Make art like a child
I discovered this before Berlin, but it’s worth mentioning on this sketchblog. Being like a child means not worrying about how the art you are making is relating to art history or what it all means. I want to draw what I feel compelled to draw. I may examine it later, or not.
Whatever lines or shapes you make on a piece of paper, are not going to physically hurt anybody, nor mentally (at least probably not in the long term). So why worry about it and have the urge to label it ugly or beautiful, or even the hope that it pleases you or anyone else?
The most important thing is that you’ve been deeply absorbed in an activity to the point where you’ve turned off your conscious, restless, critical mind, and you have created something unique that did not exist an hour ago. I think that theoretically one should be able to shred it up and let it go as effortlessly as one produced it. The child is always ready to part with what she’s just drawn.
That’s why I like the work of artists like Andy Goldsworthy who create something out of nature and then allow the climate and the seasons to take over and rearrange it/disturb it/decompose it. There is great humility in that.
Hi Sigrid,
I thoroughly enjoyed your 5 part Lessons from Berlin. I have a secret (or not so secret) plan to shake up my life, and take my sketching on the road somewhere. Reading your comments and insights made me feel optimistic that a short hiatus can resonate for quite a while. You also made me think that I need to look at what I am doing now in Vancouver with a fresh eye. There are plenty of cool creative experiences to be had right here.
You and I have overlapped a couple of time with Vancouver Urban Sketchers. A busy life sometimes gets in the way of me attending regularly, but I wanted you to know how much I appreciate your work with that group. I always have a look at the posts from the sketch trips and it encourages me to keep going on my own sketchbook.
Keep up the blogging.
Susan
Thank you, Susan! It’s always nice to see you when you come out. Great sketchblog, and now I am curious to hear more about your plans. Maybe over coffee sometime. And yes, I think getaways for art’s sake are great, whether it’s 3 days or 3 months.
Hi again. I’ll try to get out to a sketch crawl again soon so we can have a chat. I’d also like to hear more about your time in Berlin.
I was also wondering if you’d consider giving a workshop about sketching from real life. I see that the “official” Urban Sketchers group sometimes hosts teaching workshops. I ask because I really love the way you capture perspective in your scenes, something I struggle with. I have been taking an online watercolour class with Jane Lafazio and it is great for the painting part of illustrated journalling. I’m now looking for some help capturing a whole scene. It could be quite informal and we could use the meet up site to gage interest and figure out if we could gather enough of a fee to make it worth your while. I’d be happy to organize it. Or if you don’t do this sort of thing, maybe you could suggest a way to learn how to do it.
I hope my request is not too brazen. Let me know what you think.