God wants you to draw : Part 1

God wants you to draw.

That’s a religious fact. But sadly, i’m too lazy to provide you with all the valid evidence that supports this argument. You just gotta trust yourself (and God).

I first started drawing portraits at the age of 18. I had never done any drawing that i could be proud of before this. Be it a simple stickman or just sketches of fat men. Drawing was something that i believed ermm i needed to be talented in it, a gift from my God to only few selected pedigree. That i was descended from the wrong family tree.

I was wrong. Like i always had been philosophically wrong about my God, not until i met God Himself and we traded ideas. Since then, I have always been factually right about Him. “Quid pro Quo,” He said in latin. I gave Him my soul, He gave me an assurance that one day, he’ll come and visit my blog and i will be able to write a dedicated entry for Him, and treat Him fairly by letting Him to comment on my blog. Non-moderated of course.

But anyway, leave aside the story of my God and me, face the fact that i am not a good drawer, in fact, i’ll be the worst person to teach anyone about drawing portraits. But that doesn’t mean i shouldn’t share. Sharing is caring. Teaching is ermmm.. something tiring? I dunno what! Ok la, teaching is caring too. But since i can’t teach, i share.

My preference would be the dry medium – graphite pencils, mechanical pencils, charcoals, ballpoint pen, soft pastels (like blackboard chalk like that), oil pastels (wax crayons) and coloured pencils. I have never tried painting before, but i’ve drawn with pen and inked brushes before though – black ink on white paper.

But being lazy, nowadays i do sketches with colour pencils on a A4 size sketch paper. I don’t do easels and big-sized papers anymore like i used to, these days i draw on my lap while sitting lazily on a wooden chair. Please do not pick up this bad habit of mine. But do, should you think that i’m super sexy, do, pick me up for dinners and lunches okay, hihi.

I prefer to use a basic of 12 colored pencils over 24, over 36, over 48, or over a million trillion colored pencils. This preference of mine is indeed an individual bias. I like it plain – a lighter tone of one color (say light blue) and the darker tone of the similar color (say darker blue). Then i’ll start blending colours like a kindergarten kid.

You can use any type of coloured pencils though. From my personal experience, there isn’t much difference between a higher-grade pencil and a lower-grade pencil. I’ve drawn using the cheap Staedler Luna before. The result wasn’t that bad.

But since sharing is caring, i’ll share with you about the pencils in the picture above. They are soft, a nice combination of chalk-wax, not water soluble, medium-grade, bought them for RM25.00 (12 pencils) back in 2004 at Times Bookstore in KLCC.

To draw is to stop being afraid.

One can’t live with fear, so if you have been telling yourself all these years that drawing needs talent, that God doesn’t sit well in your blood, then it is a good time to slap your face hard to realize that everybody can draw. Pick up a pencil, or a ballpoint pen, or any media, forget God, just say my name out loud and start sketching. That was how i first got started with drawing portraits though. But i didn’t start with slapping my face and forgetting God though, i was just joking about that. I made my first drawing, and improvised since then. My first drawing was on a wall beside a double-decker bed in a hostel of which i did my matriculation – a foundation in biology. 2 months after that, i drew in public, joining street artists and happily singing and dancing and laughing and reciting poetries. Yes, i used to joined street artists. But they never trained me. I drew along with them.

Outline vs freedom.

Okay, to sketch or to draw a portrait, the right technique (conventional technique actually, there isn’t really a right and a wrong technique) used by many, is to outline the figure, to outline a silhouette and to put proportional guide lines in. But i don’t do this firstly because i’m a whore. Secondly because i’m a bimbo. Thirdly, well thirdly because i need motivation. And my motivation would be the alluring eyes. If i draw an eye, and the eye doesn’t look organic to me, or to at least have a chance to look organic to me, i will then stop drawing and start dialing God’s personal digit and cry Him a river like Justin. I don’t do outlines, but it is advisable to do so. To get the correct proportion and to do less mistakes in calculation.

But drawing isn’t entirely about calculation of proportion, at least not to me. That is why i prefer freedom over constraint.

Distance vs close-up.

For me, i would prefer a less detailed portrait that looks awful in close up but looks balanced from a distance. So i would sit back and trying to find the balance that connects the whole drawing as one.

Criticism vs advice.

What is art without the freedom to express oneself? But like all kind of dramatic performances, one must avoid seeking unnecessary compliments especially from those who don’t perform a.k.a people who don’t do art a.k.a people who don’t draw a.k.a a.ka. These days, the chances to get complimented for boosting one’s pride or as a reward to motivate oneself are very thin, most people i know today are natural born critics – they will say hurtful things to you so they would feel better about themselves. Like me, i criticize the critics so that i feel better about myself. So instead, if you think you need an advice but are not looking forward to be criticized by people who still live in fear, seek for a community or individuals who actually draw (Or call up my cell, and we could go for a lunch mkay =) )

I know that i am not the best person to teach, and that i’m such a lazy whore who never completed his sketches, that i love my God so much and you were probably disturbed or even got jealous with the God-Firdauz-God-God-God-Firdauz-God-God bonding thing. But anyway, anyway, didn’t i say everyone can draw?

This is the evidence.

You see, everyone can draw. Drawing portraits is like putting make-ups to one’s face. It’s fun, it’s pretty damn easy and it prettifies the prettiness of the pretty you, hah! We just need to start with the first drawing, and everything else seems to fall into alignment (and if it doesn’t you know who to ring, hihi).