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.
In January, artists all over the globe sketched, inked, smeared, melted, and scribbled their way through our 30 Day Creative Challenge. The wide variety of creative challenges included vocabulary, observation, comics, design ,composition, imagination, and experimental creative prompts. Media was artist’s choice. Challenges were posted to our website and sent to inboxes around the globe …
Giacometti and the Figure in Motion An exciting show of artworks from the Intensive figure drawing workshop with NY artist Catherine Lepp are on display at the Seattle Artist League Gallery (SALGAL) this Saturday from 6-9pm Artists: Adena Marie AtkinsAntonia BlumeCynthia HartwigDorothy GleserKatie Joe Keppinger Join us this Saturday for an exciting exhibition opening, showcasing …
On day 15, halfway through our 30 day challenge, I introduced inverse perspective, in which objects grow larger as they’re farther away. Beautiful examples of inverse perspective can be found in Chinese, Japanese, and Indian artworks, as well as Byzantine. Here are a few by adventurous artists who responded to the challenge:
I’ve been talking about the the idea that shapes in a composition can be activated to hold each other in place. In this way, there is no background and no object, there is only the interaction of shapes on the surface of the canvas. Everything in the picture holds everything else in place. Intervals I’d …
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 Awards
In January, artists all over the globe sketched, inked, smeared, melted, and scribbled their way through our 30 Day Creative Challenge. The wide variety of creative challenges included vocabulary, observation, comics, design ,composition, imagination, and experimental creative prompts. Media was artist’s choice. Challenges were posted to our website and sent to inboxes around the globe …
SALGAL SHOW: Giacometti and the Figure in Motion
Giacometti and the Figure in Motion An exciting show of artworks from the Intensive figure drawing workshop with NY artist Catherine Lepp are on display at the Seattle Artist League Gallery (SALGAL) this Saturday from 6-9pm Artists: Adena Marie AtkinsAntonia BlumeCynthia HartwigDorothy GleserKatie Joe Keppinger Join us this Saturday for an exciting exhibition opening, showcasing …
30SAL Faves: Inverse Perspective
On day 15, halfway through our 30 day challenge, I introduced inverse perspective, in which objects grow larger as they’re farther away. Beautiful examples of inverse perspective can be found in Chinese, Japanese, and Indian artworks, as well as Byzantine. Here are a few by adventurous artists who responded to the challenge:
Sargy Mann: finding your way blind from point to point
I’ve been talking about the the idea that shapes in a composition can be activated to hold each other in place. In this way, there is no background and no object, there is only the interaction of shapes on the surface of the canvas. Everything in the picture holds everything else in place. Intervals I’d …