Okay, I know… that sounds cheesy. But bear with me…
As you know, I go through these little moods (one lasted a very, very long time) and stop doing hobbies. Sometimes I get frustrated. Sometimes I do enjoy them. But it has been many, many years since I just really felt very happy working on art, regardless of whether or not it was turning out.
This past week, I had finished one drawing and was going to hop right to art the next day, but I ended up sick with a slight fever. The day after that, I was feeling slightly better, but sat down and started working on some things. I worked on some very quick note-sketches for a pack goat and its pack saddle, etc. Nothing worth showing, really. Then I started sketching a drawing of the pack goat with Thorin, walking around Ered Luin. I stopped for the day when my husband returned home from work. I very nearly started drawing again later, which is odd as my eyes were tired and I was starting to feel wiped out (still recovering a bit from whatever I had). I also very rarely draw unless the sun is out. Despite task lighting on my table, I also require the patio blinds to be open to help fill even more light in the room. So I stopped myself from working any more on the drawing — didn’t want to end up feeling crappy again.
The next morning, I couldn’t wait to finish my coffee and get back to the drawing. I forced myself to wait a bit, mostly because I didn’t want any caffeine jitters to cause problems. It didn’t take long before I was excitedly seated at the drawing table again though. And funny enough, I realized I was smiling, laughing… and just truly happy.
I’m sure some of it is the subject matter… I do very much enjoy drawing Thorin, and c’mon… GOAT! 😉 I guess it was just something I needed to draw. I’ve been craving drawing it for a while now, and despite a little bit of a rough start, it started falling in place where I was happy enough with it.
From the dA page:
Back to Thorin (but of course)!
This in-progress blue pencil sketch is on 11×14 Strathmore drawing paper and will probably be transferred to Bristol for inking.
I’ve been obsessed with the story-not-told in Ered Luin (most likely also because I play LOTRO and love going back there with my characters). I like to imagine Thorin would go away on trips for trade and supplies on his own, so he could think and be alone. Perhaps here, he is thinking of happy days gone by, family lost, Erebor in its glory — the mighty kingdom of Durin’s Folk. And while picking up supplies, I am sure he is also searching for information: where is his father? Any detail. Any hint. Any rumor…. always searching and wondering.
Scanned in color, with the hue and contrast adjusted. Although, I did draw fairly hard with the blue pencil since I knew this would be used for transferring, and not inking over it.
View sketch here.
I’ve worked just enough detail in it as a reference. Still need to prepare it for transferring to thicker Bristol so I can ink it. Not sure exactly when I’ll get to it (Fridays and weekends tend to get in the way of progress for my hobbies).
But I think I’ll refer to it as my Little Sketch of Happiness. 😉
