|
Stages of Creation: Part 2
05/02/2008 08:42:29 / full of life
Step 2: Growing Stage
After
the idea or inspiration for a painting begins to take more solid form
and substance in my mind, I can begin sketching and working out the
composition. Here the previous research and meditation have its
greatest influence as the image begins to appear on paper.
I
usually make several drawings, some will be simple line drawings,
others will be value studies. I will play around with compositional
elements as well. I use many different pencils for doing the drawing
and value studies. I use tracing paper to trace over my drawing and
then use the tracing to reposition the drawing. That way I can
experiment more freely with the composition and save time from having
to redraw the entire thing from scratch. The rubbing alcohol is used to
fix the graphite on the tracing paper so it doesn't smudge all over the
paper when I am transferring the image. I use the colored pencils for
tracing so I know what part of the image I have already traced. For
example, in this drawing I have the main goose in the foreground and
two other geese in the background, one swimming, one flying. I can
trace my drawing, then transfer it to a new composition, moving the
flying goose higher or lower to create a stronger composition.
Often,
when I am working on the drawing, I lose awareness of time and my
surroundings. When that happens, it is only when I step away from my
desk to stretch or refresh my tea that I notice fully what I have been
working on. I may decide to do some refinement at this point, or
perhaps follow up with some further research. Occasionally symbols or
images appear in the drawing that correlate with a deeper meaning from
what I had originally intended. This happened recently with my drawing
for the painting Boann: Transformation of a Goddess.
After several hours working in the drawing, I stepped away and noticed
that I had drawn a fish. I did some further research and found out
about the powerful connection between Boann and the salmon. The
information was very likely in my mind from previous research, but it
was stored somewhere in my subconscious memory, because I wasn't aware
of it. The trance-effect of the drawing process tends to bring the
subconscious material out onto the paper.
The other valuable
tools I use are erasers. I use the white nylon eraser for getting rid
of large areas completely. The kneaded eraser (that knobby grey item)
is used to lighten areas without erasing the pencil completely. The
electric eraser (the thick pen-like object) is one of the most
fantastic inventions! I use this as another drawing tool, erasing areas
to shape and give form and depth to the drawing. The power of the
eraser lets me erase fine areas all the way to the white of the paper.
Sometimes drawing is more about subtracting pencil marks, more than
making marks!
The tissues are for smudging the pencil on the
paper to create more gray tones I also use the tissues for applying the
alcohol to the tissue paper.
You can see some field guides and
some photos for some quick references, in this case, to make sure I get
such things as the number of leaves on a blackberry branch or the
pattern of the goose feathers correct. Even though I am working with
myth and folklore, I like to have some aspects rooted in reality. I
would prefer to have most of my information come from direct
observation, but unfortunately, until I can become a full-time artist,
I often have to rely on other sources like these.
And lastly,
my faithful cup of tea! By this time, I am beginning to move away from
the black teas, into black tea blends and oolongs. Soon, I will be
breaking out the greens and whites.
During this step, I might
take breaks and, weather permitting, go for walks in the park. I
usually bring my camera and take pictures of things that inspire me, or
catch my eye. If I have time, I might bring my sketchbook and do some
quick observational drawings. Usually, however, the walk is more about
stepping back from the drawing process. I might need to clear my mind
or settle my energy. This part of the process tends to raise my energy
and I find that once I get up from my chair, I feel a bit antsy and
hypersensitive. Walking outside helps to ground me once more.
Once I get a feeling that the drawing is ready, it is time to move on to the next step: The Cultivation Stage.
DoAn
|
|
|
MEMBERS COMMENTS
|
|
|
|
|
|
