Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Free-Sketch

The only thing I was thinking when I was drawing was how to manipulate the original idea of the painting I saw into a new version, different from the last one I just did. I didn't think about what I would be drawing next, or even what my next move would be. Color was the only variable.
Visibly, however, the direction of my sketches was entirely circular. There was no exciting metamorphosis between points "A" and "B". Instead, I was just focused on experimentation. My convention (learned?) was to abandon representational drawing. I just wanted to get the color down onto the paper in a different way than the last sketch. I had never drawn like that before, it appeared to be completely automatic.
I had to limit myself to no more than a few colors at a time, otherwise all the drawings would have turned out the same. Variables only existed in the arrangement of colors and shapes of colors. You could say the compositions were "abstract". To me it felt like gesture drawings, or warm-up exercises. I drew with the same energy I have when doing figure studies.
I didn't have much of a problem with the time constraint. I could have kept drawing, and often a minute felt like insufficient time for the sketch.
Even though they weren't realistic, and I didn't show any development from figurative to abstraction, I still think the sketches show an important progression. Even just the changes in color were enough of an evolution for me. Composition is not only dependent on figure/ground relationships, but color lends weight to the lines and shapes. Experimenting with those weights and placements is enough for me to work with.

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