Late night thoughts on art practice

Early on, whenever I wanted to draw character with a gun, I would get a reference image or a 3D model and trace over it. It worked, but something always felt deeply wrong about it.

A lot of professionals do that because they're crunching for time or they need to do ultra precise work, but that wasn't my situation; I was relying on the models and the reference photos because I wasn't actually able to draw guns from scratch. I lacked the necessary skill to draw complex 3D objects CONSISTENTLY from construction.

There is no more basic skill in drawing!!! AN ARTIST SHOULD BE ABLE TO DRAW!!!

Think about a show like Gunsmith Cats. Countless shots of detailed guns moving around in 3D space. They weren't using 3D models, they weren't rotoscoping from reference images, they just studied the necessary objects until they had a full understanding of their shape.

The only real difference between me and them is time in the chair. More time drawing, better focus while doing it. I fuck around too much, I watch to many youtube videos and scroll on twitter too much. I don't expose myself to enough deliberate challenge when I practice.

For all of these studies, I start by drawing the side profile of a firearm. I eyeball all the proportions from multiple different reference images. Once I feel like I understand the proportions from the side, I'll try to extrapolate that information and redraw the same firearm at an angle. This forces me to commit those proportions to memory.

I think a lot of people are feeling the way I do. Things are just too convenient, as artists we have so many distractions and so many digital tools to make up for the time we waste as a result of those distractions. With the stress of trying to stay relevant on social media, it's easy to fall back on certain crutches, but don't want to live that way!! I wan't to know that when push comes to shove I can draw like a professional!!