Day 8. This one is from a photo on Sktchy - I do like the painted faces some people post. The Halloweeny ones and many of the Day of the Dead ones aren't so interesting, but the really unusual ones are fun to draw.
Day 9, 10 and 11. The figure on the right was from Sktchy too. I recorded the date wrong, but it was done over three days. I started with the face and three trees and had no idea where it would go.
Day 12. I have been splashing ink on pairs of pages to get a surface to start on. This particular page seemed to have a long nose and eyes, I didn't like the idea of it much so didn't do the drawing. But every time I looked at that page I couldn't see a different image. So I finally decided to give in and do the drawing. The body is from a beautiful photo of a young gorilla.
The pressure to draw every day took the fun out of #Inktober for me at first. Before Inktober I was drawing almost every day, so it seemed like an easy challenge. But thinking of posting, having people see the drawings and feeling like it's an assignment was not sitting well with me. I also found it hard to get the photos taken, uploaded, edited, etc. Once I articulated the problem I decided I don't have to draw every day, don't have to show my drawings to anyone, can upload when convenient and can drop out at any point. And presto! I started enjoying the drawing again and managed to do something most days. I'm not sure about this coming week, but hope to catch up and "get with the program." (As my Mom used to say.) My larger goal here is to explore unconscious imagery. I have been doing this some on my ipad with Procreate and wanted to do it on paper. #Inktober2017
2 comments:
I like the consciousness beneath the trees, days 9,10,11 but find it hard to articulate what it is that I like about it. It stirs something, and I am mostly drawn emotionally to it.
The general idea of spashing out ink and seeing where it goes is appealing. I liked your inky drawing before - maybe I should try something like that some time!
And I can totally understand how something that is supposed to be playful turns into a chore. Aren't we battling this on all kinds of levels all the time? For me this happens with a lot of my project: they start with a joyful and playful exploration and once I formulate it as a project, with a goal and it needs to get finished, I start to feel a sort of inner resistance.
Hilke, thank you so much for this comment. I would have replied sooner, but had dental surgery earlier this week. It's not too bad, but I wasn't feeling great for a few days. Anyway, it is wonderful to hear your reaction to the face with the trees. I have no idea what is happening there, but I do like it too.
I do find that the middle part of a project is not much fun. I wonder why? Certainly the beginning, where I have an appealing idea is the part I like best. I certainly do admire your perseverance with the Journey While Staying as Still as Possible. It's very evocative and took so long.
When I finish a time consuming project I want to make something quick, but often my projects seem to explode in concept and become another monster. (-: The drawings do happen quickly, but to make them into a book (my final goal) will probably be a effort. If you want more detail on putting the ink on paper, email me. It involves spritzing on water, dropping ink, tipping the paper.
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