For the past two months I’ve been practicing drawing large-scale surrealism in preparation for this specific drawing.
As with most things, my first attempt (see below) at this was okay, could’ve gone worse, could’ve gone better. There were a lot of learning curves when sizing up from my normal 11 x 12” to 22 x 30”. My usual render methods had to be adapted, everything smudged quicker and easier, and, worst of all, I had to leave the comfort of my dorm room to work on these. The dorm’s desks aren’t particularly known for their size. The reason I started drawing bigger was because my art got to a comfortable place for me, it’s no longer a matter of if I can draw this pose or that pose, or if a certain material will hold me back, it’s only a matter of adapting certain techniques now. So, I began drawing large-scale; I got comfortable at 11 x 12”, art stopped being that fun challenge I sought after.
I’ve always been fascinated by Surrealism, even more so after I heard people say “realism is boring.” As a frequently bored realism artist, I only took that as a challenge. I didn’t want to draw something boring, to me, that defeats the purpose of art. And although I often draw from photographs of myself, and while I agree they can get somewhat static after a while, I only recently got that itch to do more. To draw more than what my photo-bashed references offered, more dynamic, more imposing and uncomfortable. I started working on an “uncomfortable” series.
Yet, these first ones were still leaning more towards plain realism than surrealism. I got comfortable again, telling myself I was “learning” how to draw this big, so it was okay to be a bit boring and lacking. Which is where this piece I’m working on now comes in, I didn’t just want to draw myself, I wanted to put myself somewhere I couldn’t get a photo reference of, something that just couldn’t physically be possible.
I began drawing myself as a house as the last piece in my “uncomfortable series.” Another thing I didn’t do with these large-scale pieces was backgrounds, they’re all just plain white. That was too comfortable. Too plain. I needed to break from that cycle of comfortability, art stopped being fun and started being an output. I had an idea, I drew it, that was it. It was losing every single part that made it fun. Why would I try out new things when this was what I could do? Why would I draw something I can’t get an exact photo reference of? I was turning into a “boring realism artist.”
I need to be uncomfortable, both with my subject, and my adapted techniques. I stopped drawing just for the desired outcome and re-started drawing for the simple process of just drawing what I wanted to, for fun. And again, for me, if I’m not enjoying the process, the outcome, the beginning, middle, and end, then it’s not worth creating. I draw for enjoyment, and occasionally, uncomfortably, nothing more, nothing less.
