The Natural Way To Draw

Schedule 10B-E

2011-07-20T09:58:00.003-04:00

"I never concern myself with how much talent my students have. I couldn't say to anyone in the beginning, 'You have no talent.' I believe that nature is lavish with talent just as it is with acorns--but not all acorns become oaks. Talent is something that develops, or appears, as you work. The fact that you gravitate toward an art school--the very fact that you have opened this book--indicates that you have at least a hankering for art. What is required is the necessary effort."

"If you really want to learn to draw, you must be willing to build the underpinning. I have had students whose imagination far exceeded what might be called their student qualities, their capacity for sustained and detailed study. They want to run before they can walk. [...] I have had other students who seemed to be more interested in 'being artists' than in drawing. [...] Such students are likely to be found, not sitting in front of the model, but sitting over a cup of coffee in a neighboring café, talking about art. The student who really learns to draw will be the one who draws."

Hello, again.

I had intended to put here three modeled drawings done in water color: one, Debbie Ong; two, my buddy Ville holding his daughter Saara; and three, a portrait of my beautiful friend Swei.

But circumstances change. My interests shifted for several months. Then I moved to Gainesville, Florida, very recently. Desiring a fresh start completely, I backed up all my desirable files and formatted my hard drive, reinstalling Windows XP and stepping fresh into Ubuntu Studio. Deciding last night to pick back up the study of drawing, realizing the necessity of keeping my hands busy after a morbid bout of self indulgence, I began again, this morning, where I left off. However, things did not go as planned. Upon loading the DVD with all my pictures on it, I came to realize that 98% of them were corrupted and, therefore, as good as gone. Ashes to ashes. While the realization was a little sad, it was also liberating. I am to make a completely new start here, memories being what they are, memories. Praise the Lord for freshness. Praise the Lord for mercy and grace.

And so I move forward.

Praise the Lord.

Schedule 10A

2011-03-09T16:27:00.003-05:00

We continue the long studies with water color

I enjoy painting with water color. I don't know why I try to distract myself from using it, because every time I do use it, I enjoy it. Something about it is so...sloppy; and the sloppy part is what makes it enjoyable. Something about dabbing and flicking the brush... I kind of throw precision to the wind with it--and yet manage to obtain a better feel with it.

The modeled drawing in water color. Nothing new. I've decided to post both the grayscale and color images of the water colors. I find pleasure in using whatever colors suit my fancy to describe depth. This babe is purple. I'm not sure what her name is; I found her among the pictures of Michelle Khor's Facebook account.

And the four-hour modeled drawing in water color. Only one hour so far. Actually, less than thirty minutes. Thirty minutes is pretty much tops for me for in any particular artistical sitting at this time in my life. The beautiful Debbie (actually, I felt like saying Deborah, but I don't know if that's actually her name) Ong has again claimed my fascination. Looks like we're in it for the long haul this time, Deb. Blue's a good color on you.

Schedule 9E

2011-02-23T18:22:00.002-05:00

Have I ever told you that pen wasn't my favorite medium?

Trying to get back into drawing. "Trying?" I hear you ask? Yeah. My life has been a tapestry of intermittent passions. For these past several weeks it's been Algebra and Chess, but I believe thread's running out on these for the moment. I'd like to restring it with some art--at least enough to finish off this book. I already have three books stacked on my desk waiting to be read, with several more on my shelf waiting. Eh.

Exercise 25: Back to the Model
Sit with your back to the model during a half-hour pose. Look around at the model as much as you want to and draw just as usual, but don't move your chair. You will find it such a strain to turn around that you will look at the model as seldom as possible, and when you look you will really look.

I really don't know if I'd have done any better not craning my neck around for every peek. Not quite the spitting image of this exquisite girl, but I did spend more than the thirty minutes allotted me--which obviously wasn't hard to do.

"That doesn't look at all like me," says Swei. Nope, no it doesn't, Swei. But I was looking at a picture of you while I was drawing it, letting my eyes rub all up and down it. "So why did you only draw half of it?" she askes. Less than that, even. Mostly because the other side got wrong real quick, so I decided to focus my efforts on the better part for the time that I had. Oh, and "asks" doesn't have an 'e' in it.

Actually, I think I'm going to start naming all these people. Whether they take offense at my learning or not is up to them. That I didn't ask any permission or even give a head's up is besides the point. The first model was Debbie Ong, the second Suet Wei. Yes, Swei, I finally did one of you. I'm not satisfied with it, though; so it probably won't be the last. Rar.

Ever look at a word really long, knowing full well that something was wrong with it, but just not coming to the conclusion of what specifically? "Obviosly" was my word, today.

Schedule 9D

2011-01-12T11:06:00.002-05:00

Ten minute form studies. This is the exercise that I most consistently fulfill the allotted time for. The second one was my best but my sister said that she couldn't tell what it was. I didn't tell her either.

And the fourth girl. I wasn't finished. However, I ran out of ink. Yes, I had other pens, but I didn't have any more purple pens--the color that I had been using--and I didn't want to end with another color.

Schedule 9C

2011-01-08T20:45:00.004-05:00

I just read the definition of "dilettante".

I read it again to my sister and she thought it was hilarious.

Quick contours. Way to sneak up on me like that. Haven't done these in a while (always amuses me, though). So, I decided to postpone the rest of the exercise, take a shower, work on some more gestures ala joshua-ultra-quick-contour, and give it another shot.

Changed my marker, too. Can't say either way whether the pause helped. The first one was kind of creepy and reminded me of an alien or something. Man these things crack me up.

I see that the girls, for whatever reason, tend to get darker with each hour. The third girl didn't make it on the picture--the fourth one definitely won't--but I'll try to put in as much of her as I can, though. Maybe try to equalize the modeling. Maybe. The dimensions are already out of whack. But hey, whatever.

Schedule 9B

2010-12-30T20:07:00.002-05:00

Yeap. Thinking about the four hour drawing (second picture), I think I won't have enough room to draw the fourth girl. You see, that's her leg coming out of the second girl's shoulder, which will put her head clear off the paper.

Schedule 9A

2010-12-20T19:08:00.002-05:00

And we continue the long studies: Modeled Drawing in Ink. The second one is actually a four part study, ideally taking me four hours to draw. So, I picked out an image with four girls with one (more or less) being drawn each day. Curiously, I am drawing with a purple gel pen, because it draws easier than most of the pens I own, not that you can tell with the grayscale scan.

