Composing and Drawing Tip of the Week.

September 6, 2014
 

Where is your awareness when you're in the act of creating art?  Wherever our attention is placed is where our awareness is.  Whatever our intention is becomes the results found in that awareness.  Built within all that is a simple, innocent trust in one's own process.

A simple exercise that can do wonders for bringing our attention to what our eyes are seeing is a notan drawing.  All you have to do is to shift your attention from what a subject is to where the shadows are.  That's all.  The rest will take care of itself.

In this photo, rather than looking at what's in the picture, shift your attention to just what is in shadow.  



Draw an rectangle no bigger than 1 by 1 1/2 inches.  Within that rectangle. using a single dark value such as a black felt tip, mass in only what is in shadow, leaving untouched all that is NOT in shadow.  Note:  if you need to do a light pencil drawing first, then do so.

Tip:  When I'm doing these exercises, I repeat again and again to myself the phrase "in shadow."  This takes my attention away from the identity of the subjects and refocuses on everything in shadow only.

Here, done with a Tombow felt tip pen, is my notan of these horses in pasture.


Try this exercise with a variety of subjects.

Happy painting,
Dianne 

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