When I sit down at a blank page there’s always that frozen moment where it feels like too much to know where to begin. But if I put on my headphones and turn them up, I can’t hear any of the narratives in my head that try to cause me doubt. All the drawing I’ve done in the last 21 hours was made possible by Bruno Mars’ 24k Magic album (actually David Bowie’s Hunky Dory kicked things off, but I always end up back with Bruno).
With the music giving me a kick start, I can then get into the drawing. But once I get into the flow of it, I lose track and don’t want to stop to find more music. So I listened to Bruno's album on repeat for 2.5 hours last night and for 4 hours today. Excessive perhaps, but it sure does get the job done! It’s just the right mix of upbeat energy, sass, and not taking yourself too seriously - all of which make it easy to jump right into the page and get lost.
Here’s proof positive that Bruno is the best for me to draw to... I went out yesterday afternoon to draw the Locks and I was listening to Willie Nelson and it was a disaster. I couldn’t figure out my perspective or my scale or anything to make it right. I gave up and went home. I love me some Willie (like he’s one of my top favorites ever... dare I say top 2?!) but it seems that he can’t make me draw like Bruno.
Thanks to Bruno I’ve made not one but TWO drawings that I’m pleased with, and I can’t wait to share them with you! But I haven’t scanned them in yet because I spent the latter part of my afternoon in a quiet office avoiding putting trees into today’s drawing. I didn’t have my headphones so there wasn’t any 24k Magic in my head. Coincidence that I couldn’t commit to the tricky foliage? I THINK NOT. 😁
So instead, I decided to jump into photoshop and make this silly picture. It’s a detail shot from today’s drawing with Bruno on the sign I haven’t finished yet. But let’s be honest: I haven’t known my way around Photoshop since 2000... so me making this image actually consisted of me asking Benjamin how to distort the perspective, learning a new thing, and then having him finish it up for me because I kept having more questions. It took him seconds! He’s a true master-wizard of Photoshop!
The whole process of making this image also gave me some perspective on perspective. As hard as I think it is on paper, it sure makes more sense to me there than in Photoshop! So the next time I’m feeling like it’s hard to get my perspective right on the page, I’ll just be grateful I don’t have to do it in Photoshop. :)