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Drawing vs. Writing
14 years ago
When I first came into the furry fandom, I considered myself a writer only. I did not feel worthy of identifying myself as a furry artist until I develop my innate artistic talent with some decent drawing that passes a certain self-set standard. I really haven't been doing much drawing, but know that if I did I might surprise myself with what I am able to accomplish. Practice does make perfect. But really, I would like some guidance in this area, so I don't waste time doing things the wrong way... I'd love to have a mentor or a tutor to point me in the right direction, to develop/refine my skills. But local art schools and art classes don't seem to have what I'm looking for. Maybe I'm not looking hard enough, or not looking for the right things, or maybe I need to just jump in and do it all "on my own". The FA artist Zavian gave me some valuable advice a year or so ago which has helped me a great deal, but I know there are many more secrets and techniques out there that I need to learn and embrace.
I liked to draw throughout elementary school. I started drawing my own comics in 3rd grade. No doubt I did some earlier than that, but 3rd grade was when I started doing them on a regular basis. Now, I have to clarify the quality of "art" in these comics. Although I could make half-decent drawings if I applied the effort, that took too long, and I was more interested in getting the stories across, so my characters were pathetically simple stick figures. But this worked for me and accomplished its purpose, and I had fun with them. They were an escape for me, and a way of making a statement. The last year I drew comics on a regular basis was 8th grade- by then the pictorial quality of my characters had improved, but were still fairly simple.
Now, when I began 9th grade, I discovered that I could convey a story or scene in far more vivid detail by writing about it instead of drawing, so my use of comics as an outlet pretty much went by the wayside. But I still drew a comic strip of something every once in a great while... and as my high school years progressed, the artwork got a little better. But I wrote much better, and later on after college, I wrote a series of various bizarredly humorous short stories soley to entertain myself. These made me laugh hard as I wrote them, and I felt successful in that I was able to artfully arrange words in such a way as to make something funny even more hilarious. And, make myself laugh!
Point is, up to now I have pretty much entertained myself by writing rather than drawing, but that may be changing. I had recently been working on a multi-chaptered furry fan-fic novel based on the characters from Madagascar, and am in the middle of writing chapter 20, where my work has suddenly stopped. Don't know if you can call it writer's block, but it's just not fun anymore. I know where the story is going and what I want to say, but how to do it is eluding me. For whatever reasons, it is getting harder and harder for me to write. Just writing someone an email will take me hours, literally... I agonize over how to say it right, then I evaluate what I have written, whether it might unintentionally offend the recipient in any way, and whether it is linguistically and grammatically correct, and make changes as needed, then repeat the process. Couple this with constant distraction going on here at home, noise and conversations, and frequent interruptions directed at me... makes me want to scream. I don't multitask, not when it comes to writing. I don't want any music playing, no conversation, no interruptions... otherwise I can't do it.
On the other hand, drawing frees my mind. As far as I've come through life, right now as an artist I consider myself just a beginner. But I have potential in this area, and if I work on it, perhaps I can get a LOT better, and maybe even create some fantastic scenes. Unlike writing, I can listen to music and audio messages while I draw, and they do not distract my work. So I am thinking I may be returning to drawing comics once again as my creative outlet. I'd like to improve a lot more over this next year, and then, maybe I'll start my new comics which feature my lion character, Leostarr.
I liked to draw throughout elementary school. I started drawing my own comics in 3rd grade. No doubt I did some earlier than that, but 3rd grade was when I started doing them on a regular basis. Now, I have to clarify the quality of "art" in these comics. Although I could make half-decent drawings if I applied the effort, that took too long, and I was more interested in getting the stories across, so my characters were pathetically simple stick figures. But this worked for me and accomplished its purpose, and I had fun with them. They were an escape for me, and a way of making a statement. The last year I drew comics on a regular basis was 8th grade- by then the pictorial quality of my characters had improved, but were still fairly simple.
Now, when I began 9th grade, I discovered that I could convey a story or scene in far more vivid detail by writing about it instead of drawing, so my use of comics as an outlet pretty much went by the wayside. But I still drew a comic strip of something every once in a great while... and as my high school years progressed, the artwork got a little better. But I wrote much better, and later on after college, I wrote a series of various bizarredly humorous short stories soley to entertain myself. These made me laugh hard as I wrote them, and I felt successful in that I was able to artfully arrange words in such a way as to make something funny even more hilarious. And, make myself laugh!
Point is, up to now I have pretty much entertained myself by writing rather than drawing, but that may be changing. I had recently been working on a multi-chaptered furry fan-fic novel based on the characters from Madagascar, and am in the middle of writing chapter 20, where my work has suddenly stopped. Don't know if you can call it writer's block, but it's just not fun anymore. I know where the story is going and what I want to say, but how to do it is eluding me. For whatever reasons, it is getting harder and harder for me to write. Just writing someone an email will take me hours, literally... I agonize over how to say it right, then I evaluate what I have written, whether it might unintentionally offend the recipient in any way, and whether it is linguistically and grammatically correct, and make changes as needed, then repeat the process. Couple this with constant distraction going on here at home, noise and conversations, and frequent interruptions directed at me... makes me want to scream. I don't multitask, not when it comes to writing. I don't want any music playing, no conversation, no interruptions... otherwise I can't do it.
On the other hand, drawing frees my mind. As far as I've come through life, right now as an artist I consider myself just a beginner. But I have potential in this area, and if I work on it, perhaps I can get a LOT better, and maybe even create some fantastic scenes. Unlike writing, I can listen to music and audio messages while I draw, and they do not distract my work. So I am thinking I may be returning to drawing comics once again as my creative outlet. I'd like to improve a lot more over this next year, and then, maybe I'll start my new comics which feature my lion character, Leostarr.
I do know what you mean when you talk about writing, you need to focus and I luckily have a schedule I stick to for working hours. Speaking of which I am getting ever closer to maybe having something worth reporting, but we'll just have to see.
:)
I am glad for you though that you have a regimented writing schedule, and apparently a quiet undisturbed place to do it properly. You do very well, I think. Is this latest secret work your first major multi-chaptered novel? I'm not much of a reader, but if it has anything to do with space/sci-fi/spaceships, I will want to read this one (after it's finished, of course)! But don't tell me what it's about, I like to be surprised. :)
And yes, I have an office in my bedroom. :) I appreciate the vote of confidence. You are correct, and I am almost done with the second draft, I could use some test readers though before I start on the spit and polish. :) If you think you have time. :)