The Throw-Away Approach

For this week's Creekification Blog Post, I'll answer the first question anyone sends me on the Creek Text Line!  Ah, here's one now!  It asks:

wich came furst the chiken or the egg nog?

...

For this week's Creekification Blog Post, I'll answer the second question anyone sends me on the Creek Text Line!  Let's try this one:

Why is it, Mr. Creekmore, that sometimes the drawings on your blog look kind of okay and sometimes they look really crappy?

Good question (albeit rudely stated).  You want to know why one week I draw Jeff Teague like this:

...and a few weeks later I draw him like this:

Sometimes a simple drawing just works better, and in those instances I use my Throw Away approach.  This means I'm going for something that can be completed in a relatively short amount of time, so the drawings tend to be loose and sketchy.  If they're too awful looking, I can just throw them way, but if they end up looking okay, I'll go ahead and use them.  I use my Throw Away approach anytime I do an episode of Creeking More In The ATL (with your host Nate Creekmore)...

...or anything with Old Man Creek in it...

...or if I'm putting together a blog post at the last minute...

Most of the work I post on this blog is done using my Throw Away approach.  It adds a light-hearted feel to whatever idea I'm trying to express.  Say, for example, I'm drawing a caveman who is really excited about the invention of the wheel.  It's much funnier if I draw him like this:

Or say, on the other hand, I'm tackling a serious topic, like the birth of the Lord and Savior (of basketball) Michael Jordan.  It would be inappropriate (and possibly blasphemous) to approach a subject as sacred as Michael Jordan with something crudely rendered, so instead I'd go with something more detailed and reverent, like this:

Lately my Throw Away approach has been useful insofar as it informs my finished illustrations.  If you look back at my older works, like my comic strip Maintaining, you'll see that I was very focused on details.  The drawings are rendered with a precise, inorganic-looking line that looks like it was done with a computer and, as a result, they can tend to look rather stiff.  My work has loosened up substantially since then, due in no small part to the fact that I started keeping a sketchbook and experimenting with a less rigid look.

So while I still sit down to do drawings like this one:

...don't be upset if you occasionally see ones that look like this:

It's all about context.

That was fun!  You know what?  I think I'll take one more question.  Let's see...

wut r u wearin? ;)

Okay, that's all for today folks.  Keep it creeking.


Cheers.