It's 12:30 In The Morning (What An Original Title)

Happy Tuesday everyone,

It's 12:30 in the morning. Which means a couple of things. It is in fact Tuesday and I have been inspired to the point of not sleeping. This is completely normal for a creative mind so don't worry. While I'm very tired and will be tomorrow in class I actually embrace late night inspiration because it is rare and amazing in my opinion. It makes me happy. And being tired is my fault for binge watching one of my favorite youtubers who never fails to inspire me.

My notebook is a mixture of lined pages, coloring pages and sticky notes (I may do a later blog about my current notebook.). The sticky notes are used for small ideas that I don't want to waste the lined paper on and little sketches that don't belong on lined paper.

It's October! (Which is why I look like a werewolf today. Also my brain isn't working chronically. Do try to follow along.) And in the Norris/Collins/Keyes/Graham house, this means Christmas lists are in the work. This is just how my family is. So I start thinking about my Christmas list for friends. This is actually a good thing to do early because I can buy things a little at a time and I can also make things.

My friend is an artists. (The first few words of these last three paragraphs make me laugh. My notebook - It's October! - My friend is an artist. Just keeping you on your toes.) And the youtuber I was watching is an artist, so when I saw one of these behind her (When I don't know the name of something I make up some jargin that involves thingamajigy so I thought this
strategy was better.) it gave me an idea for my friend for Christmas. I will not give details because I do not know if she reads this.

So I sketched it on a stickynote in my notebook (I used the black and white photo as reference for the drawing but I also included a picture of the actual figure.) for reasons that have to do with details you do not get to know. It was when I was drawing the figure that I became inspired. Now I did a quick sketch. I find when I do quick sketches without worrying about how it comes out I am more satisfied. If I focus on making it perfect I am unable to achieve said perfection and become frustrated. When I drew this figure I tried to make it look like the figure. Obviously. But when it was done I realized that my bias somehow worked into the picture. I managed to keep the length of the limbs accurate to the picture even though I am short and I also gave the figure a reasonable neck when I have been accused of not having one. What did make it into the picture is wider hips which make for a bigger thigh gap. You would think the thigh gap meant I made a skinny person but really I was making room for big thighs. But because I made the limbs accurate to the picture, there are no big thighs.

There is another aspect of my bias that is hard to explain in words without being with you and showing you. Of course I will try anyways. Because I have underarm fat, my arms are farther away from my torso to make room for that extra fat. If that makes sense. Gosh people are going to be analyzing my body the next time they see me. There is a sort of gap between the arms and torso of the figure.

The figure is not made to discriminate bodies. It is simply made as a very general reference for artists. It has joints that can move into positions so they artist can look at that and see what a person might look like in that position. The figure is simply an average person. It could even be compared to a skeleton. Body weight is meant to be added.

But when I drew my average person it became obvious to me that my bias was involved. Even when I tried to make an average person like the figure I ended up making what I see as an average person. To me an average person doesn't have a thigh gap. They have bigger hips and some arm fat.

My body is above average. By that I mean I am heavier than the average person. So when I see an average body I see someone a bit smaller than me. But to some people that person is larger than what they think of as an average person. What I am trying to say is we all have a different view of what is normal as well as what we are attracted too.  What is big to one person may be small to another. While you might find you own body type unattractive someone else does.

If I continue this will become just another body positivity blog post that I do so I am going to stop there and go to sleep. (Rereading the last couples paraphs I realize it isn't well written but I'm not going to fix it.)

Good night everyone,
Totally Ky