Beginning (again)

Continuing the creative drawing theme of previous posts, here are two early ink drawings that re-illustrate the concept of "doodling" your way to a viable idea. When I first started creative drawing I often had no particular idea or direction, so like an old kid's TV program artist, I'd make a few random marks on the paper that prodded my hand & head and often grew into something interesting or unexpected. 

This one (left) reminds me a bit of pen-work by Fons Van Woerkom, a political cartoonist who did work for the New York Times back in the 1970's. Along with his dense hatching there was an element of "ugly" in his ideas that made his drawings quite memorable.

This "Chicken Man" sketch that I've shown here in the past (5.26.11) and a couple of large format finished drawings that repeated the image are directly attributable to the doodle above.  It's just a bit more refined and a whole lot more humorous! You cannot see the old-fashioned piano stool the poor guy is trying to launch himself from!





This last piece, tho' just as much a "doodle" as the first, grew by addition/accretion rather than the organic process of the one above.
I was watching TV and responding to the various images and ideas as they flashed by, adding elements and trying to balance the composition as I went along. It was fun! I've had commissions based on this idea where I take people's pertinent facts and/or life experiences and weave them into similar "pedestal" illustrations, almost a design for fanciful sculpture.


"With experimentation comes surprise and discovery."
      Kim Lee Kho


"Spontaneity is being present in the present."   Wei Wu Wei


"The risk of failure is part of the fun,"    Paul Simon

Doubling Up

If, as some say, repetition is the heart of good design, then this post must be a good one! Here are two drawings continuing the recent tree theme - similar views of a huge maple that overhangs and shades our back deck. Sometimes we feel we live in a tree house. 

I love it!

I also love the use of repetition as a design element in a work of art, as a means of understanding the subject itself or simply as a way of honing one's skills as an artist.  (Everyone knows the quote regarding "the way to get to Carnegie Hall" right?)

Working with simple black Prismacolor Pencil and lightly toned paper allowed the addition of white pencil in the one above, giving a bit more contrast between subject and background and a nice sense of atmosphere. The one below, more linear, puts emphasis on edge and shape so is more graphic, a bit more abstract yet still descriptive in it's simplicity. That slightly abstract quality shows the work not just as a representation but as an arrangement of repeated verticals and diagonals. Variation in that repetition like light and dark pencil marks, weaving tilted verticals, emphasis on the one trunk with it's rough bark, etc, creates visual interest. Even putting the two drawings together on one page like this to make comparisons contributes to the interest of this blog page it self. 

All this, perhaps found in the original scene or more likely seen in the flat rendition later, makes drawing an act of discovery. While observing a subject and putting marks on paper we create an object that "speaks" to us, giving us feedback, new perspectives, new ideas and real reasons to continue our work as artists.  What do your drawings say?


"Repetition is the mother of study."  (Latin proverb)

"To paint is not to copy slavishly, it is to grasp a harmony among many relationships."  (Paul Cezanne)

"Keys"

Drawing is like any other endeavor where skill is important. You must practice!  Unlike musical practice, you can work on your drawing skills just about anywhere, - anytime.  This drawing is a case in point.  Done a few years ago, it was the product of a long boring meeting, but could just as well have been one of those times when I wasn't able to sleep so put the time awake to good use.

Once I'd finished with the keys themselves, I started playing with the composition. I repeated the key shapes in a looser, sketchier fashion while adding other simple elements to fill the space and complete the composition.  Think of musical rhythm and how it carries you along, so repetition of design elements adds depth and fullness to a visual composition.  It's more interesting.  I also took into account the shape of the paper by making the background shapes' edges parallel to the paper's edges, the echoed edges becoming a frame of sorts. Repetition is a "key" idea in traditional design practice. (Sorry, I couldn't resist!)

If I had been intent on producing a finished work of art, I would have been more careful lining up those edges, thinking out the various background shapes, but this is only a sketch, - almost a doodle so I guess I can be forgiven. 

BTW, in adding those various elements, besides adding interest I may have introduced some confusion. While I like it as an example of drawing, I can't decide whether this is a horizontal or vertical composition.  Oye!  I'm getting dizzy looking at them!



Vertical, Right?



No?