I was going through some old sketchbooks the other day and came across a drawing I did years ago in a similar style, scribbled with a black ballpoint pen.
It's a technique that reminds me a lot of a great class I took in college from Michael Torlen, called Art in the Dark. Here's the class description from Purchase College:
"A drawing and painting experience, working from flash slides, master slides, and directly from observation. Concepts and processes are discussed in terms of the space-forming cues: position,
size/shape, overlap, figure/ground, and brightness/contrast. Exercises performed in a semi-dark environment encourage peripheral vision and a unified field response. Media include
chalk, pencil, brush, and paint."
In other words, drawing from blurred or dark subjects forced us to see the whole page, instead of focusing on the details. The lesson I learned is, pay attention to your drawing / painting, don't worry so much about slavishly recreating the scene in front of you (that's what cameras are for), and don't be afraid to exaggerate contrast to create a more successful piece.
2 comments:
Oh! This reminds me of Seurot's conte crayon drawings, which are so moody and mysteriously captivating! I love this look! Your cone flowers are lovely too. Very 3 dimensional.I do like the color version of the flowers.
What a flashback... Art in the Dark! What a surprise to recall that phrase!
I'm enjoying your sketch-a-day blog this morning!
Post a Comment