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| Doodle |
Another exercise that we did during the workshop was inspired by a page in Frieda Kahlo's published diary. The exercise starts with random ink spots or blobs on the paper. I consider the blobs a "given", or something to initially spice up a work and to stifle the status quo. We then connected the dots and did uninformed or free consciousness doodling in the spaces. This is a wonderful way to practice and learn all of the elements of great design without worrying so much about reality. It was such fun! One participant asked me what the point of this exercise was. I had to think a minute. Does one really need a purpose in order to play? I hope not.
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| Birthday Doodle for RIck |
Last week, I lead an expressive drawing workshop at the Cuyahoga Valley Art Center in Ohio. My goal for this workshop was to meander away from reality-based drawing, in order to increase the knowledge and freedom offered in drawing more expressively. We started with doodling and using line to express our ideas and patterns.....nothing too profound. I believe that artists who doodle on a regular basis become so familiar with line-making and with holding a drawing tool loosely, that it all becomes second nature to them. They have a greater freedom. "Mosaic Doodle" was an exercise in which we created a mosaic pattern on the page, then filled in each little tile with smaller doodles of varying sizes and densities. We were shooting for balance on the page. Lots of fun!
