Mornings. This can be our busiest time of the day. How many of us have ran to catch the bus or train to school, or rushed out the door to make our lecture? And do these mornings stop at school and university? Probably not. The solution to these mornings can be simple and I'm sure many of us have repeated this solution in our mind and scolded ourselves as we run for that train and that bus - only to do it again in the future.
Get up early. Yes, this is not new. But sometimes, its like a secret ingredient to a great recipe. It is not unknown to us - we just have to find a way to incorporate it!
Now, you may be wondering where I am going with all this and how does this in any way relate to my artwork.
In my earlier blog posts, I spoke about incorporating drawing exercises within my morning routine. And if I am being honest, I haven't been able to achieve this every day. I realised that despite these exercises taking about 5 minutes of my day and having got up early and not had to rush out the door, some days I just want to read or even write before getting on with the rest of my day, as opposed to draw. I can imagine how alarming this must sound for many of you, considering that I am pretty much always encouraging others to draw.
However, earlier last week, for some odd reason, I felt like producing the left-handed drawing. So I pulled out a pen and sketchbook from my backpack and scrolled through images online to find a photograph and just went for it!
I felt this huge smile stretching over my face as I completed the drawing. I stared at the sketch and realised two important things. One, to always make sure I carry a sketchbook - just in case I have one of these moments again. Two, to allow myself to have some flexibility in my morning routine and not to be disappointed in myself for not drawing everyday.
But for someone who likes to plan out her mornings, not planning at all seems unrealistic. So, I have now decided to spend one or two mornings each week to sketch anything! This new association between sketching and accomplishment as opposed to disappointment will keep me motivated to experiment with different drawing techniques.
Looking at the intertwined lines and how they cohere to form various shapes, I thought about how interesting it would be if these lines acted as voids. With this concept in mind, the next day I produced a left-handed sketch and then, using a scalpel I started carving out the various lines.
Whilst I enjoyed this experimental process, it did confront me about my confidence in my own artwork. I found myself worrying about whether I was carving out too many shapes and the subject becoming difficult to acknowledge as a result of this. I started to understand how these thoughts could be consequence of me abandoning drawing exercises in my daily routine and how I am going to have to place more confidence in my ideas to progress my artwork further.
The next few images arise from my slight obsession with incorporating colour within my artwork.
To me, the images above just go to show the impact of colour. Despite the same portrait cut out being used, each colour brings out a different atmosphere. For example, the combination of yellow and black is interesting as the voids appear as patches of bright light. The strong contrast between the two colours draws immediate attention and the vivid yellow almost lights up the cut out - again bringing me back to the idea of light.
As I worked my way through the portrait cut out, I had another idea reoccurring.
I could not ignore it!
As you can see from the photographs above, at some point I stopped outlining the hair. I just wanted to be a bit more flexible with my artwork and allow my imagination to take more control. I felt comfortable about taking this step and I also saw this as an opportunity to prove to myself that I can trust my ideas.
And I love the outcome!
I find it particularly interesting how looking at the paper bag at different angles allows us to see a different arrangement of lines. In the sense that from an angle, you can see an abstract pattern created by the overlapping lines. This then makes the subject difficult to identify. But weirdly, I think that it is this ambiguity that allows the portrait cut out to become engaging.
However, we all know that a bag with holes in it is not ideal! So I decided to stick some tracing paper on the inside. Whilst this design is not great in terms of taking a huge load of your shopping, it does demonstrate what can be done with the resources around you.
Recently, I have been interested in finding ways to reuse materials in my artwork. By producing more artwork within these past months, I have noticed how I have been using a vast amount of material to experiment with mediums. And sometimes these works are thrown out - simply because I didn't like the outcome. However, the process of experimentation is essential for any artist. So, it isn’t something I can eliminate.
The realisation that the production of my own artwork was limiting my potential to live a more sustainable lifestyle made me want to implement changes to the procedures involved in my artwork. Whether it is using scraps of card to practice facial features or using old newspapers and envelopes to practice my left-handed or blind drawings.
I hope reading this has made you realise something that you have been putting off for a while - similar to my drawing exercise routine. Whether it is you trying to learn a new language, read a new book or incorporate an exercise routine. To think that the idea to produce portrait cut outs came from my random left-handed drawing, made me acknowledge that sometimes I need to take it one step at a time and slowly implement changes. And maybe it is worth you considering this too.
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