here's some french.. graffiti guy.
a.. happy asian?
excerpts from my Lord of the Rings marathon.. basically was able to put the whole movie into my sketchbook thanks to this new process i use when i'm watching movies and drawing at the same time...
go over to http://thegreyninja.blogspot.com if you wanna see more of 'em.
random character designs.. city janitors with mr. clean belt buckles, and some construction team or something.
'Fat Face'
my right hand(s)
drew a friend at work as batgirl - colored it since i was bored
colored up a chocoboy thing i did for a friend
and THIS is actually the first thing i ever drew in photoshop... just now posting it here.
[random thoughts part] SO. been thinking about how music, fighting, and drawing all relate to each other. . . i mean, everything is closely related since everything is a part or element of life. good or bad - but i've been thinking about these three things especially since i'm involved with these more so than other things in life...
i went to the park a few nights ago to practice kicks, snow still crunchy under my feet. breathing in the cold air was like throwing fresh water on my senses. i was especially there to... 'feel' or 'explore' a new/different rhythm in the way i fight/spar. i'll explain:
i "play" the piano. i only do improv really, though. i've noticed more and more that my fingers have developed their own muscle memory where they sorta play certain notes in a certain order all by themselves, and what's more is i've noticed that i naturally switch in and out of these set 'rhythms' without thinking too hard about it.
what's wrong with that??
well. i've been doing just this for a while, and i've noticed my progression has slowed down A LOT, and the reason is because everything is just sort of... routine or automatic half the time. and so, if you don't break out of the automatic and change, you stay the same. and when you stay the same, you're not improving. and if you're not improving, you're probably getting worse.
when i DRAW - i notice that i'll do the same types of folds next to a shoulder if i'm drawing a shirt on somebody, or do the same usual curves on the insides of an ear like i'm plugging in somebody's cheap formula to quickly solve a problem without even thinking twice. your potential can only grow so much in such a tiny box till it starts to feel the worn cardboard corners and walls, and you have the choice to step out, and into a bigger world, or rationalize yourself back into your comfort zone, and just sit there... in your little.. stagnating cardboard box of talent.
when i spar people, i've noticed the same thing. it's like, i just stick to the ground in the same stance, and stay inside my comfortable little zone, stick to what works since it works alright for now. BUT. what if there's a time in the future where it doesn't? i believe one answer WILL solve every problem, but the answer WILL NOT be in the same exact form for every problem or question in life. YOU are the answer, and you have to be willing to change, and adapt. you have to be willing to keep an open but firm mind - you have to be willing to change a situation, rather than let the situation change you. or willing to even realize that there might be simpler/easier, or even better answers out there. one's that can help you too.
so yeah. i went to the park. to sort some of this out, and just use what i had to become a little more familiar with the unfamiliar. like trying to think of a dream you don't remember, or feeling a song you've never heard before. just breaking out of the routine, so the action becomes more meaningful, even if it might be close to what i was doing before.
it felt good to step back, and step out of the comfort zone, and just see what else i was capable of, or what else was inside of me. doing that is part of the long process called life we use to finally see who we really are.
my favorite analogy will always be my streetfighter II analogy.
first you button mash since you don't know what the crap you're doing, and sometimes it works pretty well. you start learning techniques and special moves, and the button mashers still seem to rock you pretty hard sometimes. after a while, doing the techniques and moves become more natural and you start to learn when or why to do them. after that, it just becomes a reaction to the other person's movements and the situation, and finally you start to whittle it all down so that everything you do has a purpose to create some overall desired effect. the more specific or deliberate your actions are, the more control it gives you for this effect. (and yes, i believe that good/bad 'accidents' happen all the time)
the most CRUCIAL parts are the transitions back and forth to each phase (there's a time for all things - even times when it's a good idea to button mash. i don't care how good you are, you know what i'm talking aobut.) but yeah - it's how well you do those changes or knowing when to change that are usually the hardest, and most important parts.
now, whether you're fighting somebody, playing video games, telling a story, making music, drawing a picture, trying to be a good person, or just having fun, all those principles still apply. we're all doing the same thing in the end, whether our goal is good or bad - we're living. we're just trying to live.
