21 Aug 2009

Course work: Continued work on Assignment 1, Section 1, pages 3-4 “Making Marks.” Two more sheets of 18 x 24” newsprint were filled with large, sweeping doodles made with biro and a carbon stick. Twelve 5 x 5 cm squares in sketchbook were filled with smaller doodles done in media ranging from fine dip pen to carpenter’s pencil. Twelve 5 x 5 cm squares in sketchbook were filled with marks made my various drawing materials.

Observations: Large formats require a large, bold marking device, and small ones are best served by a small sharp marking tool. Large, sweeping curvilinear doodles done primarily from the shoulder seem to happen almost independently, with little input from the brain.

Reading:
The Story of Art, E.H. Gombrich
Phaidon press Limited, Oxford 1978
Preface and Introduction (pp 1-18)

The Complete Drawing Course, Ian Simpson
Running Press, Philadelphia, PA 1993
Introduction, Basic Drawing Materials, Lesson One (pp 6-21)
(The latter reading was a discussion of common drawing materials and their uses, with a lesson on mark-making.)

Personal sketchbook work: a small pencil sketch of one of our cats sleeping on the porch, done in my pocket sketchbook.

Total time: apx. 2 ½ hours