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!
Yesterday I talked about how Carlos San Millan paints the effect of light so beautifully, and posted work by a painter he recommended: Emil Joseph Robinson. Today I’d like to make some points about one of his paintings, and how he has applied ideas of contrast to paint the effects of light. Take a look …
Take a class with SAL – anywhere! Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Today I give you artworks that feature the Thanksgiving-ish color orange. My intention was to post a few, but once I started to collect a few, I saw orange in artworks everywhere! As this post grew, my shifting goals for organization and style became increasingly …
Today’s memory challenge is to study an artwork done by a skilled artist. It can be a sculpture, rough sketch, finished drawing, painting, or print. For simplicity in this post, I’ll be using the word “draw,” but you are not restricted to drawings. Feel free to use any media, including sculpture. For simplicity in your …
[image_with_animation image_url=”7052″ alignment=”” animation=”None” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”] What’s the difference between a monotype and a monoprint? Although these two terms are used interchangeably, there is a big difference between one and the other. A monotype is a single printed image which does not have any form of matrix. A monoprint has some form of basic matrix. When making monotypes, …
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
Related Posts
Emil Joseph Robinson; the Science of Light
Yesterday I talked about how Carlos San Millan paints the effect of light so beautifully, and posted work by a painter he recommended: Emil Joseph Robinson. Today I’d like to make some points about one of his paintings, and how he has applied ideas of contrast to paint the effects of light. Take a look …
100 Orange Artworks
Take a class with SAL – anywhere! Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Today I give you artworks that feature the Thanksgiving-ish color orange. My intention was to post a few, but once I started to collect a few, I saw orange in artworks everywhere! As this post grew, my shifting goals for organization and style became increasingly …
30SAL Challenge: Memory of an Artwork
Today’s memory challenge is to study an artwork done by a skilled artist. It can be a sculpture, rough sketch, finished drawing, painting, or print. For simplicity in this post, I’ll be using the word “draw,” but you are not restricted to drawings. Feel free to use any media, including sculpture. For simplicity in your …
Tom Bennett, Monotypes
[image_with_animation image_url=”7052″ alignment=”” animation=”None” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”] What’s the difference between a monotype and a monoprint? Although these two terms are used interchangeably, there is a big difference between one and the other. A monotype is a single printed image which does not have any form of matrix. A monoprint has some form of basic matrix. When making monotypes, …