Schedule 8E

2010-11-18T20:48:00.002-05:00

Only one, today (the rest were gestures--1.5 hours of gestures): a modeled drawing of the face. It took me more than an hour to do this. Which surprised me a little. The left eye, nose, and area around them I spent the most of my effort on. They were also the last things I spent my effort on. After the right eye got cockeyed, and the lips fell too far from the cheek, I spent the rest of my effort on the parts I hadn't botched as much.

Schedule 8D

2010-11-15T21:02:00.002-05:00

8D

23, 23, 23, 22

Schedule 8C

2010-11-13T21:55:00.002-05:00

Exercise 23: Ten Minute Form Studies

"TRY TO GET THE DISPLACEMENT OF THAT WEIGHT IN SPACE."

Mr. Nicolaides, it is my pleasure.

Really, though, it was. This is one of the first exercises where it took me longer than the allotted time--and I wanted to draw more. This is a good thing. I especially like the third one. I think I'd like to do that one better, some day.

These Exercise 22's are a little creepy. They kind of remind me of those Gray's Anatomy pictures--especially the ones with the little meat hooks.

Schedule 8B

2010-11-08T14:42:00.003-05:00

Quick Contour, ditto, ditto, Modeled Drawing (specifically, Exercise 22: Part of the Form).

In an interesting turn of events, my drawings actually got better as I went along. That's been kind of rare up till now. Maybe it's because the first ones very persistently suggested that I laugh a lot. Things are certainly more enjoyable (though not necessarily easier to do) with a smile on.

Did you notice the first one has three eyes?

I saved the nose--the second hard copy I've saved since I started this.

I'm still laughing at that second one.

Schedule 8A

2010-11-04T21:17:00.002-04:00

No, these aren't contours. Just when I was getting in the groove, again. Oh well. More modeled drawings. The first one I used a block-ish piece of graphite for. Which I thought would be fun, and was, but was difficult, because it was hard to lay down more graphite. It also made the page really smooth and glossy. And my fingertips very gray. The second I did with another pencil I've had for ages that I've never used before--Layout/Ebony. It draws a lot darker than the ol' 2B. Has this drag to it, but not as much as charcoal. Yes, I did spend the most effort on the arm pit.

Just so you know I still do gestures. I get to do these with every schedule. Honestly, the ones I did this morning were (for the most part) much better, but I didn't date them, and I didn't feel like making the dates up. Even though it wouldn't have been too hard since I did them immediately before the modeled drawing. But tough, I'm not doing it. I've scanned what I've scanned and that's that. Yehaw.

Schedule 7E

2010-11-03T15:53:00.003-04:00

Quick. Quick. Quick. Slower.

I'm actually feeling pretty good about these. The first one, believe it or not, actually feels the most accurate. I also have to wonder if the middle two look that silly because I also kind of feel that way about them. Boy, drawing's expressive, isn't it?

Schedule 7D

2010-11-02T16:13:00.004-04:00

Quick. Quick. Not quick.

Next to the watercolors, I think these contours are my favorite things to post. Gestures, least favorite. While they're generally fun to draw, I don't get a whole lot out of looking at them.

By the way, while I'm not convinced it's come out in my drawing yet, I can feel myself observing better. There are things I notice now on these pictures that I didn't notice before, and that counts for something.

Along the same way, I'm canning the long contour study. I put it off for two months because I wasn't feeling up to it, and after completing sixty percent of it, my apathy has not changed. I will finish out the exercises in this schedule without this one.

Isn't self-education fun?

Schedule 7C

2010-10-30T19:46:00.002-04:00

Focus on the face.

Seems the next three schedules all require face study in the exercise. Which is fine with me, since it's something I've had little practice with (even avoided doing when I was younger). Kimon says:

"Don't think of the head or the face as something different from any other part of the body. Draw it as you would draw a hand or an elbow or a knee."

Sounds theoretically sound, so I'll go with it.

Gestures of the face.

Quick contours of the face. That first one's kind of having an out-of-body experience. I kind of like it though. The second (and third) one is also pretty amusing. Amusing also, because it is the same girl from two different pictures. You see, where, arguably, her right eye is supposed to be, I contoured her face, first. Seeing I had plenty of room (it was a small picture), I decided to just move over a little. And now it kind of looks like I did it on purpose.

Contour of a face. Really. When I look down and see it's that out of whack, I don't have the strongest desire to complete it. Funny how taking longer doesn't seem to make it better.

Yeah, right. I shall continue this long study, but on a different sheet of paper.

Schedule 7B

2010-10-28T19:32:00.003-04:00

Baby, I need your lovin'. Got! to have all your lovin'.

"Every step in this book is founded on your willingness to look at the model."

No doubt. Look is a curious word, though. If I look at a woman the way I've been looking at my guitar head, she might get the wrong idea.

Or maybe the right one.

Moving on.

Quick contours. Funny, because, by his definition, I've been doing that all along. Now what do I call what I've been calling quick contours? Really quick contours, I guess. The first one almost looks recognisible. The second... The third one I didn't even show.

I got the idea to change color each "hour" (which has been thirty minutes, so far) I drew to show *progress*. The two major difficulties I've been having are,

One, I tend to look ahead. All the time. In most everything I do. Whether with my eyes, or with my mind in anticipation. And contour is all about the moment, the instant. A good lesson to learn, really. And,

Two, I have a large field of vision. I'm paying attention to everything around me instead of that single point. Crippling myself won't help in the long run, so I'm just going to have to learn to focus my powers. Boy, didn't that sound spiffy.

Schedule 7A

2010-08-28T22:32:00.003-04:00

Return to contour.

DEVELOPING THE LONG STUDIES.

"You have been rushed through a number of exercises in what may seem a very short time."

Not if you take as long as I did between the exercises.

"But it is necessary in the beginning to avoid the great danger of monotony."

Too late.

"When you attempted your fist contour drawing, you started with a blank."

Actually, I start all of my exercises like that.

"Now you start with all the accumulated knowledge and ability which you have gained from weeks of hard work."

"All" is a small word.

"Previously I have not asked you to devote more than an hour to one drawing, partly because I realised that your knowledge of the figure was limited and that you might not see enough to occupy you for a grater length of time. You will now be able to spend hours instead of minutes on a drawing before you have exhausted the sensation of touching the contours."

Which brings us to Exercise 17: The Five-Hour Contour. !!!!!!!! Yikes. I haven't been able to spend an hour yet on a contour, and now I'm asked to spend five days (an hour a day) on a single pose.

