Happy New Year!
My 2013 New Year’s
resolution was as follows, ‘One diary, one drawing, every day for one year.’
Hooray! The
following is a list of the stuff I’ve drawn:
snowman, beer
glass, newt, chameleon, bumble bee, frog on nut, Dali clock, dragonfly, portrait
of weird looking man, ear, stork scissors, zombie, netsuke, seated Buddha from
Gandhara, clay skull, coal tit, telegraph pole, netsuke nut, biro pen,
dormouse, ladder, predator, dark bush cricket,
row boat, bowling pin, Mona Lisa on toast, paraffin lantern, wood
pigeon, cross-section of chest, typewriter, seahorse, sheep, steak, old
telephone, sailing boat hotel Dubai, lobster, ball of string, tawny owl, amber
spyglass, platypus, trumpet, pig, converse trainer, silver articulated fish,
Inca gold lama, flying bird, walrus, grenade, cross-section of pepper, crab,
egg in frying pan, light bulb, Don McCullin’s Nikon camera, tree frog, sundae,
strawberry, pumpkin, gas mask, petrol can, lion, guitar, chicken, film camera,
hippo, Native American mask, raven, bucket, moose, peas, key, telephone, Maya
Mare God statue, raspberry, revolver, prawn, peg, flame, radiator, pinwheel,
hat, lettuce, accordion, fan, Sangrada Familia, Joan Miro sculpture 1, Joan
Miro sculpture 2, Cat statue, La Pedera 1, La Pedera 2, anchor, pipe, dart,
electric fan, tortoise, high heel shoe, poplar leaf beetle, kestrel, ray gun,
vacuum cleaner, ear of wheat, shark, wood plane, hypodermic needle, seagull,
unicycle, Roy Lichtenstein Desk Calendar, copper kettle, telephone box, red
lipstick, snorkelling gear, pneumatic drill, fish, hour glass, knight chess
piece, penny farthing, oil can, natterjack toad, roller skate, chainsaw, ice
skate, fire hydrant, zeppelin, spray paint, Van Gogh Skeleton, jelly, tin
robot, arrow, cuckoo catfish, iron, budgie, pickaxe, flintlock pistol, rubber
duck, JCB, spinning top, lighthouse, puffin, scarecrow, lighthouse lamp,
gargoyle, wooden bird, fire extinguisher, padlock, gramophone, fox skull,
mushroom, flamingo, hydraulic clamp, sarcophagus, saw, hand whisk, acorn,
Georges Melies’ moon, cassette tape,
kangaroo, diamond, T-Rex, squirrel, black spotted woodpecker, wren, penguin,
closed umbrella, wooden chair, folded shirt, Somerfest beast, formula one car,
pheasant, electric iron, rhino, hairdryer, fox, bowler hat, pelican, blue
whale, leak, ostrich, scorpion, watering can, badger, roadrunner, suitcase,
blender, meerkat, Dettol, old-fashioned can opener, Friesian cow, hamburger,
palm tree, window/shutters, rose, circus tent, giraffe, sunglasses,
merry-go-round horse, parrot, rabbit in top hat, killer whale, catcher’s mitt,
camel, bicycle, jelly baby, bat, baseball bat, vulture, ocean liner, space
shuttle, hot air balloon, crocodile, stag beetle, Texan boot, polar bear,
sailing boat, cat, armchair, seal, axe, sausage dog, hot dog, tennis racquet,
rat, bottle of poison, wolf, baboon, duck, fountain pen, sword, false teeth,
toucan, snail, scales, captain’s ship wheel, double Decker bus, oil lamp, Big
Ben, sleigh, panda, quill and ink, catapult, Japanese cuttlefish hoe, mini,
ladybird, push lawnmower, tap, desk lamp, electric drill, steam train, toilet,
medieval helmet, squid, kingfisher, elephant, hare, swordfish, mammoth,
piranha, raccoon, biplane, Easter Island head, astronaut, Henry Moore’s
‘Reclining Figure’, ant, paint pot and brushes, chimpanzee, binoculars, apple
tree, beaver, peanut, wheelbarrow, kite, jade bear, apple core, shopping
trolley, crane, anteater, microscope, stegosaurus, box camera, sushi, open
umbrella, bison, corn, kiwi bird, prickly pear cactus, cactus, talon, poppy
seed head, stingray, antelope, pomegranate, secretary bird, plug, Terry Adkins
‘Omohundro’, violin, armadillo, dice, skunk, butternut squash, staircase, hand
