rumpus
noun: informal
/ˈrəmpəs/
a noisy disturbance; a commotion.
Synonyms: fuss, kerfuffle, ruckus…
I was listening to the new Jack White album, “No Name,” which, despite the album name or lack thereof, is pretty amazing and reminds you of his White Stripe days. One of the songs is “What’s the Rumpus?” It reminded me of the book “Where the Wild Things Are” by Maurice Sendak. One of the famous lines from the book is:
"And now," cried Max,"let the wild rumpus start!”
With all of the images in my head, I knew that I needed to draw them for the newsletter.
The Rumpus Begins
I started off with a sketch, which I was initially pleased with. Here is the sketch from my sketchbook.
I brought the sketch into Concepts and started working on the outlines. I started making changes, which is typical for the final illustration, but I was still not happy with the result. The rumpus (my internal monologue/ critic) had started in my head, and now I was not liking any changes or even the initial drawing.
At this point, I knew I would have to start over. Forcing the drawing would only make it worse. I closed the iPad and sketchbook to give the ideas time to work themselves out. When my inner critic takes over, it is often time for me to give the illustration some time and do something else for a while.
Sketchbook Day Two
When I see artists post perfect sketchbook pages(they look perfect to me), I’m amazed. My sketchbook is a mess. It is where I go to work through the bad ideas in order to help me find the good ideas.
I tried again in my sketchbook this morning. Here is the result:
To be fair to the original drawing, I haven't tried to create the outlines yet for this sketch, but I will let everyone know how it turns out next week.
Make marks and drawings in your sketchbook. The important thing is to draw, whether you like it or not. Then draw some more.
Be kind to yourself on your creative journey.
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You made it to the end of the newsletter. Here its a clip from the “Where the Wild Things Are” movie. 😊
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