Super Secret Project 2

I wish I could talk to you about it, but I can't. I won't, I don't want to. Unlike Fear of A White Planet, I won't be mailing copies over the world. I'm contemplating not putting my name to it, but I feel that would defeat 1/2 the purpose of it. Is the other half worth it though?

So I'll just talk to you about drawing, as in the end, my second project is going to be an amalgamation of drawing and blog post-esque essays/rants. Except I'll actually proof read and bother to spellcheck the contents of SS2. I've done the pencils for 2 compositions thus far, and am working on a third today.

I got sick of the mess of drawing and redrawing lines back in FOWP days, cleaning it up digitally was no picnic either, and I think it shows. So I've taken two steps to counter this. The first is to actually practice and figure out on paper my compositions, before going for the 'big wazoo' straight up. It means I'll see my mistakes, enabling me to learn from them, and also approache a blank page with some concept of space, anatomy etc.

On the surface it should be a lot less demanding draw than fowp, but that said, what you lose in detail, you gain in detail. So not having successive frames of talking heads and action sequences, I have to make up in background on the full page spreads. That sucks, it means I have to put more effort into composition.

Thinking about it, whilst I agree Da Vinci is the man, the more versatile, the more brilliant man of the renaissance, Michelangelo's school of thought is what I follow. As in I believe rather than blending in with nature, and attempting to imitate it, like Da Vinci, I like my characters to be elevated above the background, Super-natural if you would.

This super secret project allows me to shift styles, from abstract to real, from ink and brush to pen, to charcoal. It's good. I think I will/have develop a lot from this experience as an artist.

I wish I could talk about the subject matter, because it has been provokative to think about all kinds of interesting things. Alas, I don't wish to discuss it with you, here, now, or ever.

And I don't want to give the impression I'm baiting the hook, if you know me, know this: I really don't want you to read this one. Ever. I'm not trying to tease you, spike your curiosity and have you sneak into a store and buy a copy.

I imagine after publishing it, I will have boughts of paranoia around people I know, where I turn red and break into a sweat, suspecting that you know what I've done, and that you know I don't want you to know, and so you won't say you know, so I won't ask if you know, hence I don't know if you know, but you know that you know, but you also know that I don't want to know that you know. Simple, right?

The other thing I've done for the pencil roughs is to shift to 2H pencils. I use a .5 clutch pencil (or mechanical pencil) which is arguably Japan's greatest technological contribution of the 20th century. I hated them for years, but once I got me one, they just make everything so easy.

But HB is too damn messy for me. I don't have the light touch, and I rework and rework shit too often. I wanted something harder, and lighter. Harvard suggested I try just H, but no, I had to go for 2H. I'm literally fucking amazed at the difference.

It takes some getting used to, because it is quite surprisingly, twice as hard HB. It squeeks when I draw, that's how hard it is. The only danger is, you need to always use a light touch. If you get hasty and apply pressure to darken a line instead of tracing it a few times lightly, you end up carving the line into the page. So when I erase sometimes, a figurative trench is left in the image.

Anyway would like to disclose more, but I would hate to disclose something I may regret.

Morale of the story: If you know me personally don't buy my next solo publication, if by chance you do and we meet someday, pretend to your utmost you've never read it, or even heard of me.