Recently I came across some notes I’ve accumulated (and forgotten to look at very often) about making the kind of drawings I like best:  ‘abstracted-figurative’, meaning that like my paintings, they include elements or hints of the human figure in an abstract drawing in such a way that the overall drawing is more easily imbued with ‘meaning’ or open to story telling.

a)  Think about numerous ways of making abstract marks….experiment for a while, then start a drawing on a clean piece of paper. 

b)  On canvas or paper, invent and make a series of various kinds of marks using graphite and/or charcoal. Include the use of an eraser (a good plastic one, or in the case of charcoal, a clean rag), as it makes ‘negative space’ marks.

c) Overlap and interlace some of these marks…spontaneously.

d) Look at the results with eyes half closed to see images emerge (as if looking at clouds for instance).

e) For me, the result is often touched by my own experiences and preferences – in other words autobiographical to one extent or another, as seen, for instance, in the previous blog about the ‘Black Swan’ painting.  For me it often touches on my interest in energies of personal space and interactions between people.  Try it!  It’s quite fun!!!