As a Pen Artist I am keenly aware of sharp, crisp lines. I am constantly amazed at how powerful a line can be.
An Activity that lets you FEEL the POWER OF A LINE
I tried to think of real life instances that give you an idea of what I mean. Two come to mine.
Yellow tape . . . .
You see it often. Acting as a barrier. Where to go. Where not to go. It is a thin, fragile piece of plastic but powerful. You react physically as your eye sees and follows it to a destination point. But also psychologically by identifying the inside space as being different from the outside space.
Golf Tee boxes . . .
I know, I often have examples from golf. (But I do love golfing and it is the season right now.) When I stand up on the tee box to drive my ball, I pick my line of sight and mark a tree or bush in the distance as my guide. The reason I do this is, the tee boxes have subtle lines: the brow of the raised ground; the markers; the direction of the cut grass. These lines grab you both physically and psychologically. They subtlety line your body up and that may or may not where you want to hit. If my line of sight is quite different from the lines on the tee box, I can feel their pull as I hit. They have great powers.
Lines have power in Life and in your Art Work . . . .
Join me in this Art Activity which really makes you Feel and See the Power of a Line. This activity can be viewed in video format in the Arts Council of Surrey Instructional Series - The Power of the Line by Wendy Mould See video here.
Pick 2 or 3 colours and paint an interesting abstract on the paper
1. Put paint to paper: choose 2 or 3 colours that look nice together and paint an abstract painting on your page. I try to make interesting shapes, have a bit of a focal point near the bottom right or left, leave some white space, let things flow.
Skunk Cabbage - my subject for my drawing
2. Pick a subject to draw: Don't bother 'looking' to see what you can see in your colours, just pick a subject to draw. I chose to draw a skunk cabbage plant I had seen on my walk. I love their bright green foliage with large bright yellow flowers. Such a sight in early spring.
Layout and Draw your subject
3. Layout and Draw: Use a pencil to set up your drawing. I use only a few simple shapes in pencil before I pick up my pen. But go ahead and layout basic shapes in a little more detail. Do what is comfortable for you. If you are starting to draw detail then that is certainly a signal to pick up your pen. I used a 05 Pigma Permanent Ink Pen to draw with.
Draw Away - This is the fun part!!
4. Draw Away: For me this is the fun part. I hope you enjoy it as well. I love working with pen. Don't worry if your marks are not lining up with different colour shapes. Just focus on the drawing part. You can see things are already getting interesting with some of the colours in the leaves.
Finished Drawing - Time to Evaluate
5. Finish Up: Once you are finished sit back and take a look. There will be many amazing things happening that will really change your perspective. Note the Power of the Line. It grabs colour and makes it part of the subject and leaves the rest behind as background. It creates interesting tension for your eye - grabbing your eye and moving it about when all the time your eye wants to look at the colour patches. The line also emphasizes just how dark your shadow values have to be in order to bring your work to life. The crosshatching in the shadows does not look harsh and out of place with the other values in the piece.
Two interesting by products of the activity are:
a. It gives you some ideas how suggestive shapes can form your background. It doesn't need a lot of detail.
b. It gives you examples of how 'new colours' can be introduced to your work. Instead of using the literal colours in your subject you can infuse new colours to "liven things up". The pinks and blues look interesting and happy to work with the greens in my drawing.
See more examples of this activity on my video in the Arts Council of Surrey Instructional Series - The Power of the Line by Wendy Mould. See video here.
Have fun and don't hesitate to share your work with me. I would love to see it.
Outdoor Sketching Classes !! ***Last chance this summer
Ready to go out and do some sketching? Have fun painting and sketching while learning new tips and techniques. Capture a moment in time without worrying about the World and the crazy problems of today. Come Join me for a session or two. Beginner to Advanced are welcome.
Class Size: max. 3. Rescheduling for Bad weather. Covid Rules and Social Distancing will be followed.
Sessions 2.5 hours, in local North Surrey Parks, Tuesdays 10-12:30 or Set up Special Times for yourself and a friend or two
Cost: $45 tx incld
September Dates: Tuesday Sept 8 & 15 Time: 10-12:30:pm
Save a Spot Now. Contact Wendy More information: artbywendy.com
Do you have big/small projects on the go?
Looking for a sounding board, help, suggestions, techniques. You and your Inner Critic looking to expand your discussions. I am available for Online Coaching/Teaching (3 sessions 30 minutes each $75). more info here.
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Have a great Artful Day,
Wendy
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