Much like the gunslingers of the Wild West, creatively "shooting from the hip" above all requires trust in yourself and lots of practice! There's something valuable to be found in discovering a new creation as you move forward, putting one line or brush stroke down at a time, knowing you CANNOT go back. It's one of the main reasons I love working traditionally; nothing wrong with working digitally, I do that as well. However, when you set certain limitations for yourself in the process, it can sometimes force you to find creative solutions that you would not have thought of otherwise. For example, I drew the above warm up sketch all in ink, starting with a ball point pen, then 2 different brush pens, a china marker, and finally a white paint pen to highlight some areas (NOT to fix anything). I try to keep all my warm up drawings loose and permanent because those limitations force me to trust myself more with each line and brush stroke and help me to learn from past mistakes. Believe me, you'll remember your past mistakes much better and quickly learn to avoid making them again when you don't have the ability to UNDO (Control+Z). So give it a try with your warm ups or any creative work you're doing and just remember to TRUST YOURSELF! You may not get it the way you want in the beginning but after lots of practice, you'll be a bad ass, "shoot from the hip" gunslinger just like in the Westerns!
- SAM LOTFI