So here we are! Month 8 of 8 is upon us. It feels like another lifetime ago that I was wondering around in Lofoten with a giant pack strapped to my back. Despite the close geography this trip really was so many disparate parts butted up against each other into a steady continuous stream. I can't decide if splitting things up like this feels longer or shorter compared to just staying put in one place for a similar amount of time.
I've just pulled off one of my favourite stippled pieces thus far. It's a direct copy of a bronze statue seen briefly in Call Me By Your Name, so think of it as the closest I'll ever get to 'fan art'.
"Muscles are firm, not a straight body in these statues. They're all curved, sometimes impossibly curved, and so nonchalant - hence their ageless ambiguity, as if they're daring you to desire them."
I suppose the goal of these drawings is to really get the texture and subtleties correct in the translation from a three-dimensional form to a flat, shrunken facsimile. It doesn't escape me that the process is pretty devoid of any real creativity, but I don't think there's any shame in momentarily focusing on technique alone. That's one of the things I struggle with - figuring out and understanding why I'm doing all of this. There's a sweet spot between expression and technique that I'm still trying to find. I don't know if I'm meant to find that perfect equilibrium, or if it's a case of the journey superseding the destination.