So last weekend I finally went to a Dr. Sketchy’s drawing event. It was fun, but if you look at my sketches on this flickr page, you can tell that I was doodling more and more as time went on.
More info on Dr.Sketchy’s in the Twin Cities can be found here.
Probably because in mainstream terms, it supposedly marked a level of excellence that an artist was to achieve before they could be turned loose to do anything of their own. That archaic notion has stood the test of time, regardless of all the movements in the art world over the last 200 years.
Not to slam realism, but it shouldn’t be considered the end all be all of artistic achievement.
I don’t men to slam realism either. I used to see realism as a high point of quality too (still do), but it seems like the more I draw, the less interested I am in drawing realistically. I don’t know why that is.
Well, if you remember reading Scott McCloud’s “Understanding Comics”, he did point out that more people respond more to a symbolic face (cartoon, “smiley face”) than a realistic one. Perhaps your more in tune to want to reach more people with your work than just a few. Just a thought….
That’s an adorable cartoon! I love the little stick figure burlesque girl
Jon – Yeah, that’s true. He also said that the more detailed and lifelike a drawing is, the more people see it as something outside of himself. That cartoony images were more identifiable with people. Maybe I’m just enough of an egomaniac to want to identify with everything I draw… or something.
Molly – Thanks! (In case you don’t know, Molly is the founder of Dr. Sketchy’s).
Valid point – why is realism so popular… especially since it’s imitation to what’s there, and not exactly any sort of expression. And abstract… abstract is so much more artistic…