of bananas, bears, broom, rooster, spinning wheel, wash bucket, snowy, wooden
musical frog, candelabra, car tyre, bagpipes, tiger, egg and egg cup, plastic
soldier, scissors, deer, tank, cockroach, strange tool, Saint Bernard, peacock,
swan, Venetian mask, pinecone, gondola,
French horn, Scala Del Bovolo, sea shell, alarm clock, radio, electric guitar,
poodle, praying mantis, bra, vine of tomatoes, blue jay, traffic cone, sperm
whale, watermelon, picnic table, propeller, stag, chipmunk, tape measure,
goggles, horseshoe crab, goat, life raft, old boot, jellyfish, singer sewing
machine, dove, potato, barn owl, cheese grater, ballet shoes, dustbin,
reindeer, partridge, Scottish terrier, drum, ammonite fossil, golf ball, king
chess piece, wooden mouse
Apologies, at the risk of
coming across a bit smug, I have to honestly say at the start of January 2013 I
didn’t think I was going to realistically find the time or willpower to draw
everyday for a whole year, and what started off as a ‘task for the
sake of task’ became something I look forwarded to if not a bit of an obsession. Minus a few exceptions (due to illness and holidays
for example, I was too scared to take it to Venice; there’s water everywhere
for crying out loud!) I sometimes had to catch up with doing two or three
drawings in one day to compensate, however most of the time I would dedicate around
thirty minutes/an hour to draw and found it became an almost
meditative discipline of stopping, sitting down, most of the time at my bed
(it’s also a desk), attempting to put to one-side the
thoughts/frustrations/delights of the day (ha ha, most of the time
frustrations!), intensely looking at something to draw and all the challenges
and difficulties it sometimes created. There were times when it wasn’t possible
to concentrate, I wasn’t in the mood, I was tired (finding the time some days
was a challenge in itself meaning I’d often be drawing late at night or early
morning) or the thing I was attempting to draw was perhaps too difficult often
sparking questions of, ‘Why am I doing this to myself?’ ‘What sort of person comes
home after a stressful day at work to cook dinner, wash and draw a picnic
table?!’ In a year that has been depressingly lack-lustre in the way of my own
art experiences, this tiny little Moleskin was the only thing that kept me
focused, hopeful and somehow retaining my ‘involvement’ in art even if I wasn’t
‘exhibiting’ or showing it anywhere. Of course I’d seen loads, heaps of art in
2013 but still yearn to create things myself. Admittedly there was some slight
motivation from the thought of being able to ‘share’ some of this experience
with people here on the blog (more on that at the end). I had never previously
questioned how astonishingly important ‘art’ is in my life until I tried to
live with its absence in the latter of 2012. I think I find it truly impossible
to exist without having something creative on-the-go or at the forefront of my
thoughts in the way of a blog, a drawing, a project.
I’d recommend it as a form of self-help or therapy! Ha
ha, although appreciate I may not be entirely the most convincing person there!
Aside from my own personal thoughts on how incredibly joyous it has been as a
whole experience there’s also plenty to learn from it too, both personally and
technically. Such as, how I draw, what I draw and how/or not my
drawing has evolved over the course of the year.
Although... you
know... all of that would only be relevant and worth reflecting on if, I don’t
know... if say, that I enjoyed the last year so much and found it so useful
that I was going to repeat the project for 2014 but with a bigger sketch book,
different materials and more weird and wonderfulness than ever before...
Challenge
accepted!
