Line Art (Natural), Round 1

An insight into the process: 

Step 1: Browse through photos on iPhoto, hoping to find the perfect photo to illustrate that will be challenging but not impossible that has the perfect balance of contrast but still intricate detail. 

2. Notice the number in the top right hand side and wonder how that is actually plausible to have that many pictures on one computer and then kind of worry (a lot) that they are all going to be lost in some freak technology accident and have a slight panic attack and then remember that they are all backed up on an external hard drive and then wonder how it's even possible to take that many photos. 

3. Narrow it down to four photos out of 24,490. 

4. Take time out to find the calculator on this computer, divide 4 into 24,490 to get the number .0001633 (and a lot of numbers after that) which is the percentage of pictures I have narrowed down. Take time out just to do this so I can have a cool number on my blog. 

5. Note how cool these pictures are and where they came from, the first being from the Getty in LA, the second from Cumberland Island off the coast of Georgia, the third from the Botanical Gardens in St. Louis, and finally one from the 2011 Knox County Corn Festival. 

6. Talk about the pros and cons of drawing each photo and continue with this lengthy discernment process, to anyone who will listen. (Note: most people stop listening. Or never really start listening)

7. Finally choose the first photo, mainly because everyone is tired of hearing me talk about which picture I should choose. And because there's nice shadows and detail and whatnot that will make this a better looking line art drawing. 

8. Put "draw 10 illustrations" on to do list, and heartily intend to get rolling on this whole process the day it is assigned.

9. Laugh, because that for sure didn't happen. But finally begin to do drawings when an ounce of free time is to be had, which just so happens to be during a three hour shift of sitting at a desk and scheduling appointments. 

10. Vow to spend exactly twenty five minutes on each drawing, and ensure this will be done by employing the help of modern technology. (And make it really awkward for everyone when I get urgently called away from the desk for .0002 seconds and my alarm goes off)

11. Finally start drawing. Start with stippling first: 

because it's doomed to be the most time consuming and generally turns out alright. Use a Micron .05 for this one. 

12. Try out horizontal lines/hatching for this one because it seems like a challenge whatnot but hey this is about being adventurous and finding out what works and let's see if that works and jump off the deep end oh my god what am I getting myself into (continue this kind of mental dialogue for the first five minutes or so of this new timer method). Proceed to be almost okay with the turnout because instead of throwing in the towel about 11 minutes in, choose to continue with the sketch and rework it until it looks almost decent. 

13. Marvel at how shitty the lighting is in Kirk building and how there are no windows and it's comparable to what I would think a prison would be like if there was very worn and stained carpet and the possibility of asbestos everywhere. But remember that that's beside the point and I still have eight more sessions of 25 minute timers to set up and plenty of opportunity to shoot better pictures with a real camera or just scan them in like a normal person would. 

And there you have it. That's how this is done.