Mia Dix, Memory of an Object “The loss of a tangible object, that was dropped and broken.
It was a glass bird. This ink painting is what I remember of it.”
—–
For today’s challenge, you will need a timer, drawing/painting tools, and 2 pieces of paper.
Choose a simple object that you see every day, something that brings you some happiness. Without looking at the object, sit and spend a minute or so trying to draw it from memory. What are your associations around the object? How does it feel? What do you remember about it, and from what angles? Sketch as much as you can. Notice all the things you can’t recall, but draw what you can anyway. It doesn’t have to be realistic. When you are ready to move on, this first drawing is done. Leave your paper, and turn your attention to the object or scene. Set your timer for one minute. Look at the object. DO NOT DRAW. What are the proportions? What are the angles? What is the weight, the rhythm or patterning? Squint down to see the basic shapes in value. See the large mass before you focus in on the details so you can take in the whole object. What are all the elements you could not recall when you first sat down to draw? Focus on the object for one minute. After your minute, then get out of your chair and pretend you are the object. Try to mimic it’s shape with your body. Ask yourself again: Where is the balance? Where is the weight? What are the angles? Imitate it as best as you can, and hold that for 30 seconds. Now it’s time to draw. WITHOUT LOOKING AT THE OBJECT AGAIN, draw it! Draw as much as you can.
Add both drawings to this post on our Facebook page. (#salchallenge)
The January Creative Challenge: 15 minutes, once a day, for 30 days.
The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak. – Hans Hoffman I wrote a V-Note September 19, 2016 about simplification and massing. You can read it here. Today’s V-Note: Marc Bohne One of the (many) reasons I struggle to paint outside is that I get so danged overwhelmed by everything. There’s …
Pictured above might be one of my favorite watercolor landscapes in the world. I was surprised to discover it was painted by a local artist, and then later, I was thrilled he was willing to meet me to chat about ideas for the new school. The award winning watercolorist William G Hook is now an instructor …
I hosted our first online session yesterday! Part of the class was in the studio with me, watching the slide lecture on a big projector screen, part of the class was online, watching my computer screen-share from home. It worked great! The class was active, we had an age range of 32-78, and people worked …
Finally! I’m posting the 30SAL Finalists for January 2022! Over 4,000 30SAL Artworks posted to Padlet and Instagram In January, artists all over the globe sketched, inked, sculpted, collaged, and animated their way through our 30 Day Creative Challenge. Challenges exercised a wide array of artistic skills, including observation, composition, sequence, see & respond, vocabulary, …
SAL Challenge Day 14: Memory of an Ordinary Object
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Mia Dix, Memory of an Object
“The loss of a tangible object, that was dropped and broken.
It was a glass bird. This ink painting is what I remember of it.”
—–
For today’s challenge, you will need a timer, drawing/painting tools, and 2 pieces of paper.
Choose a simple object that you see every day, something that brings you some happiness. Without looking at the object, sit and spend a minute or so trying to draw it from memory. What are your associations around the object? How does it feel? What do you remember about it, and from what angles? Sketch as much as you can. Notice all the things you can’t recall, but draw what you can anyway. It doesn’t have to be realistic. When you are ready to move on, this first drawing is done. Leave your paper, and turn your attention to the object or scene. Set your timer for one minute. Look at the object. DO NOT DRAW. What are the proportions? What are the angles? What is the weight, the rhythm or patterning? Squint down to see the basic shapes in value. See the large mass before you focus in on the details so you can take in the whole object. What are all the elements you could not recall when you first sat down to draw? Focus on the object for one minute. After your minute, then get out of your chair and pretend you are the object. Try to mimic it’s shape with your body. Ask yourself again: Where is the balance? Where is the weight? What are the angles? Imitate it as best as you can, and hold that for 30 seconds. Now it’s time to draw. WITHOUT LOOKING AT THE OBJECT AGAIN, draw it! Draw as much as you can.
Add both drawings to this post on our Facebook page. (#salchallenge)
The January Creative Challenge: 15 minutes, once a day, for 30 days.
Below:
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