John Mahoney

When doing the blind drawing for Drawing Upon Inspiration, I was inspired by John Mahoney. Although this is not obvious in the style of my blind drawings, Mahoney's art actually inspired me to consider blind drawings of bodies in the first place. In his work he draws figures, often their proportions are distorted, and he overlaps the different bodies. I really like how the characters interact with each other, and how he plays with the human form whilst still making it identifiable as a person. I am passionate about drawing people, and I think this is a more interesting way of doing it. Plus it is useful in generating ideas for composition, and more interesting ways of figure drawing. I came upon blind drawing because I tried to copy Mahoney when doing my own figure drawing, but I was too precious about proportion and making it 'a good drawing'. Blind drawing allows me to take inspiration from Mahoney in a more free and productive way. The way Mahoney draws also reminds me of blind drawings, from proportion to the actual quality of line, so it makes sense for me to take inspiration from him when doing my own blind drawings.