acrylic on Arches Hot Press, 140#I can't resist a good art book! Right now I am reading a great book, Expressive Drawing: A Practical Guide to Freeing the Artist Within by Steven Aimone (click the title and you will see a lot of the book on line!).
In the first chapter are some guided exercises to help create a more playful attitude about drawing. My paper is 29" x 22", a little smaller than the recommended 48" x 36" size. Holding my 1" flat brush like a fencer holds a foil, I made a mark and let it be whatever it wanted to be. No thinking or planning, just load the brush and put it down.
Then, I stepped back and looked at the line I made. Reloaded the brush, and responded to the first line.
Have you ever tried this kind of "automatic drawing"? Did you know that the Surrealists used a version of this to express the subconscious? It may that Picasso even practiced automatic drawing in his later years.
This is one art book I am very glad I did not resist!
5 comments:
This looks great.
And so does the book--I'm going to request it from my library.
OK I liked your freefall here a lot. So I read as many pages of the book as stingy Google would allow. It makes drawing sound totally addictive. So until the book arrives, I'm a doodle junkie, comme Basquiat. For now, please gimme a fix and share another exercise.
I'm glad I got to see this book in person today--the drawing you did is "haiku" --I like it!
It's a great book. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I am. I'll keep posting the exercises as I do them. I always liked roller coasters and wild rides.
Your discription of the book and your expressive paintings are very inspiring. I plan to click on amazon.com next! Some of the exercises remind me of Kitty's version of Nicholaides.
Thanks for sharing.
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