"If, after drawing the outside and inside contours, you find you still have time left, draw the important cross contours in their proper places on the figure."

Personally, I think this is going to look like a mess. A real whodiditandran.

"In a way this drawing will be a test of how much you have learned."

No doubt.

"Every step in this book is founded on your willingness to look at the model."

Ah, the killer words: your willingness. Kimon emphasized look, but that's really secondary.

I'm going to start on this five hour thing next session (Guess I'll be working on it two hours one day). As for the rest of the exercises...

Gesture of the day. It's the back of a woman with her head resting on her right knee. Can't you tell?

Supposed to be a cross contour exercise. Since it's been so long since I've did a contour, I decided to do a few small ones first. And yeap.

The DC. My sister and I cornered our friend Jason--who's very ticklish--in the kitchen and proceeded to attack him. That's him on the counter knocking things over attempting to defend himself.

Schedule 6E

2010-08-27T12:43:00.003-04:00

This time it was some guy named Bryan. I saw his picture and I immediately thought, "I like this dude." And after reading what he had to say about himself, I'm quite sure I like this dude. I ran out of light green half-ishway into it and I didn't feel like mixing any more. I have this frugal mindset--for whatever reason--even though I got this set of water colors for free from my buddy Matt. Yes, Matt, this full set of Sakura special water colors in tubes 18 colors in plastic tray with transparent cover made in Japan non-toxic which you put into a box to be trashed when you moved. You know, just like your Playstation 2. Hmm. $10.25 on the back of the box. Okay, not *quite* a full set--four of them were dried up and I unintentionally mashed Yellow Ochre. Oops. Anyway, I think I should mix double what I expect to use from now on.

Daily Composition: Sitting in my sister's room while she tries (unsuccessfully) to persuade me to get a "pretty" haircut.

"Josh, you could be pretty!"

You know, this daily composition exercise is pretty fun. I get to backflash through my entire day, looking for an interesting scene to draw. If anything, it's a good memory exercise.

Schedule 6D

2010-08-26T10:00:00.006-04:00

I have been scanning these modeled drawings in grayscale, since the purpose wasn't a coloring exercise, but a modeling one. That, and the orange and brown colors (close to the colors Kimon suggested) I was using weren't very attractive. Since my orange (pale orange) supply was getting pretty low, I decided to go with yellow and red. Which, well, I liked. Probably because I like fire. Those were the colored pencils that used to get the most use. Anyway, I included the color scan this time because, well, it amused me. Still does.

Bodybuilding.com is a great place to find models, by the way; this particular one was Aubrie Richeson.

Daily Composition: My sister. On my hammock. Really.

Schedule 6C

2010-08-25T11:43:00.002-04:00

I wish I hadn't started outlining him. Oh well.

Exercise 16: Right-Angle Study

"During the first half of the pose, draw, not what you see, but what you think you would see if you were sitting at the left side of the model instead of in front of him. [...] Of course you will not always have a front view of the model for this exercise [...] but the principle remains the same."

This one was pretty fun. Reminded me of Exercise 11: Reverse Poses.

Original (colored) pictures copyright Posemaniacs.com.

Schedule 6B

2010-08-24T10:12:00.002-04:00

Schedule 6A

2010-08-17T16:24:00.004-04:00

uoy ,gol bew siht gniwollof neeb evah taht uoy fo esoht roF
ym gnivorpmi fo esoprup eht rof siht detrats I taht wonk
.etis siht fo noitcerid eht degnahc ecnis evah I .lliks gniward

But I changed back because, you know, that's kind of hard to read.

Yeap.

So Mr. Nicolaides says I should model with water color now. I haven't used water color in years.

Speaking of years, the years I most painted with water color were the years that I had to take naps, that is, before kindergarten. Think four to five. I've never liked naps, and so, when mom had left the house, I'd get out of bed, grab dad's old folding set of water colors, hop up to the bar in the kitchen, and paint my favorite dinosaur. Godzilla, of course. It never actually looked like Godzilla--even up to fourth grade (10), when my buddy Derrick rebuked the way I drew his back spikes. He was always green, too. And his fire was orange. And he usually fought fire breathing snakes. Regardless, it was better than naps.

"We are all prone to accept our preconceptions instead of investigating a thing fully and anew."

Yeap. I'm liking the change of medium, though. Water color certainly isn't as convenient as pencil, but learning is a good thing.

Intermission

2010-08-02T19:41:00.005-04:00

I didn't draw it. I thought it was pretty spooky though, so I thought I'd share it. It was drawn by a dude named Bob Tilton in his book, Drawing and Painting Animals. Mom gave the book to me on, I think, my eleventh Christmas. The night before last was the first day that I had actually read all the way through it.

Yes, my training has much abated recently. Having many interests makes honing any particular one of them quite difficult--at least, that's been my experience. However, since Kimon said that the Daily Composition is the most important exercise, I did manage to make myself do a few of these during the intermission.

My sister's bird shed. I was getting a wayward snake out of it for her. About five feet long. Don't have a clue what kind of snake it was. I didn't hurt it, though.

The recreation room. I was running on the treadmill. There's a television facing sideways between the door and the machine, but I wasn't watching it (obviously, since it was sideways).

The back patio. The younger geese had jumped the low fence and were insulting the cat. The cat didn't much care.

A hallway in the Orangeburg Triumph Fabrications building. I was there for a job interview, following Wes to his office.

Bethel sanctuary. There for a vacation Bible school meeting. Dad and mom are directly in front of me. Megan, the organizer, is in the front. She's pretty hot--not that you (or I, looking at this drawing) can tell.

The back of my dad's shop. Dad and Cory were talking in the dusk.

The Bowmen drag strip. Steve Bolen was in front of me eating his just purchased chili dog and soda. Two cars were actually staging at the same time--a rarity for Bowman.

The back patio. Dad was sitting on the doorsteps just before lunch, tired.

Bethel staircase. Alan was helping me tote a desk to the van that Joey (the pastor) had just given to my mom.

The back of some guy's house in Orangeburg. Went with dad on a very long junkyard trip with some customers/friends (Cory, Trae, Lo, Tori). Ending up picking up an (junk) engine back in Orangeburg. New dude was talking to Trae. Dude's three girls're (only one was his, the one by the door with the exceptionally large baby doll) in the background.

Bethel fellowship hall. Larry Kreider was teaching at a mens' meeting. From left: Billy, Joey, dad, Larry (there were more of us). Larry had three polystyrene cups in front of him, trying to explain finances.

