Return of the revenge of Compo1: here is Composition 2, aka compo2 for close friends.
I’m in it, and I feel I might be starting to understand what composition is – about time too, LOL. Actually Glenn says I’m taking the normal amount of time to learn things, and truly that reassures me, compo is so complex and important. It’s nice to get to the point when it becomes….. fun!
As O’Shaughnessy wrote: “We are the music-makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams” (thanks to old Robert Hale for quoting this poem in his anatomy classes or I would have missed it).
And yes, I did look up the right spelling for “O’Shaughnessy”.
So let’s dream some new dreams!
I’m working on my webcomic, which is another story and is a lot of work. I’m also, alongside compo2 taking for the third time the “head drawing” class which I love – third time and I’m still hearing new things, discovering, understanding new concepts in what Glenn tells us (plus he adds new videos to the course all the time!).
So, for no reason at all, here are some heads I drew vaguely after Daumier:

thick/thin japanese fountain pen and choco brown from diamine as usual.

Compo2 is different in one respect from compo1: we work on 2 projects at the same time instead of 3. At first, during the first weeks of compo 1, I thought 3 were too much, but very quickly I realised that Glenn’s plan was to push us to think less and draw more. I have never produced so many drawings (most of which I’ve shown no one, and certainly not here). I cannot believe how this has changed me: drawing is a *tool*, art or story telling is the goal – before that I thought drawing was the goal. It’s a game-changer, another one, concocted purposefully by Mr Glenn Vilppu for our good…. and he knew exactly how we would react and change under his carefully calculated pressure – do remember: this was the first time he did compo1, we were the first batch of students, and yet he knew what would happen! I confess I’m in awe at the man’s knowledge and experience.
The first week of compo 2 – what do we hand in for assignment? Well, Glenn wanted us to go on working on our last assignment from compo 1.
This week is about “timing” in composition.
Here is another version of my “office” scene and my “Mayan” scene as I think of them. Again I worked in pencil and paper, Glenn thinks it helps me (and I don’t question his opinion anymore!), I only went to photoshop for some coloring in the Mayan scene (to make things *clearer*…. ok, I know I should have guessed that if I needed to make things clearer it meant they were NOT clear, silly me!)

Glenn found the “office” much much better, I’m to sort of finalise it for next week (as extra work, meh….), he also found that some things were better and some worse in my Mayan scene, but….. he has decided to be far more “tough”, nitty-gritty-wise with me than before – look at that temple in the valley below the falling Mayans…. the vertical edges are not even drawn! They could be (or not be) part of the composition, but they *should* participate like all the rest of the details I have so far half-drawn in a “oh, it’s close enough, it’s just about the compo” stupid attitude of mine.
In short: Glenn’s going to give me hell 😀 and I’m delighted! It means he thinks I can stand the pressure, the fact this happens just after he told me to start a comic is logical and goes in the same direction. Now all I have to do (*all* I have to do? Insert insane laughter here) is work hard even more, and move to the next level! Level up time, no more “close enough”, we are getting pro here!
I’m going to do my very best, work more, not just time-wise but quality-wise. I’ll also try and generate new ideas, not only for my comic but also for the compo2 course. Indeed, we are now to choose the topic of the drawing/painting ourself, we are given a specific point of composition and must apply it to…. whatever we want.
May the “Luna Park” that my husband claims exist in my brain be set free! Let it goooo…. sorry, sorry, ahum….. drawing never bothered me anyway! (to be sung to the tune of “let it go, the cold never bothered me anyway”….sorry again, next time, a quote from a Train your Dragon movie, I promise!)
Now where did I put my vitamine C supplements?

🙂 see you next week with some new ideas and better drawings I hope
Anton