I've collected a bunch of drawings that just didn't quite fit in other places and I'm gonna post them here in this discount bin of drawings. Rifle through them, chaotically arranged, and only 20p each!
It's funny to think about being a person who draws stuff online, because when the vast majority of stuff you make gets posted for a lot of people to see, it inevitably affects the way you make things to some extent. I know when I'm drawing something that I'm probably going to post it somewhere. It's probably going to be viewed. There's an awareness of the communicative nature of the thing from the moment I press my pen to paper. It's strange. Like as soon as I'm drawing, maybe it's not just mine anymore.
Although I think I'm pretty good at just focusing on the drawing, or just doodling if that's what I feel like doing, it's interesting to think about how that awareness might be something you can't be fully removed from. Still, I think it makes me happier and more carefree to know that people are usually going to see what I'm doing. I film the process of painting more and more for my videos, and it makes the entire process of making something this more community-focused thing. It's me doing stuff on my own, in a pretty relaxed way, but later people get to come in and noodle around that process, like little future internet ghosts.
I think it's nice to share that process, of the way I move, the way I arrange paper haphazardly on my coffee table, maybe the way I accidentally spray green paint on my slippers. I remember being super nervous about people watching me drawing when I was younger, but now I think I could probably sit on a podium and draw funky-shaped dogs in front of confused crowds for hours.
Everything's just out there in the open. And that's one reason I love sharing process in various ways. Also, though, it's just interesting and I always love to see process stuff from other people. But having said that, it's really valuable and nice to keep some stuff to yourself. I think it can be kinda hard striking that balance when you're incredibly online, because you want to share everything and just maybe upload your whole self, but it feels really good and healthy to save some stuff just for you.
I mean, I love my bad drawings. They're the best! Although I don't necessarily want to share them, they capture something - a moment, a thought, or just a part of myself - that I often want to keep. I think it's a constant question that you have to keep revisiting a little bit, that idea of how much you're going to share. What you're going to post and why.
I think that sometimes I'm excited to share stuff that actually could've been better to keep to myself, or maybe to send to one friend in particular and make them laugh. But there's no right answer when it comes to all that.
It's also pretty fun sometimes to flip that around and share stuff that you might usually keep to yourself. These drawings are all discarded from my pile of "stuff to post on Twitter". They're full of messy lines, unfinished concepts, and compositions I know could be a little better. But y'know, I love them the way they are. This is my brain working stuff out.
I'm not sure if I'd ever drawn a seal before making this little comic pictured above, but sometimes the urge strikes you, out of nowhere, and you are compelled to draw a seal. It's one of the mysteries of life. The great many wonders of this world.
And like many mysteries, I am revealing this one. But you know, feel free to keep some things secret. Just for you.
