Today saw the revival, for fifteen minutes, of a kind of figure drawing I was once rather fond of. I discovered you can find 'walking videos' online, which simply film a faceless cameraperson walking around locales and locals, and for a month or so I dabbled with drawing from these without pausing, a realtime sketch with limitless subjects. The first two pages below are of this nature. I concluded that it was not an excellent method of practice, or at least a preternaturally tiring one as you switch between five, six subjects a minute.

One of the original intentions of this practice style was to improve visual memory. I'd have to look at the screen and mentally capture a person within a matter of frames, then turn down to the paper and draw. Visual memory is an area I lack in, and believe very important. It is not a question of accuracy, exactly, but the ability to create vivid imagery in one's head reliably. I've heard Miyazaki can recall places and people he saw years ago. You often hear illustrators talking about trying to draw what they see in their head. Observation. Just as some people are excellent at recognizing faces, we must be excellent at observing the world long before putting pencil to paper.

It must be admitted in the end, that I have very little grasp on the trances spoken of yesterday. Whether they be good or bad, I cannot say. Indeed, opposing view: instead of worrying about the quality of drawing being done, I should rather focus on the process. If one enjoys a process slightly less successful, is that not a greater success? A quandary, that.