drawanyway.com

I read some advice for aspiring writers once, that a good plot device is to make everything as extreme as possible. For example, if a man is having an affair, forget the usual mundane stuff about his lover being a woman next door. No - have it so that he’s philandering with the president, or six people at once, or a camel. The point is that the extreme is more dramatic. It’s easier to write, more compelling to read.

As I make my posts for Drawanyway, it often occurs to me that many rules for good writing also apply to drawing. And why not? Drawing and literature are both artistic pursuits. Many of their aims could be seen to be the same.

For example, I recently wrote a post Edit out unnecessary detail. Also true of writing. Then, Close-up or zoom out? - a writer might make the same type of decision about what distance to take from the action. And in a very early post, I noted that successful writers just get on with it, while the rest of us are browsing the stationery aisles.

Anyway, back to my first paragraph. As with writing, so with art. There is a certain amount of exaggeration you can get away with as an artist, even before descending into caricature. If you wish to show a large nose, see just how large you can make it before it looks too extreme. If someone is slouched against a wall, make the slouch more pronounced than it really is. And then make it more pronounced still. The viewer’s eye almost expects this kind of visual cue, and quite often what feels like a very daring exaggeration barely registers.