My last post was whiny and I feel bad about that, but I wanted to get it out and process it a bit, by posting about it. It was the last step of throwing a mini-internal tantrum. That part didn't make it into the post. What I forgot about is that, frequently, when I reach this point (the frustration part, not the tantrum part), a breakthrough usually follows shortly afterwards if I keep working. I haven't always done that and, at least, part of the reason is that I've gotten stuck and haven't know how to move forward or address how to learn what I don't know. Yes, of course, a big part of it is also the internal critic successfully sidetracking it all, but that's not where I am going with this post.
Since my January project is to work through Drawing on the Right Side of Your Brain, I wasn't stuck, just very frustrated. I am very thankful to Roz for generally being so generous with her knowledge, but especially for her December focus on projects. I think it's a game changer for me.
Working in the next chapter of the book, a bunch of things fell into place. I've used a pencil before to help with proportions. I have used a pencil to discern the angle of one line, such as one side of a roof line. I hadn't figured out or ever seen using it parallel to a point where two lines come together, such as at the peak of a roof, to consider the angles of both of them and, more importantly, their relationship to each other.
Last night, I did the pre-exercises, which are in preparation of doing a drawing in perspective. Here is a basement door with a dartboard and side trim pieces. As a straight-forward view, it was relatively simple, using a pencil to measure and get accurate proportions. I couldn't get back far enough to stay within the pre-drawn frame.
When I first tried to draw the angles on the top, I angled them down rather than up. I'm not sure how I flipped this. It wasn't apparent to me until I decided to add the crown molding. After the error was fixed, I moved on and decided to add the angle for the stairs going down and added the 3 vertical lines for how the side of the stairs relate to the wall and molding. I didn't do this proportionally. It was enough to work on the angles and relationship without the proportions.
The breakthroughs were:
- No internal critic. There was no drama or negativity from figuring out I goofed and how to correct it. This makes me more determined to banish this goon.
- Pieces became a whole. I've stayed mostly in the world of dealing with one object as a subject. I have not had the tools for dealing with more than that, so I sort of surprised myself in the moment by going on with the crown molding and "stairs". Adding the vertical lines to show where the stairs would go felt like a victory, since it's the first time I had the tools/skills/seeing/whatever to understand how and where they fit. I think working on both angles at a corner point got me to see and consider things in relation to one another in a different/better/new way. Something big fell into place with this.
These breakthroughs are always a surprise when they happen.
All of this helps answer the question of why I continue to work on learning to draw and paint, and in the larger context pursue creativity, in spite of or maybe because of the ups and downs. This morning when I went outside to grab the newspaper, I looked across the street and the thought popped into my head that I could try drawing the house and small brick apartment building across the street as a way to continue to explore the proportions, relationships, and angles of how things relate to each other. I am going to do that later today.
This pursuits keeps me open to further exploring and to life itself, which is especially appreciated in this present moment with so much uncertainty.
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