Day 15. Eggs three ways, Part 1 (Contour!)
It's a SERIES! First up: Contour Drawing
Y’all.
Paging Betty Edwards.
I am blown away.
The DrawTogether community chat is filled with HUNDREDS and HUNDREDS of portraits of art teacher Betty Edwards, author of the seminal Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. I can tell everyone who drew upside down was challenged, got silly, and learned something. Betty’s 99th birthday is coming up, and we’re sending her a small selection as a thank you for her service to drawing, and direct her attention to the whole collection. If you haven’t drawn your upside-down Betty, do this. :)
Let’s keep going.
It’s DAY 15. You are half way through (!!!)
If at any point you start to feel maxed and and wonder if you might just rather scroll the internet…. STOP. EMERGENCY HALF POINT INTERVENTION: Drop everything and play the song below, and dance around your studio/living room/kitchen like Robyn does on her own. Do those moves!! (Maybe not the rolling around ones) I’m not kidding. Dancing alone to Robyn will get your creative blood flowing. I’ve done hours of scientific research on the subject.
What we've learned so far.
Over the past 14 days you practiced abstract drawing as way to help you focus, decrease anxiety, let go of expectations and perfectionism, and identify and process your thoughts and feelings. You then used drawing to learn to SEE, to notice how all the lines and shapes and details that surround us that we usually overlook, and let go of what we THINK we see, and start to look at what is truly right in front of us.
And you did it all in community with a supportive (and might I say quite good-looking) group of new creative friends. Good job, you.
Today we are taking everything we learned and bringing it to bear on a series of drawings. Yes, a series. Today is day one of three. (Three trees make a row!) And before you get all, “WENDYYYYYMAAAAC, can’t we just keep drawing wacky one offs?” FYI my answer is “Yes, of course you can.” You can do whatever the heck you like. Honestly I do not care what you draw as long just as you are making marks on a page for ten minutes every day. For real. But there is a reason we are doing this the way we are, and it builds. I promise. But you do you. Just keep drawing with that ten minute timer.
Drawing a Series
Eggs three ways, friends! We’re making eggs - or drawings - three ways.
Why do some artists continue to make work about a single subject for years and years? Sure, some are obsessive. But there’s probably more it than that. When we draw something we pay attention, we look at it with fresh eyes. Each drawing reflects our slowing down, our attention and appreciation. It makes sense when we draw the same thing several times, we notice new things about it. We can represent it in different ways.
For the next few days I’m going to show you some artists who found a single subject that fascinated them and explored it for years. Sometimes a lifetime. We’ll start with the master of serial: Andy Warhol. But, plot twist: I’m NOT showing you those series of silkscreens. Sorry, not a huge fan. IMHO he did WAY more interesting work before he became a famous artist, back when he was a commercial illustrator
Andy Warhol’s Illustrations
Did you know Andy Warhol got his start drawing illustrations for catalogs and magazines? In the 1950’s Warhol was a commercial illustrator lugging his drawing portfolio around New York, cold calling potential clients. He ended up doing quite well - unlike Ben Shahn he didn’t really have any political or personal morals that guided who or what he drew for. Warhol quickly became known for his gloppy-ink line style, which he achieved by a simple transfer process. A transfer process meaning transferring ink from one surface to another. As in printmaking. (Yup, Warhol’s early drawing style led to his silkscreens, which led to his multiples, which led to his fame!) Remember, you never know where things might lead, just keep making.
One of the things Warhol was most known for drawing? SHOES.
God I love Warhol’s shoes. And that calligraphy? That was actually drawn by Warhol’s mother! She was a a craftsperson, practiced calligraphy, and her lettering made its way into many of his projects.
Here are a few more:
While each shoe may be different, you can imagine that he could also approach THE SAME SHOE in different ways. Kind of like he did all his silkscreens of tomato soup cans, and Marilyn Monroe.
I’’m just going to stop there today because the technique Warhol is using is the same technique I am going to suggest you use today. Don’t worry. Not the blotter thing. But the way he draws the EDGES of his subject. These are all contour drawing. Warhol drew with contour drawings. And that is what we are going to do today.
Contour drawing
You have already done contour drawings! You just have had some training wheels on you that helped you do what contour drawings do: help you SEE. And remember our themes this 30 days: Paying Attention and Good Enough. There is no perfect here. You are looking closely, and drawing what you see - you are trying! That is all that counts. If you get stressed out, you can always do a Blind Contour or draw it with your eyes closed. WHY NOT. All that matters is you draw for 10 minutes today. :)