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In this Blog:
Drawing Prompt: Handmade shape
The Shape of Charlie Brown’s head
An Illustration Process
1. Drawing Prompt:
Handmade Shape
Today’s prompt is to draw a shape by hand, perhaps a star or circle or any shape you can think off.
There is something really beautiful about hand drawn things. I think the beauty comes from the relatability from knowing a hand like mine made this. I find slowly building up a shape from lines or even cutting a shape out from paper gives it s sculptural quality, this idea that small actions produced this preconceived whole.
There are two reasons I can think of to creating shapes
To build a library for future reference and use
To gain an intimacy and knowledge with the shapes we draw
2. The Shape of Charlie Brown’s Head
Charlie Brown has a weird head shape.
Charlie brown’s head evolved over the decades. I remember Charles Schultz saying in an interview that the reason it was difficult to draw Charlie Brown’s head is that it was not a perfect circle.
It was a circle-ish shape that Shultz was used to drawing, it was a personal and personalised shape.
I don’t know if it’s true but intuitively I feel like illustrators build their own shape language. If it is true for the most part this happens accidentally. I wonder if one could intentionally guide the process.
3. An Illustration process
I imagine a day where I will start an illustration by selecting pre-made shapes from a drop down list and moving them around, like a collage, or a flower arrangement. And then fill in the gaps. I think that will be a lot of fun.