I’m still doing sketches for an artist trading card for a friend of mine. I’m working on getting just the right expression. I’m not really a dog person, but the more I study the reference photos I was given, the more I appreciate this dog. He’s awfully cute. Perhaps that’s why I always spend a lot of time making sketches for cards before I do final drawings and coloring or paint. I feel like I get some sort of connection with the subject before I let it go. It could just be something like really loving a line under a nose, or the way a curve indents when you think it shouldn’t.
Drawing is ultimately about paying attention and being present. When I am walking around throughout the day, I have a tendancy to rush about and only take a cursory look at things. I notice just what I need to notice and move on. Maybe that’s why I can be so compulsive about drawing. It’s practically the only time I pay real attention to things and ultimately find so much appreciation for them. Drawing grounds me like nothing else.
Mellanie Collins, Artist 