Schedule 5E

2010-07-06T22:36:00.003-04:00

I like doing these daily exercises with my eyes shut. I was mowing the ditch in front of the house.

Did the gestures differently, today. Jagged. Angular. Had to ward off tedium.

Doesn't look like the picture. Honestly, it doesn't look like a cat. I hope I didn't give it away.

Schedule 5D

2010-07-03T22:28:00.004-04:00

Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall shine upon you and give you light. (Ephesians 5:14)

0624

I was watching this dude named Bob Ross paint by way of water colors on the television this afternoon. Fine painter. What was hilarious, though, was that mom was watching it first. I got my lunch, then sat on the couch. My sister came in and sat on the opposite couch. Then dad came in and sat in his chair. All of us watching Bob painting a lovely landscape while we ate lunch. A rare and humorous occasion.

Me, taking a shower.

More gestures.

0703

The longest stretch yet, I think, between posts. It's not that I've lost interest, but something more interesting has come up. Something that interests me a great deal. Somethings, even. Three, to be exact. But they're all related. Two of them involve human-powered vehicles. One of them involves a girl. Joshua the romantic.

My buddy Matt, Shawn, and I was bouncing quarters at each other on the trampoline. I did this one with my eyes closed.

More gestures. I enjoy modeling for myself.

I got a friendlier pen for the modeled drawings, this time. However, I still don't desire to spent more than ten minutes on each one.

I was wearing underwear. Really.

Schedule 5C

2010-06-23T19:21:00.002-04:00

I decided to do some quick contour along with the quick gesture. Hilarious looking, but breaks up the monotony.

More Exercise 14. I was helping my dad disassemble an engine, today.

Should be obvious.

Did half the study, today. Might do it this way again.

Schedule 5B

2010-06-19T18:15:00.004-04:00

Exercise 14: The Daily Composition

"This is a memory drawing. Working in pencil, make a small drawing of something you have seen during the past twenty-four hours. Put down as fast and easily as possible, and in any order, the various things you remember about a specific place and what was going on there."

Alrighty. This was interesting enough. I stay at home a lot, so I don't know how quickly this will become tedious.

"No other exercise in the book is more important than this one. These compositions do not have to be right. They can be all wrong. THE IMPORTANT THING IS TO DO THEM. The really serious student will make a quick composition every day for the rest of his life despite everything else he has to do."

Yeah. Umm... That was a picture of my dad in his shop, by the way. At least, what I remembered of it.

I tried smashing the pen into the paper, this time, as instructed. For the first one. The pen started sticking pretty good about halfway so I opted out of continuing the practice.

Schedule 5A

2010-06-17T22:50:00.003-04:00

One less than usual for the memory exercise, today. Didn't remember the last pose. But these were, honestly, the best ones I did, so they're here for show.

I was going to use myself for the gestures, today, but the batteries in mom's camera went kaput, so they're recharging. Posemaniacs, one two three! Posemaniacs, four five six!

Was told to do the modeled exercises in ball-point pen. Cool, cool. I was also told to Press hard, even if the pen tears into the paper. Oops. I didn't do this guy justice. He's a rather handsome dude in actuality. And I butchered the poor woman's face. She is much prettier in the picture I swiped off of Myspace.

Schedule 4E

2010-06-14T21:17:00.004-04:00

He who gathers little by little will increase. (Proverbs 13:11)

Amen.

I put my gesture and memory exercises side by side this time because, frankly, they're roughly the same "quality" now. That can arguably be a good thing. I like good things.

Modeled drawing attempts at a door knob and this coconut piggy bank that my friend Sonia brought me back from Puerto Rico.

And the new exercise for this schedule: *Group Poses*. I had already did these before, without being specifically instructed, in using Kung Fu movies for Gesture exercises. So...I brought out the Kung Fu movies again.

Schedule 4D

2010-06-08T22:24:00.004-04:00

Schedule 4 has certainly been good in frequently adding new exercises. Today is "Reverse Poses". Simply enough, I draw the reverse of what I see. Then, the model actually reverses the pose, and I draw that. Of course, the models were from Posmaniacs.com and The GIMP reversed them.

More modeled drawings. Desk objects, this time.

And a gesture or three.

Coupled with some more memory practice. These are usually pretty bad. Sometimes the idea pops up to omit these since they tend to be so bad--more so than the contour exercises. But I remind myself that this is not a portfolio, but a museum of progress--which is worth much more. So I continue to boldly display that which is least impressive.

Schedule 4C

2010-06-05T19:31:00.005-04:00

Dig, if you will, the picture...

Did it a little different, this time. Used the broad end of a carpenter's pencil. I have an easier time feeling the motion when I can drop more lead with each stroke.

Got a double dose of modeled forearms, this time. Wee.

I'm feeling more confidant with the memory exercise. Only three attempts into it, but hey.

New exercise: Descriptive Poses. Pretty fun. I had to describe to my model a pose to make and make a one minute drawing of that pose--without seeing it. Then, the model reveals herself, and I make a two minute sketch of what she was actually doing (how she interpreted my instructions). I couldn't get around it, this time--I had to have a model. So, I employed the services of my lovely sister, Danielle Wright. We took turns describing the poses. Pretty fun exercise.

Schedule 4B

2010-06-01T20:48:00.003-04:00

Ladies and gentlemen, Miranda. This is the lady on the front of the book. No, I don't really know her name, but she really should have one as much as I've seen her naked.

Gesture. There's something I really like about the third one.

Memory. Need. More. Practice.

Moving Action. A new exercise. I like the exercise, but the only model I had was myself and the movie I made sucked and I didn't feel like editing them to show the constant repeated movement. So I got a little aggravated constantly restarting the movies and kind of rushed the exercise.

Modeled Drawing.

Schedule 4A

2010-05-28T11:19:00.003-04:00

Yeah, that took long enough.

And we start off with some gestures. Funny, I managed to stick four in a row--I guess because they were all standing up this time.

Exercise 8: Memory Drawing

"The model is asked to take three poses successively, holding each for about half a minute, and then to step down from the stand so that he cannot be seen. During the next minute, make gesture drawings of the three poses in any order that occurs to you."

"At first you may find yourself, like many other students, starting blankly at an equally blank paper. Draw something. Make some kind of lines whether you have any memory of the poses or not. Then try again."

This one definitely needs practice.

