‘Surrendering to creative discipline is neither simple nor straightforward. Understandings created by expressive exploration can be dynamically unsettling’ Bolton (2005: 49)
Within session 3 the focus was on the Artists’ studio, the surrounding environment and we were encouraged to respond to our environment using a variety of media and methods. Quick exploratory directional line which moved from one object to the other, leading the viewer into the scene was the focus but was not easily achievable. Blind drawing, movement, fast working, mark making all employed in an attempt to capture the scene and the sense of space and place. Ink and silk emulsion were used to create light and dark studies, left to dry then worked back into. Graphite on a long stick is hard to control, the hardness of the medium scrapping across the page. Rubbing into this study with an eraser created a softer line and tone. allowing one to draw with the rubber, marks very visible and important. Then covering the paper with a layer of charcoal, working back with an eraser, then building up again, creating layering and interesting overlapping objects. We all agreed during the critique at the end of the session that this had been a real challenge, pushing the materials and ourselves; exhilarating and tiring at the same time. Although encouraged to respond to our surroundings with no real worry about what the drawings looked like it is difficult to loose inhibitions and give way to the materials and task without expecting even the tiniest bit of representation and recognition of objects or subject matter, quite unsettling!
Lyotard (1992: 119) within Bolton (2005:46) on writing as a reflective practitioner states, ‘We write before knowing what to say and how to say it, and in order to find out, if possible’. Likewise ‘we draw before knowing what to draw or how to draw it and in order to find out, if possible’. These exploratory drawings most definitely were an attempt to find out and answer the question, ‘if possible?’ I look forward to this week’s homework task, although with some trepidation.
Bolton, G. (2005) ‘Reflective Practice. Writing and Professional Development’. Sage
