Undutchable

Last year when I bought photoshop creative magazine I was impressed with Mark Verhaagen‘s work. So far, if I draw in adobe Illustrator I have to place an image first and then I use pen tool to follow the lines; I don’t know whether he first draws on paper and then edits it in illustrator, or he directly draws in illustrator using pen tool/pen tablet (graphics/drawing tablet). What I do know is that I am not able to draw directly in illustrator, I have to draw things on a paper first and then place it in illustrator, I have no drawing tablet so it’s hard for me to make some line in illustrator without having an image placed. I remember that I used to like drawing when I was just a kid. In my free time, drawing was one of my activities and I liked to draw manga (Rose of Versailles, Panic, Candy Candy, Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball). Nowadays when I started drawing I realised that it’s my first time to draw again after so many years, in fact I haven’t drawn for more than ten years; Since I sat at junior high school, my activity in my free time wasn’t drawing, I was more outside of my house and I got a totally different interests, which were playing guitar and pool billiard.

This is one of my sketches, an unknown beasts *LOL* in a city. I don’t know why these beasts were on my mind at the time I drew them, but I think I was thinking of bacteries which we get when eating at an unhygienics place (as I drew some food next to the beasts; The food, candles, teapot, glass, apple: all got a scared looking eyes to describe that they’re being attacked by the beasts which are imagined as the bacteries). It sounds so weird to see what I’ve drawn because I used to only draw manga, whether it’s a female figure or male figure (mostly female), I wanted to create something else, other than human and this is just one of my attempts. I’m going to place the whole image in adobe illustrator, use a pen tool to get some colours. I like how this software works with layers, it’s more organised even though it will be a puzzle to move the images to the back, and front.

Before I attended Art & Design College I used to think why people like to paint on the wall. Yes I knew that what they’ve painted are nice! But when I still lived in Indonesia, people kept telling me that painting on the wall was wrong, it’s forbidden! But here, they seem to do nothing to people who have painted on the walls. For example: in Utrecht Overvecht’s station I always see those words/paintings on the wall, those all are nice! But what attracts me the most is this text: RMS (Republik Maluku Selatan), which means that there are Moluccan people who live there and I’m so happy every time I see this text, or every time I meet a Moluccan. But alright, I’m not going on blogging about my origin, but about the paintings itself. When I attended a presentation of graphic design students at Art & Design College this year, I realised that people who have painted on the wall, have done it purposely! And that the painting on the wall is called Street art! This is written on wikipedia over Graffiti:

Graffiti is sometimes regarded as a form of art and other times regarded as unsightly damage or unwanted.

I personally am not against a street art, because without it, a city is not alive! What I’m against with is an uncreative painting on the wall, or uncreative text which contents an insult that is addressed to someone, for instance a group of people who hate Mary, because she’s a bitch at school (whether she’s a teacher or a student) and then they paint on the wall: Mary mcCowards is a bitch (I hope that nobody on this earth is named Mary McCowards!).

Now back to Adobe Illustrator. I’ve seen people who are good at using pen tool, they even draw things without placing an image first! I’m impressed because I can’t do it. Maybe I have to practise more, but I feel good to draw the things I want to on a paper and then scan it/photograph it, place it in illustrator because this square screen doesn’t help me get my inspiration to draw, I need to be somewhere else as I can’t really focus myself to one thing if I’m working in my computer. For instance, at the time I’m blogging about this I have a few tabs open in my browser, I also browse other sites during blogging! And if I try to get inspiration during drawing, I have to focus on one thing! Is my way to work an old way? This question is currently in my head. If I can draw directly in illustrator, I’ll obviously be able to save more time.