Thursday, July 22, 2010

NOT RUSHING + A CHALLENGE FROM MYRNA

I'm not rushing the do-over, and not accepting anything less than what makes me happy for this one.



And while I'm letting this one slowly come together, I've chosen the drawing I want to begin Myrna Wacknov's challenge with. I drew something last night but it was cheesy. This morning I knew which one I wanted to start with - this drawing from a live figure class I took. Myrna's challenge is to begin with a drawing from a photo or life...then draw using that drawing as reference, nothing else...and continue this process through several mutations. Who knows what you'll come up with in the end? Check out her blog to see what she is working on and what she ends up with after - did she say 50?? - drawings from drawings.


Here's my first drawing which I will use as the base for the next one. I'm not giving myself a deadline for this - just drawing from the previous drawing until I'm exhausted with it.

If you think this is crazy, just see what you can do with this kind of challenge - go over to Lisa Walsh's blog and see her bears (and congratulate her on her 100th post). Lisa is creating some wonderful things by just using different mediums and supports and thinking and talking about color, value, etc.

Here are the first drawings as they mutated from the beginning drawing...



This one (No. 2) was done with a 6B graphite pencil on very slick paper. No blending or erasing (I found out later).


And No. 3 was on drawing paper - a nice sheet of Rives or Somerset (I had purchased for printmaking), using a Tombow marker that bleeds nicely.


And No. 4? Well, you'll have to return to see it tomorrow!
(These are all on 1/2 sheet sizes - about 15" x22" - so far.)

7 comments:

Gillian Mowbray said...

What a fascinating challenge - your pieces have such a different look already - I wonder how they'll 'mutate' by the end? Will it be like Chinese whispers?

Unknown said...

I'm going to do it too. I see a lot of observation and simplification on your part with each new drawing. Think about pattern or altering the palette. It is your journey to explore!

RH Carpenter said...

Thanks, Gillian. You are the second person who called it Chinese Whispers - I'd never heard that before and wasn't sure this had a name!

Carrie, I'll love to see what you do with your Chinese Whispers Drawings :) It is mutating a bit already - I have 2 others to share so far.

Cathy Gatland said...

I'd love to try this, but have too many other projects on the go - maybe I'll be a late starter when they're all done. Fascinating to see your and Myrna's developments!

RH Carpenter said...

I know what you mean, Cathy. Sometimes you have too many irons in the fire :) But you can always try it at your leisure some other time.

Carol King said...

Hey Rhonda, I can't wait to see the new deck chair painting. and I loved the link to Myrna's site and your accepting her challenge. Can't wait to see what happens next.

RH Carpenter said...

Stay tuned, Carol. I'm going to have a whole weekend to work on things...