Keeping it real

10-15-2014

Now I don't cherish the illusion that people might take my illustrations to be
photography. And I don't mind that, because I'm of the opinion that in some
cases, a drawing can be more effective than a photo. That being said
however, in general,I DO strive to make things as realistic as I can.
(Now, there may be those of you who think that considering the size of my women, their figures and muscularity, I'm not doing a very good job of it. Fair enough, but I do combine this search for realism with my personal preferences. Hey, I do have to get something out of this, too :))

In this effort to make things feel real, I use several methods. And one of
them is making small series of two or three drawings of the same situation.
I think this works because when you see a model only in one picture, she
may look fixated, whereas once she appears again in a different posture, she
may suddenly come to life.

Now, if you do this with just one figure on the pages, the problems are
limited. Of course, you have to try and copy the facial features as best you
can (a hood comes in handy there, or even just a blindfold), but the chances
of success are relatively high.

Another method of suggesting realism however, is of course placing the
figure in an environment. In a room or in the street, or in a closet; you name it.
But that increases the problems hugely. It is almost impossible, or very
laborious to say the least, to copy something as complicated as a living room
by hand. And therefor I feel totally justified to on occasion use the same
background twice or more, superimposing the character.

When however the environment is relatively simple, you can add another trick
to create a more lifelike experience. With the complicated, copieëd
background, automatically some of the fixed character I talked about earlier
creeps in. With a simple surrounding you can more easily change the 'camera
stand point', again adding to the feeling that the person is really alive: that
you can walk around her.

By the way, most of the time, I make these series in one period of time,
together. But between the ones above, years had passed by between the two,
and I have to say: it's a lot of fun to re-visit your work this way.
Actually, I'm in such a process again. Three years ago, I made this drawing,

Coco

CBAP