DWS: Identifying Shape Language You Like

Went back to my digital art course but still bored. After reviewing the rest of this this section, I think I’m going to skip ahead. The section is listed as “Drawing Techniques” but in practice is copying techniques – a dozen versions of trace, transfer, and torpor – not one of which was to actually sit and sketch. I’m all for testing different methods, and a year ago I might have found it interesting, but now it’s move on or stay stalled out.

Moving on to the style section, the exercise is to cite work I like, focusing on shape over color or texture.


Leonid Afremov, Melody of the Night. I like the composite pattern that covers most of the piece and the mix of sharp edges in the foreground and smudges at a distance. The repeating vertical lines solidify the middle ground while the diagonals invoke motion and destination. The use of color is obviously spectacular.


Vincent Van Gogh, Irises. There is something about the flowing lines and defined edges that I love, organic but ordered.


Alpay Efe, Sneaker. I love the mix of realism and industrial-impressionist filter.


Evgeny Parfenov, Jennifer Lawrence. Bold, graphic, clean, and yet somehow still abstract.


Unknown Artist, Forest wallpaper. Clean lines, good dimension, but still soft focus and cartoony 💙


Ncepart28, Lady White. Simple but expressive, sharp lines, not overworked.


Tomáš Müller, The Orbs. Wow. Just…wow. I love the juxtaposition of organic and structured.


I think that’s enough motivation for one day; any more and it converts into envy and frustration. That being said, can’t leave out the sultan of shape and peerless perverter of perspective.

M.C. Escher, Day and Night. Line, pattern, negative space, symmetry, balance; elegance in simplicity.

DWS: Variety – make your art Interesting to look at

The exercise was to create 6 variations of cactus using the reference at right as a starting point. The recommendation was 15 minutes but I probably spent closer to an hour. Procreate and I still have a lot to talk about.


based on Brooke Glaser: Drawing with Style

During one of my authorised daily Twitter checks I’m inspired by the Princeton professor, Johannes Haushofer, who shared his CV of failures including sections on ‘Degree programs I did not get into’, ‘Research funding I did not get’ and ‘Paper rejections from academic journals’. Because, he writes: ‘Most of what I try fails, but these failures are often invisible, while the successes are visible. I have noticed that this sometimes gives others the impression that most things work out for me.

Helen Russell, Leap Year