I did this drawing outside work today, using some of the ideas I have for my Challenge through limitations workshop in Santo Domingo. It´s going to be all about getting out of your drawing comfort zone by giving yourself some limitations when you work (limited time, tools, colours, subjects – we will try to challenge ourselves in many ways).
In one of the exercises in the workshop, to relax from the pressure of producing great results, we are going to work on messed up papers. A pristine white surface can stifle creativity a bit sometimes, and I´m trying out some nice methods to make paper less threatening. Turns out shoes are a great help in this process.
Another important ingredient in the workshop is to avoid working with your usual tools. I hope each participant will get a chance to try some tools they never tried before. This is something I´ve been working on a lot lately myself, trying to broaden my repertoire of drawing utensils beyond my fountain pens and watercolours.
The BY FAR most annoying tool I´ve tried so far is this carpenter´s pencil (which is what I used in the drawing above). This thing drives me nuts, and I love it.
One second it gives me beautiful expressive lines, the next I completely miss the spot I intended to draw on, because the nib shape is so crazy. I´m definitely bringing some of these pencils to Santo Domingo - it´s not fair that I should be the only one struggling with this fella. ;)
I am so looking forward to meeting you all in Santo Domingo this summer!
Great post Nina,
ReplyDeleteI'm so excited to take your workshop and push myself in new directions, and I salute you for pushing yourself as well. I love the idea of textured paper, especially because I'm a fan of Converse shoes (hopefully you didn't walk on any carpet afterwards)! I think they can add to our creativity. You made a really great drawing with the carpenter pencil, I think the nib shape took you places.
See you soon.
$(@TT
Hi Scott,
Deletethanks for your comment, I´m glad you like my ideas. And yeah, that nib takes me places, for sure. ;)
See you!
/Nina
HI Nina,
ReplyDeleteI am so excited to take your workshop too. I think it will be an amazing exercise to use new tools and materials. I think the drawing looks fantastic so bring on those carpenter pencils. I'm ready.
Shari
That is so good to hear, Shari! I´m looking forward to seeing what comes out of this darned little pencil when you use it. :)
Delete/Nina
Nina,
ReplyDeleteThank you for all your pre-workshop words and images. Can you share what paints go into making up your tray of colors and how you keep them relatively clean looking ongoingly? Your images are always so transparent and yet the primary colors still sing out so beautifully and don't suffer from being murky. John Bartoldus in Naples Florida
Hi John,
Deletethanks for your comment, glad you like my post. Re my watercolours, I´d have to make a post of it´s own about that. I´ll be glad to do that, but it will probably take a while, since work is a bit overwhelming these last few weeks of the semester (grades...).
But as a starter: generally I try to use colours that are marked as transparent, as I find I make more mud with opaque or semi-opaque paints. Plus it helps to know some colour theory. I try to mix as few pigments as possible to find the right shade/tint of a colour, instead of going in with many different pigments. Unless I actually WANT mud, of course. For some subjects that´s ok too.
Thanks Nina, I will put to use your words and as you grade your students I give you an A+. John
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot, John! :)
DeleteI'm not signed up for your workshop in SD, but I'm pleased to get a piece of it here in you interesting and thought provoking post. "Getting out of ones comfort zone"--great challenge! Every one of the workshops that I took in Portland and Lisbon took me there. Which is why I'm coming back for more in Santo Domingo.
ReplyDelete"Relax from the fear of producing great results"--I'm so glad you said that. I look back at the drawings that I did at the past symposium: very few are great to look at, but each was invaluable to grasp something out of my comfort zone. Those struggles led to important new developments in my work in the whole year following the Symposium. Not to get me wrong: the Symposium were a lot of fun, albeit very intense.
Distressing the paper in some manner (footprints--hadn't thought of that one!) is a great way to loosen the intimidating hold of the pristine un-marked page.
Thanks for your comment, Marcia. I´m glad the last Symposium led to new development for you, I too had a lot of great experiences in Lisbon, and tried some new things drawing-wise. (I had the opportunity to catch two workshops there, even though I was busy with my own much of the time.)
DeleteAnyway, I´m looking forward to seeing you in Santo Domingo, Marcia!
I am exited to take your worshop too, as I always stay in my zone of comfort it will be a good challenge for me ;))
ReplyDeleteMartine
Hey Martine,
DeleteI´m glad I will meet you again in Santo Domingo, looking forward to forcing you out of your comfort zone a bit. ;)
Great tips! I still haven't tried dirtying the page with the shoe or the floor, but I sometimes put some colors before drawing any lines, and I somehow definitely feel looser. Hadn't thought it could be the white page. The one thing that did terrify me was having a full sheet of Arches 300lb. It's so expensive that I didn't want to ruin it. What I did was cut it down and make a custom sketchbook with it and it wasn't as intimidating.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny that I'm trying to get out of my comfort zone by using fountain pens. I usually work with pencils or Sharpies. I have been trying for a couple weeks and still don't get used to them.
Hi Luis,
Deletegood thinking with the expensive Arches there. Splitting it up into smaller sheets is a good way to deal with that preciousness. I use that same paper sometimes too, and I somehow manage to just ignore the price of the paper, and keep thinking that "somewhere out there, there´s a paper mill making this paper all the time, it won´t matter if I ruin one or two sheets...". ;)
I guess fountain pens take a bit getting used to, if you´re new to them. I have used them for so long, so they almost feel like part of my hand these days.
HI Nina... love this idea... you will have us making the decision of which shoes to bring based on the sole pattern! Cool!
ReplyDeleteHaha, never thought of it that way, Liz. Make sure to bring nice patterns, people! :)
DeleteGreat post, Nina,
ReplyDeleteIt also reinforces my option of trying to make the best use of all sheets of paper available.
As I will be using jogging shoes in SD, it will be fun to stamp them in some Canson paper!
Great, Miguel!
DeleteI have actually started to use up more paper that I normally would have tossed, because it´s folded or scratched or something. Since I started with this a while back, I kind of like every paper I come across, no matter what shape it´s in.