Blurreg!

I'm staring at a blank screen today. Basically I'm scraping the barrel of my mind for today's topic. Between illness (I have big balls of gloop escaping with every cough), and a worry about repetition, I find myself hesitant.

Drawing was zen this morning - but precisely because I was able to let my mind go blank and my hand work according to previously scribbled thumbnail sketches - just as well, as working out composition may have blown my head off. There is satisfaction that I have the muscle memory and instinct to create images that I am happy with. At the heart of my work is a love of drawing - of line, and of the freedom of scribble. Sometimes it is the patterns that flow across the page from a dancing pencil that give most pleasure. My drawing is Jazz - improvised and swirling, then jagged and piercing, alone and lyrical, then thick and close. My automatic drawing can be fun, but this time it is nice to see the development around a theme - now I add branches and leaves, now details to a basket. These are additions, textures that bring the scene I am sketching to life.

My fuzziness is compounded by the lingering effects of the weekend - the days planning were not dry, and the party most definitely not. My immune system is therefore still cleaning up the debris, and as people who  are given too much work to do by others are wont, has decided I  too must suffer. It has a point so I don't argue - that would involve loud noises.

So my hand and pencil work, touching lightly as the initial sketch is recreated, then reinforcing pleasing movement, or fussing with inspired detail. The pages taking shape are surveyed, and key lines identified for inking. The bend of a line narrowed to the one that hints at a hidden spring of intention as the story is honed down to the needs and wants of this moment.

Yup I feel like shit, but fortunately I don't have to get involved today. 

Finally there is the finished drawing before me. The action is complete and elevates the text. It needs inking and colouring, but that is not for today - those are jobs with precision and thought. I'll wait till my brain gets back for that.