Can't stop starting new drawings...

Alright, so last week I said I would finish drawings this week. I may have lied. Instead I started two new ones. Oops. To be fair, I've been having a lot of new ideas for new compositions and new possibilities, and it seems a little silly to let those slip away. However, I did continue to work on past drawings as well. Total hours drawing this week: around 11.

Here is a new one I began this week...

In addition to spending time on past drawings, I made some spring break preparations. This is totally relevant, I swear. Because as it happens, I am taking a train to San Francisco, and that means two days of nothing to do but watch the beautiful scenery, and draw. Hours and hours of drawing, that is if the train isn't too horribly shaky (although that could make for some interesting effects...) and then, once we arrive in San Francisco, I'll gain some more drawing inspiration while visiting Golden Gate Park and hopefully making a day trip to see the Redwoods. I made a few travel-size base paintings just for the occasion:

Traveling and drawing: not too shabby of a spring break. Especially since after break, it's going to be crunch time. But let's not think about that now...happy break everyone!

Surpise! It's more drawing.

I feel like I have posted the same basic post for the past few weeks, but as with last week, it was filled with drawing, over 10 hours, and while I mostly continued work on past/recent drawings, I also started yet another new one:

(this isn't the new one)

(detailed shot of old one)

(new one)

(detailed shot of new one)

It is hard to see at this point, as I have only blocked in the main shapes and added just a bit of detail, but in this newest drawing, I'm experimenting a bit more with composition, as I would like to continue to do in any upcoming drawings. This coming week, however, I am determined to finish those I have started, in an effort to have at least some completed pieces by the time spring break begins. After break, it's going to be crunch time, and that is also when I'd like to really start considering the details of my final presentation. There is also a lot more thinking I would like to get down in my drawings, and I'm looking forward to really throwing myself into that process for the next couple months.

Onward Drawing!

So the blog entries are getting shorter because the work is getting more consuming! But in a good way. I am in drawing overdrive. I did at least a good 10 hours worth of drawing this week, plus a few hours spent on the second draft of my thesis (to be completed this weekend). Here are the two drawings I worked on the most (though they certainly weren't the only ones):

I like where these are going, but I also have a lot of ideas for other compositions that I am itching to start. I am just going to continue trucking on this weekend and next week, so that by the time spring break rolls around, I can take a good step back, look at a number of new drawings, and assess where I am at. Onward drawing!

Forward Motion

So I am pretty happy with the way this week went. I managed to create background dyes on at least seven different sheets, start three drawings, and work on previous drawings. If I were to tally it, I'd estimate I spent over 10 hours on the work. The best part was it hardly felt that long. I was able to get into such a great state of mind each time I sat to work, and I think the productivity speaks to this. I hope it continues into next week.

Above are just a few of the background I painted with tea, lemon juice, and red wine. I decided to try a number of varying compositions. I plan to grow my drawings out from these background seedlings, which I begin to do in the drawings below.

I am not sure yet how I feel about the pink and purple red wine stains, I tend to work in monochrome, but in the following week I plan to work on the drawings more and see the final effects. There is still a lot to do and a lot I would like to experiment with, but I planning to keep this momentum going in the week to come.

Sifting

This week, was a sifting week. Well, first it was a drawing/painting/working week, then after critique it became a sifting week. Below is the drawing I've been working on most (there's been a bit more work done on it since critique, but there's still a lot more to do):

It is very hectic and chaotic, so next I'm going to push some of the lighter and darker areas, create some larger dark and light shapes for the eye to settle on and create more depth. From now on I'm considering this piece my grand experiment, and seeing what comes of all this chaos of stuff coming together in one place. The funny thing is, that's kinda what's going on in my head every day.