Another modeled drawing. My water cup. Well...a picture of my water cup--I don't drink from paper. What's amusing is that you can see the writing on the other side of the cup paper. "What is it?" you ask? It's the list of techs from Phantasy Star 2.

I, by mistake, took the second set of gestures exercises at thirty seconds per pose. Oops. Oh well, it was a nice change in practice. I really like the picture of the jumping man. You don't know which one the jumping man is? Then I'm not telling you.

And a modeled drawing of an arm. Not my arm. My buddy Matt's arm. He was eating something mushy looking, but I didn't draw that.

Schedule 3E

2010-05-19T21:28:00.003-04:00

"Do not take anything for granted."

Wise words, my man, wise words.

"Nothing is a mere detail."

Even better words.

The modeled drawing. Model it, Joshua, model it. Started with the volume controller for my speakers. Crash and burn.

Honestly, I feel like I missed a step, somewhere. I assure you that that drawing does not accurately represent the model.

So I decided, again, to go with something that seemed simpler. Like...my hand. Again. Hey, it's quite available. I'm pretty sure I don't like these modeled drawings. But I haven't been very skillful with clay. Unlike my friend Edryanne. Low, Wai Chi, you're being plugged.

And more gestures.

Schedule 3D

2010-05-16T16:33:00.004-04:00

Good afternoon, boys and girls. My name's Mr. Nicolaides, but you may call me Mr. Nick. I'm going to be your teacher, today.

Yay. Another schedule three days in the doing. I spent three hours yesterday playing Phantasy Star. I got halfway through the game and quit, read through a walkthrough for the rest of it, and watched the ending online. The game was so boring that it encouraged me to study Japanese. When entertainment is so bad that rote learning is more enjoyable... Which is why I don't watch television.

Did you know that the healing items in the game were burgers and colas? That's what the world's been coming to, ladies and gentlemen.

This time the exercise is kind of a combination of weight and cross contour. Pretty interesting. He suggested a piece of wooden molding; so, I picked the stuff lining the entrance of the inside of my room.

Started out feeling like an ink jet printer. Ihhh. No thanks. So I did it my way the second time. What felt good. Probably not what he wanted, but at least it didn't irritate me.

You know, I think I'm finally starting to get the feel of these gesture exercises that Kimon's been trying to convey. I think last night was the first night since the first day that I've enjoyed doing them. This web log half started as a joke and a whim...but I think I'm actually getting into this, now.

Schedule 3C

2010-05-13T21:47:00.002-04:00

I've got pieces of April, but it's a morning in May.

"Do not worry now about the shape. Let it be vague."

That amused me when I read that, because I thought of my friend, Rachel Mah.

So Nick tells me he wants me to draw like a three year old girl drawing an apple. I drew Godzilla when I was three, with water colors, and I started with the outline, not the core. Maybe it's because I was a boy. That liked carnage. For old Nick's sake, I shall try to be like a girl, today. A girl that likes apples. Well, at least I like apples, so I'm already halfway there. Golden Delicious is my favorite variety (that is, as far as my simple apple horizon has thus far stretched).

She got up. She was a big woman. BIG woman. Her name was Bertha. Bertha Butt. She was one of the Butt sisters. He didn't care.

Schedule 3B

2010-05-12T20:15:00.002-04:00

"When the page turns too slowly, Cheat Engine."

Took myself a week reprieve. Felt good. Didn't study, didn't draw, didn't work out. Played (and beat) some video games. Because I could.

Funny, I just looked up reprieve to find out exactly what it meant. "To delay the impending punishment or sentence of." While funny, it's not quite accurate. I thought I was being clever. Oh well. It should read, "Took myself a week break." Rest doesn't quite work, even though it does.

Gesture exercise from seven days ago. That's as far as I got, that day. Plus a few more, today. They're gestures, what more can I say. Nick said to pick out the "good ones". Granted, there are several singles that I tend to like better on a given page, but they're mixed in with ones that I find to be the least skillful. So, I've been grabbing what I consider an average of the day's work. You know, just FYI and all that.

Got some exciting weight exercises, today. Nick said to alternate between drawing clouds and rocks. I know, right? Ultra stimulation. Trying to put my head around it. I know clouds look fluffy, but has anyone ever stood underneath rain? All that was momentarily floating around hundreds of feet in the air in the form of a cloud. I've thrown around a lot of rocks--even heavy rocks--but never a cloud. I intended to contrast, say, a ballerina and another body builder, but I'm trying to follow the instructions of this book to the best of my understanding.

Thinking about *understanding*... In the couple sentences before that, he was contrasting weight with volume, giving the example between a glass tube and a 1/2"d lead pipe--same space, different weight. Which sounds a lot like density, to me. What I'm getting at is "the best of my" part, though. That rock took up a lot less space than that cloud. So I probably didn't quite accomplish what I should have. Even though I was thinking about density when I was doing weight. Do bi do bi do biiii...

Schedule 3A

2010-05-04T21:41:00.004-04:00

Something new! Weight. Form and weight.

"To me weight is the essence of form. And, since the life of a thing is its only real significance, I think of form as the living expression of weight."

Well it's not contour, but I don't think I'm much better at it. I decided that a body builder would also be useful for this exercise and found this handsome character at bodybuilding.com. And his name is Josh. And he's a believer. How much cooler can you get, right?

And more gestures. The power went out this afternoon, so I used DVD box covers for the first gesture exercise. Gorgeous, Scorpion King, and Gladiator are pictured.

Schedule 2E

2010-05-03T21:28:00.002-04:00

So I didn't draw, yesterday. Took a break. I did make jelly, though. First time. Grape Blackberry. Culinary art is still art, right?

Supposedly, inanimate objects have gesture, too. Seems the gesture is in the making. So I turned my cups, framed my chairs, grew my plants. Sewed my wallet. Assembled my pencil. Yeehaw.

"It is far more important that your studies contain this comprehension of movement, of gesture, than that they contain any other single thing."

That's it. I'm now firmly convinced that he's a Gesturist.

A cross contour of a hand. It's supposed to be palm-down on a table, fingers spread apart. Started with the left side; stopped when my pencil fell of the paper (again).

More gestures. Trulies? Trulies. Even threw in another flash gesture exercise even though he didn't call for it. Posemaniacs.com has been fun, but I'm going to have to start mixing things up a bit because it's starting to get boring. I don't want to rush though this.

And the grand finale? A contour of a boob. Joking. It's a rose. I've been kissed by a rose on the gray. Ba ya ya, bada ba da da da, ba yaya.

