Practice Drawings

I used to dive right into a painting. I would always do a sketch, of course, but right onto the prepared substrate, and then the painting would begin. Not surprisingly I produced a couple of duds. It either had a boring composition or the seed was nice to look at in it's less than one inch size, but once it was blown up it just became unappealing. This was difficult since I don't like waste and I used some beautiful slate, steel siding and wood to produce a couple of paintings I didn't feel like showing anyone, and didn't even want to look at myself. While I haven't given up on trying to convert them into something I do like, I also haven't come up with many ideas for them yet.

I returned the the decade old advice from a former professor in a mid-semester critique - practice, practice, practice, draw, draw, draw. Now I do colored pencil drawings first on 14 x 17 in paper. It simultaneously feels like it takes up more time and saves me loads of time and frustration. It's a little easier to fit in drawing here and there. Sometimes I only have 15 minutes, but it is enough to provide a little relief from the roiling feeling I have when I haven't been able to get to my work for too long. It gives me the chance to flesh out my ideas in a way that works with my hectic schedule. Since I started this more disciplined path, I have turned a number of my drawings into larger work and I have also discarded or reworked a number of images. This blue corn drawing was turned into . . .

this painting, which I blogged about here: Black Aztec Corn

Black Aztec Corn

This drawing of bloody butcher corn . . . 

Became this 21 1/4 x 25 7/8 inch painting on pallet wood (currently being framed and soon to be featured in a post of it's own) . . . 

This drawing of a sprouted apple seed is transforming into . . . 

 This 17 x 25 3/4 inch painting on the wood that I blogged about here Wood. This painting is still in the works, but in it's early stages it went through a period when I didn't like it at all. I did love the drawing when I completed it though, so I started putting the drawing up every time I went to work on the painting and it helped me get back on track.

The drawings also offer me a chance to tweak the composition a little . . . 

Or a lot. 

I also like the (slightly) looser feeling of the drawings. I like seeing the pencil marks that wouldn't completely erase during the reworking of the image. I love seeing the margins fill up with colorful marks and notes. 

The current drawing in progress is from a series of sweet pepper photos I did that I have been aching to get to for over a year. My hope for these is to do some seriously large paintings several feet in width and length so that they (hopefully) engulf the viewer in a sense. Starting this series of drawings has been a relief in one way, while it also has added in the excitement of figuring out what materials to use and how to mount the painting properly since it will likely weigh a lot. Creating these drawings stop me from jumping in before I'm ready and give me the time I need to work out some of the mechanical issues as well as the compositional issues. 

They save me from myself . . .