Did this a week or two ago. I usually like to do a drawing in a single night, or maybe two; Otherwise I end up nitpicking and overworking it until it frustrates me instead of relaxes me.
There's a portrait I started a while ago of Bryan Cranston's character Walter White in Breaking Bad that I did in color. It's 98% done but I can't bring myself to finish it, since now I'm trying to make sure it's "perfect." Whereas with this quicker "sketch" of House, I don't feel the need to polish it and repolish it. I usually end up liking these rougher/looser drawings of mine, but then I fear they don't "count" as finished works. Ah well.
It's funny, for the longest time I only drew sexy ladies; drawing men didn't interest me. Then for a long time, once I started working as a graphic designer full time and got a live-in boyfriend, I didn't want to draw much at all.. All my creative energy went into my job designing greeting cards/bags in Illustrator, and the last thing I wanted to do when I got off work was to sit in front of the computer drawing on my tablet.
I had moved past the phase of drawing pin-ups (which began in high school and lasted through most of college), they just didn't hold my interest anymore. But I didn't really know what I DID want to draw.
I'd pore over other people's awesome sketch/concept art/character design blogs and books and want to be able to do what they did, but when I sat down to try, it'd never turn out how I wanted it to. Then I'd get frustrated and go watch TV. I ended up forgetting how much I enjoyed drawing the way *I* was naturally good at, because I was too caught up in comparing myself to others (Oh, Mary Blair, you're one of a kind, damn you).
A couple years ago, Nate and I checked out a local Drink N Draw and I remembered how much I loved just drawing people, trying to capture expressions and moods with just a pencil (or stylus).
Since then, I've found the most enjoyment in drawing portraits (I've always gravitated towards drawing people ever since I was little) of strong male characters in TV shows or movies that I love (Al Swearengen from Deadwood, Locke from Lost, Adama from Battlestar Galactica (nerd alert)). One of my most recent favorites is Jeff Bridges, specifically in True Grit and Crazy Heart (sorry, Tron, CGI-Flynn didn't do it for me). There's just something about trying to get to the essence of what makes him him. Not just getting the proportions and negative space right, but capturing the story behind the smirk/scowl. So thank you, Jeff Bridges, for being amazing.
Also, I seriously need to own the Crazy Heart soundtrack.
