DRNers will know that I am not an artist but I am interested in how people work. Looking at Patty's final para and in connection with the micro focus of her earlier paragraphs, I was strongly reminded of the book on speed writing: http://www.amazon.com/No-Plot-Problem-Low-Stress-High-Velocity/dp/0811845052/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1316170192&sr=1-2 by the guy who started the Write a Novel in a Month phenomenon. His idea is you set an absurd deadline and force yourself to write a huge set number of words and this is acheived by writing pretty nearly anything at all in order to complete the target. The pressure to reach the target number of words in the period removes the selfcritical introspection that stops many people writing at all.
Now I am not a novelist either but it seems to me that this method might have a sort of crossover from novel writing into the drawing arena by forcing people to stop thinking too much! E.g. your target is to draw or copy any 100 (or however many) eyes in an hour (or however long).
Regards
Dr Nina Baker
Research Support
Room AR332/F25 [1st floor]
Department of Architecture
131 Rottenrow
University of Strathclyde
Glasgow G4 0NG
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Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.
Thomas Edison, inventor (1847 - 1931)
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http://personal.strath.ac.uk/nina.baker/
http://www.constructionhistory.co.uk
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From: The UK drawing research network mailing list [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Patty Hudak [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 16 September 2011 03:24
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Divergent drawing exercises
This is a great exchange!
I started teaching a new course yesterday called Figure Drawing: Part by Part. We are narrow focusing and obsessing, then broadening to wider areas of drawing. I am taking a dialectic approach, so from very academic to contemporary methods to copying figures from other traditions.
Yesterday we focused on the eyes.
First we copied 3 from Bargue drawings.
Then, we set up 2 rows of chairs facing each other, did blind contour drawings staring into each others eyes. After 3 minutes, everyone rotated one chair to the left. Then drew again. We repeated this until they had drawn a wide number of others eyes and started to come away with observations.
Next we rotated one row of chairs to be perpendicular, took turns drawing partners in profile. Then mixed partners and drew again.
After this, everyone drew their own eyes in a mirror.
Finally, we copied with ink and brush from a Chinese ink painting copy book of eyes, and looked at the work of Lea Bontecuo, which inspired some to draw interpretations from their earlier drawings.
The other thing I am encouraging is a daily sketchbook. So, they start by gluing in on the left hand side pages of the sketch book some quick thing to copy, or they write something in. None of these should be too ambitious to start, just something they can easily complete on a daily basis, and something that they won't avoid doing. If they want to take more time, they can repeat it. They do this on 7 pages at the beginning of the week. Emphasize that they don't need to go in order, and that they can return to them if they like. The idea is to establish a "habit" of drawing, which is where they will find their own voice.
Please comment!
Patty
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