By Moose
Ok, so maybe you won’t draw like JAB. To be truthful almost no one will but that doesn’t mean we can’t give it the old college try with a little help from the master. I find that appeal is one of the most important elements in our genre. There’s lots of great illustrators out there and they can paint and draw the hell out of the subject matter. But without appeal the drawing will not be as interesting. It may even suck. Listen to these notes from the man.
Appeal: Probably the most important part of your drawing will be the appeal. Appeal sometimes blends in with the design of the drawing. However, if your drawing is overall appealing, regardless of the design or proportions, even not putting it properly on-model, I guarantee that is will be a successful drawing. I think for any artist, it should be their number one priority. Sure, proportion and design are also important, but it takes an appealing drawing for a viewer to say “hey, this is pretty good”. Now I can’t tell you what makes a drawing appealing. I just draw what I would like to see. If people like it, hey! That’s even better. There is all sorts of people out there. Some of them might consider my drawings horrible and appalling. I am not aiming to please those people, but as an artist, you do have to think who you want to reach. Look at all those Joe Camel billboards that they had such a fuss over. The reason was that they were aiming at the younger generation. Kids would look at that billboard and think that it is cool to smoke. I suppose it really appealed to that type of audience. Through subtle manipulation, the Tobacco company was able to lure millions on young smokers. (You can read more about apeal in a book titled “Sex Appeal: The Art of Allure in Graphic and Advertising Design” by Steven Heller.) Now as artist, you possess the same power to manipulate your audience to either feel angry, happy, horny, or just shocked. You can orchestrate a composition that will transport your audience into a world that you have chosen. Once you have accomplished that, it is up to your drawing to give an emotional statement. You want your audience to actually feel what you felt when you drew it. So if you can’t feel it, then your audience won’t either. I think that is probably one of the parts that makes a drawing appealing, having the ability to feel something from it. One way to know if your drawing is apealing, is to just simply ask someone “do you like it?” it usually gets a response.
