mark-making is something that has always fascinated me but have found very difficult to do
a few half-hearted attempts left me wondering what it was that really appealed... the marks other people made were so intriguing whereas my own were somewhat... blah
they felt contrived
same with all of my attempts at expressive calligraphy but this week there was a bit of a breakthrough
instead of trying to follow a set of prescribed exercises i worked at finding my own way instead
in large part it is thanks to the incredibly generous gift of renee mueller's online course
won through her birthday giveaway
the first module focuses on working with writing as well as mark-making and while she does demonstrate her take on both you are to do your own thing and so, finally, i did just that
the interesting thing with the handwriting was that it fell right into the path i'm on in the course
"expressive calligraphy"
which i've dabbled in now and again over the past few months, mostly during my morning writing
this time what i did was completely different different than anything i've tried before
writing across a large piece of drawing paper that has since been cut up to preserve the parts that intrigue me the most, i found there were a couple of areas where the wiring was rather angular with a strong slant - very different from any previous attempts which were upright and curvilinear in nature
below is the first word, easily recognised as "the"... somewhat expressive, yes, but also quite distinct
the writing definitely got more expressive as i relaxed into it and by the end there was some that pleased me greatly
some was done with a calligraphy marker, some with pointed pen and then additional marks with a stick and finally the broad end of a skewer
(the stick brush was made last year in the yukon, with both the stick and the pine needles gathered from the forest behind the house we used to live in
buoyed with that happy outcome and enjoying most the work done with the stick and skewer i continued with them
flowing lines and variety in tone and shape achieved by constantly twisting the skewer in my hand as i drew it across the page
another crop taken from the calligraphy and a variety of mark-making trials, all done with the stick, alternating which end i used as i went
the piece below reminds me of the markings on the poplar trees at marsh lake - trembling aspens i believe
and yet more...
many of the off-cuts are in box of collage papers but i couldn't resist putting together this little one before tidying everything away
and so, a good beginning
3 comments:
Indeed, a good beginning. A lovely "play", and a great loosener if you were to be feeling a bit wound up. Not too tightly controlled, full of personality.
Oh this looks fun and demonstrates so well that when we stop forcing things we can produce our best results… as if they lie in wait whilst we struggle and then pounce… surprise!!! when we relax and go with our instincts. These are really exciting marks and, since their origins are from words, they exude so much expression as if the hidden words are asking us to listen. I think this is going to be a wonderful way of incorporating thoughts and messages into your work. They are not obvious but have a presence, causing a pause for thought from the viewer.
Interesting to note the significance the marks take once they are isolated into smaller pieces...suddenly becoming little works of art. The viewer won't always understand that there are words involved which gives a great sense of mystery. I like where you're going!
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