Schedule 2D

2010-05-01T21:34:00.003-04:00

"The key to the nature of a subject is its gesture. From it the other aspects of drawing proceed."

It's my guess that this guy really believes in gesture.

Don't you just love these arm cross contours? Your friendly neighborhood Joshua has to keep it simple with these, or he looses concentration. There's little more useless than a Joshua without concentration, boy and girls.

And...a fist. Of sorts. It's pretty discouraging when you feel the pencil drop off the paper.

"Josh, draw smaller."

No.

Schedule 2C

2010-04-30T19:30:00.003-04:00

Gestures and something new... The flash pose.

Flash! AAAA-aaaa!

Another gesture exercise. This one's pretty interesting. I have only seconds (as in, one to five) to save the earth scribble down what I see. It's supposed to help me acquire the impulse of the gesture, the thing that supposedly holds it all together. Less time encourages me to see more.

Just a man
With a man's courage
He knows nothing but a man
But he can never fail

Another cross contour of an arm. Another contour of a toilet. Kidding. It's actually a dude at an odd angle. The posemaniacs site files it under full, h0, v60, male, stand. Not sure what all that means. Full, man, and stand are pretty obvious (not necessarily by my picture), but the h0, v60 I'm not sure about. Horizontal? Vertical? I'm sure it's something to do with angle. Hmm... Maybe. If h spears his side, and v splits his left and right, if the camera is angled 60 degrees from his belly button (or, navel, since that makes more sense), that might just be what that means.

Schedule 2B

2010-04-29T23:03:00.002-04:00

When I was much younger, I used to draw very darkly with my pencil, used to cram the lead right in to the paper, which made it quite difficult to erase properly. Slowly but surely, by the time I was younger, I started to draw quite lightly, only darkening in what I considered to be a good enough final product, which really saved on erasers. Now, I'm having to draw heavy again in order for it to show up on my scanner. Not that that's a real problem, though. Kimon said not to even use an eraser until Exercise 28. I'm at 4.

"This thing we call gesture is as separate from the substance through which it acts as the wind is from the tress that it bends."

Mmm. College rule. I wanted to stop wasting the more expensive computer paper on gestures. I have loads of loose leaf paper that I no longer have immediate use for and it's a lot cheaper. Well...it *was* a lot cheaper. Some of this stuff is even yellow I've had it so long.

Cross contour of an arm. Contour of...well, I did do a pair of crossed legs, but it was crappier than normal (no kidding), so it's a no show. And I keep running out of paper. That is, to draw on. That is, the paper itself is lacking surface area sufficient for my practicing. It just doesn't feel free enough practicing contour and trying to keep it in a box.

Ouch! I probably haven't stabbed myself with a pencil in five years. Welcome back, Josh.

Schedule 2A

2010-04-28T22:57:00.004-04:00

Nothing like looking at a naked old lady bending over every time I open this book. I don't know... She is kind of hot. I don't know if it's a good or bad thing how the more you look at someone, the better looking they start to get.

Yesterday was a "long" day. Not bad or unfortunate day, simply tiring--but a good tiring. Drawing had to be relegated.

Potential gestures. It's what it sounds like. Instead of drawing the gesture, I am commanded to draw what I imagine to be the next gesture in the sequence. Which means nothing to you, since you'll just be seeing more of my scribblings.

Feeling a little dull at the moment, wondering what I should use to draw, I typed the first thing I thought of--"model gestures"--into Google image search. Saw a sheet of gestures and clicked on it. Wow. The dude improved pretty impressive in twenty-two days. Something he wrote though should have been an obvious to me: "I also played some movie to get some inspiration for different poses." A movie. Kick ass, dude. Man, some things sure are slow coming. I blame it on not watching movies often and not watching television at all. Not something I care to change. I will, however, appropriate some of it for art practice. Movie of the day? "One Upon a Time in China."

Aah! More reading is good. Found this neat little program following one of the links from the page. I think my last practice was a little too sketchy and not enough gesturey.

Cross contour... I'm gonna let you guys figure this one out.

"Of course, the pose you draw will seldom be the pose the model actually takes. But the effort to realize how the model could move from his present position--what it would be possible for him to do [...]"

Kung fu movies were a bit before his time.

Personally, I don't immediately see the value of potential gestures. Frankly, they bug me. Probably because the word "potential" bugs me.

I decided to continue on with the kung fu gestures--back to static, this time--since the movie was still playing.

For this contour (I've seen it called *blind* contour in another place), I decided to do something simpler for myself. That, ladies and gentlemen, is my tablet stylus standing in its stand. Yes, I traced around that for thirty minutes trying to synchronize my organs.

Honestly, this is the first day since Schedule 1A that I did all five exercises required of me. Also, I know I'm training something. When I was contouring the pen, occasionally I could feel my eyes latch onto the edge and follow it smoothly along--that is, before my eyes got dry and I blinked and lost focus. Regardless, it was smooth and not jumpy like usual. A couple more years of this and we might just have something.

Like a stare. A cold, penetrating stare. Or possibly a warm one. A warm, penetrating stare. Mom said it's not polite to stare. But I'm twenty-five mom, and a man that's been dead for seventy-two years says that I must.

Schedule 1E

2010-04-26T21:32:00.006-04:00

Kimon introduced cross contour, today. Which is, well, different from another version of the term that I've read. No big deal; I'm going to try it his way (or, that is, what seems to be his way, according to the single picture in the book). Contour's all about finding a sense of touch, he says. Touch, touch, touch. No, not poke, touch--as in that gliding type of touch like petting a cat. Or person. I pet people sometimes. Hasn't seemed to help my art, though. Yet.

Google image search fails me.

I'm glad I'm a picture pack rat. Don't have many physically, but I can store loads and loads of them on my computer and they take up very little space. Like, nanometers or something. Yes, I realize that a meter is a linear measurement, but bear with me. It's great because I can just go along and pick them up right and left at my leisure. And the great thing about electric theft is that the people still have what is theirs--I just have it too, now. Crazy.

Well, here's a couple. Correct me if I'm wrong: this gesture thing seems pretty easy to me. I wonder if I'm doing it right.

