; it may be fantastic. But planned works, well, don't often go as planned. When you have a plan, your freedom is restricted and you become constricted within the work. Everything must work this way and this part must go that way. Mistakes or alterations are less forgivable. And of course, artists rarely go without making a few mistakes or changes now and then. It is in human nature. Even if the artist completes the work and it meets his design specifications, will it meet his personal opinion? I also strongly believe that most artists are heavily critical of their own work, and a planned work with mistakes/changes is surely one to fret over. Even if the final product is good, the artist may not be 100% satisfied. As artists, our goal is to show what's in our heads on a canvas. If we can't show it exactly the way we want to, we feel we're not doing our job well enough. On the positive side of things, this kind of scenario can help artists strive to better themselves so as to prevent the mistakes and changes.

But sometimes, it's not a bad idea to just sit back, relax, and do whatever comes naturally. The goal of an artist is to make manifest the images in our heads, right? Well, then fill those heads; sit and think. Don't plan; just think. If you're an artist or one who likes to draw and you've never tried it like this, this is a fun and simple experiment for you. Get a your drawing tools ready without any kind of plan of what you're going to draw in mind. Once you're ready, sit and think casually. Don't force ideas into your head - let them flow. Take the first idea or image that comes to your head, and draw it. Try not to worry or fret as you work - you may be pleasantly surprised at what you come up with.

I find that it's easier to be happy with a work that you don't invest upon too strictly at the start. That doesn't mean you shouldn't plan any of your works - I honestly think it's smarter to do so. But planning work after work after work can be stressful, so I like to stop and shake things up a bit with this method. If you expect too much of your art, you may be let down; but if you wait, and give it time, you may just find a piece you love.

Using the "off-the-top-of-my-head" method, I decided that my next drawing would be Suunuku in some pose with an axe. And that's it. My "From the Action Pages" image of Seikun from January is an homage and recreation of Seikun's first image on this site. Likewise, this image is an homage/recreation of Suunuku's first image on this site. The axe has an iconic resonance to Suunu's character, so I wanted to create an intimate bond between the two here. I wanted the bond to feel almost tragic in its closeness to help form a mood for the image: like a model sadness. In the end, the whole affair became a subtly stylish work. Normally when I draw I depict a character or a scene, but here I wanted to depict an ABSTRACT. There is a character and a scene (or background), but they combine to make a thing that is not just a character nor a scene. In the end, it was unusual to compose a drawing as an abstract rather than my normal profiles/scenes, but it was fun all the same. I'll definitely be trying more in this way in the future - for one, it's a good excuse to try out creative backgrounds.