In our recent HANDSHAKE8 class we took the object we each constructed for homework and learnt how to propel the ideas in the piece forward. We drew our object several times each with a different brief in mind. There was one catch, our eyes had to be closed. This process allowed us to draw out (pun definitely intended) different aspects of the object when pen hit paper.
I found exercises such as drawing with eye closed very freeing. The idea that we had a certain drawing prompt that was lens that we looked at our object through. It was tricky, but the fact that we had our eyes closed we had to let got if the idea of control. The drawings would not look exactly like the object. It was instead created a gestural drawings. The object had not changed but the way we saw it did.
A reminder of the object.
Next we moved from two to three dimensions (four if we counted being timed…). We used the drawings we created to inspire a cardboard model. The model was not meant to look like the object we created for homework. We had moved few steps further into abstraction of original object.
The cardboard model.
The invaluable feedback about the cardboard model was that it was very controlled. The object lost some of the lightness and the looseness that was present in the original sketch that I used to inspire the model. The facets were solid and the gesture of the drawing did not come through as well as it could have. I look forward to exploring how too bring some of these qualities into my work in future.