Thursday, August 30, 2007

Stripes

Black and white or white and black? Its the age old question about zebras' colouring.

My thinking was, do I draw the stripes first and then start modeling the structure or create the form then add the stripes? As you can see I started with the stripes and am now adding some form to the body.

I've never drawn a zebra before. Its another of those perceived difficulties, like glass or water - or flowers in my case. All those stripes! Its methodical and very graphic but an interesting exercise.

"From the age of six I had a mania for drawing the shapes of things. When I was fifty I had published a universe of designs. but all I have done before the the age of seventy is not worth bothering with. At seventy five I'll have learned something of the pattern of nature, of animals, of plants, of trees, birds, fish and insects. When I am eighty you will see real progress. At ninety I shall have cut my way deeply into the mystery of life itself. At a hundred I shall be a marvelous artist. At a hundred and ten everything I create; a dot, a line, will jump to life as never before. To all of you who are going to live as long as I do, I promise to keep my word. I am writing this in my old age. I used to call myself Hokosai, but today I sign my self 'The Old Man Mad About Drawing.' " ~ Hokusai, The Drawings of Hokosai.

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