Drawing along last night. Trying to Simplify my Caricatures again. I wonder if you can tell where it kicked in. I wonder if you can tell where i got 'good'.

I didn't want to stop. I was on a roll. But I had to stop sometime.

Figured that when I came back to it, I would know the answers. But aghk no. Tonight it took me several drawings of One Face before it even felt passable to me. I was able to see the Exaggeration, but wasn't drawing it successfully. I'm not going to waste our time posting what I drew tonight.

This wouldn't be a problem at a Party. If I wasn't happy with my new Simple Style, I could easily flip back into my old Exaggerated style with the Predraws. And I would feel so happy with that, that I would wonder why I ever considered changing it.

But I love this new style

Could this really be? It feels so right to be back in the saddle again ~ preparing for an upcoming Party. Yes I said Party. People are starting to live again. Having Parties. Having Fun.

So here I am, switching gears once again. I had been doing a lot of my own stuff because covid-19 kept me isolated, but now I actually booked a Girl's Birthday Party for this week.

Checking out my Supplies and making sure I remember how to draw Party Style. It felt easy. Comfortable. I got right into it when I drew this practice Caricature at home.

But as usual, age-old-questions can still pop up. Like whether to use the Heavy Line or not....... hmmmm..... and how much to Color..... hmmmm Yes more Color

I don't respect Caricatures that are just kinda stereotyped eyes, nose, and mouth on a face shape. That's like 3rd-grader's artwork (please Excuse this generalization). 3rd grad is a time when, because of their comfort with Reading alphabet symbols, their artwork gets symbolized. Symbolic. Certain lines represent certain sounds. And other lines represent certain Pictures.

So just go forward or back. Trying to break away from that, I try to focus on what I really see (but oh eye-function is also connnected to the brain, but that's another story). I try to focus on either See what a Camera would see, or I try to let myself get back to a pre-reading mentality ~ to draw like a 2-year-old. Neither sybolizing 'the face', nor symbolizing the Shapes that we'd see in a photograph. But getting back to that nebula of pure unlabeled vision.

I find this sort of fine-featured face difficult to Cariature ` especially in the Front View. But that's all I saw as I watched this woman speak on YouTube. I guess I could have emphasized the op-shape of her nostril ~ because it's 'different' ~ but that didn't really affect me. So I didn't force a 'funny' by doing that. Unnecessary. I don't have to make anyone laugh.

There I was, pen moving as usual. While watching YouTubes. I tried to 'save' my first picture by adding in a little Color. The Artwork is so Plain ~ almost as bad as the Caricaturists that 'fill in the blanks. But good. It looks like her. Then I tried the simplistic approach differently in the 2nd picture that I drew here. Giving up, Not Outlining. Not setting up for 'the blanks', and I felt like this 2nd drawing is so much more organic. Evolved. Confident. Not bored.

But eeeks. When I look at the final Results, the 2nd one doesn't necessarily Look Better than the first one. Only different. Complicating my life to Be a Real Artist ~ is just making my job harder. It was to just draw the first Caricature.

If I could REALLY get back to the Pre-Symbolic Brain, that would have been worthwhile. For me. If I ever felt like taking the Tiiiiiiime and Effort for it. But the Result would not have been Saleable. And it would not have been usable at a Party ~ when I have to Produce (how many can you do per hour?), and I have to connect with my audience (can't only focus inwards). So I wonder ~ why bother with the 'better' vews that are usable commercially ~ ~ when I could just as well 'just do it'

I back. I feel clear about the Different approaches I pefer for Procreate than Fresco. Both Digital Caricatures, but Procreate is Much Better for Parties.

I remembered how I use the fantastic Digital tools when I'm drawing Caricatures in Procreate. The Layers and the Special Brushes. It's completely different than the Painterly Style that I feel so thrilled with in Fresco. Fresco feels more like traditional Oil Painting.

Click on this link to see the Video of a Procreate Caricature that I did at home during Coronavirus Rules. Just dreaming of how we used to have big Parties, I drew this Caricature of Nick Kroll based on a random photo of him that I found online. Just to stay connected to my Party Skills.

We will have Parties again.

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