Well, seeing that contouring organics is much more enjoyable, I decided to sketch a body builder today and...what the hell is that? My. Well, I decided to go with a one a little more realistic. Still shying away from the women a bit. I remember when I was fifteen and I got a little more interested in this (art) and mom found out that I was using this half naked picture of a woman for artistical learning purposes. Half naked. She was wearing a light green skirt over her nether regions and covering the delicate areas of her chest with her hands. It wasn't porn, didn't even feel like porn, but it was a half naked woman on my computer with me in front of it (pencil in hand), and that was all mom needed. The conversation went something a-like-a this:

Mom: (angry, hurt-ish eyes) What were you doing looking at *that* on your computer?
Me: (wary, scared-ish eyes) You won't believe me if I tell you.
Mom: Try me.
Me: Art.
Mom: I find that hard to believe.

Thankfully, I didn't get beat that day.

I find it amusing that I managed to sketch the guy's left hand huge like that each time. I started at different sides each time, too--to the left of his neck with the first one, to the right on the other. I also realize that I must have looked at the clock wrong because I did the cross contour before the second set of gestures. Which means it would have at least have been before 1953. The girl was from the first set of gestures which I completed around 1400 this morning, but I forgot to date her. Oh well, it's a mystery I don't care to solve.

"These contours may be drawn haphazardly on the paper--one across the forehead followed by another across the chest. They need not be connected or in place, and to an uninitiated observer they will be entirely meaningless."

Well, that's comforting.

Schedule 1D

2010-04-25T22:32:00.005-04:00

Since I've started this book, I've started sharpening my pencil with a metal file. Frankly, I quite like it. I sharpen it on six sides to give it this hexagon shape. I particularly like the hexagon.

I figure I'll let you guys in on the specifics of the schedules this guy's laid out, that is, at least 1B-1D:

Half Hour -- Ex. (Exercise) 2: Gesture (25 drawings)
Half Hour -- Ex. 1: Contour (one drawing)
Quarter Hour -- Ex. 2: Gesture (15 drawings)
Quarter Hour -- Rest
Half Hour -- Ex. 2: Gesture (25 drawings)
One Hour -- Ex. 1: Contour (one or two drawings)

Honestly, I've been following it pretty well. Well, except I drop the middle gesture exercise and take breaks between each exercise. Except my breaks are actually studying Japanese. Gotta keep the learning juices flowing, you know. Honestly, this is the most studious I've ever been. Up to high school, I didn't study at all, did all my homework in class, and got straight A's. 4.0 GPA (Actually 11.0, they didn't use the 4.0 grading scale in Missouri.) In high school, I still didn't study, I did 3/4 of my homework at home, and started getting B's. Graduated with a 3.87 GPA, I think. In college, I studied, did all my homework at home, and started getting C's (and even a D [Calculus]). Dropped just below a 3.0 GPA. But now...I don't go to school and learn everything at home... Not quite sure how that figures, yet.

I decided to lump both the gesture exercises together (same with the contour). Besides, all of them were based off the Google image search "people in park". I started with "people at beach", but there was too much skin and art was starting to stray out of focus, so I had to quickly change gears. And the umpire says, "Safe!" Honestly, the people in the park were more animated than the people at the beach. The latter were like of bunch of sea lions. I never saw the attraction of laying down in a broiler. And I'd rather swim in fresh water than salt.

You know, the dude made some arbitrary distinction between a gesture and a sketch; I wonder which one I'm doing. Said it needed to say something about the whole form within the first ten seconds, and I accomplish that...

I did these with one stroke--that is, I never pulled my pencil from the paper (or looked at the paper until it was finished). When I did the previous ones, I stopped at points to move the pencil to a new place and became discouraged seeing how bad it was. This way, at least it's a solid mess instead of many messes.

And yes, that was my third attempt at the toilet. If a guy can't hit a toilet right, what kind of aspiring artist is he? I think it's the long, cold lines that's getting me. You know, like walking in the desert and how everything starts looking the same. "Wasn't I just there?" So my eye balls jump forward. "Oops, I think I went too fast." So my eyes go back a bit. However, I am more satisfied with this toilet that the last two. Serious.

Schedule 1C

2010-04-24T23:08:00.007-04:00

Helped some friends set a deck today. Ate a very nice (and very large) breakfast, there. Played some Rampart (finally found someone else that enjoys that game--props to you, Jacques-man; yes, the swelling did go down in my finger). Got back home around two. Which left me doing art at (glances at clock) five. Seeing I'm already typing on the computer, I'm going to look into my big ol' bag of pictures for the gesture (and likely, contour) exercises.

Ever have one of those moments where you go "Oh!" because you've finally realized something that had been happening for a while or, perhaps, realized what you had just (as in, just four days ago) seen? I have them all the time. Recently (a few seconds ago), even. I had this music (Mother) playing while doing the aforementioned gesture practice. Fifteen gestures later, I realized that the song hadn't changed. Particularly notable because the song is about a minute long. I had checked the "play indefinitely" box on the NotSo Fatso NSF plugin for Winamp when I was using it the other day. Funny, too, because when I was closing the program the other day, I distinctly remembered that I'd probably forget to uncheck it when I started it up again. Viola. As far as gestures, though, nothing new to report. Well, except that I went with some facial gestures this time. That, and either I draw too lightly or I haven't figured out how to use my scanner.

Back in seventh grade, at the ripe age of twelve, I attended Mr. Mack's art class in our public school. It was easily my favorite class. I liked band, and Mr. Bales was easily as superb a teacher, but the trumpet ended up being not as enjoyable as I had expected it to be; no less my best friend Derrick decided to switch from trumpet to baritone and was moved several seats away from me. Mr. Mack's (his real name was Roger MacHaren, or something) class had this...ease to it. We had our projects, and our deadlines, and boy did he get anxious when school plays were coming up, but it was...easy. The only--only--hard time I had in that class was the toothpick project. It was something I had looked forward to. In previous years, I saw kids come out with boats and rollercoasters and all kinds of cool crap. But Mr. Mack liked to vary things a bit, keep things fresh. During my year, during the toothpicks, our job was to make a mobile. Okay. No big deal. Out of "abstract 3D shapes". My understanding flatlined. Three days passed, and as every other kid was gluing away and making a mess, I managed to make one meager, very pathetic "abstract 3D shape". And I cried, right in front of everybody, so damn frustrated at not being able to *not think*. Mr. Mack, being the cool dude he was, just for me alone, let me make a mobile of weapons. Weapons are what I loved, and he well knew that. I finished the project in a couple days.

And so we come back to contour. Thankfully, I've doubled my years since then, and I will mount up against this foe with head held high. It's just a good thing you can't see my eyes.

