Gnome in Shade

I'm sure in some way you can thank my parents for this one. Their years of painting Kris Kringle-themed crafts, illustrating leafy Green Man figures and sketching gnarly elfish beings have certainly influenced my drawing "comfort zone" as it pertains to subject matter. I suppose that for context it's worth knowing that I come from a home where crafting contributed to our family's income and where newspapers were regularly subject to creative vandalism.

Anywho, I present to you this small sketch as evidence of the beginning of this artistic journey and as a rather accurate example of my "comfort zone."

My hopes are to abandon the typical subject matter and to deviate from my habits of over-sketching, in favor of cleaner, expressive and intentional lines; I hope to work on my ability to introduce action into scenes; better develop compositions as a whole; and brush up on all those fundamentals like perspective, form, lighting, proportions, etc. Ultimately, I'd like to have better control of my drawings. So, farewell, gnomes (for now)! And, onward!