Besides working on that drawing for a good many hours this week, probably a good 5 to 7 at least, I also started work dying new paper for new drawings. I want to see if I can grow some of these drawings out of the dye and see how they evolve. Below is one of my starting points:

Lastly, I continued working on my small study drawings, which I really enjoy and whose portability allows me to work on them whenever I have a spare second. Here is the progress on one, which I probably spent a couple hours on this week if you add together all the small random moments I was able to catch:

This coming week, I hope to start several new drawings and see what resonates with me. Critique fed me a lot of ideas and thoughts, and I'd like to test those out and see what might come of it. I know I have some techniques and trials to sift through, and I'm hoping in the next couple weeks to really hone in on what works best for me and for these drawings. As for today, I bought several sheets of brand new paper, and they are teasing me with there blankness. Can't have that, off I go!

New Materials

So I tried some new tactics this week. Color, gesso, and and new paper. First, I was feeling a little disconnected from my work so I decided to get some energy out. Instead of starting with a drawing I started with paint. Bright red paint, to be exact. The change of pace was refreshing, and gave me the reboot I needed to work on some other drawings.

In addition to the painting, I spent time experimenting with gesso, as recommended by my review committee. I did an underlying drawing, then gessoed over it, and attempted to sand part of the gesso off. This worked to a certain extent. Because of the texture of the paper, only the most raised bits of gesso would sand off, and so the only parts of the under drawing that can still be seen are the parts where I used watered down gesso. Good thing to note for future reference. I began drawing on top of the gessoed drawing as well, but am feeling a little apprehensive about the extreme white background. Maybe if I water it down more next time...

Lastly I started a new drawing on top of my natural dyes, this time involving some color. As it turns out, lemon juice on top of red wine creates this beautiful pink/purple color, and I rather like the effect with the drawing. I also used some gesso instead of white prismacolor for the highlights I added. This gesso technique I actually enjoyed and might continue to use in the future.

Total amount of time spent on these projects was about six hours or so, and I continued some work on some past drawings as well, but the fresh experiments really have me ready to get a lot of work done this weekend and next week. I have a lot of fresh thoughts flying about my head and I am want to get them down on paper asap!

Mixed Media

So, it's been a while. Break left me with a lot to think about and even more to do, and with that in mind I started some new drawings, which have transformed into partial paintings in a sense. Here are the drawings, which I spent about three or so hours on:

So far I have only worked on top of the natural dying treatment I did to the paper, but I plan to go back into one or all of the drawings and add more dye where I see fit. I want to deepen the amount of space I can create, and I think this might add the dynamism that I need to really push these drawings into the place I want them to be.

In addition to these new experimental drawings, I decided to try and paint on one of my sewn paper projects before I draw on it. My midterm committee brought up the valid point that the stitching brings the viewers' attention to the surface of the paper, disrupting the visual illusions of volume and space that I have been creating. I see where they are coming from, so I decided to see if the added color might distract from the sewing and bring the eye back into the field of depth I like to create. Here is the paper dyed, which took me an hour or so. Next week/this weekend I plan to draw on it:

I also went on a supply shopping day, picking up some different papers to try out, just to keep my options open, along with gesso and sandpaper that my midterm review committee suggested I check out. I have yet to use these new materials, but plan to start working on them next week in addition to continuing my current drawings. It's a long, constantly evolving processm, but if I keep pushing forward I think the end result will be satisfying.

Lastly, as suggested by the committee, I spent a couple hours this week absorbed in the paintings and methods of Thomas Lyon Mills, who I am happy to say is absolutely fascinating. His paintings/drawing are inspired by the Italian catacombs, where he is the only non-archaelogist allowed to roam about freely, and his use of mixed media and the organic liveliness he captures in his paintings are inspiring to say the least. Check it out:

With that in mind, I leave you with a beautiful quote of his (which happens to reference maps, just like my work! I'm liking this guy more and more...)

"Like mapmakers, we draw and paint what we observe, but find our drawings inevitably cross over into the unknown, for, like maps, they are never truly, wholly accurate, never allowing for shifting points of view, or even the necessity of dreams.

This then, is our region – where the visible and invisible meet, where the observed and the intuitive lie side by side, and where the seen pays a constant debt to the unseen."

images and quote from http://www.luiserossgallery.com/mills.html