This year has been specifically challenging for most of us - not being able to see family and friends and adjusting to the new normal. I hate to remind you about the virus, but for me it was the lockdown, this March, that initiated ideas about the power of supporting one another and communication. And one word kept recurring to me - change.
About a month ago, I wrote a blog post focusing on building communities and the importance of social interaction. Today, these concepts around communication appear more important than ever - as we all experienced a halt to interaction that we take for granted.
For those who are thinking that this post is on the pandemic, I promise it's not!
Recently, I had received some photographs from a family holiday. Whilst, I was not on this holiday, seeing big smiles and noticing how my cousins appeared as storytellers to their bunch of under 5-year olds, all I could say was 'Awww!'. At a time, where it seems impossible to see family from abroad, I felt compelled to think about time and how situations are always changing for ourselves and the people around us. A new house, a newborn, a new job, a new relationship - the list goes on. Where it is easy to count these 'big' changes in our life, the 'small' ones can go unnoticed and it is why we tend to share the 'big' changes.
Flicking through the photos, I couldn't help but think of my childhood and how my siblings and I would crowd my cousins - in a similar way to their children appeared to in the photographs. We'd constantly ask to play a game or to watch a movie - leaving them with no choice. These ideas about change and the photographs themselves motivated me to produce artwork focusing on family.
Using the photographs as references, I decided to produce three biro drawings.
The biro drawing above came with several challenges. Using biro was one itself. I hadn't produced a biro drawing in what seems like forever, so it was natural that I felt nervous to make a start on these drawings.
Once I did, I was quick to note how the medium provides an antique look and therefore, brings the concept of time into the artwork.
Another challenge involved illustrating the giggling facial expression. My recent portraits are at eye level and do not include hand(s) across the face. My lack of experience in drawings such portraits meant that representing the hand over the mouth became difficult. The difficulties were involved with understanding the proportions of the nose and mouth. Whilst it did bother me that the proportions weren't spot on, I now realise that this was an opportunity for me to start illustrating diverse expressions.
By completing the drawing above, I learnt about the importance of composition and the impact of space. The biro drawing on one side of the envelope allows the space around the drawing to appear much larger than if it was at the centre. This then emphasises the contrast between the plain background and details within the drawing.
Once I finished these drawings, I opened the envelopes to see how the drawings differ.
I was surprised.
There was a clear distinction between the biro drawing and the surrounding space. As for the illustration against the pastel yellow envelope, the space between the biro marks and the inside of the envelope allows you to see a long strip - despite this not being drawn. This is referred to as negative space. Having seen how this technique can create dramatic contrast whilst adding an abstract element, I feel encouraged to incorporate this technique (deliberately) within my future portraits.
Now, you may be wondering why I decided to draw the portraits onto envelopes.
Envelopes are used with letters, cards and invitations - which can all be used to congratulate, express love, support and gratitude. This notion fitted well with my intentions to create artwork focusing on family and changes we encounter as a result of time. So, I simply followed my gut instinct that this combination would work well. And I think I did ok! Would you agree?
I also started to notice the potential for reusing materials such as newspapers, cardboard, paper bags within art. This made me feel excited as I realised how this could expand my artwork, whilst helping me work towards a more sustainable lifestyle!
Negative space. Recycling materials. The idea that these two concepts could cohere seemed far-fetched to me. But, unknowingly, I had made this happen within my artwork in this blog post. This thought then made me realise that sometimes I just need to create – even if the end outcome is unclear! As it is through experimental processes that I’ll be able to change my artwork :)
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