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Saturday, January 8, 2011

Can You Draw Me?



Why would you want to? You've got your own inner child to draw. Mine did these waiting for the soup to defrost in the microwave. I love doing free association drawings-- some really weird images show up. Like the old car my dad owned as a youngster,(upper left corner), and the three heads with a connect the dot game and coffee cup. I did a few in a very short time. That's the idea--draw fast without thinking to loosen up and unclutter your mind. There have been occasions when I've gotten mesmerized by the images that emerged from the scribbles. Those were the best. What are they all about? Doesn't matter. They're about drawing.


What I always loved about drawing is the activity didn't call for much in the way of equipment--a piece of paper, a pen and your wits. With just those, you could draw master pieces. An electrical outage wasn't a catastrophe. Now we are so hung up on our machines, if the lights go out, we go berserk. We're bored. We're stressed. There's nothing to do--even though there's a pad of paper in the kitchen with a pen next to it. Take the candle from the cupboard you've been saving for such an opportunity and doodle away the dark hours.

The last two days. I've been side-tracked. Between the new Blackberry and my computer, I got little done where I want it done the most: in the studio. No canvases were worked on. No quick sketches were made. I woke up this morning thinking: Shame on you. --And for some odd reason: CAN YOU DRAW ME?

There was a popular ad in ladies magazines years ago that had that header. There was a profile of a girl in black and white and a form to fill out. The company wanted you to draw the profile and mail it in with the form. The company was selling art lessons. That picture was the first picture I ever copied. That picture taught me that I could draw and I didn't need any lessons. All I needed to do was take a good look at the life around me and record it as I see it.


Sometimes nothing grabs my interest. Like today, my mind was distracted--a sick friend, a complex phone, leaving in a couple of days, laundry piled high, prescriptions, a belt. So I drew off the top of my head. These are the results. Good or bad art, they got me unhooked from my machines and back to life in a simple place I completely comprehend.

Have any of you used free association to set your creative self free--to break a block--to wile away time? Or do you think the exercise is childish? Picasso was always reaching for his inner child. Why not us?

3 comments:

  1. Dear Linda,
    I already wrote somewhre in my blog last year. People ask me to teach skethcing. "Go back to your young days. Joy comes first. When you were young, you enjoyed drawing. Just have fun. And love your any achievement. Don't care about anyone's comment. That's all," is my answer. Indeed, I draw like a kid. Full of joy--I even dance, sing on a street, while sketching. Kids and adults love watching it. I can't stop my joy!! My brain has never, ever thought of any theory or complicated stuff, while my drawing(already full of joy!!).

    Please foreget aiming at a master piece. I've never done a good work, when I attempted. My good work is all spontaneous, lively and born from joy -- coincidence and accidentally I've made it.

    Sometimes, sounds you are very tough on yourself. No, please never do it. Never say, "Shame on you" on yourself. Learn how to please yourself. Play with Little Linda with a great, great care... ʚ(ˆ◡ˆ)ɞ

    Sorry, a lenthy writing. Thank you for reading.
    Love and smile,
    Sadami

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  2. Thank you so much Sadami. You do detect my self doubt with regards to my artwork--but also my love of it. I was being facetious when I used the word masterpiece. None of us knows which of our works is our masterpiece, none of us cares if we make any masterpieces at all. It's the process of making art that we love and can't live without. that's the joy.

    I am tough on myself. But don't you wish we all were? Don't you wish that all of us on the planet would be striving for improvement--not only with our skills, but at being better, kinder, more compassionate, more tolerant and more peace loving? I do--and I know you do too. Reaching for the moon isn't a bad thing--just don't do it standing on the edge of a cliff.

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  3. Dear Linda,
    I do not wish you to be tough on yourself at all. Here's a pradox. "Self-acceptance changes an individual," is a profound truth that I keep it in me.

    A person who accepts what s/he is has begun to have a shift from who/what s/he is to who/what s/he will be able to most in a beautiful and unique way.

    Not a whip for improvement, but a proper self-love/esteem turns a person to shine as s/he is. If you have a spare time, think of it... that's what I've learned the most from psychology and applied to my art activities and daily life:).
    Kind regards, Sadami

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