Works in the Rough

I'm frustrated.  My drawing lately has come too slow to me.  It doesn't help that I've got loud construction noise just outside my door.  No matter how loud I play music, my peace escapes me.  My mind is cloudy, moody, annoyed.  My dreams have been fitful and overtly sexual yet impotent -- in dreams I attract men and they chase me with BIG boners but once they catch up to me, they go soft -- gee!  It's not hard to guess what myself is telling me.  It's time to take a break and just assess what I've got done so far, sigh, and start over at a later time after a refresh...


I've been working on a series of illustrations of Melusine, putting together a collage of character sketches, attempting to get as close as possible to how I first imagined her.  Thing is, I see her in many different aspects.  She's a faceted jewel of a character and enjoyable to draw.


The profile here is my favorite part.  At the bottom you can see what I've erased as I have yet to decide how I will place her arms.  She's barely there.


The above may be another Melusine sketch.  I'm working on capturing her sinking into her bath and just as she is about to sprout her serpent's tail.  It's a difficult pose to work out.

Reviewing my current sketches gives me pause and I remember my first days in drawing classes...  I remember at the age of eight how frustrated I was just drawing an apple!  I hated it when teachers gave us assignments where we had to draw fruit.  I've always loved drawing people, even if the only people I could draw from were little wooden figures.

I'm now 39 years old.  I still love those mannequins and I really should keep one for myself at home.  Instead I work a lot from magazines, books, photographs, and whatever I can get my hands on.  Since this blog of mine is about my dreams, let me wish out loud here and make a list of what my dream studio would consist of (that is, if I had limitless funds):

1.  Good lighting!  A set of nice lamps that duplicate daylight.
2.  Mahl Sticks and cotton figerless gloves -- both are good to prevent smudging.
3.  Storage drawers that are thin and flat to keep large work on paper from curling. 
4.  Nice soft yet sturdy chair that fully supports my back.
5.  One desk that has a flat surface -- a drafting table -- duh!
6.  All the Kolsinky brushes I could ever want!
7.  A computer with a nice large monitor and fully equipped with Photoshop programs, etc.

Oh, I could make the list longer but I'm restless.  I want to write about something else... soon.