This third figure that I’ve been working on has been giving me all sorts of grief. I must have redrawn it about 8 or 9 times in vine charcoal. Then when I came into the studio last night it was clear that the proportions were way off, so I spent all last night trying to nail it again in the vine charcoal. Eventually, I did get it to where I wanted it to be so I proceeded right away with the etching ink.
I have to admit to myself that I’m still feeling uneasy about these drawings. Perhaps I’m not being gestural enough, perhaps the scale is still intimidating me somewhat, I’m not totally certain. I’m telling myself that I just have to keep working and push ahead. My theory is that I’m judging myself prematurely which is leading to all sorts of questioning which I think is undermining my ability to be confident in my marks. I’m going to work on trying to turn my brain off and just enjoy the process of drawing.
The etching ink dried on the first two figures so I started going in with lithographic crayon and scratching away with the x-acto knife. It felt great, I feel like I was able to clean up a lot of muddled areas that needed much more definition in the form.
Clara Lieu 