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.
Day 21 of our 30 day creative challenge in January was a transcription of Titian’s Bacchus and Ariadne. The transcription didn’t have to be a copy, but I was looking for artists who were seeing the underlying story, structure, movement, and composition – as well as artists who took the inspiration into their own new …
[image_with_animation image_url=”9047″ alignment=”center” animation=”None” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”] John Singer Sargent’s portrait of Eleanora Duse When looking at John Singer Sargent’s “effortless” portraits, I often wonder how long he actually spent on each. He wanted the painting to look fresh, with an economy of brush strokes, so a painting that looks like it was done in one …
We’re doing a fun series of sketches in “Abstracting the Image” on Thursdays. Each week we’re taking a masterwork and exploring it with approaches inspired by contemporary abstract painters. The purpose of this exercise is to be able to lean on, and learn from the composition of the masterwork, while exploring a variety of ways …
[image_with_animation image_url=”9597″ alignment=”” animation=”None” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”] For this unfinished painting, the artist did not die. The sitter did. [image_with_animation image_url=”9598″ alignment=”” animation=”None” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”] In 1945, Elizabeth Shoumatoff was commissioned to paint a portrait of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. At noon on April 12, Shaumatoff began her work. That afternoon Roosevelt said, “I have a terrific …
SAL Challenge Day 14: Memory of an Ordinary Object
[image_with_animation image_url=”7673″ alignment=”center” animation=”None” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”]
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:
Related Posts
30SAL Faves: Bacchus and Ariadne
Day 21 of our 30 day creative challenge in January was a transcription of Titian’s Bacchus and Ariadne. The transcription didn’t have to be a copy, but I was looking for artists who were seeing the underlying story, structure, movement, and composition – as well as artists who took the inspiration into their own new …
JS Sargent: 1 Hour Portrait
[image_with_animation image_url=”9047″ alignment=”center” animation=”None” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”] John Singer Sargent’s portrait of Eleanora Duse When looking at John Singer Sargent’s “effortless” portraits, I often wonder how long he actually spent on each. He wanted the painting to look fresh, with an economy of brush strokes, so a painting that looks like it was done in one …
Pontormo, in the style of ___
We’re doing a fun series of sketches in “Abstracting the Image” on Thursdays. Each week we’re taking a masterwork and exploring it with approaches inspired by contemporary abstract painters. The purpose of this exercise is to be able to lean on, and learn from the composition of the masterwork, while exploring a variety of ways …
Reason not to finish a painting: Death of the sitter
[image_with_animation image_url=”9597″ alignment=”” animation=”None” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”] For this unfinished painting, the artist did not die. The sitter did. [image_with_animation image_url=”9598″ alignment=”” animation=”None” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”] In 1945, Elizabeth Shoumatoff was commissioned to paint a portrait of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. At noon on April 12, Shaumatoff began her work. That afternoon Roosevelt said, “I have a terrific …