In our second unit of Endurance we were introduced to our Action Project, which was a 12-hour challenge. The main goal of the project was to see if we could stay consistent and dedicated to our chosen topic and document it for others to see. For my 12 hours, I decided to draw for the duration of the time. I had thoughts of recording my workouts and making beats, but drawing stuck out because it was less of a hassle and flows easier for me. It felt more like a hobby and would be more fun to do. My mission overall for the project was for me to explore art. I love to draw and I don't do it as much as I did when I was younger, so I wanted to just get back into it. For the project just thinking about what to draw was a challenge itself. It slowed me down in the process but helped me later. After deciding what to draw, my good friend stuck out to me. I looked at it and was like “that’s the one”. So I got to it.
Along the course in Endurance we learned about different people and what they had to overcome. Many obstacles were thrown their way and all types of difficult situations. One of my biggest obstacles was accepting the fact that I needed to slow down and erase if I had to. These are my main challenges whenever I draw. I never like to erase or start over and in return I get an okay drawing. I'm not satisfied with how my art came out but I would say it's alright. If I could do this again I would not draw people. Assuming this in the beginning, drawing isn’t as easy as it looks and I took that for granted. I have a long way to go to get better at drawing and this was just a start.
Hour
Intention (What will you be doing?)
Date, Time
Entry (reflection, question, connection …)
1st
I started to clean off my desk and organized my selected materials. I also began pulling up reference photos of people or things I wanted to draw.
5/5/2021
3:00-3:25 pm
I realized that today I have a unique taste of colors and a medium that I go to. It’s random and off the top of my head.
2nd
Today I’ve placed out all my materials and sources that I’d like to use for the duration of my 12 hour project. I had so many options I became overwhelmed.
5/6/2021
5:00-6:00 pm
Figuring out what to draw was challenging. I had to figure out what I was passionate about and what would keep me motivated to continue this journey. I wondered why this part was so hard? Before in the past I would pick anything and it would be good. Now it’s like my creativity is slowing down.
3rd
I began planning out the scale of the drawing and how big I wanted it to be. I first assembled the paper into comic-like strips. Then added heads to resemble my chosen reference picture.
5/7/2021
3:00-3:45 pm
For this part, I really had to endure and not freak out. So I began to sketch out circles on a page and decided to go small for this project. In the past I’ve tried to go big or go home and well, let’s just say that didn’t work out. This reminded me of David Blaine when he had to prepare before his stunt. He had to go overtime to figure out what made sense to get the best outcome with his overall mission. His situation was very difficult but he overcame it with the help of others' knowledge.
4th
Today, I started sketching the outlines of heads and tested colors I wanted to experiment with in my drawing.
5/8/2021 6:00-9:00 pm
I had trouble mapping out how I wanted to configure my space within my sketchpad. Then suddenly a question came to my head. Why don’t I freehand draw? I seemed to be alright at it. So I think I’ll give it a shot.
5th
I began to draw my selected reference photo and added some basic anatomy of the head from my reference.
5/9/2021
2:00-4:00pm
By drawing people I was going in blind. I have never been good at drawing realistic faces and this began to slow down my fast pace style of drawing. I kind of learned to have more patience while being resourceful with materials.
6th
Added details. Shading, blending, line work
5/10/2021
11:00am-12:00 pm
So today I noticed that I’m slowly advancing and liked how good the drawing is coming along, but the image did not fit to look real. So I started to contemplate whether or not to start over. I didn't but just thought to myself what if I made it cartoon-looking.
7th
Today I took a short break to get some inspiration. I walked outside for a moment then visited Youtube and watched videos on how to draw realistically.
5/11/2021
6:00-6:15 pm
I took a day off of drawing and focused on what I was doing wrong. I reflected and I thought I rushed my drawing because of how it looked at the halfway point. I just had a hard time accepting the work I had done.
8th
I added some more shading, painted, highlighted, and outlined the faces and background with an abstract pattern. I also added different word fonts and objects around the drawing.
5/12/2021
1:00-4:00 pm
This process left me feeling drained. I drew for 3 hours straight taking short breaks in between, but my hands began to cramp. I’ve drawn before for longer periods, but it’s been a while. The short pain in my hand reminded me of how Elie endured after he had gotten beaten in the last chapter of Night. It wasn’t anything extreme, but I would say that it hindered the potential my drawing could have had. Thankfully, I powered through it and completed the task.
