Drawing Life 17
On Saturday I asked the ladies in our art class to draw in an abstract way for fifteen minutes while we listened to Sting. Some of us find it harder to draw nothing than to draw something specific even though when we were five we had no difficulty scribbling. Marks on paper are drawings and so much presents itself when we don’t have anything specific in mind. We’re getting back to being five again, to just playing and discovering and being and receiving. We tried drawing with fine lines and smudges—just those two elements.
Later we tried to draw from a photograph—a flower in a vase. Each was different. One of the ladies brought in the fine lines and smudges in the most brilliant way. There was beautiful delicacy and contrast between the two elements. That’s what it’s about—learning to play and to think in a creative way, learning to simplify, to break things down into the elements of line and tone, space, shape. Learning not to be literal but to be interpretive or expressive. It gets easier with practice.
Next week we carry on but will add the element of color and consider the different ways that color could be used to create the image we want to create. And again, first, we will play and see what emerges for each of us. Then we’ll use both intention and inspiration to carry on.