She

She, 12″x9″, pastel pencil on Canson 140-lb cold press watercolor pad

My process of making art is more or less similar with the other artists’ method. That is, ideas in my head translate to images through my hand. While at times I also wait for my “muse” to give me inspiration, I do not really totally rely on her because she just doesn’t visit my imagination all that often! And the other times that I was able to create works by way of strong emotions didn’t always happen every time, as I would have very much wanted! Magical moments like those where making art seemed trance-like and automatic don’t really come by easily for me every day. Instead, I go about my art more deliberately, putting marks on a blank piece of support, trying my darnest best to convert an ever-changing image in my mind into a more coherent, static yet interesting, graphic interpretation on paper/canvas. It’s like trying to capture a snapshot of an action scene, all the while making sure that dynamic composition, correct focus and good lighting are considered the instant the shutter is pressed.

The drawing above (She, 12″x9″, pastel pencil on 140-lb Canson cold press watercolor pad) is an example of an exercise on my conscious effort to create an image in my mind of a woman’s face and capture it on paper. All that I needed was a carefree imagination which I had to keep active as I worked out my personal, aesthetical preferences on drawing the human head. To be comfortable doing portraits, I have to draw all the time until the effort becomes second nature to me. And I can not be adept at this if I would only wait for inspiration to drive me, or emotions to move me. I believe I need to provide the remaining pieces of the puzzle myself– the ones in my head when my muse isn’t around and my heart isn’t on my sleeve.