I received a very nice letter today. It’s about line, and how one League artist improved her quality of line – not by thinking about improving the quality of her line directly – but by checking in on her level of engagement with the drawing. It’s a nice letter. Enjoy. [image_with_animation image_url=”8072″ alignment=”center” animation=”None” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%[divider line_type=”Small Line” line_thickness=”1″ divider_color=”default” custom_height=”30
Dear Ruthie,
While not a newly invented art term, you gave us a perfect definition of “line” last summer. It’s far more evocative of line in art than the more common Respectable Definitions like, “an identifiable path created by a point moving in space,” or “lines are marks that span a distance between two points.” I think it was genius, and because it has helped me.
“Line is a record of your engagement.”
It was so lovely that I wrote it down, (or did I record my engagement with it with short lines that formed words?) and it has helped me in figure drawing the past couple of weeks. I see a noticeable difference in the quality of my line in relation to my level of engagement, and it can change in an instant. When my mind flits to something that isn’t the subject, my lines reflect it. I think it’s helping me be less judgmental and a bit more objective about my work. I can look at some drawings or parts of drawings and see, or even remember, where I felt most or least engaged. It is easier for me to work on my engagement with the subject than it is for me to think about how to make a lovely line.
In college I had a figure drawing teacher that constantly bugged me to improve my line quality, but I was at a loss for how to work on it, and became less and less engaged with the class. If only I had had your off-the-cuff definition in my pocket…
This is day 7 of our 30 day creative challenge! To learn more about this 30SAL challenge, click here. Today, design a chair for a specific person or personality. Share your drawing on Instagram with these tags: #30sal, #chair Or post to today’s Padlet page. Check out these chairs from other artists:
A lot of V. Note ideas wither because they are just one little thought or artwork, and I don’t have it in me to flush them out into a complete chapter. I’ve been thinking I should post more of these single notes. Here’s one: an automatic writing by Bruno Leyval. Automatic Writing/Drawing: writing or drawing produced without …
I chose the clip above for Kerry James Marshall’s thoughts about how identifying as a Black artist is not a real choice, because only white artists are not burdened by the problems of race. Then the paintings of Black artists in the ‘Being an Artist” video (above) led me to seek out more of Marshall’s …
Last Saturday was our Draw like Diebenkorn class. Since Diebenkorn himself was unable to join us (technical issues with zoom), I stepped in to facilitate with slide shows and observations about how Diebenkorn uses form and line to lead us around the composition. I set up still lives that were Diebenkorn inspired, and we had …
A Drawing is a Record of Your Engagement
[image_with_animation image_url=”8071″ alignment=”center” animation=”None” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”]
Drawings by Ruthie V.
I received a very nice letter today. It’s about line, and how one League artist improved her quality of line – not by thinking about improving the quality of her line directly – but by checking in on her level of engagement with the drawing. It’s a nice letter. Enjoy. [image_with_animation image_url=”8072″ alignment=”center” animation=”None” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%[divider line_type=”Small Line” line_thickness=”1″ divider_color=”default” custom_height=”30
Dear Ruthie,
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Day 7: Design a Chair #30SAL
This is day 7 of our 30 day creative challenge! To learn more about this 30SAL challenge, click here. Today, design a chair for a specific person or personality. Share your drawing on Instagram with these tags: #30sal, #chair Or post to today’s Padlet page. Check out these chairs from other artists:
Automatic writing by Bruno Leyval
A lot of V. Note ideas wither because they are just one little thought or artwork, and I don’t have it in me to flush them out into a complete chapter. I’ve been thinking I should post more of these single notes. Here’s one: an automatic writing by Bruno Leyval. Automatic Writing/Drawing: writing or drawing produced without …
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I chose the clip above for Kerry James Marshall’s thoughts about how identifying as a Black artist is not a real choice, because only white artists are not burdened by the problems of race. Then the paintings of Black artists in the ‘Being an Artist” video (above) led me to seek out more of Marshall’s …
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Last Saturday was our Draw like Diebenkorn class. Since Diebenkorn himself was unable to join us (technical issues with zoom), I stepped in to facilitate with slide shows and observations about how Diebenkorn uses form and line to lead us around the composition. I set up still lives that were Diebenkorn inspired, and we had …