This week we’re going to be looking at props and body distortion studies. Back in February, I was trying to explore some new avenues with my art, and I was reminded of a drawing I had done in my first year of drawing daily. It was a woman whose face was stretched incredibly wide, with a sunflower replacing where her head would normally be. It’s one of my favorite pieces – you can find it on my instagram.

I’m feeling pretty good this week because I’ve reached out to a few old art professors and asked them if they could give me any advice as far as what next steps might look like for me. Ideally, I would love to show some of my strongest work at a gallery, but my research seems to have conflicting viewpoints on what initiating contact looks like, so I wanted to ask professionals whose opinions I trust.

Now – onto the work! Not all of these are distorting body parts, but my favorites on this post certainly are.

Bee lady! I’m particularly fond of her feet here – they look like little split-hooves. I tried to do a little foreshortening, but I don’t think it worked in my favor this time. Drat!

I love her furry little legs, but I keep looking at her jawline in disgust. Why?! Why does it look like that? Haha. That’s okay, we’ll get there one day.

I think waist down, her body looks pretty good! I’ve gotta say, feet and hands are so hard to draw and I think the main reason is that they are complex. There are knuckles, there are multiple fingers, there are toes, there are heels. It’s so much detail! Sometimes I skimp on it and just focus on the general shape. For her feet, the focus is more on the big toe, with the smaller toes blurred and indistinguishable. In a way, I think it works.

Some of these drawings, I’ve gotta say, I’m not too proud of and I almost feel myself cringing putting them out into the universe. That said, I think it’s important for me to show the good, the bad, the ugly. Every day, I learn more about the human body. I understand how to build more of a three-dimensional form, I learn how to use color better. As I’ve said before, I’m not perfect. That’s okay! I’m making art, I’m creating, that’s what I need to do.

This one was a quick study. Fur! Sunglasses! PONYTAIL! Honestly, I love drawing women with no hair, but the occasional ponytail is a treat I suppose.

Distortion introduction! Clearly this was influenced by my original sunflower drawing I mentioned above. The thing that’s tough about distorting body parts is that you… can’t really find a reference for it. Occasionally, I can find something that gives me enough information, but sometimes I just have to draw what I think it would look like. And I think with distorting body parts, there’s a little more leeway because people don’t have a point of reference for what some of these things would look like.

This was one of the first drawings in 2020 that I felt I was starting to understand the way color works to describe light. Sometimes I still get it wrong – like putting the too much shadow where it shouldn’t be, or putting highlights in the wrong place, but I’m getting better at understanding how light wraps around surfaces.

I got the jawline wrong again, damn it! I do think his hands look good, and… wait a second, is this the first male-presenting portrait I’m sharing with you all? ONWARD AND UPWARD!

I certainly took a back step with color on this drawing compared to the last one, but alas! You know, some days I’ve been busy with my full time job and then I have to make dinner and do yoga and XYZ, so I spend less time and try to rush through things just to get them done. The important thing for me is sticking to the routine.

ANOTHER drawing of a male-presenting character??? I am spoiling you all. If I could redo this drawing, I would make his fingers a little less sharp, and I would eliminate the line that’s by his shoulders. I think in reality, there wouldn’t be such a strong line between his shoulders and where the skin is gripping the suspension hook.

My little painter guy. Not much else to say about this one, except that I love the color pink! And I like his right foot – it looks good.

I love distorting the body in a way that is essentially “amputating” out part of their limbs. I like to play with eliminating portions of the body, to give a feeling of erasure. Which body parts are most important in order to feel like the body is still there?

And the final drawing of this week’s post! I feel like we’re getting there, but we’re not there yet. In the coming weeks, you might see drawings with similar subject matter, but over time I think it improves and I gain a more concrete sense of what I’m going for. This week’s post was starting to delve into it, I was still experimenting. I guess even today, I’m still experimenting. Seeing what works, and what doesn’t. And then trying to make what doesn’t work, work.

As always, if you’re interested in more of my art, you can check out my instagram or my last blog post.

Feel free to message me with any interest in pieces, comments, or anything.