Woo-hoo! So what
are the changes for 2014 as part of the ‘sketch a day’ challenge?
1) Bigger sketchbook
What did you get
for Christmas? I received bigger sketchbooks (amongst other things)! I think it
was hint to work bigger... I’m also going to do one sketch per page instead of
double-siding my drawings as done previously.
2) New Drawing Materials
The very same
sketchbook instigators also gave me inks, pens and brushes! No more excuses to
work only in monochrome, it’s not going to be easy! Time to start experimenting
using a bit more colour methinks and being a lot looser in my painting/drawing
style. This will be a personal challenge but one worth doing as I kept my
drawing style in 2013 incredibly tight as there wasn’t a lot of space per page
for anything too expressive.
3) Altered mind-set on ‘what to draw’ and
review on ‘how to draw it’
This will probably
be the most difficult of all the new changes. Much debate and many questions
were raised from the things I decided to draw in 2013, to which my rationale
and answer is still the same in that, I would choose to draw things which I
‘felt’ like drawing or had never drawn before and felt somewhat, perhaps
inexplicably compelled to capturing on paper because of the shape, form,
texture of ‘said thing’ I was drawing. There’s a whole world of infinitely
wonderful things out there to draw and at last I was liberated to draw whatever
I chose without having to justify or explain myself. I think I was searching
for what visually or aesthetically appeals to me personally. Sometimes one
drawing would lead to an associative link to another thing to draw, i.e. pen
drawing followed by sword drawing. Other times it may appear completely random
and I am all-too-aware of what it all could unconsciously signify and have best
avoided interpretation at the peril of my sanity. I’m pretty adamant that the things I
enjoy drawing the most are things with a very distinct form, things with a very
clear or solid line/edge to them such as inanimate man-made objects, buildings
and occasionally, natural forms that are very structural such as pinecones.
Softer, less defined more ephemeral things such as egg yolks, transparent
fabric, delicate, fury or hairy things remain something of a bother to draw, in
the sense I don’t particularly enjoy it and they often don’t look ‘as well
drawn’ in my opinion. Intent, here is important, as one could say, what am I
trying to achieve in my drawing? Am I trying for realism? Self expression? What
exactly is it I am trying to do and if it isn’t realism then does it matter if
the egg doesn’t ‘look’ like an egg? There are some examples within my drawings
of animals such as birds and rodents (which fit into the feathered, soft and
hairy category of not being enjoyable to draw) which have turned out to be
quite well observed and sensitive. Does this mean they are good drawings? And,
is this more important than drawing to fulfil or communicate my own personal
need to draw for the sake of self expression. Ahhhhh!
I offer, what is
hopefully an elegant solution. This year, I aim to draw more freely, more
sketchily and loosely so that my drawings become more expressive and are
therefore more representative of how I feel in response to what I am drawing
than a mere illustration of it. When possible I aim to draw more from ‘life’ or
from my imagination (woah, could be disturbing!) taking inspiration from
events, places, things and or books. Whilst in Venice I saw the sketchbook
drawings of artist, Jose Antonio Suarez Londono who drew a page-a-day based on
the written diary of Franz Kafka. The resulting drawings were imaginative,
elegant, in some cases surreal but above-all incredibly poignant and with a
meaning and relevance that my drawings were some-what lacking. I’m hoping that
by referring to text, quotes from the surplus of books I read I can use them as
a source of inspiration for creating drawings/images. Occasionally I may
retreat back to familiar, comforting ways of working but even in that familiarity
I believe there is still room for me to improve.
Anyway, I appreciate this may all be
beginning to become incredibly self-reflective and boring for any of you
reading this so I’ll end it there. I
needed to have this conversation with the internal monologue inside my head so
as to reflect and prepare myself for the exciting new challenge I’ve set myself
for 2014. Thanks for following its progress with me.
You will be able to pass your own critique,
take delight or perhaps be thoroughly disturbed by my drawings as I will be
creating a sort-of PowerPoint animation of them all to post here on the blog in
the imminent future.
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