Foreshortening and Awkwardness

For years, most of my drawings and paintings were of still, poised subjects. The poses were chosen for both ease of the job (hey, at least I admit it!) and to make the subject look as good as it possibly can. Kind of a Glamour Shots of art.

Cats looking proud and beautiful. People looking like they have perfected Blue Steel. A vase of flowers that all pointed directly at me. After a while though, it just felt like I was doing the same pose over and over. Because I was. Let's face it- there aren't a lot of perfect angles for each subject.

From about 2015-2018 I had a bit of fun creating art of subject in odd poses. Leaning, running, jumping, and generally just showing what that type of subject does when it's not frozen in perfection.

The surprisingly large disadvantage is that art that is not done for vanity always looks... wrong. An arm looks out of proportion because it is much closer to the front of the image than the rest of the body. A cat's paw is tucked in under its body in an awkward way. Each time I painted or drew something not in an idolized position, people's feedback was that I did it wrong. I'd show them the source images, and then they'd say they guess I did it correctly. But that it still looks weird.

It might be weird but it's GREAT practice! Using foreshortening (e.g. objects in the mirror are closer than they appear!) is hard but rewarding. Using awkward positions is kind of humiliating, but it makes you a better artist.

So be it.