Some of you may remember the heart wall from yellow house. Really, it wasn't a wall, more of a chalk board that Matt Causey had procured me covered in heart related objects. Well, for this valentines I"m recreating the wall!
Sorta. Minus some key objects which have detereorated or disappeared. And I'm creating a supplemental wall of drawings of some of my favorites. Which means I'm spending a lot of time drawing (you can see the massive collection on the floor there...)
The other night some of my neighbors came in to chat while I was finishing up the last of the sequinning on, amongst other birds, G's heron. They were duly impressed by the tedium of my process. Believe me, the patience of sequinning has nothing on the patience of drawing, at least in the way I draw. And, another thing which those who know me know drives me scitzo-nutso is that, when drawing, you have to take breaks. That's what I'm doing right now. I've been drawing for 3 hours so far today. I'm maybe 1/5 of the way done with the larger heart that I'm working on (this one has wings). And I can't "see" it any more. The muscles in my brain that allow for me to translate textures and forms into little lines are exhausted. As I'm typing I'm not looking at the screen, but at my hands, and really not even focusing there. My eyes are dead. And there's nothing I can do about it but wait.
Which leads me to these thoughts- I love the Metro Green Classes on Birding. The guy who teaches them (who I think is named James, should any one be interested in the classes) has a lot of extra energy, and an exceptional passion for the subject. He also gives a great slide show (yes, those old transparent things.) And, for $10 a 3 hour class it's a screaming cheap and great way to spend a Tuesday evening. Anyway, (Let's call him James) James emphasizes that the only way to see birds is to go out and LOOK AT BIRDS. The only way to learn ID's is to actually go on bird walks. It's the same way with drawing, or, indeed, with being an athlete. You have to actually draw a lot in order to draw well or with any level of ease (these 2 things do not correspond).
At Christmas (on Christmas Eve, in fact) we had someone out at the house who sketched a chair to demonstrate something. The sketching was followed up with the comment "I don't draw." I wonder when I stopped saying that. Now I'm more likely to say "I haven't drawn recently" or "I do not draw well." But even though I've worked out more often than not in the last 3 years, I would not really say "I'm an athlete." However, after 3 days of drawing, well, I guess i draw...
Aw, half-finished thoughts...
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