Saturday, March 20, 2010

Saturday Daydreaming: The Importance of Seeing/Looking

I've been feeling more relaxed in the drawing class this term; too bad next week is the last week, and then we have a longish break.

This model poses for us often. So I've drawn her at least a couple of dozen times in the last two years. And I've been thinking about that seeing/looking thing we are supposed to do.

Being a restless type, I often scan the world around me and at best take in the impression of the things I like, without really registering, analyzing, or "really looking". But in drawing, I have to do a lot of that, and as I become familiar with some of the models, I start to remember, or "know", certain things about the bodies, or the forms. In subsequent sessions, if my mind is alert and in the right, quiet place, I discover new things about the bodies, and then later, some of these new discoveries start to appear on the page.

In drawing figures, I'm just thrilled when that happens, but I wonder how it can be used in weaving. I have started to occasionally draw things that I find interesting, particularly people, but though those occasions have fun, and helps to quiet my mind, I haven't used them to develop into or assist in my weaving projects yet. The two may never connect, and I'm not worried because drawing gives me enough pleasure, but it would be a bonus if they did.

1 comment:

  1. I can also tell you that this style of seeing/looking is different to photographing, but I can't in what ways just yet. The one thing I trained myself is to look at light and shade in drawing, which I am bad at with photography, until I start to play around with the B/W effect with the software. In fact, I'm often taken aback when I see the B/W versions of my photos.

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