For your information, that was my second attempt at the toilet.

As a humorous note, I decided to search Google images for more gestures. A baseball batter was the first thing that came to mind. So, I typed "batter" into the search bar. Out of eighteen pictures, four were what I was looking for (only one good one); one had to do with laying foundation. The other thirteen? Didn't even cross my mind until I saw them. Food. Mostly, pancake batter. Before I typed pitcher, I realized what I was getting into. Not entirely, though. There's something incredibly attractive about the woman in this picture. I generally find tattoos quite undesirable...but war paint's a different story. And the way her hair goes all *woosh*. And the double barreled shooter.

It actually took me thirty minutes to draw this. As a picture, it is a complete failure. I assure you that my friend is not radically deformed like that, with one skinny arm, and one fat arm. However, as practice, it was a perfect exercise. This is the most accomplished I've felt doing contour, yet. Then again, maybe there's something more to it than contour. Like tracing the form of a lovely girl with my eyes. For thirty minutes.

Schedule 1B

2010-04-23T21:22:00.009-04:00

Oh, my love, my darling
I've hungered for your *touch*
A long, lonely time

Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen, to another exciting day of learning to draw the natural way. Has he gotten any better? Let's see what fourteen hours of sleep can do for a man! (I did not sleep for fourteen hours.)

"Probably you realize already that contour drawing is of the type which is to be done 'painstakingly.'"

No doubt.

"On the other hand, gesture drawing, which you will begin today, is to be done 'furiously.'"

Which is nice. Something like a gesture a minute. I like that pace. Given so many pictures, I had to pick out the *good* ones, though. The cat was my model for thirty minutes. Thirty minutes but not one "Cat, licking butt" pose. I was really looking forward to that one. She does this thing where she sticks her leg straight into the air like some kind of ballerina. I could probably frame a house with that pose. But she was a no show, today.

Back to contour. This exercise, as well as the first, was outside today. It's the water pump house in our back yard. Weee. I waited a few hours after the gesture drawings so, you know, that practice wouldn't interfere with this one. Good thing.

Seeing that not a whole lot's moving around the house, and my sister's birds decided to stay in the shed this gorgeous day, and "Tree, standing" was, I considered, not worthy of being called a gesture (today), I took a movie of me doing silly poses. Work with what you've got, Joshua. Work it! Work it, baby! You sexy thing!

And another round of contour. Really...how is it that my skill got worse? And I know I'm not taking as long as he suggested, either. This was supposed to be an hour of drawing with 1-2 contour exercises. One to two, meaning that one should take more than thirty minutes. As you can see, there was ten minutes between the...handlebars and the...flower pot. Realizing this, I took another effort, a little radical. I closed my right eye, thinking perhaps my binoculars were causing some confusion, and contour-ed the leg attachment for the old Bowflex. Not that you can tell. Dad bought that thing (the Bowflex) back in 2002, or so. All four of us have used it, barely. Of us, I've used it the most. My opinion is that...well...I like free weights better.

I found this bit humorous:

"In general, do not start with the head. Offhand, the only times I can think of when the head would be the natural place for an action would be when a man is standing on his head or hanging on the gallows."

Well, at least I've always done something right. But, that's because I've always sucked with faces.

"There are many things in life that you cannot get by a brutal approach. You must invite them."

Thanks, bub. Ain't that the truth. And I thought this was an art class.

Schedule 1A

2010-04-23T12:32:00.006-04:00

Doing something different this time. Just because I can. "Just because" is a good reason to me. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Because He could. Because it seemed good to Him. And nobody questioned Him. I mean, who can argue with the Almighty? I'm not almighty, but, given that I'm living up to His Word, I have the authority to use that same authority. Nice. And what am I doing, just because?

Drawing.

A few days ago, I was cleaning the terribly messy recreation room and I came across a book by the name of The Natural Way to Draw by some dude named Kimon Nicolaides. "Well, crap," I thought to myself, "Why not?" Says the dude died in 1938, born in 1891. Given my superior math skills, I deduced that the dude lived a massively short life of forty-seven years (leave or take, depending on the month). Ouch. The book was copyrighted 1941 by some lady named Anne Nicolaides. I'm guessing wife.

When I was a kid, dad and mom renovated a 1941 Plymouth. Nice car. Quite comfy. Green. Everyone liked it. Different story.

Anyways, this book, so far, is written pretty well. Like the dude's actually talking in this firm but edifying voice. Even has these schedule things. I like schedules. Doesn't mean I apply myself to them very well, but I like them nonetheless. So...this here--something different--is going to be my adventure into this book, in the hopes of improving my drawing skills that are twenty-five years over due. Ladies and gentlemen...

And so the book starts with lessons in "contour". It gives this nice little informative lesson about the arbitrary difference between contour and outline, and, given the explanation, I understood it. Really seems to me to be a lesson in eye-hand coordination, seeing that I'm not allowed to look at my paper and draw at the same time. These pictures will show how little I've developed this skill.

You are now entering...the Kindergarten Zone. Worst. Guitar. Neck. Ever. Hahahaha. Said the subject matter didn't matter. Just draw. So, I picked the first thing my eyes laid...eyes...on... That didn't really make sense. Anyway, it was supposed to be a guitar, but I ran out of paper. I started at the top right and... well... hehe...

So I thought I'd move onto something easier, you know, with less changes in direction--like my mortar and pestle.

My...computer monitor. I realized that I should probably put the time, too. Which is why it's on this one and not the ones before it. This way you can find out how much I'm rushing through these things.

A telephone. With a *cord*. You know it must be an old one. Actually...I think I got it back in 2002. For whatever reason, if I have it plugged into this wonderful dial-up modem at the same time that I'm logged onto the Internet, my connection gets bogged down like...well...I've never really liked similies. So, I keep it unplugged most of the time. I don't like talking on the phone, anyway.

I had to get something organic for this last one. Guess what it is. Come on, guesswhatitis! A foot! Spontaneously quoting one of my all time favorite movies, "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles": "Together we will punish these...creatures. These...turtles." Make the connection? That was Shredder talking; he's the leader of the Foot. Hahahahaha. Dude...that was a good movie. I think I'm going to watch it again, later.

The book assured me, in full uppercase, THE SOONER YOU MAKE YOUR FIRST FIVE THOUSAND MISTAKES, THE SOONER YOU WILL BE ABLE TO CORRECT THEM. Personally, I'm glad I made half of them, already.

The *Natural* Way To Draw