I composition is not story telling in itself, it means you can make a composition with lines and dots (Picasso loved doing that), and then if you want you painting/drawing to be figurative you only have to fine justifications for that dot over there… hmmm, let’s say it’s a little cupid, and that long line … hmmmm could be a drapery, now where to I put the guy wearing the drapery….

I have no idea who worked like that, I guess it was a permanent change: moving the compo to fit the story and the reverse.

Glenn says you should work on both story telling and the composition at the same time. I have a tough time with that.

So this week with his permission I’ve decided to go non figurative, use only lines, french curves, color and see what happen.

Considering he told me last week I had a way of thinking that was too much litterary like and not music like enough I put some music on (Annie Lennox’s new album had just landed in my itunes so…:-D)

I quickly found out I could indeed see the need for balance, contrast, opossition, all that in my drawings, but I also realised that in my head stories were building up: each abstact drawing was telling a story.

Here they are:

 

not my usual style I know. lol.

I was a bit nervous about what Glenn would say. He liked the top right one a lot, found the top left one needed something more on the colour level, found the one below it ( the one with the bits sticking out of the frame incomprehensible or hopeless, but he did put it in a nicer way of course), the one on the bottom right interesting, but he felt the blue should be above the warm colors, as for the one at the bottom he  remarked among other thing that there was always something playful in my work.

Of course I’m making short his critics, they lasted half an hour and he drew a lot over my drawings to show me possibilities I had no explored, things that could be better, in short I learned a lot.

Now…… for the really funny part: he really did not find anything interesting or even worth of improving in my drawing with the bits that stick out of the frame right?

Ok, let’s now reveal what I personally saw in those drawing while making them:

 

Yes you saw right: the “bad” one was the only one that meant nothing to me! I found it so interesting I sent him this version (hence the “you did not like it”.

According to Glenn this makes total sense: random lines that mean nothing to me will not work as a composition.

I’ve since then shown to friend artists these without telling them what they represented to me.

In a word: everybody sees something different, from hamburgers on the beach to angels, and very frankly I consider that their reading is A/the proof that there is something to read in my composition which means it’s ok compo and B/ their version of what is behind the drawing is just as legitimate as mine.

An interesting week, I’m learning here, and I took risks: abstract is very very difficult warned Glenn and I answered with a quote from Pema  Chodron “if you fail, you must fail well” my goal here is learning and I know I’ll learn more from a big fall on my face that from just tripping in the staircase.

So take risks people! remember you have one ennemi: the comfort zone!

see you in a few days, the ten week course has ended and i’ll post the tenth week “cadet’s log” in a few days. (with lots of figures which should put to rest any worry about my figure drawing you may have – I hope! lol)

I have signed up for composition 1 again, Glenn says it’s going to be a totally different course to me now (true: I’ve done “head drawing” three times, each time i learned something new something more.

And of course I will go on with this blog!

see you real soon!