Drawing Insight
So this is my second drawing. It has a lot more meaning in comparison to the first. Trying to learn some new techniques and improve, but I don’t have too much experience with this type of art form. I’ve been getting some advice from the artists at work tho, always nice to learn from the experts. I’m satisfied for the most part with how this one turned out.
This one feels a lot more intimate, that’s for sure. Two minds connecting both physically and psychologically. Each side contains their own biology through the amoeba that hover above. Where they are connecting in the center, creating something new. That’s the physical, through intimacy they are joining their biology. The psychology is entwined through the subtle connection that surrounds the brains. Where in the central piece we see them connecting through the glow surrounding them. Initially, the concept revolved just around the amoeba, where they were devouring each other. It wasn’t until nearing the end, when I started contemplating the backdrop, I realized more significant meaning.
I started this one a bit differently, drawing out the outline of each piece before beginning the details, just black lines. Doing this helped keep focus on what was currently being worked on, and to contain the work area. Also and importantly, it made it so drafting could occur to allow iteration, instead of just starting with details. In comparison to the first drawing something else I learned was to maintain layering as much as possible, this definitely paid off in terms of organization and minimizing mistakes. This is what the outlines and draft looked like as I progressed through, overlapping pieces contained within their own layer as well.
The amoeba came first, and the DNA strands, along with the corresponding shading. Color choice wasn’t taken into account too much, mainly just looking to keep things distinct so they don’t clash with each other. Adding the connecting strands between the amoeba was a forethought, but it added a nice touch to display connection. The central amoeba was a bit more complicated. I wanted to display they are combining from the connection, the merging of the colors. The central coils was a difficult choice. However, it does appear through the connection of both sides they are holding and forming the central one in unison, which is kind of cool. These coils feel like they need more detail, I should have made it so you could see them wrapping around more clearly.
After the amoeba were done, I still had a white background with no meaning. From somewhere came the idea to use a brain, even before connecting the dots of the meaning I started to draw this out. It started with some online references, and then two circles I drafted out to contain them. From there it was just drafting out lines, and connecting them until it was somewhat satisfying and appealing. While making sure to do this twice separately to maintain randomness and distinction. To be able to symbolize they are different. The shading is where the magic happened for these pieces of the drawing, made them stand out and appear three dimensional, feels satisfying.
Once these pieces were complete, I zoomed out and connected the meaning. I saw the obvious physical, but I wanted to figure out how to connect the psychological. This is where the outer connecting glow surrounding the brains originated from, to me it displays symbolism of an unseen connection jointly shared between the two.
The background behind the two minds needs work. It’s interesting, but it’s not satisfying. I should have made it so there was some sort of connection between this background to these minds. Like them joining together through a brain stem or something. I could see that being interesting.
Personal Insight
Personally, this one ended up having a lot of meaning to me. It is interesting because it started off with a concept of destruction, but it turned into an image of love. Which it turned into this in a way, subconsciously. I say subconsciously because of how the minds in the background came to appear. There was a point when I consciously made the choice to use two minds, but the initial piece came from thoughts of, “What would go well with amoeba?”.
I remember drawing the outline for these brains, and beginning the shading process. I zoomed out and restored the other layer’s visibility to gauge progress. That’s where it became apparent the symbolism of the drawing. I saw the amoeba connecting together, forming a new one in the center, centralized above the two minds. It signified the concept of affection, through physical intimacy between these two. It was actually a beautiful realization, because at that moment I also remembered the destructive intent I initial had for the amoeba to be destroying the one in the center, taking over and battling to merge the DNA.
It’s just an image when it comes down to it, but the meaning extends to myself more so due to it being crafted by my hands, I suppose. That and the concept within this painting is actually something I crave, and desire within this crazy world. To be truly connected with someone physically and psychologically. It’s fucking beautiful.
