“When one rows, it is not the rowing which moves the ship: rowing is only a magical ceremony by means of which one compels a demon to move the ship.” ~ Friedrich Nietzsche
A junk is a Chinese sailing vessel which was traversing the vast oceans as early as the 2nd century AD. These ancient vessels have a cool looking sail structure which are fun to draw. Some of the sails look almost bat-like and I tried to exaggerate that quality.
In general, I am more a fan of drawing organic-looking things and that is probably why I had the most fun drawing the waves. Originally, I had lots of detailed and tiny waves in the drawing which I spent an enormous amount of time on, but I concluded they were too distracting to the composition and I erased them. I was proud of myself for asserting the mighty eraser because even while I liked every crest and wave, they didn’t serve the composition well as a whole. I erased one wave at a time saving my favorite wave for last, but in the end even it had to go.
It is essential for an artist to be willing to adapt change and never hold anything too sacred. Sometimes a piece of art demands an artistic compromise to which an artist must be willing to yield. It was a good lesson to remind myself of.