In a quiet moment, take time to recall some memory that you find interesting or enjoyable. Perhaps this was a story told by your family, or some moment that formed an idea of yourself or someone around you. Maybe a photograph, smell or object will help bring back your recollection. As you sit, pull out the details and events from the narrative before and after that moment. Jot down everything you can remember. How old are you? Where are you? Who is there? What is around you? What is happening in the story?
For this memory, you can draw from any viewpoint, with elements out of realistic proportion. Perhaps forms are simplified and important elements are larger. Most people don’t remember every piece of a scene, so allow some elements to float without context, or layer pieces that shift and overlap in your mind. You have the option to draw what was before and after your moment, to tell the story. Once you have drawn elements of the narrative or scene, let the drawing be unfinished. There is no need to fill in pieces that you don’t remember.
“One of those family photos that always prompts a narrative, you are the subject of it but have no recollection of the events that everyone else recalls. In this case it was my first birthday and always accompanied by the story of how I ate the fruit from the cake while the adults were not looking. What i find curious about memory drawings is how childlike they are. The child in this drawing is not a one year old as in the narrative but seems to be more at the age I would have understood the story. Drawn purely from imagination no visual reference to the actual photo though i had seen it in the past. The lady with the huge hands is my grandmother, she had as I remember, huge hard-working hands with long nails as thick as hooves.” – Laura Hudson
If you have time, watch the first 12 minutes of this Art 21 video featuring Susan Rothenberg in “Memory.” Watch how she paints!
This is day 3 of the 30SAL creative challenge! To learn more about this 30 day challenge, click here. Today, study and sketch the geometry of this tondo (circular) composition by Masaccio. Don’t worry about illustrating the figures and details, just focus on the relationships of the big shapes. Media is artist’s choice. Can be …
Sculptors think in terms of mass, volume, weight and texture. Those elements are present even in their 2D work. Henry Moore (1898 – 1986) is known mainly for his sculptures, but he also made a few voluminous sketches. Take a look at this series of sheep. They have mass, volume, mood, weight and texture. Notice there is nothing flat …
Hey Artists! For the first day of our creative challenge, the suggestion was blind contour self portraits. As of 10pm Jan 1, there are 100 scribble-fabulous self portrait posts on Instagram with the #30SAL. How exciting! Now here’s your second…. Barbara Cooney Barbara Cooney (August 6, 1917 – March 10, 2000) was an American writer and …
On a computer screen, the detailed cells of color in Chris Crites’ paintings look digital-perfect. In person, I’m compelled to creep closer, closer, until my breath fogs up the glass. It’s then that I can see the thousands of tiny brush strokes neatly aligned within each penciled form. He says it’s OCD. I say it’s skill and …
30SAL Challenge: Memory Narrative
In a quiet moment, take time to recall some memory that you find interesting or enjoyable. Perhaps this was a story told by your family, or some moment that formed an idea of yourself or someone around you. Maybe a photograph, smell or object will help bring back your recollection. As you sit, pull out the details and events from the narrative before and after that moment. Jot down everything you can remember. How old are you? Where are you? Who is there? What is around you? What is happening in the story?
For this memory, you can draw from any viewpoint, with elements out of realistic proportion. Perhaps forms are simplified and important elements are larger. Most people don’t remember every piece of a scene, so allow some elements to float without context, or layer pieces that shift and overlap in your mind. You have the option to draw what was before and after your moment, to tell the story. Once you have drawn elements of the narrative or scene, let the drawing be unfinished. There is no need to fill in pieces that you don’t remember.
Below is a memory narrative by Laura Hudson:
“One of those family photos that always prompts a narrative, you are the subject of it but have no recollection of the events that everyone else recalls. In this case it was my first birthday and always accompanied by the story of how I ate the fruit from the cake while the adults were not looking. What i find curious about memory drawings is how childlike they are. The child in this drawing is not a one year old as in the narrative but seems to be more at the age I would have understood the story. Drawn purely from imagination no visual reference to the actual photo though i had seen it in the past. The lady with the huge hands is my grandmother, she had as I remember, huge hard-working hands with long nails as thick as hooves.” – Laura Hudson
If you have time, watch the first 12 minutes of this Art 21 video featuring Susan Rothenberg in “Memory.” Watch how she paints!
https://art21.org/watch/art-in-the-twenty-first-century/s3/susan-rothenberg-in-memory-segment/
Please share your work on Instagram and tag us: #30sal #seattleartistleague #memory #memorychallenge #memorydrawing #drawingchallenge #drawing #art #illustration #sketch #artchallenge #drawings #artist #draw #artistsoninstagram #sketchbook #instaart #drawthisinyourstyle #artwork #drawingoftheday #dailydrawing #inkdrawing #drawingsketch #artoftheday #pencildrawing #drawthisinyourstylechallenge #creativity #creativechallenge
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