Modus Operandi

Motivation. I despise the word. Yet despite all my hatred I still find I must italicize it, a gesture of my grudging respect for the concept. The unswerving dedication to one's goals, to dreams so cemented in our mind that the insidious forces of bad habit and procrastination cannot drive us from the Golden Path. It is a noble aspiration.

And yet so often out of grasp.

Tis strange then I found this day my desires shifted to drawing. Now I consider myself an artist, but for all my boast and bravado I draw scantly. I despise it when my drawings come out looking like crap. This paralyzes my desire to practice. I, however, came to realize something today. The first four drawings you do every day will look like complete crap. This is caused by your hand warming itself up, stretching and growing accustomed to the forms of the pencil and eraser.

Your mind similarly falls into line, slowly becoming less critical and more loose. This I discovered today and with it... I discovered that I can once again enjoy drawing. I am also rather good at it. Perhaps my motivation is not so out of grasp after all.

I have set myself a rather lofty goal. As I came late to the art scene (my first attempts at drawing were in Junior year of High School), I find myself in need of spending many hours a day practicing to catch up with the competition. I've decided to attempt at least an hour a day of sketching, with weekly subjects in order to ensure I cover a variety of topics.

My first topic? Torsos.

According to my research, the torso is an apt place to start studying the human figure, as it is the literal core of the human body. Every limb is affected and in turn affects the musculature of the torso. Today I focused on drawing the male core, with exaggerated muscles in order to feel out the different groups. As I stated above, my first four drawings were complete crap. My 5th however, began to show promise. My play instinct kicked in and I began to focus on proportions, specifically between the pectorals and the length of the abdomen.

I succeeded in drawing for nearly 4 hours.

That said, I am hopeful for tomorrow, where I hope to continue this trend.

Wish me luck.